My love letter to Louisiana

I see a lot of talk about #Louisiana ranking lowest among the states in various national rankings. It is far from perfect, and it is hard for many people, but it was many wonderful features too: it is wonderfully culturally and racially diverse, a dollar goes a long way, and the cultural gumbo is unique. Here is a short list of what I love about the state.

(1) Diversity – 2^nd highest percentage of African Americans of any state. Our three largest cities have black women as mayors (let me know when your state does that.) Spanish, Native and French influences abound and there are large Honduran and Vietnamese populations as well. https://www.roadsnacks.net/most-african-american-states-in-america/

(2) Affordability – you can buy a house cheap (one of the top 10 states for that). My five bedroom, with a pool, and big front and backyards cost less than my brother's one bedroom apartment in Queens. Wish it was easier for the poor to move up, but middle class life here is pretty good in terms of affordable houses. https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-to-buy-a-house-in-every-state-ranked-2018-8#40-nebraska-12

(3)  Louisiana is one of the friendliest states (#12). I am still shocked as a New Yorker that people let me borrow their truck, and help me change a flat, and are genuinely kind to strangers. “Oh darling, how can I help you?” is not an uncommon refrain. Southern hospitality is a real thing https://bigseventravel.com/2019/08/the-50-friendliest-states-in-america/

(4) Louisiana is one of the most fun states. Ranking probably goes up if you like to drink. New Orleans is Disney World for adults. Mardi Gras is amazing and ridiculously fun if you do it right – as locals do

 https://wallethub.com/edu/most-fun-states/34665/

(5) Great food – The seafood is amazing as is crawfish season, king cake, etc. Ranking probably goes down if you are vegan, or vegetarian as I was (now pescatarian) – you can still get fat. Many people live off the land eating deer, alligator, duck, crawfish, squirrel, feral hog etc.  #4 in this ranking of states: https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/every-state-ranked-by-its-food-drink

(6) Great music: New Orleans Jazz, Zydeco, Cajun, etc. Louis Armstrong to Lead Belly, Buckwheat Zydeco to BeauSoleil. There are always festivals and free concerts, Cajun dances to Blues and Jazz Fests, and I love that people really love to dance here. https://www.deep-south-usa.com/louisiana/music

(7) The weather: okay it gets ridiculously hot in the summer which is six months long, but hey – no shoveling snow, your car lasts a lot longer without all that salt on the road. You can sit outside in December; you don’t need a big winter coat or furry boots. I love snow, but I also like an extended Fall. This list agrees with me. https://medium.com/thrive-global/top-us-states-with-the-best-climate-year-round-c2d71225e629

 

(8) Big Water – you got the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi – bayous and bays. I love that I can be so close to so much water – yes, sometimes too much water. There is really something about paddling through a nice bayou.

 

(9) Mystery - Where else in the U.S. can you feel like voodoo and magic might be real; where they give ghost tours (in earnest) and talk about vampires and the "rougaroo." There are some amazing storytellers here and everything feels possible. People who need to escape their past often claim they are from Louisiana (e.g. Henry Morton Stanley, John James Audubon, Paul Belloni Du Chaillu, Tommy Wiseau). It's easy to fit in because everyone can belong here.

I’ve lived in Montreal, Arlington, Ann Arbor and I grew up in New York City. None of those places are perfect, and I love features of all of them, but I have a hard time thinking of ever leaving Louisiana. There is a reason it has the highest rate of philopatry (4 out of 5 residents were born in the state) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/upshot/where-people-in-each-state-were-born.html

Yes, I know there is lots of bad too, but I think the state gets better every year. I know lots of people trying to make it better and I know they will succeed. This post is just a reminder there is lots to love about living here.

Sarah Parcak On Getting Paid for TV Work

This post is republished with Dr. Parcak's permission. From a Facebook post:

I am doing a public advice post (please share widely, this is set to public) for ALL my archaeology, history, science, and other academic colleagues who are asked to do TV work. I am going to give you standard day rates for filming/consulting, what to ask for, how to do contracts, what is reasonable, and how to negotiate. If 100% of us take a stand against the industry-standard practice of not paying for our hard earned knowledge and expertise, we'll force them to change. Here goes...

FILMING PAYMENT: Industry standards for filming range from $800-$1500 per day, plus all food, travel, and associated costs. $1000-$1200 per day is about right. It's intense work. PS them telling you "but it's only a half day" means your entire day is shot, you have to include travel, setup, prep, and extra time...it's 100% of the time a full day.

NEGOTIATING: Some back and forth may be required. Set a lowest limit for yourself and don't let them go below that. Be polite but firm. If they don't have $ to pay you, it's not worth it. All of them are getting paid.

