The New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University had around 50 sessions of well-known authors speak on Saturday March 14. Here are the highlights.

A Conversation with Anderson Cooper and Dax Shepard

Writer and podcaster Dax Shepard joined CNN anchor and correspondent Anderson Cooper on Saturday to discuss grief and loss at the Saturday programming for the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University. 

Cooper is the son of American socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, whom he described as “kind of larger than life.” Cooper said they shared a complicated mother-son dynamic, navigating the death of Cooper’s father and brother. 

“You can still have a relationship with somebody who has died, and that relationship … can change and it can grow,” Cooper said. “I have a closer relationship with my dad now than I ever had before.”

Shepard also experienced grief with the death of his father in 2012. Shepard said he felt conflicted in his grief, due to the absence of his father during his childhood. 

“When he initially died … I felt relief, I felt unburdened,” Shepard said. “Then I felt this real shame of feeling relief that he was dead,” Shepard said. 

“It’s only by allowing yourself to feel grief that you can feel joy. And I have so much to feel joyful about,” Cooper said. 

The Baker’s Table with Kelly Jacques and Bronwen Wyatt, moderated by Poppy Tooker

On Saturday morning, local bakers Kelly Jacques — owner of Ayu Bakehouse — and Bronwen Wyatt — owner of Bayou Saint Cake — took the Book Fest stage to discuss how, to them, baking isn’t just about food, but also about storytelling. Moderated by Louisiana food journalist Poppy Tooker, the two women start by answering the age-old question: Is baking a science or an art?

“My argument is that they’re of equal value,” Wyatt said, looping cooking into the equation to argue that culinary work is more than what meets the eye.

Jacques and Wyatt are both Tulane University graduates from Annapolis, Maryland with fine arts backgrounds who had non-linear journeys to baking and business-owning. 

Wyatt also works as a recipe tester and is currently working on a personal cookbook. Without a family background in baking, her cakes tell stories connected to New Orleans, using native flowers for decoration and local figs and peaches to make her unusual flavors. 

Jacques’ pastries tell a more personal story. Her flavors are derived from memories of family food and local experimentation, resulting in now-iconic creations that are the new New Orleans classics. 

Both women cited the cultures and ingredients of the New Orleans landscape as inspiration for their creative recipes and pushed for greater acceptance of immigrant cultures’ foodways into New Orleans traditions.

“We hear so much about the French and Spanish influence on the city, and the longer I’ve lived here, the more I’ve realized that there are so many other countries and cultures [that] have left their mark within the city,” Wyatt said. 

When asked about their place in the New Orleans restaurant scene, the speakers praised it as a close-knit community, shouting out several fellow restaurants.

“It truly never feels like this big competition between anybody,” Jacques said. “It feels like we have so much more fun [together] than we do apart.”

Shaping Cities Through Art Jeff Koons, moderated by Kate D. Levin

Iconic and controversial contemporary artist Jeff Koons, in conversation with Kate Levin of the Bloomberg Philanthropies Arts program, came together to discuss the role of public art in transforming civic spaces into places for community dialogue.

Born and raised in York, Pennsylvania, Koons started the session by revealing how he realized from a young age that art connects everything in the world, and how he still finds joy in being an artist every day.

Levin said that — according to ChatGPT — the three words most associated with Koons’ work are desire, pleasure and consumption, and asked Koons if he felt this was an accurate representation of his art.

“Feelings and sensations … lead to ideas,” he said. Koons, in addition to being an artist himself, is an avid art collector and said he sees himself as having a responsibility for stewardship in his collecting practice.

“That’s why I like to collect art — so I can protect it,” he said. He later explained how he is inspired by the Old Masters art he collects.

Koons described interacting with and making art as a metaphysical experience, giving an example of using a Paolo Uccello painting for his gazing ball series and realizing he had the same vision for the piece as the original artist. 

Koons himself has created various works of public art, most notably his “Bouquet of Tulips” in Paris, which pays tribute to the Statue of Liberty and the historic connection between France and the United States.

“[The tulips came] from a profound place in our offering of our support,” Koons said, explaining that the work was an offering of solidarity following the Paris terrorist attacks in 2015 and 2016.

Koons concluded the conversation with an anecdote of his childhood, and said the greatest thing about public art is the excitement of discovery and the connection to history it provides.

Art as a Force for Justice with Sister Helen Prejean and Rose Vines, moderated by Sophie Cull

Three powerful women activists came together on Saturday to explore how art can be a tool for social progress. 

Sister Helen Prejean, a Baton Rouge native and Catholic sister, is best known for her book “Dead Man Walking,” which explores the realities of the death penalty in Louisiana. 

Rose Vines is an anti-death penalty activist who adapted Prejean’s “Dead Man Walking” into a graphic novel. The conversation was moderated by Sophie Cull, cofounder of The Visiting Room Project, a collection of interviews that give people serving life in prison without parole a chance to tell their stories.

Prejean said at first, she did not think “Dead Man Walking” would make such a big impact. She imagined writing as a passive action and didn’t realize how much it could change until other people started telling her their experiences.

“It takes you to both sides of the human heart,” she said, explaining why the story made such a big impression on readers. The book gives equal weight to the victims of the sentenced people’s actions and those of the penal and justice systems.

Vines has a unique perspective on the subject, being from Australia, a country founded as a convict colony. Her work led to the end of the death penalty in the country and laws that prevented any future lawmaker from overturning it.

Vines explained how she sees illustration as a “sneaky” way of communicating important ideas, especially since more young people read graphic novels.

“Most of us old folk have thought of word books as the serious reading and graphic books as the extension of comics, and there’s so much more than that,” Vines said.

Vines also said she saw the graphic adaptation as an opportunity to bring the story into the present, including asides to inform readers of how death penalty policy has changed since Prejean wrote the original book in the 1980s.

Prejean continues to work with people on death row, fighting for the eradication of the death penalty. Both women called the audience to pay attention to recent U.S. Supreme Court cases involving the Eighth Amendment and continue to fight for justice. 

“We are going to do it because we as the American people, through our experiences, our own hearts and sense of justice, we change, we grow, and we help our nation grow and [evolve] standards of decency that mark a mature society,” Prejean said.  

Sports, Character, & Leadership with Gov. Wes Moore, moderated by Wright Thompson

Towards the end of the Saturday Book Fest programming, Maryland’s Gov. Wes Moore was joined by Wright Thompson to discuss how his background in collegiate athletics and service in the army shaped his political career. 

Moore said leadership does not rely solely on natural ability. Rather, leaders must “be technically competent, use common sense in how you’re applying and take care of your people … notice, there’s one thing I did not say —  be the best.” 

Moore said that in deciding to run for governor, he knew he was not the most typical candidate. He did not come from a political family, nor did he hold prior offices. His key strength: He knew how to lead a team. Moore said he was compelled to run by his passion to eliminate childhood poverty. 

“Once you establish who you’re going to fight for, you’ll never stop fighting. They will always be at the top of mind,” Moore said. 

Moore advised young people who aspire to political office to hold their goals close. 

 “Once you find that thing that makes your heart beat faster, hold on to it,” Moore said. “Don’t let it go, and let it be your companion for everything else that you want to do.”

In terms of the current political landscape, Moore said that as a veteran, he respected the integrity of the presidential office but called U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth “the most unqualified person for [the] position.”  

“I will fight for this country tomorrow, if I had the opportunity, and I will die knowing that this country is worth fighting for it,” Moore said.