Episode 138: Discoveries in Our Geography – Views from Richard Campanella

We learn history for several perspectives including political, social and military, but to really understand a place and the influences that shaped it, we need to hear from a geographer as well. Richard Campanella, a Tulane University research professor, combines the thoroughness of an academic with the communications skill of a popular journalist. Campanella joins Louisiana Life Executive Editor Errol Laborde, along with podcast producer Kelly Massicot to talk about the geography that made the New Orleans region. His books have dealt with the area’s cityscape; the Westbank and even Bourbon Street. His latest publication, “Draining New Orleans,” details the brilliant engineering that made it possible for a city to exist where much of it is below sea level. We will also hear about the invention that made dairy farms possible.