486. Nathalie Dessens

 486. We talk to historian Nathalie Dessens. Natalie is a French historian of Louisiana and French colonialism. Nathalie wrote the book, Creole City: A Chronicle of Early American New Orleans. Nathalie is a professor of American history at the University of Toulouse-Jean Jaurès. "In Creole City, Nathalie Dessens opens a window onto antebellum New Orleans during a period of rapid expansion and dizzying change.

485. Chris Michaelides

485. We interview Chris Michaelides about his new book, a collection of Louisiana short stories he has translated from French. Chris, University of Louisiana Monroe Associate Dean of the College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, and Associate Professor of Modern Languages, recently completed a 10-year project to produce a critical edition of selected works by 19th-century African American writers from Louisiana. His book, Favorites of the Gods: An Anthology of Short Fiction by New Orleans Creoles of Color, 1837-1867,

484. Mercedes Schneider

484. We talk to Mercedes Schneider about school 'reform'.  According to Mercedes, “'Corporate reform' is not reform at all. Instead, it is the systematic destruction of the foundational American institution of public education. The primary motivation behind this destruction is greed.

483. Tison Pugh

483. We talk to Tison Pugh about his Confederacy of Dunces article entitled, "Systemic Racism, Queer White Privilege, and the Carnivalesque Humor of John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces." "In the disparate circumstances facing his primary Black character, Burma Jones, and his primary gay White male character, Dorian Greene, Toole contrasts the imprisoning effects of systemic racism to the liberating pleasures of queer White privilege.

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.

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.

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.