Tyler Bridges has stories to tell, so many that this edition of Louisiana Insider will feature two of them. One is the shocking saga of former governor Edwin Edward's body being exhumed and then cremated at the orders of his…
Stanley Nelson is a north Louisiana journalist who has made a specialty out of investigating Ku Klux Klan-related murders. His newest book, "Klan of Devils: The Murder of A Black Louisiana Deputy Sheriff" tells the harrowing story of a 1965…
Craig Colton looks at Louisiana’s endangered wetlands not only as an environmentalist, but also as a geographer and anthropologist. Colton, a professor of geography at LSU, joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot…
Steve Roberts has experienced life from many different angles. He is an accomplished journalist who has written a nationally syndicated political column. He was the husband of the late Cokie Roberts, who reported for ABC News and National Public Radio…
Which Louisiana town has Dolly Parton as part of its history? Which town was settled as part of a German religious sect? These and other questions are answered as Louisiana Life magazine’s travel writer Cheré Coen joins Errol Laborde, executive…
Europe was ablaze with the biggest war that the planet had experienced up to that time. In Louisiana, there were also lots of battles; including an end to the Red Light District, racial tensions and the coming of prohibition. And…
Even through the COVID-19 slowdown and taunting by hurricanes there has been lots going on in Louisiana over the last couple years. To prove its point, Louisiana Life magazine presents its annual La Nouvelle Louisiane awards. Melanie Warner Spencer,…
When the story of the protests for more civil rights in Louisiana is told there were several key stops along the way including a church in Shreveport, a march to Bogalusa and Dooky Chase restaurant in New Orleans. Organizer Glenda…
Shane Bernard has Louisiana culture in his blood. He also has splashes of Tabasco sauce. Bernard, a historian who has chronicled Cajun culture and the Swamp pop music scene, is also the archivist for Tabasco hot sauce. He, a scholar…
Bob Mann has been in the boiler room with many important Louisiana political figures including Russell Long, J. Bennett Johnson, John Breaux and Katheen Blanco. He has also written about Louisiana politics as a newspaper reporter and as an author…
Clare Chennault led the country he was fighting for in defeating the Japanese in the air war. Surprisingly, that country was China and without his aerial combat skills Japan may have conquered the nation in 1937. Accordingly, the outcome of…
This year marks the 30th anniversary of casino type gambling being legitimized in Louisiana. Pulitzer-winning journalist Tyler Bridges joins Errol Laborde, executive editor of Louisiana Life, along with producer Kelly Massicot to discuss the political history of the games of…
When Jim Brown, a young attorney from Louisiana first met Edwin Edwards, who was in Congress at the time, the two men sat on the steps of the U.S. capitol and talked about Louisiana politics and their ambitions. It was…
It was 1966 and racial tensions, which were always high in Plaquemines Parish, were boiling over—a group of male Black students was fighting against some white males. Gary Duncan, a local who was related to one of the Black students,…
Imagine, you’re the pilot of an ocean freighter working its way up the Mississippi River. There’s something important you should know. Regardless of your destination you should dock the big ship somewhere before you reach the “old bridge” in Baton…
Imagine, walking down the street one night in Opelousas and hearing in the distance music from Ray Charles or maybe James Brown. Only that was no jukebox that you were hearing but Charles and Brown themselves performing live in St.…
A levee’s riverside is called a batture. For a few hearty souls it is also called “home.” Author Macon Fry lives in a camp on a batture at the edge of Orleans Parish. He has been chronicling stories of people…
Louisiana has always had some dry parishes where booze was limited by local law, but the state and especially New Orleans did not take too well to the period from 1920 through 1933, when alcohol sales was curtailed nationwide. Prohibition…
What does it mean when the top 10 movies set in Louisiana are discussed, two of them have the word “Easy” in the title? After much discussion, we have concluded that it is probably only a coincidence because the competition…
For many, the image of Jewish settlements in the United States have been mostly on the East Coast and in major cities. However, there has long been a Jewish population spread across the South and in rural areas. Dating back…
Bre'r Rabbit was a trickster who loved to defy authority and who pulled his stunts throughout the South. He is known for finding seclusion in briar parches but in Louisiana, his spiritual home was Laura Plantation where former slaves told…
Don’t you just hate it when you’re walking in the yard of an old farmhouse and there is a ghost staring out the window? How about that strange noise some folks claim they have heard coming from the barn? And…
Louisiana was one of the pioneering states at offering free healthcare to its citizens. And there were several state-run Charity hospitals, with the New Orleans facility being one of the largest in the nation. James Ciaravella, a retired surgeon turned…
Louisiana, we know, is the creation of many ethnic groups but one that doesn’t always get the credit it is due is the Sicilians. The port of New Orleans was the largest arrival point of migrants from the island off…
