WEBVTT - New Orleans: Anybody’s Gumbo 0:00:15.316 --> 0:00:27.916 Pushkin. What it takes to feed the soul. What it 0:00:27.996 --> 0:00:33.036 takes to feed the soul takes a lot. We feed 0:00:33.036 --> 0:00:36.356 the soul by feeding the spirit. When the spirit do 0:00:36.516 --> 0:00:38.556 things that we ask them to do, we have to 0:00:38.596 --> 0:00:41.516 pay them back. So there are certain things that the 0:00:41.556 --> 0:00:45.316 spirit can't do. Can't eat, can't drink, can't have sex, 0:00:46.076 --> 0:00:49.516 can't sing, and can't dance. So you do those things 0:00:49.556 --> 0:00:54.716 in honor when spirit does things for you. So let's begin. 0:01:01.196 --> 0:01:06.796 This is not Lost. I'm Brendan Francis Nunham. Each episode, 0:01:06.836 --> 0:01:09.876 a friend and night travel somewhere, see the sun and 0:01:09.956 --> 0:01:11.836 try to get a local to invite us to dinner. 0:01:16.076 --> 0:01:19.476 I'm at Louis Armstrong International Airport picking up my buddy 0:01:19.556 --> 0:01:24.076 TV writer Daniel Henderson. She's just arrived from La resplendent 0:01:24.156 --> 0:01:37.476 with new purple braids. Looks amazing. This episode New Orleans. 0:01:38.236 --> 0:01:41.396 I was on it for three days before I wanted 0:01:41.436 --> 0:01:44.796 to lose. I was losing my mind. As we drive 0:01:44.796 --> 0:01:47.316 into the city in our rental car, Daniel catches me 0:01:47.396 --> 0:01:50.396 up in her personal life. After years of being single, 0:01:50.756 --> 0:01:54.516 she recently joined a dating app. I've never seen more 0:01:54.596 --> 0:01:59.516 chumps back to back in my life. No I've done 0:01:59.516 --> 0:02:01.516 some dating apps, and you really do start to get 0:02:01.556 --> 0:02:03.676 sad about humanity. It's like being at the mall too 0:02:03.756 --> 0:02:07.956 long or something. It's leg and then the other half 0:02:07.956 --> 0:02:10.836 of the dudes on there are like fucking paragliding from 0:02:10.876 --> 0:02:15.836 a helicopter while wearing water skin and there. Yeah, it's like, 0:02:15.996 --> 0:02:20.276 it's un like, can you calm down? How the hell 0:02:20.316 --> 0:02:23.516 are we gonna make out? If you're always at the gym? 0:02:23.676 --> 0:02:32.596 We're jumping out of let's play that game. So New Orleans, 0:02:32.716 --> 0:02:35.676 what do you think they music New Orleans? I think swamps, 0:02:35.876 --> 0:02:38.116 you know, like the trees and trays of peach tree 0:02:38.156 --> 0:02:40.956 and live music. I'm the jazz is what I'm sign 0:02:41.196 --> 0:02:43.756 the jazz z. We're gonna learn how to make some gumbo, 0:02:43.916 --> 0:02:52.436 which awesome. Yes right here. And also due to our 0:02:52.476 --> 0:02:56.036 success in Montreal, we have to do another dinner party. 0:02:57.076 --> 0:03:00.316 Do not ask, literally, any black people at all in 0:03:00.356 --> 0:03:06.196 the city lave connotation. Oh my god, god, hey't even 0:03:06.276 --> 0:03:08.076 think of that. I'm a white guy who just dropped 0:03:08.076 --> 0:03:28.236 in the town. Have you made miss a dinner? All? Right? 0:03:29.716 --> 0:03:33.556 But there was a wedding, a wedding second line walking 0:03:33.556 --> 0:03:35.676 down the street with a brass band behind him. That's 0:03:35.796 --> 0:03:37.436 natural New New Orleans. And I still got here only 0:03:37.436 --> 0:03:39.156 like thirty seconds late, so I feel good about it. 0:03:40.356 --> 0:03:44.116 That's Maurice Carlos Ruffin, native New Orleanians and author of 0:03:44.116 --> 0:03:47.156 the novel We Cast a Shadow, the satire of racism 0:03:47.196 --> 0:03:49.396 in the South. I'm so happy to meet you both 0:03:49.436 --> 0:03:52.476 and share a drink. We're having lunch at the Carousel Bar. 0:03:52.916 --> 0:03:54.876 It's known for being a past haunt of writers like 0:03:54.916 --> 0:03:58.636 Tennessee Williams and Hemingway, and also for having a bar 0:03:59.116 --> 0:04:03.476 like an actual carousel. That's right. Customers slowly rotate around 0:04:03.476 --> 0:04:07.716 like horses on poles, sipping sasarex fun. But if you 0:04:07.796 --> 0:04:11.276 