Poppy Tooker

The stock market crash of 1929 marked the end of the Roaring Twenties and the beginning of the Great Depression. This week, we take a look at some of the ingenuity and heroics that kept people fed.

From soybeans grown in our northern parishes to shrimp caught off our southern shores, Louisiana is truly the most delicious state in the union. But due to a growing list of obstacles such as climate change, tariffs, and the proliferation of cheap, imported goods, times are tough right now for our farmers and fishermen. Which is why it's more important than ever to get behind the delicious ingredients that come from our state. On this week's show, we celebrate food cultivated right here in Louisiana.

Louisianans are blessed with restaurants that have been dining destinations for generations. So whenever a culinary institution announces an ownership change, we tend to get nervous. On this week's show, we explore three restaurants that have changed hands, but whose owners have worked hard to preserve their traditions.

Anyone who has ever been employed in the hospitality industry knows what a challenge this kind of work can be to one's mental health. The combination of dealing with demanding customers while attempting to carry out multiple tasks all at once can wear out even the best workers. This week, we hear from two doctors who know a thing or two about taking proper care of oneself and avoiding mental meltdowns.

New Orleans has long been known for its Spanish, French, and African influences, so it can be easy to overlook the role the Chinese have played in our culture and cuisine since the mid-1800s. On this week's show, we explore the Chinese in the Crescent City – yesterday and today.

Twenty years ago, on August 29th, 2005, Hurricane Katrina violently swept through New Orleans. The storm and subsequent levee failures brought chaos and devastation to the city and surrounding areas. On this week's show, as we mark two decades since Katrina, we explore how New Orleans residents and businesses were able to respond quickly and creatively to rebuild our city.

Every Labor Day weekend, tens of thousands of members of the LGBTQ community from around the world gather in New Orleans for the five-day party known as Southern Decadence. To celebrate, this week, we bring you stories of culinarians expressing queerness through food.

With a unique history reaching back centuries, Louisiana is a state that lends itself to storytelling. On this week's show, we're joined by two historians to get the true stories behind some common myths and misconceptions. And sandwiched between them, we speak with two authors of historical fiction whose books make our state's past come alive.

New Orleans is one of the oldest cities in America, but its acclaimed cuisine is hardly stuck in the past. Today, the local food scene is bolder, more diverse, and more inventive than ever. That's what food writer Beth D'Addono discovered when researching her latest publication, "City Eats: New Orleans." Beth joins us to discuss the city's talented new guard of chefs and restaurateurs. We also dig into two restaurants featured in Beth's book: Addis Nola and GW Fins.

In many cultures across the globe, food is closely intertwined with spirituality and religion. The Passover seder celebrates the exodus of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. The Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr marks the end of a month-long fast, with families gathering for a large celebratory meal. And the Christian gospels contain stories of Jesus breaking bread, multiplying loaves and fishes, and turning water into wine. On this week’s show, we meditate on the elemental link between food and faith.We begin with Jody Eddy. The peripatetic author spent two years visiting monasteries, temples, and other spiritual communities – from Minnesota to Morocco, Ireland to Japan – discovering the rich culinary rituals of each group. She compiled her experiences in Elysian Kitchens: Recipes Inspired by the Traditions and Tastes of the World's Sacred Spaces, a fascinating cookbook full of traditional recipes and the stories of their spiritual roots.Then, the monks of the Drepung Gomang Monastery are back in New O