Aileen’s guests on this edition of Out to Lunch are in the same business: grooming. There is, however, one significant difference between their two businesses. They serve different species. One is for human beings. The other is for dogs. Renee Ezell is the owner of the human-oriented business, The Refinery Downtown. At The Refinery they specialize in men’s…

For a great deal of the time humans have been walking around on Earth we were like other species. We spent most of our time outdoors and built shelters to sleep in, or to take refuge from severe weather. Somewhere along the line, that changed. Now most of we humans spend most of our lives…

The legend of Evangeline is the Cajun Romeo and Juliet. It’s a story that captures the essence of the Acadiens experience. And it’s as romantic as any ever told.  The story of Evangeline Parish is equally essentially Cajun. It might be a little more down to earth than the eternal search for love. But then again,…

You might have heard of a recent study about chocolate milk. Although it sounds absolutely preposterous, this perfectly legitimate study found that 7% of the American public believes that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. 7% of the population is around 20 million people. Although it sounds laughable, the explanation offered for what seems like…

We all reach conclusions because of sound. We say a person “sounds nice.” A song “sounds romantic.” Or an idea “sounds good.” When we reach these conclusions, what we’re doing is attributing feelings and emotions to sounds. Giving sounds feeling and emotion is the province of Peter’s guests on this edition of Out to Lunch….

Summer lasts a long time in this part of the world. We take advantage of it by doing stuff outside – like crawfish boils and bike rides. Meg Arcenaux is an expert on both of these Summertime activities. Meg is the owner of the bike shop Hub City Cycles as well as a pop-up crawfish boil…

There’s a pretty good chance that you listen to podcasts in your car. There’s a one hundred percent chance that at some point you’re going to have to stop for gas. When you do, there’s a ninety percent chance you won’t go into the gas station. Nine out of ten people get gas, pay at…

To the rest of the United States, the symbol of Louisiana is the alligator. Gators slither across T-shirts, baseball caps, and posters in every souvenir shop in the state. You can find the cute critters doing everything from smoking a cigarette leaning up against a gas lamp in New Orleans’ French Quarter, to playing the accordion in…

Apparently, back in the dim distant past, people used to get sick, go to a doctor, get cured, and go home. We’d pay the doctor for his or her services, and everybody would walk away happy. That was a long time ago. Now you go to a doctor, you get a battery of tests, you…

One of the things we’re proudest of in Acadiana is our culture. A big part of it is music and dance. Cajun and Zydeco. There are similarities and notable differences between Cajun music and dance, and Zydeco music and dance. Leaving aside for the moment the intertwined Acadian and African influences, one major musical difference, obvious…