Louisiana Insider

Louisiana Insider episodes:

• 06.13.2024

  Episode 184: Mavis Fruge et Le Renouveau Français de la Louisiane

  Imagine Louisiana without French. Even if you don’t hear it often, you know that it is there and part of the state’s history, culture and even its music and food. Well, it could have happened. In 1925 a state law...

  
• 06.06.2024

  Episode 183: Dark Roast? Chicory? A Louisiana Coffee's Second Century

  Here is a dash of chicory for your daily podcast listening. The Louisiana-based Community Coffee company is now in its 105th year. Headquartered in Baton Rouge with facilities in New Orleans, Community is the largest family-owned and operated retail coffee...

  
• 05.23.2024

  Episode 182: Making a Scene - Louisiana in the Movies

  Louisiana was the location for the very first Tarzan movie, back in 1917 when actor Elmo Lincoln swung from the trees near Morgan City where the Atchafalaya Swamp played the role of Africa. Louisiana has produced many more settings including...

  
• 05.16.2024

  Episode 181: Steve Gleason - A Story of Heroism and Hard Hits, As Told By Sports Writer Jeff Duncan

  No sports figure represent mores of an emotional tug of war than Steve Gleason. It was he that, on the glorious night in 2006 when the New Orleans Saints returned to the Superdome after being away for a season because...

  
• 05.09.2024

  Episode 180: Clerical Sex Scandals – The Latest

   Ramon Vargas, a former reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and now an editor/reporter for the London-based publication The Guardian, has for several years been covering sex scandals mostly between adult educator authority figures and school age youth. Most of...

  
• 05.02.2024

  Episode 179: Kid-Friendly – Fantasies of a Children's Book Author

  Don’t you hate it when three alligator brothers will not listen to each other when trying to find a safe place to build a home? The reason: Well, two of the brothers, Bumpy and Lumpy, ignore the other brother, Stumpy,...

  
• 04.25.2024

  Episode 178: Anniversary of the World's Fair - Promises, Problems and Potential

  In 1984, New Orleans hosted the Louisiana World’s Exposition, known more simply as the world’s fair. Through the years the evaluations have been similar – the fair was financially challenging but the locals loved it. Peggy Scott Laborde, a producer for...

  
• 04.18.2024

  Episode 177: The Mysterious and The Benevolent - Those Secretive Men's Organizations

  Secretive Men’s organizations –º such as the Free Masons, Elks, Odd Fellows and many more – did not originate just for the sake of privacy. In many cases they had a social purposes such as providing health and security benefits...

  
• 04.11.2024

  Episode 176: Informed Sources - Stories From Four Decades of the News Beat

  Louisiana’s longest running weekly news TV program celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. During that time topics have included the Katrina recovery; the David Duke vs. Edwin Edwards gubernatorial runoff; a World’s Fair; the ups and downs of the economy;...

  
• 04.04.2024

  Episode 175: Words About Words with Editor Reine Dugas

  Words are for reading, but sometimes it is good to pause and have a word or two about words themselves: how they are used; where they have taken us. Louisiana Life magazine Editor Reine Dugas joins Louisiana Life’s Executive Editor...

  
• 03.28.2024

  Episode 174: A Department Store, a Sugar Refinery and the Man Who Founded Both

  Just having survived in New Orleans as a poor French Jewish immigrant was a major accomplishment for young Leon Godchaux. But having lived a life in his adopted city where he eventually opened his own department store, mastered the use...

  
• 03.21.2024

  Episode 173: Louisiana Through the Lens with John Lawrence

  Louisiana is a state full of images: the swamps, New Orleans, Mardi Gras, sunsets over the Gulf, shrimp boats, musicians and you can add a touch of Voodoo. Longtime curator for The Historic New Orleans Collection John Lawrence joins Louisiana Life...

  
• 03.14.2024

  Episode 172: Cultural Historian Explores Storyville and Prohibition

  Sally Asher is a historian, photographer and tour guide who specializes in the bawdy days of the early 20th century in New Orleans and the life and death of the Storyville bordello district. Asher joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde,...

  
• 03.07.2024

  Episode 171: Julius Rosenwald - A Saga of a Man and His Schools

  Even in the worst of times great stories about compassionate people emerge. Stories such as the case of Julius Rosenwald, who in the tense days pf the early 19th Century was concerned that kids from African American families in the South...

  
• 02.29.2024

  Episode 170: Warren Bell's Search for Buried History

  As a former TV news anchor, Warren Bell reported news of the day. Now in retirement, Bell is discovering news from the past and his sources are archives and cemeteries. Bell joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with...

  
• 02.22.2024

  Episode 169: Making Headlines – The Evolution of Louisiana's Newspapers

  Louisiana has always been known as a great state for news. The news itself my not have always been great but the flow of reporting on the politics, disaster, lifestyles and good times within a multi-cultural state has been continuous....

  
• 02.15.2024

  Episode 168: Rubensteins - A Place to Shop and Now a Place to Stay

  Rubensteins New Orleans has always been a place to shop for quality clothes. Now, the New Orleans business provides a quality place to stay. Located at Canal Street and St. Charles Avenue, Rubensteins has long shown a commitment to the...

