661. Rachel L. Doherty

661. Today we talk to Rachel L. Doherty about Louisiana folklore and folklife. Rachel is the Assistant Director for Programming and Special Projects at the Center for Louisiana Studies. Dr. Rachel Doherty is a scholar of contemporary Francophone art, literature, and creolized identities in Louisiana and Canada. She is an alumna of UL Lafayette's Francophone Studies program, a former lecturer at UL and Université Sainte-Anne, and a former French immersion teacher. Dr. Doherty specializes in occult and magical lore in minority Francophone literatures and arts, and analyzes folklore's place in today's language and identity movements.

1. Now available: Liberty in Louisiana: A Comedy. The oldest play about Louisiana, author James Workman wrote it as a celebration of the Louisiana Purchase. Now it is back in print for the first time in 222 years. Order your copy today!
2. This week in the Louisiana Anthology.
   “At the ’Cadian Ball” by Kate Chopin is about a Fais Do Do in the late 1800s.
   "BOBINÔT, that big, brown, good-natured Bobinôt, had no intention of going to the ball, even though he knew Calixta would be there. For what came of those balls but heartache, and a sickening disinclination for work the whole week through, till Saturday night came again and his tortures began afresh? Why could he not love Ozéina, who would marry him to-morrow; or Fronie, or any one of a dozen others, rather than that little Spanish vixen? Calixta's slender foot had never touched Cuban soil; but her mother's had, and the Spanish was in her blood all the same. For that reason the prairie people forgave her much that they would not have overlooked in their own daughters or sisters."
3. This week in Louisiana history. January 16, 1962. Students at Southern Univ. begin civil rights demonstrations.
4. This week in New Orleans history. Mayor C. Ray Nagin's "Chocolate City Speech" January 16, 2006. The "Chocolate City Speech" is the nickname that some have given to the Martin Luther King Jr. Day speech by Mayor Ray Nagin on January 16, 2006, several months after Hurricane Katrina. Prior to Nagin's speech, some commentators were suggesting that the city's demographics would change from majority African American to majority Caucasian.  In an interview with Public Radio International's Tavis Smiley (originally broadcast on January 13, 2006) Nagin used the phrase "chocolate city" in reference to New Orleans' future demographics.
   
5. This week in Louisiana.
   January 31, 2026
   Louisiana King Cake Festival
   402 West 3rd Street
   Thibodaux, LA 70301
   A large-scale outdoor food festival where attendees can sample dozens of different king cakes from across the state.
   This event serves as a major fundraiser for the Lafourche Education Foundation:
   10:30 AM: The “Krewe of King Cake” Children’s Parade kicks off the festivities around 201 Green Street.
   11:00 AM: The festival grounds officially open for tasting and live music.
   Highlight 1 (The Tasting): Guests purchase “tasting tickets” to sample various king cakes and vote for the “People’s Choice” winner.
   Highlight 2 (The Music): Local Louisiana bands perform on the main stage throughout the afternoon. 
   4:00 PM: The winners of the best traditional and non-traditional king cakes are announced.
   End: The festival wraps up at 5:00 PM.
   Website: louisianakingcakefest.com
   Email: info@lafourcheeducation.com
   Phone: (985) 688-4662
   Lafourche Education Foundation
   P.O. Box 486
   Thibodaux, LA 70302
   
6. Postcards from Louisiana. Little Freddie King.
   

Listen on Apple Podcasts.
Listen on audible.
Listen on Spotify.
Listen on TuneIn.
Listen on iHeartRadio.
The Louisiana Anthology Home Page.
Like us on Facebook.