drink too much, it means double the spins. A lot 0:04:11.276 --> 0:04:14.156 of tourists come here and it's like rink and what's 0:04:14.196 --> 0:04:15.876 just for the sake of drinking toon much now? Because 0:04:15.876 --> 0:04:20.636 it's gonna feel good where the nation's release valves. I've 0:04:20.676 --> 0:04:24.516 heard repeatedly that mardi grav comes from this ancient French 0:04:24.556 --> 0:04:28.956 tradition of sort of France during the sort of surf 0:04:28.996 --> 0:04:31.316 and peasant era, when the king would say, you know, 0:04:31.636 --> 0:04:34.476 we've been really oppressing these people really hard. Let let 0:04:34.556 --> 0:04:37.036 them party for a few days and that way they 0:04:37.036 --> 0:04:39.996 won't like Roboult and try and kill me. Maybe when 0:04:39.996 --> 0:04:41.636 they stopped, don't ask when they cut his head off. 0:04:41.636 --> 0:04:43.516 I don't know. We want to do this all the time. 0:04:46.716 --> 0:04:51.356 New Orleans. I know this city is contains multitudes. Can 0:04:51.396 --> 0:04:53.356 he kind of try to summarize it? Well, that is 0:04:53.356 --> 0:04:55.076 a tall older, but I mean I would say that 0:04:55.636 --> 0:04:58.156 New Orleans is a town that never forgets his past, 0:04:58.556 --> 0:05:01.716 and that we have this great history of a culture 0:05:01.756 --> 0:05:04.676 that is built atop African culture, and it's all mixed 0:05:04.676 --> 0:05:08.156 with French culture, Spanish culture and other cultures from around 0:05:08.156 --> 0:05:09.516 the world. Couldn't be the means as well as a 0:05:09.596 --> 0:05:13.236 huge vie themes population here as well. And um, we're 0:05:13.276 --> 0:05:16.956 good at storytelling, whether the truth songs or through poetry, 0:05:16.996 --> 0:05:20.756 and a Fields can write fiction as well, like myself. 0:05:21.556 --> 0:05:24.316 We're sitting next to this this case that has pictures 0:05:24.316 --> 0:05:27.156 of Falkner and Tennessee Williams, these old dead white men 0:05:27.196 --> 0:05:31.636 who who found Burgess here. We mentioned Faulkner, Truman, Capode. No, 0:05:31.716 --> 0:05:33.916 they all came through here, and there's a reason for that. 0:05:33.956 --> 0:05:36.836 I mean, you know, if you're in mid twenties century 0:05:36.876 --> 0:05:39.756 of America and everything is so structured and rigid, and 0:05:39.836 --> 0:05:42.716 you want to break out and have a chance to 0:05:42.796 --> 0:05:45.636 be your best version of yourself as an artist. Come 0:05:45.676 --> 0:05:48.756 down to this bohemian sort of paradise where almost anything goes. 0:05:49.156 --> 0:05:51.396 And so if the Truman Capodi come down here, we're 0:05:51.436 --> 0:05:53.796 not gonna mess with you because you like men or 0:05:53.956 --> 0:05:56.076 you know, whatever the issue is. And so those things 0:05:56.116 --> 0:05:59.156 are a part of by backstory. There was a TV 0:05:59.196 --> 0:06:03.756 show a few years ago called Tremaine, and Hermit Roughlins 0:06:03.876 --> 0:06:06.476 was in it, and there's this famous scene where this 0:06:06.596 --> 0:06:09.516 like producer or somebody's like, you know, you wanted the 0:06:09.676 --> 0:06:12.196 players of the trumpet in the entire country. Don't you 0:06:12.196 --> 0:06:15.076 want to go international? One day? He says, Nah, man, 0:06:15.316 --> 0:06:18.076 I was gonna play my backyard. That's the New Orleans ethos. 0:06:18.116 --> 0:06:22.596 It's not beating your competitors. It's encouraging an atmosphere of creativity. 