118. J. Dawn, author of the Magicis Chronicles. Part 1.

118.  We interview J. Dawn, the author of Ashes of Betrayal inThe Magicis Chronicles series. J. Dawn is the author of a growing series of books called the Magicis Chronicles. These books are set in the near future, where magic forces that have always been among us have become public.  New Orleans is one of the centers of magic, so the characters will be making their way to the Big Easy at some point in the next book.  Join us as we talk to J. Dawn about her magic series.

1. This week in Louisiana history. August 22, 1701. Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Bienville succeeds Ensign de Sauvolle (Sauvolle's first name is unknown) as commandant of Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. On August 22, 1947, a hurricane passed offshore Grand Isle. Sabine Pass reported a 3.6 foot storm surge as the storm hit the Upper Texas coast September 19th, 1947: Hurricane force winds first reached the Mississippi and Louisiana shores at 6 a.m. and New Orleans at 8 a.m.. Gusts to 125 m.p.h. were estimated at Moisant International Airport (highest gust measured was 112 m.p.h.) and the pressure fell to 28.57".  A fifteen foot storm surge overcame the Bay St. Louis seawall. Ostrica saw an 11.5 foot surge and Shell Beach experienced an 11.2 foot storm surge. Water was 6 feet deep in Jefferson Parish. The air fields at Moisant were under 2 feet of water, closing the airport during its second year of operation. This storm demonstrated the dire need for tidal protection levees for New Orleans. Much of the city was flooded, and $100 million in damage was produced. The storm claimed 51 victims, 12 in Louisiana.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   39th Annual Gueydan Duck Festival
   August 27-30, 2015
   The first festival was held in November of 1977 and has grown considerably each year. Held originally on blocked-off streets in Gueydan, the Duck festival moved to its own grounds in 1980 when the Atlantic-Richfield Company donated 7 acres to the Gueydan Duck Festival and the Vermilion Parish Police Jury.  Early in 1996, the Gueydan Duck Festival Association purchased a 10 acre tract of land adjacent to the existing festival grounds complete with lighting and metal buildings for all the festival activities.
   P.O. Box 179 
   Gueydan, LA. 70542
   404 Dallas Guidry Rd
   Gueydan, LA. 70542
   Phone: 337-536-6456
   Fax: 337- 536-9997

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117. Sandy Rosenthal

117.  Today we interview Sandy Rosenthal, the founder of Levees.org.  She founded the website and the group as a response to Katrina to advocate for stronger levees and other flood defenses.  Following the government failures surrounding Katrina, Sandy began leading citizens to hold agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers accountable, to correct misrepresentations of what happened, and to demand better protection for New Orleans and other coastal cities. Now she has been named a Hero of the Recovery by the Editors of New Orleans Magazine. 

1. This week in Louisiana history. August 16, 1814. US gunboats attack Barataria, destroying all ships and pirate contraband.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Jazz drummer, cornetist and melophone player Arthur "Monk" Haze was born Harvey on August 15, 1903. He played with Emmett Hardy, Stalebread Lacombe, Abbie Brunies (the Halfway House Orchestra), and Tony Parenti. Monk led his own Bienville Roof Orchestra (which played for atop the Bienville Hotel at Lee Circle, and made recordings in 1928) and then spent time in New York playing with Johnny Wiggs, Jack Pettis and with his own group (1929–31). Hazel was in Hollywood for a period (working with Gene Austin) but eventually came back to New Orleans, performing with Joe Caprano (1937) and the Lloyd Danton Quintet. Hazel spent 1942-43 in the Army and then worked for a time outside of music. However during his final 20 years, Hazel was once again quite active in New Orleans, performing with Sharkey Bonano, George Girard, Mike Lala, Santo Pecora and virtually every other important name in New Orleans jazz. 

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Sandy Rosenthal

116. Gary Joiner, Part 2

116.  Part 2 of our interview with Gary Joiner.  Gary grew up in Farmerville, La., the only child of Rudy and Dillard Joiner. As a small boy visiting Civil War battlefields, he was inspired to learn more about history and, while he did not know what a historian was at that time, he considered that to be his ultimate career goal. Following graduation from high school, he attended Louisiana Tech University, earning a bachelor’s degree with a double major in history and geography. He earned a master’s degree from the same institution, focusing on military history. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy Degree from St. Martin’s College, Lancaster, England.

