Cover image of show City History: New Orleans

City History: New Orleans

Podcast by Steve Keller

English

History & religion

Limited Offer

2 months for 19 kr.

Then 99 kr. / monthCancel anytime.

  • 20 hours of audiobooks / month
  • Podcasts only on Podimo
  • All free podcasts
Get Started

About City History: New Orleans

A podcast exploring the history of New Orleans. Your support helps buy the books needed to make each episode! https://ko-fi.com/cityhistory We'll cover New Orleans's founding, its evolution through French, Spanish and American rule, the battle that saved it in 1815, Congo Square, its dramatic capture and occupation during the Civil War, its unique legacy of race and slavery, how it survived Prohibition, the Depression and hurricanes, Mardi Gras, jazz and the future New Orleans may (or may not) have.

All episodes

36 episodes

episode 2.5: The 1832 Cholera Pandemic artwork

2.5: The 1832 Cholera Pandemic

Cholera strikes New Orleans. Ten percent of the city is killed. Reverend Theodore Clapp performs a minister’s duty amidst the horror. We learn about bizarre treatments. Germ theory is not yet a thing. READ MORE: Autobiographical Sketches and Recollections, during athirty-five years' residence in New Orleans by Theodore Clapp The Cholera Years by Charles E. Rosenberg “Nineteenth Century Public Health in New York and NewOrleans: A Comparison” by John Duffy “Cargo, ‘Infection,’ and the Logic of Quarantine in theNineteenth Century” by Davis S. Barnes “Asiatic Cholera in Louisiana, 1832-1873” by Leland A.Langridge Encyclopedia of Pestilence, Pandemics, and Plagues editedby Joseph P. Byrne “Outline of the History of Malignant or Asiatic Cholera inNew Orleans, La.” by Joseph Jones “How Yellow Fever Intensified Racial Inequality in19th-Century New Orleans” by Karin Wulf SOUNDS: French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri -- https://freesound.org/s/110012/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

3 Apr 2026 - 51 min
episode 2.4: The End of Congo Square artwork

2.4: The End of Congo Square

New Orleans becomes hostile to Congo Square. The African dances are banned. The space falls into disrepair, then becomes a whites-only park. Against all odds, it fights for its original identity. LEARN MORE: Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans by Freddi Williams Evans Congo Square in New Orleans by Jerah Johnson “A Window on Slave Culture: Dances at Congo Square in New Orleans, 1800-1862” by Gary A. Donaldson The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette City of a Million Dreams: New Orleans at 300 by Jason Berry The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell “African Cultural Memory in New Orleans Music” by Jason Berry “Deep Skin: Reconstructing Congo Square” by Joseph R. Roach “New Orleans Music as a Circulatory System” by Matt Sakakeeny “The Invention of a Memory: Congo Square and African Music in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans” by Ted Widmer Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War by Dena J. Epstein https://antigravitymagazine.com/feature/sacred-ground/ https://chrisdier.com/2015/03/10/raquette-the-lost-sport-of-new-orleans/ SOUNDS: French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri --https://freesound.org/s/110012/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

19 Jan 2026 - 33 min
episode 2.3: How Congo Square Survived artwork

2.3: How Congo Square Survived

We explore why Congo Square existed for so long, how it retained an African character, and how its memory survived beyond New Orleans. We also talk about Louisiana Creole and some surprising aspects of this near-extinct language. LEARN MORE: Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans by Freddi Williams Evans Congo Square in New Orleans by Jerah Johnson “A Window on Slave Culture: Dances at Congo Square in New Orleans, 1800-1862” by Gary A. Donaldson The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette City of a Million Dreams: New Orleans at 300 by Jason Berry The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell “African Cultural Memory in New Orleans Music” by Jason Berry “Deep Skin: Reconstructing Congo Square” by Joseph R. Roach “New Orleans Music as a Circulatory System” by Matt Sakakeeny “The Invention of a Memory: Congo Square and African Music in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans” by Ted Widmer Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War by Dena J. Epstein https://antigravitymagazine.com/feature/sacred-ground/ SOUNDS: French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri --https://freesound.org/s/110012/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

