Episode 4: Kathleen Blanco and the Katrina Blame Game
Halfway into her first and only term, it looked like Kathleen Blanco had a good chance at re-election. But that all changed with Hurricane Katrina.
Illustration by Jasper Means
Episode 1: Huey P. Long Vs. the Media
Huey Pierce Long: you either loved him, or hated him. He had thousands of adoring fans, and fearful enemies. Long went from traveling salesman to Louisiana Governor, and then US senator, through his mastery of the media. Then once in power, he waged a war against it.
Sticky Wicket: Louisiana Politics Versus the Press, hosted by Laine Kaplan-Levenson is an award-winning miniseries out of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge that takes on four historic clashes between Louisiana politicians and the media. Turns out, these relationships have always been love/hate in the Pelican State.
The series is a collaboration between WWNO, WRKF, and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH), which funded the project as part of the Democracy and the Informed Citizen initiative of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Democracy and the Informed Citizen seeks to deepen the public’s knowledge and appreciation of the vital connections between democracy, the humanities, journalism, and an informed citizenry. Sticky Wicket complements four Democracy and the Informed Citizen feature articles on Huey Long, Jim Garrison, Ernest “Dutch” Morial, and Kathleen Blanco that ran in the summer, fall, and winter 2018 issues of 64 Parishes magazine.
Sticky Wicket
Episode 3: Dutch Morial and the Police Strike Of 1979
Soon after Ernest "Dutch" Morial became the first black mayor of New Orleans, the police staged their first-ever strike. Their bargaining tool? Mardi Gras.
Episode 2: Jim Garrison’s Dangerous Fairy Tale
After JFK was assassinated conspiracy theories swirled, but only one conspiracy theorist made actual arrests: Jim Garrison, New Orleans DA
