Bayoulands

On this day of love, we’re bringing you a conversation from season 4 to warm your heart. It’s an interview with Katie Durio, executive director of Stable-Spirit, a non-profit organization providing a very special kind of therapy in southeast Texas. Our thanks to Katie Durio and all of the horses we met at Stable-Spirit. You can follow them on Facebook and you can also find them online at stable-sp...

Happy 2022! We took a little break in December but we are back and ready to kick off a new year of conversations. In celebration of the 121st anniversary of Spindletop, we’re sharing a conversation which aired on the most recent episode of the Bayoulands radio series (Season 5, Episode 5): An interview with Troy Gray, Executive Director of the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum about the fasci...

Happy Hanukkah! For this episode, we’re sharing a recent interview with Dr. Laura Cochrane, Associate Professor and Coordinator of Art History and Visual Artsat Middle Tennessee State University in Murphreesboro, Tennessee. We spoke about her work to research and document the art and architectural significance of Temple Emanuel, a place of worship for the Jewish community of southeast Texas since...

For this episode, we’re celebrating National “Take a Hike Day” with a guided audio hike along the trails of Cattail Marsh in Beaumont, which originally aired on Bayoulands in 2017. The tour was led by Chris Draths from the Magnolia Garden Club.  Thanks to our guest and tour guide, Chris Draths. Cattail Marsh is located where Babe Zaharias Drive dead ends at the back of Tyrell Park in Beaumont...

For this episode, we’re sharing an extended cut of Jason Miller’s interview with author and archivist Penny Clark, who’s new book tells the story of Beaumont’s Civil Air Patrol during WWII.  Their conversation was featured on the most recent episode the Bayoulands radio series. You can hear the repeat broadcast of that episode featuring the Penny Clark interview plus much more on Sunday, Nove...

For this episode, we’re sharing an interview with Alana Inman, manager of the Sam Houston Regional Library and Research Center in Liberty, Texas. The interview was conducted on-site in 2018 as the Library prepared for the opening of its newly updated museum.  Our thanks to Alana Inman. The Sam Houston Regional Library is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 8am to 5pm. For more info visit:...

For this episode, we’re sharing a recent conversation between KVLU station manager Byron Balentine and the new president of Lamar University in Beaumont, Dr. Jaime Taylor. Our thanks to Dr. Jaime Taylor. This interview will also be included in Episode 4 of this season of the Bayoulands radio broadcast which will air on Sunday, October 24th at 5pm. If you enjoy the conversations shared in this podc...

For this episode, we’re sharing an extended cut of Jason Miller’s recent conversation with author Roger Wood. The interview was featured on episode 3 of this season of Bayoulands. Roger Wood’s book Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues is a detailed and extensive portrait of the Houston blues scene. For this interview, Jason and Roger focused on one of the major players in the Houston blues scene, the...

For this episode, we're sharing a conversation with Sarah Bellian from 2017. At the time, Sarah was the Curator for the Museum of the Gulf Coast in Port Arthur, Texas and had just unveiled a temporary exhibition exploring the underworld of vices in southeast Texas that led to the infamous James Commission in 1961. Although the exhibition is no longer on view, our discussion still offers some...

For this episode, we’re sharing conversation from the first season of Bayoulands when Jason Miller visited the Bridge City Chamber of Commerce to sit down with historian Charlotte Chiasson to discuss the history of the tallest bridge in Texas, the Rainbow Bridge. This historical landmark is still an impressive feat of architecture and engineering which endures today crossing the Neches River, link...

For this episode, we’re sharing a recent conversation Jason Miller had with Catholic Diocese of Beaumont Bishop David Toups. This interview was featured along with an audio tour of St Anthony Basilica on Episode 2 of season V of Bayoulands which aired on June 27, 2021 and will repeat on Sunday, July 25th at 5pm for those who would like to listen to the entire episode. Thanks to our guest Bish...

For this episode, we’re sharing a conversation with Oanh Ngo Usadi which first aired on the first episode of season V of Bayoulands earlier this year. Her memoir "Of Monkey Bridges and Banh Mi Sandwiches: from Saigon to Texas," recalls her life before and after the fall of Saigon, from exile in the Mekong Delta to refugee camps in Malaysia and the Philippines, and ultimately resettlement in Port A...

For this episode we’re sharing a set of interviews conducted in 2016 by our then assistant producer Jonathan Tippett for a feature on the history and restoration of the Orange Train Depot in Orange, Texas. First up is Jonathan’s conversation with Carrie Woliver, president and Founder of the Friends of the Orange Depot followed by two former Depot employees Robert Mitchell and Juanita Timberlake. T...

For this episode, we’re sharing an interview from the final episode of season 4 which aired earlier this year. Jason M. Miller had a nolstagic conversation with local artist Randy Welborn. Our thanks to Randy Welborn. You can find out more about his art at randywelborn.com. Bayoulands TALKS is produced in the studios of 91.3 KVLU Public Radio  in Beaumont, Texas by Shannon Harris and Jas...

For this episode, we’re sharing a conversation from the very first episode Bayoulands in 2016... an interview Jason M. Miller did with artist Stephanie Dwyer upon the unveiling of her bottle tree sculptures in the children’s garden at Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, Texas. Our thanks to artist Stephanie Dwyer. The children’s garden at Shangri La recently opened back up to...

For this episode we're sharing we’re sharing a conversation with local historian Ellen Rienstra about some of the immigrants who first settled southeast Texas including a largely forgotten settlement… the Kishi Colony. In 1982, an official Texas Historical Marker was dedicated at the site of the Kishi Colony near the intersection of FM 1135 and the Kishi irrigation canal seven miles southeast of V...

For this episode, we’re sharing a conversation between guest contributor Will Stark and artist and visionary architect Charlie Stagg. Best known for his 'Glass Bottle House' in Vidor, Texas, a domed cathedral built from repurposed bottles, cans, and cement, Stagg was also a drawer, painter, and sculptor who's spiraling DNA-Helix-like works have been displayed in museums and art installations all o...

For Episode 4, we're sharing an interview Jason M. Miller did with recording engineer, songwriter and musician Don Meehan upon his induction into the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame in 2017. For more information about the Gulf Coast Hall of Fame visit: museumofthegulfcoast.org. Bayoulands TALKS is produced in the studios of 91.3 KVLU Public Radio in Beaumont, Texas by Shannon Harris and Jason M. Mil...

For Episode 3, we're sharing an interview from one of our guest contributors, Micah Leigh. In January of 2020, Micah spoke with Janis Joplin biographer Holly George-Warren about the life and legacy of one of the most iconic female artists of our time. Holly George-Warren is an award winning author of 16 books including Janis: Her Life and Music. You can learn more about Holly at hollygeorgewarren....

For Episode 2, we're sharing an interview Shannon Harris did with preservationist and champion of the Big Thicket National Preserve Maxine Johnston. The interview was conducted in the fall of 2019 for a feature on Lamar University's homecoming festivities and later aired on the Bayoulands radio documentary series in 2020. To learn more about the Big Thicket National Preserve, go to: https://www.np...

For Episode 1, we're sharing an interview Jason M. Miller did with acclaimed animator, illustrator, author and film director Kelly Asbury in June of 2019 for the radio documentary series Bayoulands. The interview was conducted just one year before Kelly lost his years-long battle with cancer. Bayoulands TALKS is produced in the studios of 91.3 KVLU Public Radio in Beaumont, Texas by Shannon Harris...