1. This week in Louisiana history. September 9, 1965. Hurricane "Betsy" hits Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history.  While playing second base for the New Orleans Pelicans on August 8, 1916, Henry Antone "Cotton" Knaupp became the only player in the history of the Southern Association to turn an unassisted triple play. With the bases loaded and Knaupp playing 2nd base in a game against the Chattanooga Lookouts, he caught a line drive hit by shortstop Joe Harris, tagged Jake Pilter who was running from first to second base, and stepped on 2nd base to put out Bob Messenger before he could return to second base.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Hot August Night
   August 14, 2015
   Downtown Development District Hammond
   Hammond, LA
   (985) 277-5681 ext 2
   The Hammond Downtown Development District presents the 19th Annual Hot August Night 
   Friday, August 14, 2015 - 6pm to 10pm
   Join us in Historic Downtown Hammond.
   Get ready for a wine stroll, art everywhere, retail stores brimming with great stuff, restaurants & bars.

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115. Gary Joiner Interview, Part 1.

115.  Part 1 of our interview with Gary Joiner.  Gary grew up in Farmerville, La., the only child of Rudy and Dillard Joiner. As a small boy visiting Civil War battlefields, he was inspired to learn more about history and, while he did not know what a historian was at that time, he considered that to be his ultimate career goal. Following graduation from high school, he attended Louisiana Tech University, earning a bachelor’s degree with a double major in history and geography. He earned a master’s degree from the same institution, focusing on military history. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy Degree from St. Martin’s College, Lancaster, England.

1. This week in Louisiana history. August 3, 1918. Louisiana ratifies 18th Amendment to US Constitution (Prohibition).
2. This week in New Orleans history. On Aug. 1, 1952, at exactly 8 p.m., a New Orleans landmark was lit for the first time. The Falstaff Brewing Company, located at 2601 Gravier St., installed a 126-foot tower with an electrical sign on top of its new brewery. Joining Dr. Cline for this auspicious occasion was New Orleans Mayor de Lesseps “Chep” Morrison. Falstaff’s advertising to the metropolitan New Orleans area informed the locals that the tower would forecast the next day’s weather. The changing colors of the massive ball on top of the sign were: GREEN – fair weather. RED – cloudy. RED FLASHING – rain.  WHITE – showers. RED AND WHITE FLASHING – approaching storms.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Delcambre Shrimp Festival
   August 12 - 16, 2015
   Delcambre Shrimp Festival Building
   Delcambre, LA 70528
   Food and Drinks
   The Delcambre Shrimp Festival is home to one of the best 5-day festivals in South Louisiana. The festival has gained it's popularity by providing a variety of delicious dishes and top notch entertainment including National Recording Artists. Enjoy signature shrimp dishes like boiled shrimp, fried shrimp, shrimp sauce piquante, shrimp salad and many more. Each and every shrimp dish consumed at the festival is prepared by volunteer members of the festival association.

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114. Katie Bickham interview, part 2

114.  Part 2 of our interview with Katie Bickham.  Katie Bickham is an award-winning poet and teacher from Shreveport, Louisiana.  She is proud to announce her forthcoming first book of poetry, The Belle Mar, winner of the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Prize. Katie grew up believing she wanted to write novels, but somewhere along the way, brevity took hold, and she decided it was poetry or bust.  Katie earned her BA in English Literature and MA in Liberal Arts from LSU Shreveport.  Then, knowing that one cannot write about a place until one leaves it, she enrolled in the Stonecoast MFA program at the University of Southern Maine, where she met the people who would pull the truly good work out of her.

1. This week in Louisiana history. July 26, 1810. Rebellion of West Florida Parishes.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Born in New Orleans on July 25, 1899, musician Johnny Wiggs (Born John Wigginton Hyman) started his music career on the violin, then the cornet.  In the late 1920s he took a job as a teacher, adopted the stage name "Johnny Wiggs"), and moonlighted in New Orleans jazz clubs at night. He made his first recordings as "John Hyman's Bayou Stompers" in the late 1920s.  In the 1940s he quit teaching (after having trained a young Pete Fountain), led several bands, made some recordings, and became an an important figure in the revival and preservation of the local music by founding the New Orleans Jazz Club.  Hyman remained active until the 1970s.  He passed away on in New Orleans on October 10, 1977.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Satchmo SummerFest
   July 31st, 2015 - August 2nd, 2015
   Old U.S. Mint & Historic French Quarter
   400 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans, LA 70116
   504-522-5730
   Website
   Old U.S. Mint & Historic French Quarter
   Each year, this weekend-long festival celebrates his life, legacy and music. The festivities include a seminar series, jazz exhibits, a jazz mass and second-line parade, fantastic food and a host of star-studded performers.