4 Jan 2026 - 22 min
episode 2.2: Congo Square artwork

2.2: Congo Square

The enslaved of New Orleans make music and dance together at the city's edge. This is the story of Congo Square: the people who gathered there every Sunday—and the African culture they kept alive. Listen to "Tan Patate-La Tchuite" by Adelaide Van Wey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F8jFIbCD1o LEARN MORE: Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans by Freddi Williams Evans Congo Square in New Orleans by Jerah Johnson “A Window on Slave Culture: Dances at Congo Square in NewOrleans, 1800-1862” by Gary A. Donaldson The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver to Congo Square by Ned Sublette City of a Million Dreams: New Orleans at 300 by Jason Berry The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence N. Powell “African Cultural Memory in New Orleans Music” by Jason Berry “Deep Skin: Reconstructing Congo Square” by Joseph R. Roach “New Orleans Music as a Circulatory System” by Matt Sakakeeny “The Invention of a Memory: Congo Square and African Music in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans” by Ted Widmer Sinful Tunes and Spirituals: Black Folk Music to the Civil War by Dena J. Epstein https://antigravitymagazine.com/feature/sacred-ground/ SOUNDS: French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri --https://freesound.org/s/110012/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

21 Nov 2025 - 33 min
episode 2.1: Congo Plains artwork

2.1: Congo Plains

Congo Square is often described as the “birthplace of jazz.” But its history goes far deeper—as a place where, every Sunday, the enslaved of New Orleans would practice traditional African music and dance. In this first episode of a trilogy, we examine Congo Square’s origins, its persistence across French and Spanish New Orleans, and how early American officials sought to regulate it. LEARN MORE: Congo Square: African Roots in New Orleans by Freddi Williams Evans Congo Square in New Orleans by Jerah Johnson “A Window on Slave Culture: Dances at Congo Square in NewOrleans, 1800-1862” by Gary A. Donaldson The World That Made New Orleans: From Spanish Silver toCongo Square by Ned Sublette City of a Million Dreams: New Orleans at 300 by JasonBerry The Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans byLawrence N. Powell “African Cultural Memory in New Orleans Music” byJason Berry “Deep Skin: Reconstructing Congo Square” by Joseph R. Roach “New Orleans Music as a Circulatory System” by Matt Sakakeeny “The Invention of a Memory: Congo Square and African Musicin Nineteenth-Century New Orleans” by Ted Widmer SOUNDS: French Quarter Bourbon walk.wav by volivieri --https://freesound.org/s/110012/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

30 Sep 2025 - 25 min
En fantastisk app med et enormt stort udvalg af spændende podcasts. Podimo formår virkelig at lave godt indhold, der takler de lidt mere svære emner. At der så også er lydbøger oveni til en billig pris, gør at det er blevet min favorit app.
En fantastisk app med et enormt stort udvalg af spændende podcasts. Podimo formår virkelig at lave godt indhold, der takler de lidt mere svære emner. At der så også er lydbøger oveni til en billig pris, gør at det er blevet min favorit app.
Rigtig god tjeneste med gode eksklusive podcasts og derudover et kæmpe udvalg af podcasts og lydbøger. Kan varmt anbefales, om ikke andet så udelukkende pga Dårligdommerne, Klovn podcast, Hakkedrengene og Han duo 😁 👍
Podimo er blevet uundværlig! Til lange bilture, hverdagen, rengøringen og i det hele taget, når man trænger til lidt adspredelse.

Choose your subscription

Most popular

Limited Offer

Premium

20 hours of audiobooks

  • Podcasts only on Podimo

  • No ads in Podimo shows

  • Cancel anytime

2 months for 19 kr.
Then 99 kr. / month

Get Started

Premium Plus

Unlimited audiobooks

  • Podcasts only on Podimo

  • No ads in Podimo shows

  • Cancel anytime

Start 7 days free trial
Then 129 kr. / month

Start for free

Only on Podimo

Popular audiobooks

Get Started

2 months for 19 kr. Then 99 kr. / month. Cancel anytime.