『Discover Lafayette』のカバーアート

Discover Lafayette

Discover Lafayette

著者： Jan Swift
無料で聴く

The Gateway to South LouisianaDiscover Lafayette© 旅行記・解説 社会科学
エピソード
  • Troy Broussard – Author, Where Lies the Truth

    Troy Broussard – Author, Where Lies the Truth
    2026/06/05
    For many people across Acadiana, Allen & Gooch attorney Troy Broussard is known as a respected litigator and senior partner who has practiced law in Lafayette for more than three decades. But in this episode of Discover Lafayette, listeners meet another side of Troy: novelist, storyteller, songwriter, painter, observer of South Louisiana culture, and thoughtful chronicler of the complicated racial history woven into life in Acadiana. Troy joins us to discuss his recently published novel, Where Lies the Truth, a Southern coming-of-age crime story set against the bayous and backroads of St. Landry Parish. The novel opens in the summer of 1976, when 12-year-old Ezra Brasseaux embarks on what should have been an ordinary hunting trip in the swamps near his hometown. Instead, Ezra stumbles into a world shaped by violence, racial tension, buried secrets, and murder — experiences that haunt him well into adulthood. What unfolds during our conversation is far more than a discussion about writing fiction. Troy reflects candidly on growing up in Eunice during the earliest years of racial integration in St. Landry Parish schools. He describes himself and his classmates as “the guinea pigs,” among the first children thrown together as long-segregated cultures suddenly collided in classrooms and communities. “As I grew older,” Troy explains, “my views of it changed looking at it retrospectively.” He discusses the slow and deeply personal evolution away from what he calls “southern small-town indoctrination,” and how exposure to new people, ideas, and experiences gradually reshaped his understanding of race, prejudice, and human complexity. That emotional and intellectual evolution forms the backbone of Where Lies the Truth. Troy emphasizes that while the novel is entirely fictional, it is heavily inspired by real people, real conversations, and real tensions that shaped South Louisiana life in the 1970s and beyond. “This is not a true story,” he says. “But yes, it is inspired by actual events and actual people.” The story follows Ezra Brasseaux and his closest friends, Giles Poirier and Vance Doiron, as they navigate adolescence in a culturally divided Acadiana landscape. Years later, they are pulled back into the mystery of an unsolved crime involving two young Black victims, forcing them to confront painful truths hidden beneath decades of assumptions and silence. Troy says the novel ultimately explores “the idea of learning, trying to unlearn things you believed had been true your whole life, and realizing that there’s another side to the story.” One of the most compelling aspects of our conversation is Troy’s nuanced discussion of race in South Louisiana. He argues that Acadiana’s cultural history cannot simply be reduced to Black-and-white narratives. Instead, he describes a far more layered social reality involving Cajun Catholics, white Protestants, Creoles, and African Americans — all with their own tensions, identities, and historical wounds. In researching the novel, Troy interviewed people from a wide range of backgrounds and heard stories that profoundly affected him, including accounts of colorism and exclusion that persisted even within Black communities themselves. He shares one striking example involving the “brown paper bag test” still being informally referenced in certain university social circles as recently as a decade ago. The conversation also dives deeply into the creative process itself. Troy spent nearly 15 years writing the novel, beginning the project in his early 40s and finally completing it in his mid-50s. What began as a sprawling 1,200-page manuscript eventually had to be painfully condensed into a publishable form. “The difficult part of the editing was not so much the technology,” Troy explains, “but when you write something and you really immerse yourself in the creative process, what you write kind of becomes like your children.” He jokingly compares the process to “Sophie’s Choice of editing,” where every deleted scene altered timelines, relationships, and emotional continuity throughout the story. Troy credits several influential teachers with shaping his ability to write. He speaks with tremendous affection about Elaine Dumais, his teacher in the gifted program in St. Landry Parish, who first introduced him to creativity and artistic thinking. He also honors his demanding high school English teacher Carol Fuselier, whose relentless standards prepared him not only for law school but ultimately for writing fiction. “I knew how to write because she gave that to me,” Troy says. “She pushed me.” Listeners will especially enjoy hearing Troy describe how characters begin to “write themselves” once a novelist becomes immersed in a story. He explains that dialogue became his favorite part of the process because it allowed him to fully inhabit personalities vastly different from his own — from successful ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    59 分
  • Connecting Louisiana Audiences with Cinematic Works of Artistic Excellence

