237. Omar el Akkad, part 1

237. Part 1 of our interview with Omar el Akkad. American War is the first novel by Canadian-Egyptian journalist Omar El Akkad. It is set in a near-future United States of America ravaged by climate change in which a second Civil War has broken out over the use of fossil fuels. The story is told by Benjamin Chestnut about his aunt Sarat, and is told through narrative chapters interspersed with fictional primary documents collected by the narrator.

1. This week in Louisiana history. November 2, 1981. Britney Spears born in Kentwood, Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. December 2, 1981,  the Rolling Stones checked into Royal Orleans hotel. Mick Jagger's paramour, Jerry Hall, was by his side. He was 38 years old.  After they dined at Broussard's, along with the band's financial adviser Prince Rupert Loewenstein, they strolled the French Quarter. A local writer who interviewed Jagger was quite taken by his diamond-studded right incisor.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Christmas on Caddo Fireworks Festival
   December 2nd, 2017
   Earl G. Williamson Park
   11425 LA Hwy. 1,
   Oil City, LA 71061
   318-631-0182
   Website
   Earl G. Williamson Park
   Fireworks festival on Caddo Lake with local entertainment, concessions, clowns, family fun and Santa, who gives a gift to every child. Booths open at 3:30 p.m. Fireworks at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.
4. Postcards from Louisiana. Bruce listens to the Big Dixie Swingers on Frenchman Street in New Orleans.

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236. Matt Karp. "This Vast Southern Empire."

236. This week, we interview Matt Karp about his book, This Vast Southern Empire. For pro slavery leaders like John C. Calhoun and Jefferson Davis, the nineteenth-century world was torn between two hostile forces: a rising movement against bondage, and an Atlantic plantation system that was larger and more productive than ever before. In this great struggle, southern statesmen saw the United States as slavery’s most powerful champion. Overcoming traditional qualms about a strong central government, slaveholding leaders harnessed the power of the state to defend slavery abroad.

1. This week in Louisiana history. November 26, 1729. Natchez Indians killed 300 Frenchmen at Ft. Rosalie.
2. This week in New Orleans history. November 25, 1985 - Saints head coach O.A. (Bum) Phillips resigned as his son, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, was named interim head coach, the 9th head coach in Saints' history
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Sounds of the Season with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra
   November 26th, 2017
   3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
   St Peters Church
   108 St Peter St.,
   New Iberia, LA 70560
   337-364-1603
   Website
   St Peters Church
   Free Christmas concert by the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra presented by Iberia Cultural Resources Association, featuring familiar Christmas songs as well as classical sections.
4. Postcards from Louisiana. Sarah Rose Marie, singer at Loosen the Bible Belt in Shreveport, November 6, 2017.

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235. Johnette Downing, part 2

235. Part 2 of our interview with Johnette Downing. Johnette is a New Orleans multi-award winning musician, singer and author presenting Louisiana Roots concerts and author visits for children, as well as keynotes and workshops for educators globally. Dedicated to celebrating childhood, nurturing cultural exchanges and fostering literacy through her music and books, Johnette has performed in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, Central America, North America and the Caribbean. Johnette’s presentations speak to a child’s interests in an engaging, interactive, thought-provoking, educational, entertaining and culturally respectful way; earning her a reputation for being the “Musical Ambassador to Children” and the “Pied Piper of Louisiana Music Traditions.”

1. This week in Louisiana history. November 20, 1829. U.S. Army established western boundary defense post on Lake Charles.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Isaac W. Patton became the 39th mayor of New Orleans on November 18, 1878.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Minden’s Old World Christmas Lights Spectacular
   November 18th, 2017 - January 5th, 2018
   5:00 pm - 12:00 pm
   Holiday Trail of Lights
   520 Broadway,
   Minden, LA 71055
   318-377-4240 | 800-264-6336
   Website | Email
   Holiday Trail of Lights
   The City of Minden kicks off this regional holiday event in historic downtown Minden on November 19 with fireworks at dusk. The switch will be flipped to illuminate thousands of Christmas lights throughout the city beginning the Old World Christmas Lights Spectacular. Over 100 life-size nutcrackers will be on display. Shop and restaurants open nightly. Historic homes decorated for tours.
4. Postcard from Louisiana. Bruce shops at a table in Jackson Square run by a woman named Kitty and a cat named Gannicus.

