Robert Mann

Streaming October 31

Baton Rouge local and LSU professor, Robert Mann, offers a fresh look at Louisiana politics in his memoir, Backrooms and Bayous: My Life in Louisiana Politics. Mann details his time working in government with major politicians, having interviewed past presidents, senators and aides as the press secretary to two of the most influential Louisiana legislators. With state history, behind-the-scenes looks and entertaining stories, Mann castes politicians in a refreshing, human light while serving a cautionary tale to young people seeing a political career. 

Pam Fessler

Streaming November 5

Located on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Carville was the only leprosy colony on the mainland United States. Acclaimed journalist, Pam Fessler, unearths the lost world of patients, doctors, researchers and nurses and their fight for a cure for what is now known as Hansen’s disease, as well as the success patients had at turning Carville into a refuge by building a vibrant community. Fessler weaves together original interviews with an unexpected family connection in this enthralling account of lost American history.

P.M. LaRose

Streaming November 6

Jim “Beers” Biersovich thinks he is escaping his past, where murder dogged his every step. But after moving downriver to New Orleans, he realizes there is no escape. When his new coworker and friend, Phineas Stoke, is murdered, he must play detective again to figure out who killed Phineas and why. In this mystery, Louisiana native, P.M. LaRose, brings the reader along to find out how Beers’ musical knowledge will provide the key to the identity of the perpetrator in this city where jazz and blues are the lifeblood.

Ellen Byron

Streaming November 6

At Crozat Plantation B&B in a sleepy Louisiana town, Valentine’s Day is sure to be a day full of love. But when the arrogant celebrity chef, Phillippe Cranson, perishes in a fiery boat crash, Maggie Crozat must figure out who is – and more importantly, isn’t, responsible. Did Maggie’s dear friend, JJ, who owns what would have been Phillippe’s competitor restaurant have something to do with it? Or was Maggie’s own mother angry at Phillippe for possibly stealing one of her recipes? Maggie must help clear her mother and her friend of murder while steering clear of being the next target.

David Armand

Streaming November 7

The Lord’s Acre tells the story of Eli Woodbine, a young boy whose fundamentalist parents give in to their desperation and paranoia, putting all their faith into a charismatic local church leader. One day, the church leader (who is known only by the name “Father”) disappears, leaving Eli a mysterious gift. Eli and his family must pick up the pieces and along the way, discover that hope comes in the most unlikely places.

Anne Simon

Streaming November 7

It’s the beginning of 1839, and the South Louisiana town of New Iberia is thriving. Immigrants have joined the settlers, and steamboats move products up and down Bayou Teche. When Hortense Duperier’s husband, Fréderick, suddenly passes, the privileged life as she knows it is threatened by financial strain and having the manage the estate on her own. As yellow fever threatens an epidemic, Hortense must turn to Félicité, an enslaved woman from Haiti. The women work together to defy medical practices and social constraints and dispense Félicité’s natural remedies in hopes of saving their town.

Rosa Hawkins and Steve Bergsman

Streaming November 12

Chapel of Love: The Story of the New Orleans Girl Group the Dixie Cups tells the story of one of the most successful music groups of the 1960s. In 1963, sisters, Barbara Ann and Rosa Hawkins, and their cousin, Joan Marie Johnson, travel from the South to New York City with their manager, Joe Jones, and were an immediate success. Their lively songs about Mardi Gras, love and romance were popular; however, the stories behind the stage curtain were that of three young girls being exploited by their manager and entrapped in a world of abuse and manipulation. For the first time, the Dixie Cups tell their story in their own words and reintroduce the Louisiana Music Hall of Famers to a new audience.

Jarvis DeBarry

Streaming November 12

For twenty years, Jarvis DeBarry’s column in the New Orleans Times-Picayune was where the city got the good, the bad, the weird and wonderful. I Feel to Believe collects DeBarry’s best columns and leads the reader on a historical journey throughout New Orleans news events. DeBarry documents racial injustice, loss, class strife and life before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina.

Stephen J. Andes

Streaming November 12

In Zorro’s Shadow, Baton Rouge local and LSU professor, Stephen J. Andes, explores how Zorro’s Latinx origins and his impact on pop culture became the blueprint for the modern, iconic superheroes we know today. Zorro made his appearance as the first masked and caped hero in 1919 as he fenced his way throughout Spanish California. Historian and Latin American studies expert, Andes, unmasks Zorro and the legends behind Zorro as a reclamation of a multiethnic and multicultural America.

Dege Legg

Streaming November 13

In this work of creative nonfiction, Grammy-nominated and award-winning author, Dege Legg – also known as Brother Dege – recounts the five years spent driving a cab throughout South Louisiana. He documents the highs and lows of Lafayette, Louisiana, and the Cajun and Creole influences along the way. Dege takes you for the ride of a lifetime to experience tales of victories and redemption for the downtrodden.

Morris Ardoin

Streaming November 13

In the summer of the early 1970s, Morris and his siblings helped his parents run a roadside motel in Cajun Louisiana. When the children weren’t doing their chores or playing with the children who were staying with their parents at the motel, they escaped the hot sun and the wrath of their father by playing canasta – a card game. While the other siblings were successful in evading their father, Morris’ father saved his most vicious attacks for Morris, as he made it his mission to “fix” his gay, and to his mind, broken, son, while Morris made it his own mission to resist and survive. Morris was aided in his struggles by his selfless and generous grandmother, who provides him with warmth, wisdom and humor in this insider’s take on a not-yet-homogenized pocket of American culture.