0:06:23.396 --> 0:06:40.436 All right, appreciative season. I'm kind of nervous good talk 0:06:40.476 --> 0:06:44.436 to people about Katrina here. You know, it's it's hard 0:06:44.476 --> 0:06:48.116 to bring out the worst event of somebody's life, but 0:06:48.156 --> 0:06:53.516 then it's also too important to ignore. Well, you know, 0:06:53.676 --> 0:06:55.396 I was gonna be twenty six or twenty seven, my 0:06:55.476 --> 0:06:58.236 Katrina happened, and I probably had a lot of growing 0:06:58.276 --> 0:06:59.636 to do, and I can tell you that that experience 0:06:59.716 --> 0:07:02.636 matured me. We lost our house, we lost our cars, 0:07:03.036 --> 0:07:05.436 and then as the days and weeks passed, I look 0:07:05.476 --> 0:07:08.156 back and recognize, you know, it been in your city's 0:07:08.196 --> 0:07:11.276 on the water right now it's all gone. You think 0:07:11.396 --> 0:07:13.476 what's really important. You think it's the people that you love, 0:07:14.116 --> 0:07:15.396 and it's what you want to do with your life. 0:07:15.436 --> 0:07:18.196 And so I doubled down on being a writer. You know, 0:07:18.436 --> 0:07:21.116 I'm gonna turn by trade, but I said, you know, Maurice, 0:07:21.316 --> 0:07:23.396 you you're gonna make a book one day. Dude. It 0:07:23.516 --> 0:07:26.556 took some time, but I got it done. You know interesting, 0:07:27.836 --> 0:07:30.556 n Orleans has been destroyed like five times. The quarter 0:07:30.636 --> 0:07:33.956 burned down like twice. We had yellow Favorite pandemics, multiple floods. 0:07:34.796 --> 0:07:39.156 Look around. We were not destroyed. Our culture is still here. 0:07:44.916 --> 0:07:48.556 Maurice clearly has a huge appetite for his hometown, figuratively 0:07:49.036 --> 0:07:52.756 and literally. Can we have some nuts? After flagging down 0:07:52.796 --> 0:07:55.556 the waiter for Cajun bar nuts, he jokes that food 0:07:56.156 --> 0:08:02.276 is his spirit animal. Luckily, dinner parties are mine. I'm 0:08:02.316 --> 0:08:04.556 about to inquire as to whether Maurice could host us 0:08:04.596 --> 0:08:07.556 for one on Sunday, but Daniel's warning pops in my head, 0:08:08.596 --> 0:08:11.156 so instead he invite him to our place on Sunday, 0:08:11.716 --> 0:08:15.836 and we'll be doing the cooking. We're learning how to 0:08:15.916 --> 0:08:23.396 make make gumbo. Our gumbo is at least one of 0:08:23.396 --> 0:08:26.436 the most complex meals you can possibly make. The crabs 0:08:26.476 --> 0:08:29.836 and the filet and the sauces, and I can't make gumbo. 0:08:29.996 --> 0:08:31.796 Really what it's a saint. I mean, there's a literal 0:08:31.876 --> 0:08:38.156 saying it's you don't eat everybody's gumble. Thanks for your honesty, 0:08:39.316 --> 0:08:50.636 So um, you're gonna join us? Of course, excellent. With 0:08:50.796 --> 0:08:53.596 our first inner party guests secured, Danielle and I hop 0:08:53.636 --> 0:08:56.036 back in the car and follow the Mississippi River into 0:08:56.036 --> 0:08:58.596 the swamp lands and cotton fields northwest of the city. 0:09:00.076 --> 0:09:01.476 If we were going to take advantage of all the 0:09:01.556 --> 0:09:04.276 New Orleans had to offer, we first need to face 0:09:04.316 --> 0:09:13.236 the uncomfortable truth of where it all came from. I've 0:09:13.356 --> 0:09:20.716 never been less excited to go somewhere. So much of 0:09:20.796 --> 0:09:25.036 this area is possible, or it's here, or the history 0:09:25.076 --> 0:09:28.396 of it is slavery. Yeah, and so on the one hand, 0:09:28.436 --> 0:09:31.756 you can't deny that, but on the other hand, how 0:09:31.836 --> 0:09:34.236 do you why, how and why are you celebrating it? 0:09:34.716 --> 0:09:36.636 You know, Well, that's what's crazy. I didn't realize that 0:09:37.236 --> 0:09:41.236 weddings like sority reunions and picnics happen on most of 0:09:41.276 --> 0:09:46.156 these plantations. I think every plantation there should be some 0:09:46.276 --> 0:09:48.436 regulations there where they have to have a certain amount 0:09:48.436 --> 0:09:52.116 of realistic history applied. So if you want to have 0:09:52.196 --> 0:09:55.276 your sorority reunion there, you're gonna have to know that 0:09:55.316 --> 0:09:57.796 you're standing on the bones of black people. Yeah, it 0:09:57.916 --> 0:09:59.756 might be a little bit of downer, it might be 0:09:59.836 --> 0:10:05.916 a bummer while you're drinking your Hurricanes. But what's your 0:10:05.956 --> 0:10:09.836 family's relationship in but all of slavery my so, my 0:10:10.036 --> 0:10:16.076 great great great grandparents were slaves in the Dutch West Indies. Oh, 0:10:16.836 --> 0:10:20.356 then they did come to the States. They came to 0:10:20.436 --> 0:10:25.476 America and lived in Virginia, and so there was still slavery. 