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WRKF's News Team

Ashley Westerman
Ashley Westerman
Host and Reporter
Elizabeth Eads
Elizabeth Eads
Host and Operations Director
Kelly Connelly
Kelly Connelly
Government & Politics Reporter
Amy Jeffries
Amy Jeffries
News Director

Culture

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Mardi Gras
10:30 am
Tue February 12, 2013

Meet The Calas, A New Orleans Treat That Helped Free Slaves

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Credit Gerald Herbert / AP
Waitress Gaynell James serves up calas cake from the kitchen at The Old Coffeepot Restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans on Jan. 28, 2013.
Credit Via Times-Picayune
An illustration of a classic Calas Vendor from a 1886 edition of Century Magazine
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By editor

Originally published on Thu February 14, 2013 12:35 pm

It's Mardi Gras, and down in New Orleans, the King Cakes, beignets and other gustatory delights are flowing freely. But if you prefer your culinary temptations with a side of history, allow me to introduce you to the calas, a Creole rice fritter with a storied past.

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Mardi Gras
9:52 am
Sun February 10, 2013

High School Marching Bands Lay Down The Beat Of Mardi Gras

Credit Keith O'Brien for NPR
The McDonogh 35 High School band marches in a parade to usher in the Carnival Season.
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By Keith O'Brien

Originally published on Sun February 10, 2013 8:18 am

In less than an hour, the McDonogh 35 High School marching band — including the flag girls, the dance team, the majorettes, the color guard and the actual band — needs to be on the parade route five miles away. It's the peak of Carnival season in New Orleans, and high school marching bands form the backbeat of Mardi Gras.

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After Katrina
5:52 am
Sat February 2, 2013

For New Orleans, Superdome A Symbol Of City's Spirit

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Credit Charlie Riedel / AP
The San Francisco 49ers play the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII at the Superdome in New Orleans on Sunday.
Credit David J. Phillip / AP
The Superdome provided shelter for victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, but was described as a "hellhole."
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By Keith O'Brien

Originally published on Sat February 2, 2013 2:07 pm

The Superdome in New Orleans has hosted heavyweight fights, papal visits, and — after this weekend — seven Super Bowls, an NFL record. But no event looms larger in the dome's history than Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm that turned the stadium into a teeming shelter of last resort.

During the storm, reporters spared no hyperbole when describing scenes of human suffering. The Superdome, in particular, was described as a "hellhole" and "apocalyptic," and it was sort of true.

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Music Interviews
1:01 am
Thu January 24, 2013

The 'True Story' Inside Aaron Neville's Doo-Wop World

Credit Sarah A. Friedman / Courtesy of the artist
Aaron Neville's latest album, My True Story, is a collection of the doo-wop songs he grew up singing in New Orleans.
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By editor

Originally published on Thu January 24, 2013 12:19 pm

At 72, the prince of R&B has reverted to childhood. Aaron Neville has a new album called My True Story, and it's a collection of the songs he sang growing up in the projects of New Orleans in the 1950s and '60s, back when doo-wop was king.

"I've been into every doo-wop there is," Neville says. "I think I went to the university of doo-wop-ology."

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What We're Reading
5:10 pm
Wed January 16, 2013

Author Pens Stories of African American Life in Rural North Carolina

Credit Stephanie Powell Watts
Stephanie Powell Watts, 2012 recipient of the Ernest J. Gains Award for Literary Excellence presented by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation
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Stephanie Powell Watts will be accepting this year’s Ernest Gains Award for Literary Excellence from the Baton Rouge Area Foundation.

Watts is being recognized for her collection of 10 stories, “We Are Taking Only What We Need," chronicling the lives of African Americans in rural North Carolina.

Watts writes from experience. 


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