Louisiana Insider – Details, episodes & analysis

You have heard of Basin Street and its blues? Well intersecting that street on the edge of New Orleans’ French Quarter is “Conti,” a street that was part of the neighborhood that gave Basin its reputation because of the surrounding Storyville red-light district.

Storyville has been closed since 1917 but now there is a great new museum that creates an immersive journey into the city’s, and the district’s, past.

Claus Sadlier, the owner/curator of the New Orleans Storyville Museum, joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, and podcast producer Kelly Massicot, to discuss the museum including its virtual visuals, holograms, videos, vintage photographs, narrations and artifacts. Sadlier is also a compelling storyteller with tales to tell about the district – including the music actually played in the bordellos. It wasn’t just the blues.

Presidential politics and energy expert Jay Hakes, a former University of New Orleans Political Science professor, has written a compelling new book about contemporary presidents and their response to environmental issues. He helped organize Jimmy Carter’s Louisiana campaign in 1976 and he would go on to manage the Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta for 13 years. As an energy expert, he spent time shaping energy policy for the state of Florida and, under Carter, headed the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Hakes joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde and podcast producer Kelly Massicot to discuss his latest book, “The Presidents and the Planet: Climate Change Science and Politics from Eisenhower to Bush,” published by LSU Press. The wide ranging discussion also includes shaping public opinion (such as the awareness of the dangers from second hand cigarette smoke) and the future of electric vehicles. It is high powered conversation.

Liz Williams dishes out information about food in several different servings. She is the founder of New Orleans’ Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFab). She has written books about food,  the latest being “So Fab Cookbook: Recipes from the Modern South,” and she writes a column about food for Louisiana Life magazine. She also has a podcast called “Tip of the Tongue," and she’s a magician in the kitchen. Williams joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with Producer Kelly Massicot, to talk about Southern food and what that term means today and answers questions such as: for gumbo –file or okra? What’s the difference Creole vs. Cajun? 

She also reveals what her menu would be if pressed to prepare the ultimate Louisiana meal and what is her favorite comfort food dish. Hint: It’s served with rice.

Angela Gregory was one of Louisiana’s greatest artists and among the least known. She is distinguished for having chiseled a reputation in a field long dominated by men – sculpturing. From the streets of turn-of-the-century New Orleans, where she grew up, to the Parisian studio where she honed her craft, Angela Gregory’s story is that of a woman before her time. Beginning with her interest in art at an early age, a film produced for Louisiana Publish Broadcasting explores Gregory’s studies at Newcomb College in New Orleans and at the studio of Auguste Rodin’s chief sculptor Antoine Bourdelle in Paris.

“At a time when women struggled to be taken seriously, Gregory married her mathematics skills with her love for art and architecture to create beauty in what she called ‘the ultimate lasting pieces of art," said Dorothy Kendrick, the film’s producer and writer, .

Kendrick, along with art historians Susan Hymel and Elizabeth Weinstein, join Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde and podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about Gregory’s career.

Oh yes, we will also hear about an exhibit and a documentary created to tell more of her story.

What exactly is the purpose of roux in a gumbo or stew? And how about those prepared roux mixes? Louisiana Life’s longtime food columnist and genius in the kitchen as well Stanley Dry ponders these question and others with Errol Laborde, Executive Editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot. They also talk top Louisiana seafood and meats.

Oh yes, we will also hear Dry reveal his favorite Louisiana-linked desserts.

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 yes, we will also hear about the importance of early diagnosis.

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 Orleans and New York resident architect Victor “Trey” Trahan joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about the ideas and problem-solving that allowed this building to rise.

Oh yes, we will also hear about the Louisiana Superdome, where Trahan is involved with the refurbishing.

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 were also churches and office buildings some deigned with an extra flourish, begging for re-use today. Brian Davis, the Executive Director for the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about the Trust’s latest endangered building list each with a great history.

Oh yes, we will also hear about a building that Davis personally helped save. He lives in it now.

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 on LaSalle Street. There were big name entertainers, including a few female impersonators, plus a bar, food and dancing; and even a hotel. After passage of the Civil Rights bill there were more options for Black people. Some of the old clubs lost their following and fell into disrepair. The good news is that the Dew Drop Inn is making a comeback. Developer Curtis Doucette joins Errol Laborde, Executive Editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about his efforts to revive the Dew Drop and make it better than ever.

Oh yes, we also hear about Drag Queen master of ceremonies Patsy Vidalia and her unique presence.

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 Operation Desert Storm. The monument’s site in Washington, D.C. was recently dedicated and now under construction. Caragan joins Errol Laborde, Executive Editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about the war and the evolution of a monument.

Oh yes, we will also hear about why being an artillery unit’s forward observer is one of the toughest jobs in the military.