The writer who explored Baltimore on HBO's The Wire has turned to another city.

David Simon is co-creator of Treme, which takes its name from a neighborhood in New Orleans. The series explores a city that, even after Hurricane Katrina, is like no other.

"The city came back on the weight of culture," Simon says. "There was no political leadership that stood up, there was no socioeconomic reason that New Orleans had to return. This city came back over the last five years one trombonist, one sous chef, one Mardi Gras Indian, one Social Aid and Pleasure Club member at a time."

Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep recently spoke with Simon and with actor Clarke Peters, who plays a Mardi Gras Indian who returns to his destroyed home in New Orleans as soon as possible after the hurricane.

"This is a part of New Orleans that isn't Girls Gone Wild on Bourbon Street, you know," Peters says. "It's a lot deeper than that."

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