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113. Interview with poet Katie Bickham, part 1

113.  Part 1 of our interview with Katie Bickham.  Katie Bickham is an award-winning poet and teacher from Shreveport, Louisiana.  She is proud to announce her forthcoming first book of poetry, The Belle Mar, winner of the Lena-Miles Wever Todd Poetry Prize. Katie grew up believing she wanted to write novels, but somewhere along the way, brevity took hold, and she decided it was poetry or bust.  Katie earned her BA in English Literature and MA in Liberal Arts from LSU Shreveport.  Then, knowing that one cannot write about a place until one leaves it, she enrolled in the Stonecoast MFA program at the University of Southern Maine, where she met the people who would pull the truly good work out of her.

1. This week in Louisiana history. July 17, 1795. First bishop of New Orleans, Don Luis Cardenas, arrives in Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. NBC News television journalist William Blanc "Bill" Monroe Jr. was born in New Orleans on July 17, 1920.  He graduated from Tulane in 1942 and during World War II, served in the Air Forces in Europe. Early in his career, Monroe served as the first news director for WDSU-TV, an NBC affiliate. In 1959, Monroe’s team at WDSU-TV won a George Foster Peabody Award. His news reporting on NBC's Today show, won a Peabody in 1973.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   SugaSheaux
   July 18th, 2015 - July 19th, 2015
   SugArena @ Acadiana Fairgrounds
   713 NW Bypass (Hwy 3212), New Iberia, LA 70560
   337-365-7539 | 337-365-4795
   Website
   Rodeo Competition Series & Show, Concessions

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112. Rain Prud’homme-Cranford Goméz, Part 2.

112.  Part 2 of our interview with Rain Prud’homme-Cranford Goméz.  Rain's research focuses on issues of Louisiana Indian (Choctaw, Houma, Tunica-Biloxi, Caddo, and other Louisiana Mvskogean and Siouan groups) diaspora and their relationships with Louisiana Creole (mestiza) Indigeneity as manifested in material culture ways, oral histories, and literature, specifically tied to geographic space, gender, and memory/culture. Her research seeks to make Native communities unavoidably visible showcasing Indigenous acts of reinscription (in response to assumed absences, ha untings, mythos, and exotification) and decolonization in material and literary culture (beadwork, basketry, poetry, prose, and music), while highlighting Louisiana Creoles as an Indigenous diasporic people within conversations around Indigenous literature/narratives in the American South.

1. This week in Louisiana history. July 11, 1804. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton is mortally wounded. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton is mortally wounded July 11 at age 49 in a duel at Weehawken, N.J. with Vice President Aaron Burr, now 48, who has heard of insults directed at him by Hamilton and demanded satisfaction . Indicted in New York and New Jersey, Burr flees to Philadelphia and proceeds to the South where he will conspire in the next 3 years with Gen. James Wilkinson, 44, who is secretly in the pay of Spain but will soon be governor of the Louisiana Territory.
2. This week in New Orleans history.
   Now over 100 years old, the City Park Casino opened on July 11, 1913, is now one of the park's few surviving Spanish Mission-style era structures. This photo was shot on March 26, 1939 after WPA repairs and renovations of the Casino as a part of the general improvement program in the park. For a time, the Swan boat docked nearby on Bayou Metairie. Renovated in 1999, and re-named the Timken Center, its second floor is used for meetings and parties. It is now used as a Morning Call coffee shop.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Native American Exhibit
   July 6th, 2015 - July 17th, 2015
   Tangipahoa Parish Convention & Visitor's Bureau
   13143 Wardline Rd., Hammond, LA 70401
   985-542-7520 | 800-542-7520 | 985-542-7521
   Website
   dana@tangitourism.com
   Tangipahoa Parish Convention & Visitor's Bureau
   This free event will share the untold stories of cultures that had significant impact on our community. Native American artifacts including life size teepee, pottery, baskets, skins, tools and weapons will be on display. We hope to see you at our event.
   For more details or group reservations, contact Dana Short at the Tangipahoa Parish Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

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111. Rain Prud'homme-Cranford Goméz, Part 1.

