This episode of "Welcome to Florida" begins in Stuart.

Our guest this week is author and historian Gary Mormino. Gary's most recent book, published in 2022, is titled "Dreams in the New Century: Instant Cities, Shattered Hopes and Florida's Turning Point." 

The book covers Florida in the first decade of the new millennium where an extraordinary sequence of stories from Elian Gonzalez to the contested Bush v. Gore election, 9/11, hurricanes, the housing bubble and global economic collapse, Barak Obama's election and the state's bend toward right wing politics dramatically altered Florida, the nation and the future of both.