CONSULTING PAYMENT: This will vary. Remember most of you have earned PhDs! You're more knowledgeable than lawyers and they all charge lots. I've seen most folks charge between $100-$200 per hr, more for shorter intense full day efforts (i.e. "Can you please review this script and make sure it is factually accurate?" OK 20 page script, but fact checking, and intense day, so $1500-$2000). You can set rates for phone calls, research etc.

BUT I DON'T FEEL OK TAKING $: Check your temperature and get over the guilt. 100% of the film and production crew are getting paid. You deserve it. You won't get rich but you will be able to pay down a credit card bill, go to a nice dinner, buy books for research...your choice. And if you still feel guilty, do what I do and use the $ to support your excavation work or research or students (I've used $ from TV to buy my grad students computers, or help with emergency situations).

RULES TO FOLLOW: Before signing anything, check in with your University legal office and of course coordinate with your Chair/Dean. Yes they can be pains but also these folks are working for

YOU. Nearly every uni allows consulting, e.g. this type of thing, but there are conflict of interest forms, and sometimes $ effort release forms, or other paperwork. DO THE PAPERWORK this will bite you in the butt if you don't. Keep paper trails, keep track of phone calls and meetings and always follow up with thank yous to the lawyers. Honestly most of them are great. They'll be on your side.

HOW TO START: Develop a standard rate sheet with your specific guidelines for external consulting. I don't have one (I am lucky and have an agent to do this for me), but you can easily develop one with your uni legal office (trust me, they can be very helpful) OR ply a lawyer buddy with a nice dinner and wine and ask them to help you set it up. One page, straightforward, "These are my rates for X Y and Z, here is what I am willing to do." Ask around, a lot of academics have them and I bet people would be willing to share templates. Give rates for filming, research, X phone calls, what you will require (payment within 30 days, reimbursement within 2 weeks etc).

SO YOU GET AN EMAIL/CALL ASKING YOU FOR X...: Well it has to start somewhere. The first phone call is free, unless they want to "pick your brain." But even then you hold 100% of the cards. First you need to decide if the company/person is decent. Look them up online and see what they've done. There should be a good website and info on their previous shows. Most companies are "indies" (independent). Ask them on the call what the show is about, what they can share with you (a one page overview doc is minimum what they should be able to share), what they want from you, how much time they think it will take, what their company ethics are, do they employ women and POC (i.e. do they value diversity). YOU be the one asking the questions. Come up with a list, print them out, take notes. The person asking the ?'s in in charge and here you are in charge. If they want to "pick your brain" its the same ?'s. "How did you find me? What are you interested in? Is the show greenlit (commissioned) or being developed to pitch? Who would this be for? Are you talking to other experts?" Get a TON of info from them. They'll spill the beans, they always do. After all that, say, "Wow, this sounds so exciting! I'd love to be involved. Lets talk about a contract and my rate sheet." If they ghost, f&*k 'em. You can't pay rent or for groceries in "exposure".

BUT THEY TOLD ME THIS IS JOURNALISM: OK here is where there is a divide. I've done a bunch of unpaid segments, but for news, and things like 60 Minutes. 60 mins was very, very special and worth every moment I put into it. A documentary is not journalism in the traditional "paid versus unpaid" sense. Yes of course it is "journalism", but you still need to get paid *if it is not a news entity*. A talking head interview say for BBC or Fox News or local news commenting on a recent discovery= journalism and unpaid, and frankly, good practice for you. A TV crew from and Indie coming to your lab and filming you for an entire day= PAID. There are clear lines. Don't let them lie to you. They will lie. Not all, but some.

CONTRACT: Here is where you need to rely heavily on your Uni legal office. ALL PAID WORK

REQUIRES CONTRACTS. You will be used otherwise and at risk of serious exposure without a contract. "Trust us" they will say. They can kiss your a$$ 8 ways to Sunday if they say that and RUN AWAY. In the contract are terms for the total work you are willing to do, exactly what you will be paid for, travel costs, what you can and cannot say publicly, how to protect your research (some TV people will tell you that you cannot publish till their TV show goes live---in some cases this may work, others it may not. Protect yourself here!), your IP (yes your words are your IP!), standards for behavior for both parties (contract null and void and full payment due if Director turns out to be abusive for example...you need an escape clause)....the good news is that this is ALL standard boilerplate contracting stuff, and there are countless examples of all this online, and where Uni legal offices are SO helpful. Most of what they do is contract law, and their job is to protect you.

HELP IT ALL WORKED I'M GOING TO BE ON TV: Here is where the Internet is your BFF. There are SO many wonderful presenter resources online. I won't list the, but look on Youtube or Google and see what advice is there. Also watch shows with your favorite history/science presenters, see what they do, learn from the pros. Remember you are YOU and your enthusiasm and authenticity are what the viewers want. You'll get better over time, most Directors are actually super decent and they'll work with you and make you relaxed (they have lots of tricks for this).

I wish you all the luck in the world. We need more of you on TV, and you all need to be paid fairly.

By - Dr. Sarah Parcak