Two friends, one Negroni, and a wild idea. In our kickoff, we tell the real origin story of Bada Bing Bayou: the kitchen-table napkin sketch, borrowed mics, the first shoot in a too-hot garage, and the neighbor’s leaf blower cameo. Why the name, why South Louisiana, and why Italian-American stories that feel like Sunday dinner.

We share what bombed, what clicked, and the moment the format finally sang. You’ll hear our scrappy workflow (book it, shoot it, fix it in the edit), the gear glow-ups, favorite bloopers, and how the community jumped in to shape the show. It’s personal, messy, and fun—exactly how we like it.

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Ep 1: From Reconstruction to Reckoning (1865–1891)
Bada Bing Bayou kicks off Italian American Heritage Month with a hard look at the first wave of Sicilian and Southern Italian migration after the Civil War. We map the push–pull economics, the padrone labor system, and why thousands landed along the Gulf South. We unpack how Italians were racialized as “in-between" and the rise of mutual-aid societies and parish life that kept families afloat. The episode culminates in the 1891 New Orleans lynching—what led to it, how media and politics weaponized fear, and the precedent it set for civil rights, diplomacy, and identity. Clear-eyed history, primary-source context, and the takeaways that still shape our culture and opportunities today.

Patrick shares his move to Florida, Lawrence talks about becoming an uncle, and the two catch up on everything that’s been going on in their lives.