Unscripted: the NolaPapa Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Oh my goodness this episode is FUN you guys. If you have followed along with our show long enough, you'll know that your Papa loves all things paranormal.  Well, I do until... I don't. It can get too wild even for me!  However, this episode is packed with fascinating stories of the  unique gifts that others have within them... diving deeper than ghost hunting.   This wee...

Send us Fan Mail Today we welcome Author Tripp Friedler to talk about his immensely powerful memoir about a father dealing with his son's crippling disorder- in a world that doesn't even understand it. The Tunnel is a father's memoir about a family's odyssey through the world of serious mental illness. It is a story about the battles Friedler's son Henry fought with his pa...

Send us Fan Mail Wow. Wow. Wow! What an episode! I am so grateful!  For YEARS, literally over a decade I watched Lucy Bustamante on WWL news as she and her co-anchor, Mike Hoss presented the daily or nightly news. Their chemistry and ability to not only deliver the news like normal, but their respect for each other along with their bits of personality would bubble over through the camera. Their sm...

Send us Fan Mail That summer break went by faster than my patience inside our RV in the middle of the summer desert- with 3 kids! For real!  We had an awesome camping vacation to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, and then to Zion. It was breathtaking. I have a new found respect for the American SouthWest. Being able to witness it with my family and to see my kids' reaction was the best part.  B...

Send us Fan Mail Our Mid Season Finale is coming in hot! Just like the heat and humidity. I was saving this segment of NolaPapa Eats for the summertime!  Cajun Chef Jarred Zeringue, owner of Wayne Jacobs Smokehouse in Laplace, Louisiana has been smoking hot for almost 100 years!  From gumbo to crawfish to their amazing smoked aundoille and hot dogs, once you try it, you will not go without it!  Ch...

Send us Fan Mail Hurricane Season SUCKS. I am just putting that out there! There is SO much more added to all of our plates during these 5 months of  the year. From our own check lists for water and supplies to making claims to your insurance AFTER a storm. It is incredibly suffocating.  But it is all about order. Keeping your lists organized and safe will keep your head on straight.  Our friends...

Send us Fan Mail Hurricane Season has hit again, folks. Air as wet as a soggy blanket mixed with temperatures that'd make many melt before even stepping outside.  Adding to the uncomfortable mixture is the time of year that we all despise. Especially this season, with a whopping 25 Named storms- most in history!  So as we take a breath and get ready,  pediatric psychologist from Ochsner Child...

Send us Fan Mail From the conception of this podcast, I wanted to have a partnership with a local New Orleans Law Firm. I wanted to find a firm that would align with me and my family's values while also  becoming regular guests to talk about REAL life scenarios in the legal world.  From car accidents and beyond! The more we listen, the more our confidence GROWS. Especially behind the wheel. ...

Send us Fan Mail Look. I love New Orleans as much or more than some. She has her beauties and she has her nightmares. I don’t really know how to address this except to address it head on. My husband is a specialist psychiatrist and we cannot keep up with inflation of everything. I’m coming to you very vulnerable right now. I have built a brand around the city that I love so much.  Property taxes t...

Send us Fan Mail May is National Foster Care Awareness Month . It is a time to acknowledge the 463,000 American children and youth in foster care and the family members, foster caregivers, volunteers, mentors, child welfare professionals, and policymakers who help children and youth find permanent homes and connections.   Today we welcome back our partners and friends over at ComfortCases.org.  Th...

Send us Fan Mail If you have not gathered by now, I really love local news anchors and journalists. From a kid until now, I love following along with different ones. I remember as a boy there was this one news lady named Jean Burns back home on WDAM in Hattiesburg, Ms. Holy Smokes.  She was a knock out. And her name was so French like. I was smitten. Imagine my reaction when my little sister won a...

Send us Fan Mail I thought it was pretty difficult to find a mom as awesome as mine. I realized that as much as I love my own mama, there are totally moms out there that deserve to tell their own stories. My own mother's story of resilience and strength gives me motivation every single day.  With this thought I pondered, What Mothers can I find for this show? To be completely honest, I had a...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode  is sparkling like Sunset Blvd y’all. She's twinkly like the lights in the Los Angeles cityscape... especially  when looking out from the canyons.   That feeling that I had almost 20 years ago still sits with me.  I cannot believe it has been 20 years since I found myself a refugee from New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina.  That time was one of the s...