    Connecting Louisiana Audiences with Cinematic Works of Artistic Excellence
    2026/05/22
    Independent films and film festivals are thriving in Louisiana, and on this episode of Discover Lafayette, we welcome three passionate advocates helping shape the future of filmmaking across the state: Southern Screen Festival Founder and Executive Director Julie Bordelon; filmmaker and Director of Public Relations for the Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival, Jenika Kolacz; and Lafayette native Kelly Swift, Film Programming Director for Manship Theatre and Events Director for the Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival. The conversation explores Louisiana’s growing independent film ecosystem, the importance of film festivals in building creative communities, and the realities filmmakers face trying to sustain careers in the state. Julie Bordelon, founder of Southern Screen Festival, reflects on how she entered the industry without formal film school training, learning production hands-on while working in Lafayette during the height of Louisiana’s film production boom. “I had no clue what I was doing,” she says of her early days in production. “By the middle of the first film, I was a department head.” Bordelon later served as an entertainment liaison for the City of Lafayette, helping support Louisiana’s tax incentive initiatives for film, music, and digital media before launching Southern Screen Festival nearly sixteen years ago. Southern Screen Festival was born out of a desire to create opportunities for local artists and filmmakers in Acadiana. “I pulled them all on to the board and started the Southern Screen Festival without knowing at all what I was doing,” Bordelon recalls. “Just trying to make a scene for us and for other artists and creatives.” In its 16th year, the festival will be held November 19-22, 2026. Learn more at Southern Screen. Today, Southern Screen Festival has evolved into a year-round, multidisciplinary arts organization that extends far beyond its annual November festival. The organization now presents film screenings, workshops, networking mixers, writing programs, pop-up events, live podcasts, and music showcases designed to strengthen Louisiana’s creative economy and connect local artists with national industry professionals. Southern Screen Festival has become one of Louisiana’s most respected independent arts festivals, attracting filmmakers, musicians, producers, writers, editors, and storytellers from around the world to downtown Lafayette every November. The four-day festival features international screenings, panels, workshops, live performances, parties, and filmmaker networking events designed to create what Bordelon calls “a festival for filmmakers and for artists.” The festival remains intentionally non-competitive, allowing filmmakers at every level to feel equally supported and accessible to one another. Over the years, Southern Screen Festival has welcomed an impressive lineup of industry guests, including Tom Kenny, editor Javier Marcheselli of “Blade Runner 2049” and “Dune,” “Family Guy” writer and actor Alex Borstein, and producer Monty Ross of “Malcolm X.” Bordelon explains that Southern Screen Festival intentionally creates opportunities for festival attendees to interact directly with accomplished industry professionals in workshops and conversations without barriers or gatekeepers. One of the festival’s newest expansions is particularly exciting for Acadiana’s growing animation community. Southern Screen Festival recently announced plans to partner with UL-Lafayette on a brand-new animation festival launching in April 2027. The event will feature curated animation screenings, educational panels, artist talks, and hands-on learning opportunities aimed at students, emerging creators, and animation fans of all ages. During the interview, Bordelon explains that the idea grew directly out of audience demand for more animation programming at Southern Screen Festival. Southern Screen’s commitment to education also includes its expanding student film initiatives. The organization hosts student workshops and showcases for Acadiana students in grades six through twelve, encouraging young creatives to experiment with filmmaking while gaining exposure to professional industry environments. Bordelon also discussed her work through Create Louisiana, which provides grants, mentorship, and creative support to Louisiana filmmakers and artists statewide. The episode also shines a spotlight on the rapid rise of the Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival, known as BRUFF. Launched in 2025 at Manship Theatre in downtown Baton Rouge, the festival sold out its inaugural year and immediately established itself as a major gathering point for Louisiana’s independent film community. The festival celebrates indie and genre-focused filmmaking while creating opportunities for networking, collaboration, and hands-on education. Kelly Swift describes BRUFF as “a film festival for filmmakers by filmmakers,” with programming ...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    1 時間
  • Lafayette Police Chief Paul Trouard

