Thursday, August 11, 2022

482. Ted Schirmer, "Defiance," part 2

Episode 482. Part 2 of our interview with Ted Schirmer about his memoir, Defiance. In the '70s, even twenty years after Brown v. Board of Education, LSU was still refusing to give up its racist past. While most students attending LSU were primarily focused on obtaining a better life through getting a college degree, some could not turn their backs on injustice.

Friday, August 5, 2022

481. Ted Schirmer, "Defiance," Part 1

481 Part 1 of our interview with Theodor "Ted" Schimer about his memoir, Defiance. In the '70s, even twenty years after Brown v. Board of Education, LSU was still refusing to give up its racist past. While most students attending LSU were primarily focused on obtaining a better life through getting a college degree, some could not turn their backs on injustice.

Friday, July 29, 2022

480. James 'Jed' Dobson

480. We talk to James 'Jed' Dobson on Samuel Clemens. Mark Twain wrote Life on the Mississippi, a memoir about his time as a cub river boat pilot. Twain's version of the Mississippi River has colored the way the nation looks at the river.

Friday, July 22, 2022

479. Katy Morlas Shannon, part 2.

479. Part 2 of our interview with Katy Morlas Shannon.Katy is returning to the podcast to talk about her new book, Antoine of Oak Alley: The Unlikely Origin of Southern Pecans and the Enslaved Man Who Cultivated Them. We also talk about here research into the portrait of Bélizaire and the Frey Children, which had the young black man Bélizaire painted out and then restored.

Friday, July 15, 2022

478. Katy Morlas Shannon, Part 1

478. Part 1 of our interview with Katy Morlas Shannon. Katy is returning to the podcast to talk about her new book, Antoine of Oak Alley: The Unlikely Origin of Southern Pecans and the Enslaved Man Who Cultivated Them. "The story of Antoine is emblematic of countless enslaved people whose lives and contributions have been overlooked. Antoine, the enslaved gardener of Oak Alley Plantation, was the first person to successfully propagate the pecan tree yet he exists only as a footnote in the bigger story of Oak Alley Plantation.

Thursday, July 14, 2022

477½. Peyton Michelle

477½. This is a special political episode where we talk to Peyton Michelle. On July 12, 2020, Peyton became the first openly transgender woman to win political office in Louisiana, as Big Easy Magazine was the first to report.

Thursday, July 7, 2022

477. Joe Abraham, Part 2

477. Part 2 of our interview with Joe Abraham about his book, Kings, Conquerors, Psychopaths: From Alexander to Hitler to the Corporation. Right wing populists increasingly draw attention around the globe, but the attention is misdirected. The real problem is not the the authoritarian, but the authoritarian personalities who follow him.