Kathleen Babineaux Blanco: a carpet cleaner’s daughter from New Iberia turned school teacher turned stay-at-home mom turned…Louisiana's first female governor. In 2003, her focus was on education reform, juvenile justice, and economic development. And halfway into her first and only term, it looked like she had a good chance at re-election. But that all changed, with Hurricane Katrina.array(3) {
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"If Beale Street Could Talk" and "A Star Is Born" are two of the biggest films out this year, and they’re both dramatic romance epics. Eric and Brittany dig into a spoiler-free conversation about how these movies get viewers to root for the love at the center of the story.
Undiscovered is back between seasons with a listener question: What saved the cats? If you rewind to the Middle Ages, cats and humans were on bad terms. Cat roundups, cat torture, and even cat murder were common occurrences throughout Europe. But a series of historic events steadily delivered the tiny felines into public favor. In a story that spans centuries and continents, the Catholic Church and the Rosetta Stone, Elah and Annie investigate how the cat’s reputation shifted from devil’s minion to adored companion.
Why does Father Christmas wear red and white? It is not for the reason you may think. The story of Christmas and consumerism, with Tim Harford. And we’ll be back with season two of 50 Things in March 2019.
Producer: Ben Crighton
Science has historically studied penises more often than vaginas, but why?
Florence Schechter and Emma Parkin attempt to redress the balance by examining some curious genitalia from the female of the species, including those of the two-legged, four-legged, and even eight-legged variety.
Presenter: James Ward
Contributor: Florence Schechter
Contributor: Emma Parkin
Producer: Luke Doran
In 1979, Ernest "Dutch" Morial became the first black mayor of New Orleans. He won the election with 95% of the black vote, and just 20% of the white vote. He campaigned on a platform of police reform, but it wasn’t just Dutch who wanted to re-organize the NOPD – they were organizing themselves. They wanted a union, pay increases, and better working conditions. Soon after Dutch took office, the police wasted no time. They staged their first strike, in history. Their bargaining tool? Mardi Gras.array(3) {
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The beef between rap titans Cardi B and Nicki Minaj consumed the news this year. Shoes have been thrown, emails leaked, political candidates endorsed, and Harriet Tubman’s queenhood questioned. We consult comedian Nore Davis and associate editor at Vulture Hunter Harris to determine whether the beef is Good For The Blacks.
Tracy King, with the help of the Asterix comic books, proves that puns definitely are not 'the lowest form of wit'.
Warning: this podcast may contain some Latin jokes.
Presenter: James Ward
Contributor: Tracy King
Producer: Luke Doran
There is this myth that it’s frivolous or unproductive to care about how you look. Clothing and fashion get trivialized a lot. But think about who get associated with clothing and fashion: young people, women, queers and people of color — groups of people who historically haven’t had a voice have expressed themselves on their bodies, through their style, their hair, their tattoos, their piercings and what they wear.
Articles of Interestis a show about what we wear, created by Avery Trufelman; a six-part series within* 99% Invisible*, looking at clothing.
For the most part, we tend to keep our clothes relatively clean and avoid spills and rips and tears. But denim is so hard-wearing and hard-working that it just kind of amasses more and more signs of wear. So you can learn a lot from observing an old pair of blue jeans.
Articles of Interestis a show about what we wear, created by Avery Trufelman; a six-part series within* 99% Invisible*, looking at clothing.