111.  We interview scholar, poet, and activist Rain Prud'homme-Cranford Goméz.  Rain's research focuses on issues of Louisiana Indian (Choctaw, Houma, Tunica-Biloxi, Caddo, and other Louisiana Mvskogean and Siouan groups) diaspora and their relationships with Louisiana Creole (mestiza) Indigeneity as manifested in material culture ways, oral histories, and literature, specifically tied to geographic space, gender, and memory/culture. Her research seeks to make Native communities unavoidably visible showcasing Indigenous acts of reinscription (in response to assumed absences, hauntings, mythos, and exotification) and decolonization in material and literary culture (beadwork, basketry, poetry, prose, and music), while highlighting Louisiana Creoles as an Indigenous diasporic people within conversations around Indigenous literature/narratives in the American South.

1. This week in Louisiana history. July 4, 1900. Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong, trumpet king, born.
2. This week in New Orleans history.  The Classical Greek-styled Popp Bandstand was dedicated in City Park on July 4, 1917. Designed by Emile Weil at a cost of $75,000 it was dedicated on July 4th. Its twelve granite ionic columns are topped with a bronze dome. Named for its benefactor John F. Popp, who had made his fortune in a lumber business which was headquartered on the New Basin Canal. The bandstand is a replica of Temple of Love in Versailles and the memorial plaque to Alexis Ribet is embedded into it. Many New Orleanians enjoyed their first glimpses of moving pictures here on summer evenings. Generations of musicians have played here including John Philip Sousa who performed in 1928. The bandstand still stands for our enjoyment if we wish to spend a 4th of July there near the Casino. The Popp family also funded the park's Popp Fountain.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   San Fermin In Nueva Orleans
   July 9th, 2015 - July 12th, 2015
   New Orleans Hotel Collection Luxury Hotel
   1380 Port of New Orleans Place, New Orleans, LA 70130
   504-571-9334
   Website
   New Orleans Hotel Collection Luxury Hotel
   New Orleans becomes Pamplona for a day at this Running of the Bulls-inspired celebration, where the Big Easy Rollergirls - wielding plastic bats and wearing helmets outfitted with fake bullhorns, naturally - charge after runners through the streets of Downtown.  The 9th Annual Running of the Bulls at San Fermin in Nueva Orleans (SFNO) is the city's most incredible Summer Spectacle! Join thousands of runners as they roam the streets of New Orleans and party with hundreds of Rollerbulls (roller derby skaters with horns on their helmets and plastic bats in their hands) from around the globe during the Encierro.

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110. Zack Kopplin interview, part 2

110.  Part 2 of our interview with Zack Kopplin, an Louisiana political activist, journalist, and television personality from Louisiana. Kopplin has campaigned to keep creationism out of public school science classrooms and been involved with other separation of church and state causes. He has opposed school vouchers because they provide public money to schools which may teach creationism. As a high school student, he organized seventy-eight Nobel laureate scientists in a campaign against the Louisiana Science Education Act, a creationism law. He is also involved with science funding policy and curriculum and textbook policy.

1. This week in Louisiana history. June 28, 1861. First Civil War battle engagement for Louisiana Tigers, at Seneca Dam on Potomac River.
   
2. This week in New Orleans history. On June 27th, 1957, Hurrican Audrey, the most destructive hurricane to strike Southwest Louisiana until that time, moved ashore near the Texas/Louisiana border causing a disastrous storm surge.  Storm surges of 6 feet of more extended from Galveston, TX along the coast to Cocodrie, LA.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Essence Music Festival
   July 2nd, 2015 - July 5th, 2015
   Mercedes-Benz Superdome
   1500 Sugar Bowl Dr., New Orleans, LA 70112
   504-587-3663
   Website 
   Mercedes-Benz Superdome
   "Party with a purpose" at this star-studded celebration of African American music and culture in the Superdome. Jazz up your July with performances by the world's biggest hip-hop, R&B and soul artists.

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Zack Kopplin and Bill Nye

109. Zack Kopplin Interview, Part 1

109.  Part 1 of our interview with Zack Kopplin, an Louisiana political activist, journalist, and television personality from Louisiana. Kopplin has campaigned to keep creationism out of public school science classrooms and been involved with other separation of church and state causes. He has opposed school vouchers because they provide public money to schools which may teach creationism. As a high school student, he organized seventy-eight Nobel laureate scientists in a campaign against the Louisiana Science Education Act, a creationism law. He is also involved with science funding policy and curriculum and textbook policy.

