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Category
Interview

Conversations that reveal the voices behind the stories. This category features one-on-one dialogues with artists, community leaders, and everyday people whose insights, experiences, and perspectives help shape the cultural and social landscape of New Orleans.

‘A make-believe person in a make-believe world’

"I keep paper and pen with me at all times because, like the most dynamic dreams, creativity is as wispy as Louisiana mist and dissipates quickly if not seized,” writes John Corley, associate editor of the Angolite, who says that, in his mind, he still lives in 1989, ‘the year I fell.’
by John Corley, as interviewed by Nick Chrastil, The Lens January 2, 2025 Updated December 30, 2024

‘Resentment is not inevitable’

"I am not a person who came to prison and became a writer, I am a writer who happened to come to prison."
by Lawson Strickland, winner of the PEN Prison Writing Award for Fiction, as interviewed by Nick Chrastil, The Lens December 26, 2024 Updated December 26, 2024

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Most Popular

Sheltering in place through the ICE stormSheltering in place through the ICE stormDecember 12, 2025Gus BennettICE enforcement
Why New Orleans Became Trump’s Newest Immigration TargetWhy New Orleans Became Trump’s Newest Immigration TargetDecember 12, 2025Jamiles Lartey, The Marshall ProjectICE enforcement
City Council passes ordinance effectively removing all penalties for simple marijuana possession under city law, pardons roughly 10,000 past casesCity Council passes ordinance effectively removing all penalties for simple marijuana possession under city law, pardons roughly 10,000 past casesAugust 5, 2021Nick ChrastilCriminal Justice

The Lens
The Lens fights to reveal and report on issues that impact the community and the region. Staunchly defending the public's right to know and deeply committed to sharing our knowledge with the community at large. We center human impact in all our work.
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Our reporting has more urgency than ever.


For more than a decade, we have reported on issues as well as public policy meant to address the needs of residents. The Lens seeks to focus on the inherent inequality that has created a multi-tiered system. We, at The Lens seek to uncover, illuminate, inform and take part in a forward-looking community. Join us.

 
 

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