  
• 02.08.2024

  Episode 167: A Conversation Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club President Elroy James

  This week's episode is a crossover with sister podcast "Beyond the Beads" from New Orleans Magazine. Since the early 20th Century, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club has been a prominent figure in Carnival culture. From the meeting of...

  
• 02.01.2024

  Episode 166: Slithering in the Swamps - Captain Caviar John Burke's Cajun Encounters

  John Burke knows about swamps. He spends time living close to the Atchafalaya swamp near Patterson, Louisiana. Earlier in his career  he was involved in a business of making caviar from the roe of the choupique, a  native fish whose...

  
• 01.25.2024

  Episode 165: Michael Hecht - Making the Region Stronger

  Why are people from Louisiana leaving? Well, not all of them are, but there has been a subtle decline enough to make people wonder. “Jobs” is usually the answer, but there is some good news for the future, including in...

  
• 01.18.2024

  Episode 164: Dennis Woltering's Search for Local Breakthrough Ideas

  Dennis Woltering had a long and distinguished career as the nightly news anchor on WWL tv, Ch. 4. Since retiring, he is still frequently in front of a camera and has lots of stories to tell. Acting as an independent producer,...

  
• 01.11.2024

  Episode 163: What is the Data Telling Us? With Demographer Allison Plyer

  There are lots of questions raised by numbers; fortunately, many answers have been found. Allison Plyer, chief demographer for the New Orleans-based Data Center, looks at both sides including analyzing why Louisiana’s population is declining and why there is still a...

  
• 01.04.2024

  Episode 162: Stanley Dry - A Legacy of Food Writing

  Arguably, no one knows Louisiana food better than Stanley Dry. Having served 21 years of writing the food column for Louisiana Life – as well as having been a contributor to national publications including Food & Wine, Travel + Leisure, The...

  
• 12.21.2023

  Episode 161: Building a Great Museum - Founding CEO Tracks Evolution of National WWII Museum

  Gordon “Nick” Mueller once had a conversation with Stephen Ambrose, a history professor colleague at the University of New Orleans. What Ambrose had to say would make history itself. He proposed a project to build a museum focused on the...

  
• 12.14.2023

  Episode 160: Exploring Louisiana's Literary Scene

  Louisiana has a rich literary history. All authors conduct interviews as part of their craft, but only one wondered what it would be like to interview a vampire. As another Louisiana author, Kate Chopin, might have said about Anne Rice’s...

  
• 12.07.2023

  Episode 159: The Artistry and History of Louisiana's Capitol

  When driving into Baton Rouge, one can be amazed by the object in the distance that looks like a rocket ship on a launch pad about to take off. The building, of course, is the state capitol, the tallest of...

  
• 11.30.2023

  Episode 158: Food Writer Jessica Harris Links African and American Influences

  Jessica Harris has twice won James Beard Foundation awards, including one for Lifetime achievement. Rather than just being in the kitchen, she has proved herself to be especially skilled at blending sentences and paragraphs and then seasoning the mix with...

  
• 11.16.2023

  Episode 157: Caring for Mike the Tiger

  Suppose your job is to take care of a tiger – a real tiger with jaws and claws and that is physically fit. David G. Baker is a veterinarian who for several year had the responsibility of overseeing the most...

  
• 11.09.2023

  Episode 156: From Doom to Bloom – a Tale of City Park's Disaster and Stunning Revival

  One of the great green spaces in America is New Orleans’ City Park. In 2005, the flood waters from Hurricane Karina turned it into a gray space that was muddied, overcome with fallen trees, deprived of joy and hope. Robert...

  
• 10.19.2023

  Episode 155: Sallie Ann Glassman Conjures Día de los Muertos

  Who better to talk about the Day of the Dead celebration than a Vodou priestess? Also known as  Día de los Muertos, the celebration has different roots than Vodou, which worked its way through Haiti. It is also Hispanic in...

  
• 10.12.2023

  Episode 154: A Haunting She Will Go – Author Barbara Sillery

  Barbara Sillery has her favorite haunts, not just to visit but to write about. She has written several books about hauntings including in Louisiana, Mississippi (as well as its Delta country), Cape Cod and Nantucket. Sillery joins Louisiana Life Executive...

  
• 10.05.2023

  Episode 153: Shreveport's Worst Year - Tragedy, Survival and Saintliness

  In 1873, though little known throughout the state, the Shreveport area suffered one of the greatest tragedies in Louisiana history. The region faced what is recorded as the third largest Yellow Fever epidemic in the nation’s history. In the course...

  
• 09.28.2023

  Episode 152: Jim Brown - Former State Politico Has Stories to Tell

  Jim Brown has had quite a career including terms as Louisiana’s Secretary of State; Insurance Commissioner and a state senator. He is also a publisher, a columnist and a font of knowledge about the state and its politics. Brown joins Louisiana...