1. This week in Louisiana history. June 20, 1968. Presidential candidate George Wallace speaks in Baton Rouge raising $60,000.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Al "Carnival Time" Johnson (born June 20, 1939, in New Orleans,) is an American singer and piano player best known for the Mardi Gras song "Carnival Time."
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Louisiana Peach Festival
   West Park Ave.
   Ruston, LA 71270
   Tel: 318-255-2031
   Website
   Description:
   The 65th Louisiana Peach Festival will be held June 26 & 27, 2015 in Downtown Ruston. The festival is in its 65th year, one of the longest running agricultural events in Louisiana. It's held the 4th weekend in June when the peaches are ripe and delicious!  In beautiful downtown Ruston you can enjoy the parade, concerts, kid's rides, art & crafts show, peach eating contest, peach cookery contest and more. Throughout Lincoln Parish there's also a rodeo, golf tournament, bass tournament, Kid's fishing tournament, 5K, tennis tournament, quilting contest, baby photo contest, diaper derby and antique car show. Something for everyone!
   Admission is charged for ages 7 and over. Friday $10, Saturday $10, Weekend Pass $15.

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Zack and the Science Guy

108. Sheryl St. Germain, Part 2

108.  Part 2 of our interview with poet Sheryl St. Germain.  A native of New Orleans, Sheryl has taught creative writing at The University of Texas at Dallas, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Knox College and Iowa State University. She directs the MFA program in Creative Writing at Chatham University where she also teaches poetry and creative nonfiction.  The author of many books, her work has received several awards. 

1. This week in Louisiana history. June 15, 1910. Evangeline Parish created.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Melvin Lloyd ("Mel") Parnell, born in New Orleans on June 13, 1922, was a Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher. He graduated from S.J. Peters High School where he starred with future major leaguers George Strickland, Howie Pollett, Raymond Campo, Ray Yochim and Lou Klein. Parnell spent his entire ten-year career with the Boston Red Sox (1947–1956), compiling a 123-75 record with 732 strikeouts, a 3.50 earned run average, 113 complete games, 20 shutouts, and 1752.2 innings pitched in 289 games (232 as a starter) After his playing career, Parnell managed the New Orleans Pelicans of the Class AA Southern Association in 1959 and a series of Red Sox farm clubs from 1961 to 1963.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   GospelFest2015 "A Celebration of Gospel Music"
   June 19th, 2015
   Downtown Shreveport's Festival Plaza
   101 Crockett St., Shreveport, LA 71101
   318-459-8211
   Website
   Downtown Shreveport's Festival Plaza
   This Festival will be in its second year of existence beginning in June 2015.  It boasts to have some of the biggest names in Gospel Music from all over the Northwest Louisiana, East Texas, Southwest Arkansas Areas- collectively known as the (ARK-LA-TEX), this event takes place in conjunction with the Let the Good Times Roll Festival hosted by the Rho Omega and Friends Omega Psi Phi Fraternity which is a festival that has taken place for the last 20 years plus; which draws thousands of people over the course of one weekend celebrating (Juneteenth) and the history, heritage, roots, and spirit of African-American Music! GospelFest II; which is what this event will be called, features "gospel" talent from all over, and all are welcomed to come and participate in this Gospel Music Showcase!

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Sheryl St. Germain

107. Interview with Sheryl St. Germain, Part 1.

107.  We interview poet Sheryl St. Germain.  A native of New Orleans, Sheryl has taught creative writing at The University of Texas at Dallas, The University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Knox College and Iowa State University. She directs the MFA program in Creative Writing at Chatham University where she also teaches poetry and creative nonfiction.  The author of many books, her work has received several awards. 

1. This week in Louisiana history. June 7, 1892. Homer Plessy is arrested for taking a seat on a train that was marked "Whites Only."In 1890, the state of Louisiana passed a law (the Separate Car Act) that required separate accommodations for blacks and whites on railroads, including separate railway cars. Concerned, a group of prominent black, creole, and white New Orleans residents formed the Comité des Citoyens (Committee of Citizens) dedicated to repeal the law. They persuaded Homer Plessy to participate in a test case. On June 7, 1892, Plessy bought a first class ticket at the Press Street Depot and boarded a "whites only" car of the East Louisiana Railroad in New Orleans, Louisiana, bound for Covington, Louisiana. Additionally, the committee hired a private detective with arrest powers to detain Plessy, to ensure he was charged for violating the Separate Car Act, as opposed to a vagrancy or some other offense. As planned, Plessy was taken off the train at Press and Royal streets. Plessy was remanded for trial in Orleans Parish.  His loss in the trial Plessy v Ferguson made Jim Crows laws permissible until the modern civil rights movement.
   
