Monday, December 11, 2023

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

The Godfather Trilogy

The Godfather Trilogy

Calogero Minacore and the Making of Carlos Marcello

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

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. -

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.
Best of the Brief

National News Coverage of Tropical Storm Barry Is Its Own Disaster

Lamar White, Jr. -
Best of the Brief

The (Second) Louisiana Progressive?

Troy Carter, Theodore Roosevelt, Whit Martin, and the Mantle of Louisiana Progressivism
Lamar White, Jr. -
Click here to make a contribution.

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.
13,665FansLike
6,128FollowersFollow

The Kingfish Trilogy

History

The Kingfish is dead. Long live the Kingfish.

During his brief but extraordinary life, Huey P. Long inspired and enraged, fundamentally reshaping how politics would be defined in his home state for generations. Today, more than 85 years after his death, disagreement about whether this epochal event was an assassination or an accident carries with it assumptions about class and privilege, questions about loyalty versus duty, and competing claims over whom we should entrust to tell historical truths.
Huey P. Long

The Final Days of the Indefatigable Huey P. Long, Jr.

During the last week of his life, Huey P. Long celebrated the high-life in Manhattan, signed a book deal in Pennsylvania, campaigned like a country preacher in Oklahoma, and commanded Louisiana from his 24th floor private apartment inside of the state Capitol.
Huey P. Long

Holes in the Story: Huey P. Long, Carl Weiss, and the American Spectacle of Conspiracy

Featuring exclusive, previously unreleased photographs and reports that have been either buried with time or kept hidden from the public, this sweeping conclusion to the Bayou Brief's trilogy on the assassination of Huey P. Long unpacks a conspiracy theory that has persisted for more than 86 years and challenges the portrayals of his alleged assassin, Dr. Carl A. Weiss, Sr., as an innocent victim of a corrupt cover-up.
The Kingfish Compendium
Right here.
Click here to listen.

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
The Bayou Brief Video Vault

Best of the BriefSince 2017
We share the stories of Louisiana

Arts, Culture, and History

The Dark and Forgotten Fate of the Florinda

The epic saga of a crew of New Orleanians who set sail for the California Gold Rush, mysteriously vanished, and then re-emerged 26 years later, capturing the imagination of the entire world.
Troy Gilbert -
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. -
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. -
Original content. All rights reserved. © 2017-2021 Bayou Brief.