Louisiana Insider

It is the true Public Enemy Number One. In Louisiana, cancer takes many victims but there is an advance guard providing research and treatments. Jasmyne Watts, a cancer support manager for the American Cancer Society, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about the top cancers in Louisiana and what is being done to overcome them. Oh...

Natchitoches, Louisiana is known for its quaint architecture, plus one building that is hip and cutting edge. The building, which now houses the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and the Northwest Louisiana History Museum, is so much of a discussion in the architecture world that it was featured on “How Did They Build That?” – a globe-trotting series on the Smithsonian Channel. Crowley native/New Orle...

Some of the state’s most interesting places were built for everyday people to do great things. There were the Rosenwald Schools built by a wealthy Southerner who, in the pre-Civil Rights days, wanted to provide settings for Black kids to have a better learning environment. A couple hundred were built in Louisiana each including classroom buildings and two houses for the teachers. Elsewhere, there...

Back in the bad old days, when racial segregation was the law, there were music entertainment clubs throughout the state to accommodate a Black-only crowd. Known as the “Chitlin' Circuit,” some of the biggest names in rhythm and blues, including Ray Charles and James Brown, made the trek from place to place. The swankiest of all the stops was the cleverly named Dew Drop Inn, located in New Orleans...

Bill Caragan fought two military-related battles in two different decades – and he was successful with both. The first can in the 1990s when Caragan's Louisiana National Guard Unit prepared to be shipped to Iraq as part of the effort to liberate Kuwait in what would become known as Operation Desert Storm. The second was in recent years to promote a monument in honor of those who fought in Operatio...

Louisiana’s movie business is rebounding and Alfred Richard knows the scene from inside and out – as a fan and as a participant. Richard, whose movie comments are heard weekly on New Orleans stations WWL-TV Ch. 4 and periodically as a special guest on public television WYES Ch. 12’s "Steppin’ Out" program, joins  Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly...

Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin is the largest river swamp in the country. It is filled with vegetation, birds, animals, reptiles (including alligators) and wonderment. Unfortunately, any place that is so ecologically precious also has its challenges, including keeping the water flowing through the proper channels. Ecologists Joseph Baustian and Bryan Piazza of the Nature Conservancy join Errol Labo...

Besides color, what is the difference between a brown bear and a black bear? And which are you most likely to find in Louisiana? How plentiful are feral pigs? Does Louisiana have more alligators than people? What’s the difference between a redfish and a red snapper? Chris Holmes has written several articles about the state’s wildlife for many outlets including for Louisiana Life. Holmes joins Erro...

In 1873, one of the worst Yellow Fever epidemics in the nation’s history swept through Shreveport. The then fledgling Archdiocese of Natchitoches recruited five priests from France to service the needy. All five died having known they would not return to their native country. Now there is a movement for the five to be canonized as saints. LSU-Shreveport Historian Cheryl White is a co-author of a b...

Jim Brown, former Louisiana Secretary of State, Insurance Commissioner and State Senator makes a return visit to the podcast and for good reason. He always has a lot of stories to tell. Brown joins Errol Laborde, Executive Editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to tell tales from his latest book, “My Louisiana Odyssey: A Memoir,” including a late night phone call from...

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 i...

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...

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, “...

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....

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...

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 hist...

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 al...

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, executiv...

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...

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 st...

Commercial radio in Louisiana reached a significant anniversary in 2022 as WWL in New Orleans celebrates its 100th year. The station, with its 50,000 watts of power, was designed to reach a national audience back in the days when radio stations were few. WWL’s news director Dave Cohen and Dominic Massa, executive vice president & COO at WYES New Orleans, who has written a book about local radi...

In the 1700s, when New Orleans was a fledgling city, the French overseers faced many problems including a severe shortage of women. Arrangements were made to send women from France who were perceived as being problematic to Louisiana for a new life. Joan DeJean, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and a native of Louisiana has conducted exhaustive research on who those women were brough...

If you're in Cajun Country around Mardi Gras time be careful when you cross the road, there might be some masked riders pursing chickens for a gumbo. Chance Henry joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to talk about the Courir de Mardi Gras tradition (he is a Capitaine), as well as Cajun Culture and Acadia Parish – for which he is the Polic...

There are few phrases that can sound as sad as “Orphan train” yet between 1854 and 1928 for thousands of kids who had experienced the fragile immigrant life and the slums of the east coast, the Orphan trains were a chance to experience a new life on farm lands and in rural American towns. Martha Aubert, President of the Opelousas-based Louisiana Orphan Train Museum and board member James Douget jo...

There is a place in Terrebonne Parish near the Gulf of Mexico known for its beautiful scenery, bountiful seafood and a population of indigenous people. It is also known for its fragile existence so near the water, as tested by Hurricane Ida. Ben Johnson, a producer for Louisiana Public Broadcasting, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde and podcast producer Kelly Massicot to discuss...