Saturday, June 3, 2023

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

The Briefing

A Fight Worth Having

How Louisianians can organize to stop the hellish domino effect of the Alito draft decision

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...

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.

Opinion & Commentary

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.

Déjà Vu All Over Again

13th Ward Ramblings on New Orleans elections past and present.

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.

Six Degrees of Babe Huey

Did Huey Long and Babe Ruth ever meet?

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.

RANKING THE BEST OF LOUISIANA FILM & MUSIC

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

* Technically, 59 songs, but what’s wrong with a little lagniappe?

Set in Louisiana: Top 40 Movies, 1938- Present

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

It Starts with F and Ends with C, K

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.

Frack Soup

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

Drill, Baby, Drill!

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

Editor Recommends

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.

The Godfather Trilogy

Calogero Minacore and the Making of Carlos Marcello

Part One of the Bayou Brief's Godfather Trilogy

Carlos Marcello and the Making of a Mafia Myth

“I am not in no racket. I am not in no organized crime.” - Carlos Marcello

The American Saga of Carlos Marcello

The final chapter of the Bayou Brief's "Godfather Trilogy" about the life of Carlos Marcello.

—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

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.

Our Disappearing Coast

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.

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.

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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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.

Déjà Vu All Over Again

13th Ward Ramblings on New Orleans elections past and present.
Presented by the Bayou Brief, with host Frederick D. Bell.

Best of the BriefSince 2017
We share the stories of Louisiana

Landslide Landrieu and the GOP Plot to Steal a Seat in the United States Senate

Donald Trump's fantastical and baseless claims of voter fraud should sound familiar to most Louisiana voters. They're nearly identical to the bogus allegations that Republican Woody Jenkins made when he attempted to overturn Mary Landrieu's victory in 1996.

Landslide Landrieu and the GOP Plot to Steal a Seat in the United States Senate

Donald Trump's fantastical and baseless claims of voter fraud should sound familiar to most Louisiana voters. They're nearly identical to the bogus allegations that Republican Woody Jenkins made when he attempted to overturn Mary Landrieu's victory in 1996.

A Tale of Two Louisianas

A new study illustrates the geography of multigenerational poverty and systemic racism in Louisiana.