  
• 09.14.2023

  Episode 151: Nick Spitzer Explores the Rhythm of America

  Millions of people listen to music on the radio. Over a half million people listen to radio each week to hear Nick Spitzer talk about music. Spitzer’s pioneering broadcast American Routes is way more than a D.J. spinning songs but a weekly two-hour...

  
• 09.07.2023

  Episode 150: Executive Action - The Presidency and New Orleans

  A teenager named Abraham Lincoln was once part of the crew of a packet boat bringing goods downriver to New Orleans. As they approached the city they camped on the river banks up shore from New Orleans. There were rough...

  
• 08.31.2023

  Episode 149: Commanding From the Palace's Kitchen

  Whenever polls are taken of Louisiana’s most popular restaurants Commander’s Palace in New Orleans is usually near or at the top. That’s quite an accomplishment for a state already known for its great restaurants. Ti Martin, co-proprietor of Commander’s Place, and...

  
• 08.24.2023

  Episode 148: When the Cajundome Helped Save Southeast Louisiana

  There are thousands of hurricane stories. Some stories are tragic, others are heroic and many are truly compelling, especially for podcast listening. A documentary recently released by Louisiana Public Broadcasting, the statewide public broadcast system, entitled “Cajundome City” tells the...

  
• 08.17.2023

  Episode 147: Shreveport Little Theatre Maker of Dreams

  Remember the comedian George Carlin? In 1958, when he was an airman at nearby Barksdale Air Force Base, his first appearance on a stage was in Shreveport. Carlin was the star of the Shreveport Little Theatre’s production of “The Happiest...

  
• 08.10.2023

  Episode 146: Molly Kimball – The Feat of Being Fit

  There are two things, among many, that we all need to do – eat, and be fit. The problem is that sometimes doing one contradicts the other. Fortunately, there are some dietitian who keep and eye on that sort of thing and...

  
• 08.03.2023

  Episode 145: A Design Masterpiece – Exploring the Louisiana Children's Museum

  If you confuse the Louisiana Children’s Museum for a boat permanently docked alongside a small bay that is understandable. The museum, located in New Orleans’ City Park, is a masterpiece of whimsical design and learning creativity. It is as much...

  
• 07.27.2023

  Episode 144: Tony Canzoneri - New Orleans to New York

  New Orleans was once a fertile area for developing championship boxers. Mainly because of the large Italian immigration many of the boys who came from poor families and grew up in tough neighborhoods were attracted to boxing. Not only were...

  
• 07.20.2023

  Episode 143: Farming in the Neighborhood

  Who would have thought that there would be a working farm on Jackson Avenue right in the heart of Uptown amid the mansions and the magnolias? Well, there is, and it is more than tomato plants stuck in the ground...

  
• 07.13.2023

  Episode 142: A Louisiana Dolphin Rescue Story

  When hurricanes rumble from the Gulf, the high winds and storm surges sometimes re-locate unwilling sea mammals into surrounding land masses and waterways. That happened after Hurricane Ida in 2021, which displaced a dolphin into a bay near Grand Isle.  While...

  
• 07.06.2023

  Episode 141: Billy Nungesser - Lt. Gov. Takes on Diversion Projects and Global Tourism

  In 2010, during the time that Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser was Plaquemines Parish’s President, the BP Oil Spill took place. He became immersed in the issue, so much that the national media referred to him as the “Face of the...

  
• 06.29.2023

  Episode 140: The Upstairs Lounge, A Fire in the Vieux Carré

  Fifty years ago there was a tragic fire in New Orleans’s French Quarter at a bar with a largely gay clientele called the Upstairs Lounge. There were 32 deaths. Documentary maker Royd Anderson joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along...

  
• 06.22.2023

  Episode 139: Stanley Dry - Stirring It Up With The Kitchen Gourmet

  If the subject is restaurants don’t call Stanley Dry; if the subject is kitchens, then he’s your man. Dry is the long time writer of the “Kitchen Gourmet” column for Louisiana Life magazine. He has also authored cookbooks; two of...

  
• 06.15.2023

  Episode 138: Discoveries in Our Geography – Views from Richard Campanella

  We learn history for several perspectives including political, social and military, but to really understand a place and the influences that shaped it, we need to hear from a geographer as well. Richard Campanella, a Tulane University research professor, combines...

  
• 06.08.2023

  Episode 137: Monroe Doctrine with Mayor Friday Ellis

  One person who most identifies a city is its mayor. There are council members, legislators, judges, sheriffs and police chiefs, but it's the mayor who usually, for better or worse, is in the best position to direct the future. Friday Ellis,...

  
• 06.01.2023

  Episode 136: Robert Mann, Huey Long and LSU

  LSU is known for its achievements on the playing field and in the classroom, but before any of that could happen there were political battles and maneuvers to grow the university and to make it nationally prominent. Chief among the...

  
• 05.25.2023

  Episode 135: Perique - The "Only in Louisiana" Crop

  There is a crop that is grown here in Louisiana that is not found anywhere else in the world. Even in Louisiana it is a rarity sprouting from the ground in only one parish. Perique tobacco has been cultivated in...