Send us Fan Mail April is National Autism Acceptance Month and who better to learn from than an Ochsner Children's Hospital professional?  This week I am happy to welcome Caroline Turner, LMSW - Licensed Master Social Worker at  at Michael R. Boh Center for Child Development. ( Over on Jeff Highway!)  Caroline dives in with us to explain to me exactly what is Autism Spectrum disorder? How do...

Send us Fan Mail I have ALWAYS loved to watch those ghost shows on the television . Man oh Man. Talk about something that fascinates me. It's the unknown. The mysteriousness. The fright! Yall know from time to time, Papa goes after some of these investigators. I want to learn! After all, what is the the harm of a little haunted fun?  Well, that being said, I found the MOST POPULAR ghost hunte...

Send us Fan Mail Y'all.  I had to adjust my hat for this one.  Mayor Marc Morial will be celebrating his 30'th anniversary of not only becoming mayor of New Orleans  but following in his father's footsteps by being one of the First  African American Mayors. Not only that but at the time he was the youngest in history!  At 35 years old, he implemented a new way of leading. He brought...

Send us Fan Mail I love it when I find chefs and restaurants that not only push out the best dishes you can imagine, but also, lead by example.   In a perfect world, a restaurant would open it's doors and just cook for it's guests.   But unfortunately, that isn't the way the world works.   In the span from  dusk to dawn, a guest's life can change in an instant.  A hurricane, a...

Send us Fan Mail Emergencies can happy out of nowhere! Especially when you have a kid... even more when you have children.  I learned quickly as each of our kids were born that situations can go south really fast. I remember as a new parent how scared I would get when our first newborn baby would act differently.  That is why I thought it would be helpful to create a brand new segment that allows...

Send us Fan Mail Sandpiper Vacations has been a sponsor for NolaPapa.com from the beginning and I am so thrilled that the owner, Nick Bryan is back to share the latest in what is happening in the world of vacationers.  This week he is here to introduce us all to the biggest, grandest, most gigantic cruise ship in the world!  The brand new, state of the art cruise ship, Icon of the Seas is a record...

Send us Fan Mail   Relationships with people are an easy indicator of how far our own pages have turned.   When I first came to New Orleans, I snuck off from my friends and went to the "other" side of Bourbon Street.   Down on the opposite end stood the gay clubs and everything else that came along with them. There was an energy around that I had never experienced before. I knew in those...

Send us Fan Mail Last season, you may remember the local documentary called Dirty Dogs.  The director, Ty Turner sat down and blew our mind! A 50 year old ordinance in New Orleans had allowed the local staple, Lucky Dogs the exclusive vendor inside the French Quarter.  For HALF A CENTURY, this push cart brand has essentially had a monopoly in one of the oldest neighborhoods in America.  Not anymor...

Send us Fan Mail Did you know that February is National Heart Month? To help remember,  just think of a HEART for Valentine's Day! I am so thrilled to welcome back Pediatric Cardiologist, David Weiland.  From  *Congenital heart defects (which heart complications baby is born with)  And then *Acquired heart defects come later in life. It is up to us as parents to KNOW THE SIGNS. It also up to...

Send us Fan Mail It's Mardi Gras Baby!! Gosh this escalated quickly!  No where in the country will you find the cultural electricity that New Orleans has oozing from her streets that rises up to each ironclad balcony!  The Live Oaks all slip into a little something a little more flashy-  bedazzled and sparkling like  fancy ladies decked out for a Broadway show.  Experiencing what Mardi Gras i...

Send us Fan Mail Each year I track down and invite many people that I find inspiring to our podcast.  From Hollywood to New Orleans, I look for trailblazers, trendsetters, and warm, compassionate humans that help to make a difference in our crazy world.  This week I am super excited to have the one and only GENIE from Broadway's hit musical, Aladdin!  Michael James Scott joins me to talk abou...

Send us Fan Mail I knew as our new season was about to premiere that one of my own favorite artists ever, Terrance Osborne was the most PERFECT guest. SO, I set my sights on him hoping and keeping all the optimistic vibes that he revealed himself  as our season 4 guest! And as life would have it, Here he is in the flesh! Today, Terrance Osborne sits down with me to talk about everything from his b...