0:10:25.996 --> 0:10:32.636 Were they slaves in Virginia or were they throughout your life? 0:10:33.156 --> 0:10:35.316 Have you It's like, I feel like that there's a 0:10:35.356 --> 0:10:40.316 way you have to I'm guessing as a black person America, 0:10:40.316 --> 0:10:42.916 you have to pull your punches and conversations about race 0:10:43.516 --> 0:10:46.316 with white people. In this sense, because they couldn't not 0:10:46.556 --> 0:10:50.236 handle the truth, but you can't fully process it been yours. 0:10:50.316 --> 0:10:52.116 We've never had a conversation about what it's like for 0:10:52.156 --> 0:10:55.636 me to people treated like we talk about privilege and 0:10:55.676 --> 0:10:58.276 joke about stuff, but like I have it better than 0:10:58.316 --> 0:11:00.876 a lot of people in a lot of ways. You know, 0:11:00.956 --> 0:11:03.476 it's it's you know, I'm light skinned, and like you know, 0:11:03.556 --> 0:11:08.316 it's I can't pass. But like I definitely white. People 0:11:08.396 --> 0:11:11.556 have told me that I'm less threatening to them for 0:11:11.716 --> 0:11:16.636 these reasons, which is fucking absurd soon but um, but yeah, 0:11:16.716 --> 0:11:19.756 I think that it's it is hard to have that conversation. 0:11:19.836 --> 0:11:21.716 It's not really like a pulling punches. It's just kind 0:11:21.716 --> 0:11:25.236 of like like nobody asks me and nobody wants to 0:11:25.356 --> 0:11:31.916 hear about it. I mean, I want to talk about something, 0:11:32.076 --> 0:11:33.716 but I think it's kind of like you get one 0:11:33.796 --> 0:11:36.116 get scared to be like if I bring it up, 0:11:36.756 --> 0:11:38.916 am I Like? Am I bringing it up wrong? Am 0:11:38.996 --> 0:11:41.996 I stating the obvious? Like there's just this charge I said, 0:11:41.996 --> 0:11:43.676 there's impulse so avoided and I know I can talk 0:11:43.676 --> 0:11:46.356 to about anything, but I'm also like I feel like 0:11:46.356 --> 0:11:48.556 it's part it's not your responsible. Why why should be 0:11:48.636 --> 0:11:52.556 every thoughtful. You know, black person's job to educate people. Yeah, 0:11:52.716 --> 0:11:54.916 it's not. And if you have any questions about white people, 0:11:55.196 --> 0:11:58.276 I mean, and I'm here for you and us about 0:11:58.316 --> 0:12:06.276 white ree well that that we're here doing this together, 0:12:06.316 --> 0:12:12.316 and me too. I really am plantation entrance. We're here. 0:12:15.316 --> 0:12:18.916 There's a little pond at the end of a dirt 0:12:18.996 --> 0:12:23.036 road lies the Whitney, an old sugar plantation that's now 0:12:23.236 --> 0:12:27.356 a rather unique open air museum. Joy, nice to meet you. 0:12:29.076 --> 0:12:31.876 We're meeting up with director of Communications, doctor Joy Banner. 0:12:32.396 --> 0:12:34.636 Joy was born and raised a stone's throw from here, 0:12:34.956 --> 0:12:37.236 but left to get her PhD and teach African American 0:12:37.276 --> 0:12:40.076 studies in Texas for a few years before deciding to 0:12:40.116 --> 0:12:43.436 come back. Much sure Friend's surprise when I told him 0:12:43.436 --> 0:12:45.676 that I was moving back to work at a plantation, 0:12:46.196 --> 0:12:49.956 they were like, Joy, what's wrong? You need help? And 0:12:50.076 --> 0:12:52.836 I said, but no, this plantation is different because it 0:12:52.996 --> 0:12:55.956 focuses on the lives of the enslaved people. And they 0:12:55.996 --> 0:13:01.196 were like, Joy, that that's even worse. Would sets us 0:13:01.236 --> 0:13:05.396 apart from different plantations? Is this is a place of memory, right, 0:13:05.476 --> 0:13:08.076 this is a place of reverence. Notice that we don't 0:13:08.116 --> 0:13:11.996 start at the big house where the owning family live 0:13:12.316 --> 0:13:14.076 a right, because it's not about the big house, is 0:13:14.116 --> 0:13:19.556 about slavery. So this wall, though, has the names that 0:13:19.676 --> 0:13:21.836 we've collected so far of all the people that were 0:13:21.956 --> 0:13:26.236 enslaved in West African culture. Person's name tells us a 0:13:26.316 --> 0:13:28.596 little bit something about who they are. It's a connection 0:13:28.756 --> 0:13:32.356 to their history. So Samba, for example, is it means 0:13:32.396 --> 0:13:36.476 a second born son Musa. That's a Muslim name for Moses, 0:13:36.556 --> 0:13:39.676 so we know that Musa was probably Muslim. So once 0:13:39.796 --> 0:13:43.876 a person is enslaved, many of them are baptized and 0:13:44.036 --> 0:13:48.556 they get Christian names. Yesterday you were free. Today you 0:13:48.676 --> 0:13:56.756 belong today right right, right, property right. Today your property 0:13:56.876 --> 0:14:00.396 you belong to someone else. But names are not recorded 0:14:00.476 --> 0:14:04.556 for the purpose of descendants going back and being able 0:14:04.676 --> 0:14:07.396 to know something about their ancestor. Right. So we can't 0:14:07.436 --> 0:14:10.156 hop on ancestry dot Com the way other people can. 0:14:10.516 --> 0:14:13.636 It does not work that way for us. Right, and 0:14:13.716 --> 0:14:17.236 I we're kind of crossing over this small land bridge 0:14:17.276 --> 0:14:20.436 over a stream. When I give the tours here, I 0:14:20.516 --> 0:14:23.636 like stopping people over these spots because it reminds me 0:14:23.796 --> 0:14:27.956 of the swamps of Louisiana. So the swamps rest behind 0:14:28.756 --> 0:14:32.676 the sugarcane fields. That water is very important because when 0:14:32.756 --> 0:14:35.516 it would send me quote unquote Negro dogs after you 0:14:35.596 --> 0:14:38.556 after you escape, jump in the water, and then they 0:14:38.636 --> 0:14:45.836 can't track your scent. So this church was built eighteen 0:14:45.956 --> 0:14:50.676 sixty eight. Oh yeah, ares a white one as a 0:14:50.716 --> 0:14:53.556 blue one and hang out and there could be a 0:14:53.596 --> 0:14:56.116 gator or two. Is warm enough that they might come 0:14:56.156 --> 0:15:01.116 out today? All right, I don't like this interview. I can't. 0:15:06.716 --> 0:15:08.476 So as we're walking in, we're seeing the pews. On 0:15:08.596 --> 0:15:12.556 other side, we're also seeing these gorgeous statues of children. 0:15:13.556 --> 0:15:16.956 These are called the Children of Whitney. Um. The artist 0:15:17.036 --> 0:15:20.636 is Woodrow Nash. Why did he have an interest in 0:15:20.796 --> 0:15:24.996 having children rendered? People are sensitive to children and children 0:15:25.036 --> 0:15:27.596 are innocence. So if you can enslave a child, and 0:15:27.836 --> 0:15:30.956 you know, again it evokes the brutality of the system. Right, 0:15:32.076 --> 0:15:34.356 it seems like they're you know, they're oxidizing in such 0:15:34.356 --> 0:15:36.796 a way that costs also show not just the age 0:15:36.796 --> 0:15:39.996 of the statue itself, but the wear and tear on 0:15:40.436 --> 0:15:43.636 the children growing up in this system. These are these 0:15:43.676 --> 0:15:46.476 are made out of clay. But like you said, you know, 0:15:46.996 --> 0:15:50.596 these break sometimes, so you see a little chip here. 0:15:51.116 --> 0:15:54.996 It is you know, reflective of what a human body 0:15:55.076 --> 0:15:57.596 would have been, you know, the type of trauma that 0:15:57.676 --> 0:16:10.836 it would have been sustaining. Boy like, they look like 0:16:10.916 --> 0:16:15.796 structural art peatures on the front pature. They were sugar kettles. 0:16:16.316 --> 0:16:18.716 So yes, this is where you would process. The sugar 0:16:19.316 --> 0:16:22.556 cane stalks were brought to the sugar mill and ground 0:16:22.636 --> 0:16:27.036 down into a pulp. Think about it. They're stirring thick 0:16:27.196 --> 0:16:32.316 sugar mixture, hot sugar mixtures. The lifespan of someone that 0:16:32.436 --> 0:16:35.196 comes to a Louisiana plantation and works in those fields 0:16:35.476 --> 0:16:38.596 is seven to ten years. Seven to ten years. They 0:16:38.676 --> 0:16:43.756 are working people from can't see. They can't see even 0:16:44.156 --> 0:16:47.236 chopping down the sugar cane they're having to go through 0:16:47.436 --> 0:16:51.276 very quickly with very sharp machette knives. So there are accidental, 0:16:51.516 --> 0:16:54.956 you know, amputations that happen. There are amputations that happened 0:16:54.996 --> 0:16:57.836 as they're feeding the sugar cane stalked through the grinder. 