Where jazz, food, and joy were invented
New Orleans, Louisiana sits in a bowl between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, a geography that has shaped both its vulnerability and its resilience. Founded by the French in 1718 and layered with Spanish, African, and Creole influences ever since, the city has one of the most distinct cultural identities in the country. Jazz was born here. So was the second line parade, the po'boy, and a particular relationship with pleasure that has never really been exported anywhere else.
