Louisiana Insider

A levee’s riverside is called a batture. For a few hearty souls it is also called “home.” Author Macon Fry lives in a camp on a batture at the edge of Orleans Parish. He has been chronicling stories of people who live so near the water they can sometime feel the wave action through their floor. Fry, who once canoed down the entire Mississippi River, has stories to tell about life as a “river rat’...

Louisiana has always had some dry parishes where booze was limited by local law, but the state and especially New Orleans did not take too well to the period from 1920 through 1933, when alcohol sales was curtailed nationwide. Prohibition was a raucous era with colorful characters, hot jazz and behind the doors activity. Author Sally Asher joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life ,...

What does it mean when the top 10 movies set in Louisiana are discussed, two of them have the word “Easy” in the title? After much discussion, we have concluded that it is probably only a coincidence because the competition is tough. Film critic Alfred Richard joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life , along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, in a lively conversation to reveal hi...

For many, the image of Jewish settlements in the United States have been mostly on the East Coast and in major cities. However, there has long been a Jewish population spread across the South and in rural areas. Dating back to the 1700s, some of the earliest Jewish settlers were peddlers selling their wares to eagerly awaiting customers across the landscape. Executive Director of the Museum of the...

Br’er Rabbit was a trickster who loved to defy authority and who pulled his stunts throughout the South. He is known for finding seclusion in briar parches but in Louisiana, his spiritual home was Laura Plantation where former slaves told stories that traced back to their West African roots. Norman Marmillion, a co-owner of Laura Plantation (located near Vacherie, 39 miles up river from  New...

Don’t you just hate it when you’re walking in the yard of an old farmhouse and there is a ghost staring out the window? How about that strange noise some folks claim they have heard coming from the barn? And do you sometimes get the feeling that someone is looking over your shoulder only to turn and find no one there? Those are stories that Kenneth Brown, an archaeologist from the University of Ho...

Louisiana was one of the pioneering states at offering free healthcare to its citizens. And there were several state-run Charity hospitals, with the New Orleans facility being one of the largest in the nation.  James Ciaravella, a retired surgeon turned author, who spent several years at “Big Charity” joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly M...

Louisiana, we know, is the creation of many ethnic groups but one that doesn’t always get the credit it is due is the Sicilians. The port of New Orleans was the largest arrival point of migrants from the island off the Italian coast. The group would become very active in agriculture and also influential in food, music, politics and religious celebrations. Historian Justin Nystrom joins Errol Labor...

Imagine a Lieutenant leading a platoon through a French village during World War II. He has questions to ask the locals but everyone in his group only speaks English. What does he do? He calls for the soldier from French Louisiana to translate. Historian Jason Theriot joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life magazine, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to tell about his upc...

Imagine being Vice-President of the United States and having killed Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Imagine that later in his career the same person possibly committed sedition by trying to make the newly purchased Louisiana territory part of an independent empire. Imagine that this person gets off without any punishment and spends the last years of his life as a practicing...

What is the better fish for eating, red drum or red snapper? They’re both good but food writer Stanley Dry know the differences. Dry has a long list of credentials including being food editor for Louisiana Life magazine and the author of the hardback book “The Essential Louisiana Seafood Cookbook” published by the magazine. Seafood is the entire topic as Dry makes a return visit to the podcast. He...

Is Voodoo a religion or is it a way of life? According to Sallie Ann Glassman it is both. Glassman, who travelled to Haiti to study Vodou and to be initiated into the priesthood explains the complexities including the parallels with Roman Catholicism and certain saints. Glassman joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life , along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to talk about the...

Churches in the Black community are historically known as places where preachers preach with more fervor and where choirs rock the house with hand-clapping joy, hoping for better days. A documentary produced by Louisiana Public Broadcasting entitled, “Louisiana’s Black Church, the Politics of Perseverance,” examines religion in around the state. Executive producer Linda Midgett and producer and re...

It all began with the word “Acadian," which became Americanized to “Cajun” and then popularized to define life’s necessities including a two-step in Mamou and the spiciness of fried chicken. Join Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life , along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot as University of Louisiana at Lafayette professor and documentary maker Nathan Rabalais discusses his product...

One of the most powerful men in the history of what is now Louisiana was Jean Lafitte. At his peak, Laffite was a mixture of pirate king, Mafia Don and local hero. For as famous as he was there is still much mystery to the Lafitte story, including his place and year of death. North Carolina-based mother and daughter co-authors Ashley Oliphant and Beth Yarbrough join Errol Laborde, executive editor...

We know about the interstates and federal highways that lace the state, but there is a lot to be learned from exploring the old roads. Louisiana is rich with trails all of which have fascinating stories from the gulf coast to the state’s northern tip. Sharon Calcote, the director of the Louisiana Scenic Byways program, joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast pro...

Glen Pitre’s first film “Belizaire: the Cajun” (1986) starring Armand Assante was backed by Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute. Pitre would go on to have more successes, including “The Scoundrel’s Wife” (2002) starring Tatum O’Neal. Roger Ebert, the late film critic on the Chicago Sun-Times , described Pitre as a “legendary American regional director.” Pitre’s latest effort is “Mary, Queen of Vie...

Hardly anyone knows it, but the Louisiana-based Sazerac Company has become one of the top liquor brand distributors in the country. Plus, it operates the amazing new Sazerac House museum in New Orleans. Rhiannon Enlil, a historian for the museum, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to talk about the bounty from the bar and New Orleans’ c...

Where a bridge crosses the Mississippi River, connecting St. Francisville on one side and New Roads on the other, is a little like crossing the English Channel. There is the French culture on the New Roads side and a touch of English heritage in the St. Francisville vicinity. True, the Mississippi is a lot longer than the English Channel, but we’re just trying to make the point. There is a lot to...

Besides sending many of its best overseas, Louisiana played important roles in World War II including ship manufacturing, training and housing German POWs. Dwight Eisenhower even spent times here overseeing maneuvers. Louisiana is still part of the World War II story as it is home to the war’s national museum. Kim Guise, a curator for the museum, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde...

Spoiler alert!! The answer to the above question is that they are both among this year’s class of Louisianians of the Year. The two – Zydeco buff Herman Fuselier and teacher Nathalie Roy – are part of the nine selected this year by Louisiana Life magazine. Melanie Warner Spencer, the magazine’s managing editor, joins executive editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to ta...

They’re not all Cajuns nor are there any admirals in the bunch, but they have certainly experienced battles on the water and on the land. Rob Gaudet, the founder of the Cajun Navy, joins Louisiana Life executive editor Errol Laborde and podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about the group's rescue effort through high waters and cyclones including Hurricane Harvey in Houston and the storms that...

Cajuns are often associated with seafood, especially the crawfish, but in the prairie areas of south Louisiana, Cajuns are pork eater. Dixie Poche, author of the book the “Cajun Pig,” joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life magazine, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to savor the pork. Oh yes, they will also discuss the appeal of hog’s head cheese.

Not only have whiskey and rum long been shipped through the state’s ports but local bartenders have created classics such as the Sazerac and Huey Long’s favorite, the Ramos Gin Fizz. Tim McNally – an expert on cocktail history and the author of a new book about the Sazerac, along with Louisiana Life Magazine Executive Editor Errol Laborde and producer Kelly Massicot, provides a fun romp through th...

What is it like to own a plantation estate? Well, instead of worrying about the sugar harvest there is more concern about the tourist arrivals. It also helps to have a good eye for architecture, design and style. Kevin Kelly the owner of Houmas House and Gardens in Ascension Parish joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life magazine, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot on a ver...