0:16:58.236 --> 0:17:05.156 In the sugar house, the crattiest thing is caving to me. 0:17:05.716 --> 0:17:08.116 It is the square that is cut out in the 0:17:08.196 --> 0:17:10.876 wall right over the bed um. Can any of you 0:17:11.036 --> 0:17:13.796 guess why that's there? For the masters of rivers in 0:17:13.836 --> 0:17:17.876 the house to wash them having sex or no, No, 0:17:19.396 --> 0:17:23.916 I'm growth that, Danielle. It was my fault for bringing 0:17:23.956 --> 0:17:28.956 you there. So she was there already. Oh that was 0:17:28.996 --> 0:17:33.716 super curious. Yes, So there was a family living here 0:17:33.836 --> 0:17:37.756 until the nineteen eighties, so this is where they would 0:17:37.756 --> 0:17:40.956 have wired electricity and put in a switch. They lived 0:17:40.996 --> 0:17:45.476 here into the eighties. So we talk about the plantation 0:17:45.596 --> 0:17:48.476 system and how slavery will end, but the system doesn't. 0:17:48.996 --> 0:17:54.316 After slavery, where do you go? You've been, you know, 0:17:54.476 --> 0:17:57.116 forced to work in the in the sugarcane fields. That's 0:17:57.156 --> 0:17:59.356 all your skill is going to be sugar, sugar, sugar 0:17:59.596 --> 0:18:02.556 until but now you're getting charged for the for renting 0:18:02.836 --> 0:18:06.196 the cabin. It's it's wage work till they're getting paid 0:18:06.356 --> 0:18:10.716 for it. But you're not serving to right, You're not 0:18:10.916 --> 0:18:15.036 getting enough to really move off of this plantation. But 0:18:15.196 --> 0:18:18.036 can you imagine like having a body that's a riddlewood 0:18:18.076 --> 0:18:23.516 pain and injury and scars for someone else's benefit and privilege. 0:18:24.276 --> 0:18:26.636 Can you imagine like looking in the mirror and seeing 0:18:27.036 --> 0:18:29.276 the wrinkles in your face and all and knowing that 0:18:29.396 --> 0:18:33.396 has been for somebody else, you know, Yeah, I don't 0:18:33.396 --> 0:18:35.596 talk about rinkles, not yet and brought me there. I'm 0:18:35.636 --> 0:18:38.396 gonna get a rinkle for somebody else. No, I've not 0:18:38.556 --> 0:18:53.796 a man, y'all. Do people come here thinking that this 0:18:54.036 --> 0:18:57.316 is maybe like a place where you look at furniture 0:18:57.396 --> 0:19:00.196 and have a mental have you encountered like like people 0:19:00.236 --> 0:19:02.836 who don't know what they're coming to? So we we 0:19:03.036 --> 0:19:05.836 get we get a range. Right. There are people that 0:19:06.076 --> 0:19:09.036 have like these private luxury tours and they're looking for more, look, 0:19:09.196 --> 0:19:13.036 curious experience. I have an inclination to say, yes, we 0:19:13.116 --> 0:19:15.276 can give you a special tour. And I bring them 0:19:15.316 --> 0:19:18.196 out into the hurricane fields with those machetes and make 0:19:18.236 --> 0:19:21.396 them chop, you know, all the way back to the swamps, Like, 0:19:22.076 --> 0:19:33.236 here's your special luxury tour. Isn't it great? What's up? Oh? 0:19:33.316 --> 0:19:36.996 So throughout the plantation we have bells to ring in 0:19:37.116 --> 0:19:40.236 honor of the people that live, died, and labored here. 0:19:40.596 --> 0:19:43.276 In their time, they would wake up at the tolling 0:19:43.316 --> 0:19:46.316 of that bell, knock off for lunch with that bell, 0:19:46.396 --> 0:19:48.756 and then come in from the fields at that bell, 0:19:49.196 --> 0:19:51.716 And so we use it as a way of remembering them. 0:19:54.796 --> 0:20:04.036 Thank you. Danielle and I are mostly silent on our 0:20:04.116 --> 0:20:08.396 drive back to New Orleans. We watch as the setting 0:20:08.436 --> 0:20:11.356 sun turns u swamp and sky incandescent shades of orange 0:20:11.396 --> 0:20:16.396 and purple. Gradually, the fields and Spanish moss are replaced 0:20:16.436 --> 0:20:23.516 by concrete and billboards as the highway turns to city streets. Dude, 0:20:25.956 --> 0:20:35.316 do it? Whoa Jesus? Hello? Kill somebody think it's like 0:20:35.356 --> 0:20:38.516 a bottle Jesus. This hole is so deep you can 0:20:38.556 --> 0:20:40.716 only see the top of the Oh my god that 0:20:40.876 --> 0:20:52.876 you just drop the Hello Hello. We're in the French 0:20:52.956 --> 0:20:55.956 Quarter again. Meeting up with Daniel's old friend Becca Havens. 