Tuesday, September 27, 2022

Reader-Supported Journalism about Louisiana, the Land and Her People. Est. 2017

The Briefing

Elections

A Fight Worth Having

How Louisianians can organize to stop the hellish domino effect of the Alito draft decision
Lynda Woolard -
CenLa

Harry B. Silver (1922-2022), CenLa’s Most Celebrated Civic Champion Dies at 100

On Sept. 6, 1948, a little over two weeks after Harry Bernard Silver, a 26-year-old lawyer from East Orange, N.J., exchanged vows with 20-year-old...
Lamar White, Jr. -
Baton Rouge

Losing Ground: How a Model of the Mississippi River Could Reshape the Future of Louisiana

A little-known building a stone’s throw from the Mississippi River has the potential to help people living in coastal communities across the globe.
Drew Hawkins -

Opinion & Commentary

13th Ward Rambler

The House That Chep Built

13th Ward Ramblings on former Mayor Chep Morrison, and Mayor Cantrell's proposal to relocate New Orleans City Hall to Treme.
Environment

Mayor LaToya Cantrell: New Orleans is the right place, and this is the right time, for infrastructure investment.

On May 3, 1978, New Orleans experienced one of...
13th Ward Rambler

Déjà Vu All Over Again

13th Ward Ramblings on New Orleans elections past and present.
Best of the Brief

The Stupid Party Rages On

Donald Trump didn't create a "new" Republican Party. He just plastered his brand on a faction of the party already dominant in the Deep South. As history reveals and as GOP leaders in Louisiana continue to prove, this isn't the "party of Lincoln." It's a party founded on and animated by the politics of racial segregation.
History

Six Degrees of Babe Huey

Did Huey Long and Babe Ruth ever meet?
Sue Lincoln -
Arts, Culture, and History

Tilly Snyder Is Missing Again

Wikipedia’s decision to permanently delete John K. Snyder’s page cannot erase the true story of one of the most eccentric politicians in Louisiana history and the mastermind behind the Great Catfish Massacre of 1985.
Lamar White, Jr. -
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RANKING THE BEST OF LOUISIANA FILM & MUSIC

Adrastos Listicle

Louisiana Tunes: The Top 50* Songs About the Gret Stet

Peter Athas -
* Technically, 59 songs, but what’s wrong with a little lagniappe?
Adrastos Listicle

Set in Louisiana: Top 40 Movies, 1938- Present

Peter Athas -
I'm back with a non-Carnival related piece. It is, however, inspired by the theme of this year's Bacchus parade: Starring Louisiana. It was their best theme in years and...

F#*ck This: Digging for Trouble in North Louisiana

Environment

It Starts with F and Ends with C, K

Sue Lincoln -
This is the first in a multi-part Bayou Brief series examining the oil and gas fracking industry, and Louisiana’s troubled marriage with it.
Environment

Frack Soup

Sue Lincoln -
Part two of our series examining the oil and gas fracking industry, and Louisiana’s troubled marriage with it.
Environment

Drill, Baby, Drill!

Sue Lincoln -
Part 3 of our continuing "F**CK THIS" series.

Editor Recommends

The Godfather Trilogy

Calogero Minacore and the Making of Carlos Marcello

Part One of the Bayou Brief's Godfather Trilogy
Lamar White, Jr. -

Carlos Marcello and the Making of a Mafia Myth

“I am not in no racket. I am not in no organized crime.” - Carlos Marcello
Lamar White, Jr. -

The American Saga of Carlos Marcello

The final chapter of the Bayou Brief's "Godfather Trilogy" about the life of Carlos Marcello.
Lamar White, Jr. -

—The Photojournalism of J.S. Makkos—

The Assassination of Sen. Huey P. Long and the Killing of Dr. Carl Weiss

Captain Clay

The Scoundrel: Clay Higgins Turned in His Badge, Twice, Before Campaigning for Congress as a Celebrity Cop.