2. This week in New Orleans history. Joseph Samuel Clark, educator, civic leader. Born, Sparta, La., June 7, 1881. Education: public and private schools in Bienville Parish, Coleman and Bishop colleges; Leland University, B. A., 1901; Ph. D., 1914; Selma University, M. A., 1913; Arkansas Baptist College, Ph. D., 1921. Further studies at Chicago and Harvard universities. Served as principal of Slater High School, Donaldsonville, and of Baton Rouge Academy between 1901 and 1912; president of Southern University, 1913-1938. During his administration, the school progressed from an institution with an enrollment of forty-seven students and an appropriation of $10,000 to a university with 3,067 students and an appropriation of approximately one million dollars.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   The Last Surrender
   June 1st, 2015 - June 30th, 2015
   Forts Randolph and Buhlow State Historic Site
   135 Riverfront Street, Pineville, LA 71360
   318-484-2390
   Forts Randolph and Buhlow State Historic Site, Pineville - The Last Surrender, This event commemorates the LAST FORTS SURRENDERED DURING THE CIVIL WAR, Forts Randolph and Buhlow. Union soldiers and sailors take possession of the forts after accepting the surrender of the local Confederate forces. A sesquicentennial ceremony will be reenacted for the public as Confederate colors are lowered for the last time.
   Website  

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Sheryl St. Germain

106. Interview with Alys Arden about Casquette Girls

106. Welcome to the beginning of our third year!  This week we interview Alys Arden.  She grew up in the Vieux Carré, cut her teeth on the streets of New York, and has worked all around the world since. She still plans to run away with the circus one day.  Her first novel is The Casquette Girls.  After the Storm of the Century rips apart New Orleans, Adele Le Moyne and her father are among the first to return to the city following the mandatory evacuation. Adele wants nothing more than for life to return to normal, but with the silent city resembling a mold-infested war zone, a parish-wide curfew, and mysterious new faces lurking in the abandoned French Quarter, normal will have to be redefined. Amidst the mayhem, strange events – too unnatural even for New Orleans – lead Adele to an attic where she accidentally opens a Pandora’s box – one that has been sealed for three hundred years. The chaos she unleashes threatens not only her life but everyone she knows.

1. This week in Louisiana history. May 31, 1964. Last run of Canal Street Streetcar.
2. This week in New Orleans history. On May 31, 1985, the New Orleans Saints were sold for $70,204,000.  Tom Benson acquired the franchise from John W. Mecom, Jr., the team's first majority stockholder.  Benson  hired Jim Finks as general manager and Jim Mora as head coach.
3. This week in Louisiana.New Orleans Oyster Festival
   Woldenberg Park
   New Orleans, LA 70130
   504.835.6410
   http://www.neworleansoysterfestival.org/
   May 30 - 31, 2015
   10:00 AM - 7:00 PM CDT  
   "More than 20 restaurants will be preparing oyster dishes for a festival that includes the Acme Oyster-Eating Contest, the P&J Oyster-Shucking Competition, and the New Orleans Fish House Largest Oyster Contest. There also will be arts and crafts vendors, and children's activities. Entertainers for 2015 include the Treme Brass Band, Colin Lake, the Bucktown All-Stars, Rockin' Dopsie, Marcia Ball, and more. Proceeds support the Louisiana oyster industry, the French Quarter community, and the 8th District of the New Orleans Police Department."

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The Casquette Girls

The Casquette Girls

105. Interview with Rep. John Bel Edwards, Lamar White, and Dayne Sherman

105.  Our second anniversary episode.  We interview Rep. John Bel Edwards, who is a candidate in Louisiana's upcoming gubernatorial race. "John Bel, as his friends and family know him, excelled in high school athletics (football and baseball) and graduated as valedictorian of his Amite High School class. As one of eight children from a family long dedicated to public service, John Bel carries on the family tradition. With a father who was the elected Sheriff of Tangipahoa Parish – the Edwards have four generations of Tangipahoa Parish Sheriffs in their family lineage with John Bel’s brother Daniel currently serving as Sheriff – John Bel learned the importance of public service at an early age." After Rep. Edwards has to leave, we talk to our friends Lamar White and Dayne Sherman, two of Louisiana's political bloggers.