0:20:57.156 --> 0:20:59.556 Becca's originally from New York City, but has lived in 0:20:59.596 --> 0:21:02.676 New Orleans for over a decade. She's also the daughter 0:21:02.716 --> 0:21:05.516 of the late great musician Richie Havens, a fixture of 0:21:05.556 --> 0:21:08.436 the local jazz fest But I'm too shy to ever 0:21:08.476 --> 0:21:12.236 bring that up. It's beautifully disordered. It's funky, it's rundown, 0:21:12.236 --> 0:21:14.516 it's old, it's adorable, and it's weird and people walk 0:21:14.556 --> 0:21:16.596 around and don't wear pants and stuff, and it's just 0:21:16.876 --> 0:21:19.796 like I just it's awesome. Let's get off This is 0:21:19.876 --> 0:21:22.276 a major beaten paths. Let's just get off it. Since 0:21:22.276 --> 0:21:24.556 Bourbon Street is starting to pile up with drunk tourists, 0:21:24.996 --> 0:21:27.276 we decided to check out some of the quieter side streets. 0:21:27.596 --> 0:21:30.676 I'm like loving this raw iron now. I feel like 0:21:30.676 --> 0:21:33.076 I'm in a movie set right now. It doesn't feel real. 0:21:33.276 --> 0:21:35.596 I mean, look at it, this is pretty dreamy. The 0:21:35.636 --> 0:21:38.076 foggy neighborhood has lit up with gas lanterns, and the 0:21:38.156 --> 0:21:41.276 houses with their iron balconies are painted peach, white and blue. 0:21:42.316 --> 0:21:45.116 A New New Orleans is singular. But have there been 0:21:45.156 --> 0:21:47.676 any Southern trades that you've taken you some time to 0:21:47.716 --> 0:21:52.516 adjust to or just that use them? Tell me more. 0:21:53.276 --> 0:21:59.836 That's Danielle crashing into a steel wall. Words people are 0:21:59.836 --> 0:22:02.796 comfortable using in my presence. I mean, it's just if 0:22:02.836 --> 0:22:05.396 you look it up, like every major avenue here is 0:22:05.756 --> 0:22:08.836 named after someone terrible. What are we gonna do? Rename everything? Yes, 0:22:09.236 --> 0:22:12.156 that's exactly what you're supposed to do, is rename it all. 0:22:12.316 --> 0:22:14.116 And people just really don't want to do that. The 0:22:14.236 --> 0:22:18.196 racism and guns, people just carry them like I got 0:22:18.236 --> 0:22:21.396 my gun just in case. Now, tell me, what is 0:22:21.436 --> 0:22:24.156 the smell that we're smelling? Isn't that something? Yeah? You 0:22:24.236 --> 0:22:28.516 can be the powerful funk is the podcasting smellow vision, 0:22:29.076 --> 0:22:32.196 because that's that's a funk. We just passed a train. 0:22:34.756 --> 0:22:43.036 What is the Nicks fucking bar? Two eggnog dacheries in 0:22:43.036 --> 0:22:49.356 a hurricane? Cheers, cheers up, I was I've been single 0:22:49.436 --> 0:22:53.756 for five years, almost six years. I refuse to engage 0:22:53.796 --> 0:22:58.756 with this culture men have in their bio. I brushed 0:22:58.836 --> 0:23:02.036 my teeth and I take a shower every day, as 0:23:02.076 --> 0:23:04.636 like the things you need to know about that that's 0:23:04.676 --> 0:23:07.916 a very low bar. You feel better that you're married now. Yes, 0:23:08.356 --> 0:23:13.076 straight men are in crisis and it's a tread easy 0:23:13.196 --> 0:23:15.916 to be us. If you've been taking a shower, is 0:23:15.956 --> 0:23:19.996 a beautiful thing to behold. You don't get laid. Yeah, 0:23:20.196 --> 0:23:22.236 I'm down with that plan. I mean, I don't have 0:23:22.316 --> 0:23:27.276 a horse in this race anymore. I will withhold sex 0:23:27.436 --> 0:23:31.516 from every man in America to improve a feminist point. 