Clay Higgins rose to power by telling a story about personal redemption, but his former boss, the sheriff of St. Landry Parish, now claims he would have never given him a second chance in law enforcement if he'd known what really happened before Higgins resigned from the police force in Opelousas.

Captain of the Militia

During his two years in Congress, Rep. Clay Higgins has continually championed violent, anti-government extremists. As he seeks reelection, Louisianians can no longer afford to look the other way.

Clementine's Hunters: A Five-Part Series

Clementine’s Hunters: Prologue

Bayou Brief -
Three decades after her death at the age of 101, Clementine Hunter is now considered one of the most important folk artists in American history. In this multi-part investigative series, the Bayou Brief explores the life and legacy of Louisiana's most consequential painter and the ways in which her work has been both rightfully celebrated and criminally exploited since her death.

Clementine’s Hunters: Chapter 1 | In Her Own Words

Clementine’s Hunters: Chapter 2 | Coincoin and Cammie

Clementine’s Hunters: Chapter 3 | The Lucky Art Dealer and His Collection of Toyes

Clementine’s Hunters: Chapter 4 | Painting Yourself Into a Corner

Our Disappearing Coast

Environment

Mayor LaToya Cantrell: New Orleans is the right place, and this is the right time, for infrastructure investment.

On May 3, 1978, New Orleans experienced one of...
Arts

These Last Days of Now: A Virtual Gallery

In their exhibition hosted at Good Children Gallery, Julie Dermanksy and Michel Varisco offer a glimpse of a world slipping beneath a rising tide caused by a warming planet.
Environment

A Trio of Trump Appointees Give Louisiana a Game-Changing Victory in Coastal Damages Suit Against Big Oil

In a terse, five-page opinion, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reject Big Oil's last ditch effort at avoiding accountability in state court.
Environment

As a Divided Committee Advances Bill to Neuter Coastal Lawsuits Against Big Oil, a GOP Legislator Urges the Public to “Raise Hell”

After eight years of legal wrangling, as six coastal parishes stand on the brink of unlocking billions to repair the environmental damages allegedly caused by illegal and largely unpermitted activities of Big Oil, the state legislature considers a bill that would strike down the lawsuits and throw out a breakthrough $100 million settlement already negotiated with one of the companies involved.
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13th Ward Rambler

The House That Chep Built

Peter Athas -
13th Ward Ramblings on former Mayor Chep Morrison, and Mayor Cantrell's proposal to relocate New Orleans City Hall to Treme.
13th Ward Rambler

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Peter Athas -
13th Ward Ramblings on New Orleans elections past and present.
The Kingfish Compendium
Click here to listen.
The Bayou Brief Video Vault

WATCH: Power, Politics, and Protests: A Conversation with James Carville

Lamar White, Jr. -
Presented by the Bayou Brief, with host Frederick D. Bell.
Read more

Best of the BriefSince 2017
We share the stories of Louisiana

Baton Rouge

The Other General

William Tecumseh Sherman was the school's first superintendent, but "the father of LSU" was a Virginia-born aristocrat who moved to Rapides Parish, earned a fortune through his cotton plantation, and then lost almost everything during the Civil War.
Lamar White, Jr. -
Acadiana

The Brazen Cajun

Louisiana's attorney general is now considered a leading contender in the 2023 governor's race, but while his record of intransigent and pugilistic partisanship may have made him into a force among the far-right, it also threatens to undermine his credibility with an electorate that scrutinizes gubernatorial candidates far more extensively than the electorate that shows up during federal elections. In this sweeping review of Landry's career in politics, we consider the issues most likely to dominate any discussion about whether he is qualified to lead one of the most diverse and most economically disadvantaged states in the nation.
Lamar White, Jr. -
Best of the Brief

Gov. Buddy Roemer: Prologue | Scopena

Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III, the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, former four-term U.S. Representative from Louisiana's Fourth Congressional District, and 2012 candidate for President of the United States, passed away on May 17, 2021 at the age of 77. The following excerpt from his memoir Scopena: A Memoir of Home was originally published in the Bayou Brief with permission of the author on Dec. 14, 2017.
Buddy Roemer -
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