1. This week in Louisiana history. May 23, 1934. Law enforcement officers and posse members gun down outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow beside the Jamestown-Sailes Highway - about eight miles from Gibsland.
2. This week in New Orleans history. May 23, 1939, WPA workers began work on the sand beach at Elysian Fields and the Lakeshore Drive (Milneburg) at what would become Pontchartrain Beach. Plans called for the construction of the beach, a swimming pool, a bath house, parking areas and roads. The seawall had already been completed and the sand beach would lie between it and the lake waters.  Pontchartrain Beach amusement park closed 44 years later, in the summer of 1983.
3. This week in Louisiana.  "Purchased Lives: New Orleans and the Domestic Slave Trade, 1808-1865"
   Williams Research Center
   The Historic New Orleans Collection
   410 Chartres St.
   New Orleans, LA 70130
   504.523.4662
   http://www.thnoc.org/
   May 21 - July 18, 2015
   9:30 AM - 4:30 PM CDT
   Admission: Free

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John Bel Edwards

Lamar White

Dayne Sherman

104. Martha Serpas Interview, Part 2.

104.  Part 2 of our interview with poet Martha Serpas.  “Martha Serpas is the author of three collections of poetry, The Diener (LSU);  The Dirty Side of the Storm (W.W. Norton); and Côte Blanche (New Issues). Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, Southwest Review, and Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion, as well as in a number of anthologies, including the Library of America’s American Religious Poems, The Art of the Sonnet, and Bearing the Mystery: Twenty Years of Image. She holds degrees in English and creative writing from Louisiana State, New York University, and the University of Houston, and a master of divinity from Yale Divinity School. A native of south Louisiana, she remains active in efforts to restore Louisiana’s wetlands. Since 2006 she has worked as a trauma chaplain at Tampa General Hospital. She teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston.”

1. This week in Louisiana history. May 16, 1932. In just 17 months, H. Long's new state capitol was completed, dedicated, and opened during the inauguration of Gov. O.K. Allen.
2. This week in New Orleans history. The Southern Baptist Convention founded the institution as the Baptist Bible Institute during the 1917 convention meeting in New Orleans. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, or NOBTS for short, was the first institution created as a direct act of the Southern Baptist Convention and was located in the Garden District on Washington Avenue. The institutes's purpose was centered on missionary work, and initially established as gateway to Central America. On May 17, 1946, the SBC revised the institutes' charter to enable it to become a seminary, and the name was changed to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Missions and evangelism have remained the core focus of the seminary.  The Seminary started as the Baptist Bible Institute and relocated to a more spaciouse campus during the 1950s to the current location in Gentilly after purchasing a 75-acre pecan orchard and transformed it into what is now a bustling campus over 100 buildings, including academic buildings, faculty and staff housing, and student housing.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   
   42nd Annual Greek Festival New Orleans
   May 22nd, 2015 - May 24th, 2015
   Holy Trinity Cathedral
   1200 Robert E. Lee Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70122
   504-282-0259
   Website 

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103. Martha Serpas interview, part 1

103.  Part 1 of our interview with poet Martha Serpas.  “Martha Serpas is the author of three collections of poetry, The Diener (LSU);  The Dirty Side of the Storm (W.W. Norton); and Côte Blanche (New Issues). Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation, Southwest Review, and Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion, as well as in a number of anthologies, including the Library of America’s American Religious Poems, The Art of the Sonnet, and Bearing the Mystery: Twenty Years of Image. She holds degrees in English and creative writing from Louisiana State, New York University, and the University of Houston, and a master of divinity from Yale Divinity School. A native of south Louisiana, she remains active in efforts to restore Louisiana’s wetlands. Since 2006 she has worked as a trauma chaplain at Tampa General Hospital. She teaches in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston.”

