There are many stories to be told about Louisiana’s Cajun culture; most joyous, a few heartbreaking, all part of a lifestyle that has flourished in southern Louisiana. Conni Castille, a ULL documentarian who has specialized in chronicling Acadiana, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to talk about the virtue of rice and gravy, properly ironed shirt collars, celebrating on horseback and, to the contrary, even a diseases that has afflicted some Cajun families.

Oh yes, we will also hear a tempting recipe that includes boudin and Steen’s syrup.

One of the biggest honors given to any magazine is to be named “Magazine of the Year,” especially by a national trade organization. Well, ahem!, Acadiana Profile, Louisiana Life magazine’s sister publication, was recently named Magazine of the Year (in the bountiful 37,000 or leas circulation category) by IRMA, the International Regional Magazine Association. Not only that, but Louisiana Life was also named as one of the finalists. The award was announced at the group’s recent convention in Ottawa, Canada. Melanie Spencer, both magazine's managing editor, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to discuss behind the scenes in regional magazines and the making of a nationally ranked publication.

Oh yes, we will also hear about a controversial cover and a British judge’s thoughts about it.

Whenever early education is the topic, charter schools are always part of the discussion. This is especially true in New Orleans, which has the only all charter public school system in the nation.

J. Celeste Lay an Associate Professor of Political Science at Tulane University joins Errol Laborde, Executive Editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to discuss her book, “Public Schools, Private Governance: Education Reform and Private Governance in New Orleans.” The book raises serious question about charter schools in general and is a good text for learning more about education and politics.

Oh yes, we will also hear about the impact that Hurricane Karina had on public education.

New Orleanian Tom Sancton is a master of the clarinet as well as an accomplished journalist, having served as Paris Bureau Chief for Time Magazine.

Sancton joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to talks about his fascinating career on stage and behind the keyboard, as well as recall a life lived in two dream cities: Paris and New Orleans.

Oh yes, we will also hear about “The Last Baron,” his latest book about the kidnapping of a French aristocrat and about his acquaintance with a former French President who had New Orleans experiences.

Here is the amazing story of how the pecan, as we would come to know it, was transformed from being a lowly nut that grew wild in the south to becoming a finely developed food source. All of this was because of an enslaved person who was the gardener at Oak Alley Plantation and who developed an expertise at grafting. Historian Katy Morlas Shannon joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about the discoveries from her fascinating new book “Antoine of Oak Alley.”

Oh yes, we will also hear about slave laws and how Louisiana differed from some other southern states.

A favorite topic of many podcast listeners is food; a second favorite topic is drink. Y’all are in luck. This episode’s guest is an expert on both. Liz Williams, a founder of the Southern Food & Beverage Museum and President of the National Food & Beverage Foundation, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about culinary history including the South’s unique contributions on the plate and in the tumbler.

Oh yes, we will also hear the secret to the best day- after Thanksgiving leftover gumbo ever.

We know that the Acadians were exiled from Nova Scotia, but why did so many settle in Louisiana? Was it because of the crawfish, the swamp, the alligators or the duck hunting? No, it was because of cattle and the Acadians' expertise at raising herds. Félix Martín Antonio Navarro, who from 1783 to 1788 was an official with the Spanish administration that governed Louisiana, convinced the king to allow land grants to Acadian settlers. Historian Robert Hicks, who has spent years studying Navarro, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to talk about the man he refers to as “Louisiana’s Greatest Humanitarian.”

Oh yes, we will also hear about a Catholic Priest whose 1955 book revived Navarro’s name as part of Louisiana history.

You would think if you were a former Secretary of States, insurance Commissioner, state senator and candidate for governor you could get good attention in a public hospital. That was not the case in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis when Jim Brown had to battle both a virus and a hospital staff that was still learning how to handle the onslaught of patients. Brown joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about learning to prepare for a health crisis.

Oh yes, we will also hear some good old fashion talk about current Louisiana politics.

Alecia Long, an LSU historian and author of the book “The Great Southern Babylon: Sex, Race and Respectability on New Orleans, 1865-1920,” joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to talk about the risqué side of early urban life. Oh yes, we will also hear about her latest book linking former Orleans Parish D. A. Jim Garrison's investigation of the Kennedy assassination as an alleged sex crime.

Ask Bob Marshall what the article was for which he won his Pulitzer Prize and he will politely respond, "which one?" Marshall has been on the winning side for two group Pulitzers each reporting on environmental issues for the Time-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate.

Fortunately, on matters of ecological issues, Louisiana needs such aggressive watchdogs. The lush waterways and wetlands that make the state so wondrous are also vulnerable to being tested by nature.

Marshall joins Louisiana Life magazine Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to talk about climate change in Louisiana including long-range predictions. (Hint: It’s not good.)

Oh yes, we will also hear about how far inland a new Louisiana coastline could be one day.