0:23:32.876 --> 0:23:37.236 It's it's bleak. It's bleak. We talk about the woes 0:23:37.276 --> 0:23:39.796 and modern love for a little while longer, and then 0:23:39.836 --> 0:23:42.396 decide to call tonight out, but not before I ask 0:23:42.436 --> 0:23:44.636 Becca if she'll join us for our gathering on Sunday? 0:23:45.316 --> 0:23:50.916 Will there be food? We're making gumbo? That is no 0:23:51.036 --> 0:23:55.316 small undertaking. This is okay? Oh yeah, I'm going Yes, 0:23:57.956 --> 0:24:06.796 the sounds of a home that went somewhere else, eggnog, Dachris, 0:24:07.436 --> 0:24:11.676 carousel bars hard, reality is of slavery. One day into 0:24:11.716 --> 0:24:13.716 our trip in the Big Easy, and this place is 0:24:13.796 --> 0:24:15.956 already proving to be more rich and complex than we'd 0:24:15.996 --> 0:24:18.876 ever imagined. And I'm starting to wonder if I've also 0:24:18.956 --> 0:24:23.396 underestimated the rich complexity of its signature dish. Drifting off 0:24:23.436 --> 0:24:25.756 to sleep, I'm haunted by the image of a pothole 0:24:26.276 --> 0:24:29.276 the size of a kick drum, and it's filled with gumbo. 0:24:45.676 --> 0:24:51.196 Let's go ahead and license candles. Voodoo is like going 0:24:51.316 --> 0:24:54.556 to your grandmother's house. I'm going to the cemetery, talking 0:24:54.596 --> 0:24:59.116 to your dear relatives. You believe with your ancestors, teach you. 0:24:59.196 --> 0:25:01.516 You know, it's a little bit different than in Haiti, 0:25:01.556 --> 0:25:04.276 you know, which is by man. But New Orleans food 0:25:04.356 --> 0:25:06.836 is ruled by women. So if there's any guys out 0:25:06.876 --> 0:25:14.356 there listening, welcome to our world. Welcome. While I'm making 0:25:14.436 --> 0:25:17.156 my way across town to explore the city's Tremay neighborhood, 0:25:17.716 --> 0:25:20.516 Danielle's at the Historical Voodoo Museum about to get a 0:25:20.596 --> 0:25:25.116 tarot reading from Priestess Madam Cinnamon Black Tell me, what 0:25:25.276 --> 0:25:26.756 makes you want to have a reading. Let's see what 0:25:26.876 --> 0:25:33.876 the nature of your calling is. I've been blocked from love. 0:25:34.756 --> 0:25:36.796 I've kind of blocked myself from love because I got 0:25:36.836 --> 0:25:41.156 divorced a few years ago, and i feel very guilty 0:25:41.676 --> 0:25:48.596 about that. And I'm curious to know if, because I've 0:25:48.596 --> 0:25:51.676 been kind of regenerating myself and taking a few years 0:25:51.756 --> 0:25:53.396 to care for myself, if I'm in a space now 0:25:53.436 --> 0:25:57.876 to let more love into my life. I always want 0:25:57.916 --> 0:25:59.996 to warn you if these cars are not like what 0:26:00.156 --> 0:26:03.236 you wanted to be, I can't change they are what 0:26:03.316 --> 0:26:08.196 they are. Okay, Please choose one card for me, stad 0:26:09.156 --> 0:26:11.396 call for what cards you choose, and remember, if you 0:26:11.476 --> 0:26:14.876 study long, you'll study wrong. You should always follow your 0:26:14.916 --> 0:26:17.996 first mind because that's when your answerstors. So speaking to you, 0:26:22.596 --> 0:26:26.036 thank you. You have three cards on the table, which 0:26:26.116 --> 0:26:33.396 we call pass, Present, Future. What store would you like 0:26:33.516 --> 0:26:38.196 to open? First? Past? My grandma used to say, going 0:26:38.276 --> 0:26:40.596 into the past, it's like looking at the old DVD movie. 0:26:41.316 --> 0:26:44.756 You always see something different within the end. It's always 0:26:44.836 --> 0:26:47.836 ends up the same. It's lovely. I'm going to pick 0:26:47.916 --> 0:26:58.916 up the car. Well. Danielle is exploring her past with 0:26:59.036 --> 0:27:01.996 Madam sinnemon singing calls out to me from the windows 0:27:01.996 --> 0:27:07.596 of Saint Augustine Catholic Church, for I go inside and 0:27:07.716 --> 0:27:09.396 meet someone who has their own way of talking to 0:27:09.476 --> 0:27:14.276 the spirits. Way of the Law. Cathy Lewis has been 0:27:14.316 --> 0:27:17.596 in the church's choir for over forty years. My mother 0:27:17.676 --> 0:27:19.996 always sank to us when she would be when it 0:27:20.156 --> 0:27:23.716