1. This week in Louisiana history. May 10, 1781. Formal surrender of Pensacola to Gov. Galvez.
2. This week in New Orleans history. At the Wednesday May 9, 1832 session of the Conseil de Ville (City Council) it was resolved “that the Mayor is and remains authorized to use the stores necessary to complete the sidewalks ‘City Carré Banquettes’ already begun. The paving material left over and that which shall hereafter be had from this should be exclusively used to pave Royal Street. Approved May 15, 1832 by D. Prieur, Mayor.”
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo
   May 15th, 2015 - May 17th, 2015
   Bayou St. John
   Intersection of Orleans & N. Jefferson Davis Parkway, New Orleans, LA 70119
   504-488-3865
   Website

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102. Interview with Maggie Heyn Richardson

102.  We interview Maggie Heyn Richardson about her book, Hungry for Louisiana, a book about our food and its relation to our culture.  "Richardson reveals the way that food sets a powerful tempo to life in the Bayou State, a place where eating locally and seasonally existed well before it was fashionable. Whimsically told and thoughtfully reported, the book provides a fresh look at eight of the state’s most emblematic foods: crawfish, jambalaya, snoballs, Creole cream cheese, filé, blood boudin, tamales, and oysters, revealing angles not reported elsewhere. Richardson takes readers on a journey into Louisiana farms, meat markets, restaurants, festivals, culinary competitions, roadside vendors and other spots where she interviews the men and women responsible for producing these memorable items as well as those who cook and enjoy them. An engaging look at the way food informs identity, Hungry for Louisiana will tug at the heartstrings of anyone who has ever lived in this bizarre and homespun state as well as those who want to know more about it."

1. This week in Louisiana history. May 4, 1970. T.H. Williams wins Pulitzer Prize for his biography, Huey Long.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Jennifer Quayle in the Times-Picayune (May 2, 1976): It's said that pralines were named after Cesar du Plessis Praslin (pronounced 'pralin') a grand marshal of pre-Napoleonic France. According to legend, it was Praslin's valet who suggesed his master's almonds be cooked with sugar to prevent indigestion.... The French brought the candy to the New World, ..., when they copied it (since almonds weren't readily available, Louisiana pecans were substituted.' Ms. Quayle goes on to suggest that house servants learned to make the candies from their mistresses and soon began to sell pralines on the streets of the Crescent City.  Many used the money they earned to buy their freedom.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   Cochon de Lait Festival
   May 7th, 2015 - May 10th, 2015
   Cochon de lait Pavilion
   1832 Leglise Street, Mansura, LA 71350
   318-964-2152
   Website  

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101. Bill Loehfelm Interview

101.  This week we interview Bill Loehfelm about his detective novels.  “Bill Loehfelm is the author of four novels, most recently, The Devil in her Way, the next Maureen Coughlin adventure and Bill's first New Orleans-set novel, from Sarah Crichton Books. Meet Maureen for the first time in The Devil She Knows (2011).”

1. This week in Louisiana history. April 25, 1862. New Orleans falls to Admiral Farragut's US Fleet. April 24, 1877. Reconstruction ended in Louisiana.
2. This week in New Orleans history. Federal troops captured New Orleans on April 25, 1862. Having fought past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the Union was unopposed in its capture of the city itself, which was spared the destruction suffered by many other Southern cities. However, the controversial and confrontational administration of the city by its military governor caused lasting resentment. This capture of the largest Confederate city was a major turning point and an incident of international importance. Because a large part of the population had Union sympathies (or compatible commercial interests), the Federal government took the unusual step of designating the areas of Louisiana under Federal control as a state within the Union, with its own elected representatives to the U.S. Congress.
   
3. This week in Louisiana.
   
   1. Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival Association
      May 1st, 2015 - May 3rd, 2015
      Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival
      1300 Rees St., 520 Parkway Dr, Breaux Bridge, LA 70517
      337-332-6655 | 337-332-5917
      Website
   2. Louisiana Crawfish Gatorfest
      This is the 1st Annual Louisiana Crawfish & Gator Fest @The Ike in West Monroe, La. This is the biggest event to hit NorthEast Louisiana in years. Perfect event to bring your family and friends to enjoy great food, carnival rides, shopping, and live entertainment. This will be a funfilled 4 day event for all to remember from all areas 0f the ArkLaMiss to come enjoy the best crawfish and experience live Gators for your entertainment. So please come support and enjoy so we can make this the biggest event to hit this area, and continue to bring this event back every year.
      Venue:    Ike Hamilton Expo Center Arena
      Address:    501 Mane Street
      West Monroe LA, 71292
      Phone:    318-325-9160
      Web:    lacrawfishgatorfest.com

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