    Lafayette Police Chief Paul Trouard
    2026/05/15
    Lafayette Police Chief Paul Trouard joins Discover Lafayette for a candid and wide-ranging conversation about nearly three decades in law enforcement, the rapid evolution of policing technology, and the realities of leading a modern police department in one of Louisiana’s fastest-growing communities. Appointed Lafayette Chief of Police in February 2025 after serving as interim chief, Trouard brings more than 28 years of law enforcement experience to the role. A graduate of the FBI National Academy, he also holds a master’s degree in organizational management and leadership from Columbia Southern University, a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and an undergraduate criminal justice certificate from the University of Virginia. Trouard additionally served as a staff sergeant in the Louisiana National Guard. Recorded at the LFT Fiber Connectivity Summit on March 19, 2026, at Vermilionville, the interview explores how technology and connectivity now shape virtually every aspect of policing. Trouard vividly contrasts today’s real-time emergency response systems with the realities officers faced when he first joined the force nearly 30 years ago. “Dispatch would get a phone call from 911. They would write down the call on the card, they’d put the card in a bin with your name on it,” he recalled. Officers relied on paper maps and radio instructions, often struggling to locate addresses in the middle of the night. “Something that might have taken 10, 15, 20 minutes in the past for us to figure out where we’re going now takes only seconds.” Today, Trouard says, “Lafayette’s emergency response network is driven by GPS-enabled dispatching, real-time camera feeds, data terminals inside patrol vehicles, and a growing drone program that can assist officers before they even arrive at a scene. The technology has changed so fast over the last few years.” Trouard shares that he knew by middle school that law enforcement would become his career. Drawn to public service by his family background, he says Lafayette Police Department’s college assistance program helped solidify his decision to relocate from Calcasieu Parish to Lafayette. “I fell in love with it,” he says. “There’s nothing like it. Every call is different. You actually can help the public.” Chief Trouard’s career path within the department reflects nearly every major operational area of policing. After beginning on patrol, he spent years training recruits in the field training unit before moving into financial crimes investigations and eventually homicide. Trouard still vividly remembers his first homicide case. “They sent me out on a homicide call and I solved it the first night,” he said. “I found out that that’s exactly what I wanted to do.” Much of his career was spent supervising homicide and violent crimes investigations, eventually rising through the ranks to captain before unexpectedly stepping into department leadership. “People don’t realize that we’re trained to do law enforcement,” Trouard explained. “But now you’re running the department, you’re doing the finances, you’re doing the policy, you’re doing all the internal affairs complaints. You have to learn to run the business.” “We have about 285 officers right now and are allocated 300. So we’re recruiting. We’re hiring if anybody’s interested. You need to be 21 years of age with a high school diploma. We’ll take care of the rest. We have an education program where you can come and take college credits and the Police Department will pay for it.” Trouard says one of his immediate priorities as chief was improving officer retention and modernization. “There are three things that keep an officer with an agency,” he said. “Number one is agency reputation. Number two is the equipment. Number three is pay.” Under his leadership, Lafayette Police replaced major equipment including radios, weaponry, and in-car data terminals. The conversation also dives deeply into Lafayette’s recent crime trends. Trouard notes that Lafayette has seen a significant reduction in homicides during the past two years. “Three years ago we had 29 homicides,” he said. “This past year we’re down to ten homicides with all of them closed.” He attributes part of that decline to strategic changes targeting major narcotics suppliers rather than street-level offenders. “We’re on I-10 and I-49. We’re on a drug corridor,” Trouard explained. “If you take drugs off the street, you take guns off the street, things get real quiet.” Trouard also stresses the importance of citizen awareness and community involvement in crime prevention. “Eighty-five percent of vehicle burglaries are unlocked vehicles,” he said, adding that many stolen firearms originate from unsecured vehicles. “If you see something, say something,” remains one of the department’s guiding principles. A significant...
    続きを読む 一部表示
    34 分
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
まだレビューはありません