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Kitty and Gannicus

234. Johnette Downing, part 1

234. Part 1 of our interview with Johnette Downing. Johnette is a New Orleans multi-award winning musician, singer and author presenting Louisiana Roots concerts and author visits for children, as well as keynotes and workshops for educators globally. Dedicated to celebrating childhood, nurturing cultural exchanges and fostering literacy through her music and books, Johnette has performed in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Europe, Central America, North America and the Caribbean. Johnette’s presentations speak to a child’s interests in an engaging, interactive, thought-provoking, educational, entertaining and culturally respectful way; earning her a reputation for being the “Musical Ambassador to Children” and the “Pied Piper of Louisiana Music Traditions.”

“Today is Monday.
Today is Monday.
Monday red beans
All you lucky children
Come and eat it up!”

1. This week in Louisiana history. November 12, 1977. Ernest Nathan Morial was elected the first black mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Actor Nicholas Cage's property, the LaLaurie house ("Most Haunted House in America") named for former owner Delphine LaLaurie who mistreated her slaves, was foreclosed and sold at auction on November 12, 2009.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Southern Soul Food Showdown
   November 11th, 2017
   Mon Ami
   7304 Hwy 90 E,
   Jeanerette, LA 70544
   337-365-8185
   Website
   Finger licking Southern Soul Food cook-off. Family-oriented food festival, fais-do-do, arts and crafts, refreshments and more. Held annually on the second Saturday in November.

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233. Jeroen Dewulf, part 2

233. Part 2 of our interview of Jeroen Dewulf. Jeroen has a new book about New Orleans, From the Kingdom of Kongo to Congo Square: Kongo Dances and the Origins of the Mardi Gras Indians. Jeroen presents a provocatively new interpretation of one of New Orleans’s most enigmatic traditions—the Mardi Gras Indians. By interpreting the tradition in an Atlantic context, Dewulf traces the “black Indians” back to the ancient Kingdom of Kongo and its war dance known as sangamento. Enslaved Kongolese brought the rhythm, dancing moves, and feathered headwear of sangamentos to the Americas in performances that came to be known as “Kongo dances.” By comparing Kongo dances on the African island of São Tomé with those in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Louisiana, Dewulf demonstrates that the dances in New Orleans’s Congo Square were part of a much broader Kongolese performance tradition. He links that to Afro-Catholic mutual-aid societies that honored their elected community leaders or “kings” with Kongo dances. While the public rituals of these brotherhoods originally thrived in the context of Catholic procession culture around Epiphany and Corpus Christi, they transitioned to carnival as a result of growing orthodoxy within the Church.

1. This week in Louisiana history. November 4, 1811. The Territory of Orleans met for the Constitution Convention preceeding statehood.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Buddy Bolden Dies. November 4, 1931. Regarded by contemporaries as a key figure in the development of the New Orleans style of rag-time music which evolved into jazz, cornetist Charles Joseph "Buddy" Bolden's sound was never recorded but his horn was said to have been heard across the Mississippi River clear from Algiers.  Known for erratic behavior and as a heavy drinker, he was committed to Jackson State Asylum in 1907 after an altercation with his mother-in-law in their home.  He passed away on November 4, 1931.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   State Fair of Louisiana
   October 26th, 2017 - November 12th, 2017
   10:00 am - 10:00 pm
   State Fair of Louisiana
   3701 Hudson Ave.
   Shreveport, LA 71109
   318-635-1361
   Website | Email
   State Fair of Louisiana
   This is the official State Fair of Louisiana. It offers the largest livestock shows and carnival in the state. It boasts a large midway of rides, free daily circus shows, live entertainment and some of the most unique fair food in the nation. Carnival hours weekdays are 12 noon until close and weekends 10 a.m. until close.
4. Postcard from Louisiana.  Brian Hudson sings on the street in the French Quarter.

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