First Coast Connect

In late April, the White House abruptly fired the entire board of the National Science Foundation, the agency that provides the largest support and funding for nonmedical research and education. It was just the latest in a series of unprecedented decisions that has upended the scientific world. Along with funding freezes, spending caps and deep cuts to ongoing research, the effects are being felt not just in hospitals and university settings, but in the lives of ordinary individuals, including some who are deeply invested in research outcomes. We talk to a participant of one recently canceled Alzheimer’s study about the answers she’d hoped to gain into a devastating family history of dementia, and a local HIV/AIDS researcher who has seen critical funding end for a longitudinal study dating back to 2007.

Guests:

• Jennifer Mansfield, research study participant, partner at Holland & Knight
• Dr. Mobeen Rathore, pediatric infectious diseases physician and founding director of the University of Florida Center for HIV/AIDS Research, Education and Service

A first-of-its-kind approach to preserving, appreciating and educating around Duval County's urban tree canopy, the quarterly Historic Springfield TreeWalks are designed to transform the neighborhood into a “living classroom.” The upcoming Integrated Urban Ecology tour focuses on how the natural elements of the historic district combine with manmade ones in ways that affect walkability, flood control and the overall feel of the community. Led by an experienced urban planner and landscape architect, the event highlights the nascent Springfield Arboretum, a project showcasing tree species around the historic district, which includes 35 identification tags and an opportunity for self-guided tours. We talk to the June 6 tour’s guide about how the Springfield of today is a legacy of decisions made generations ago.

Guest: Daniel Ashworth Jr., senior landscape architect and urban designer, member of Springfield Preservation and Revitalization board of directors

Jacksonville community theater The 5 & Dime presents The Legend of Georgia McBride, a special show to honor Pride month and the art of drag. Set in a Florida dive bar, the show tells the story of a young Elvis impersonator who suddenly finds himself making a career change to lip-syncing drag queen. The play explores the poignant ups and downs of self-acceptance and identity, while never losing its sense of humor. JaxPlays gave particular praise to performer Brandon Hines, “whose years as a professional drag queen are on glittering display,” calling the performance “astonishingly assured.” We talk to the show's co-director, stage manager and one of its lead actors about why this story resonates with local audiences and how it fits into the theater’s overall mission.

Guests:

• Madelene Skinner, co-director, The Legend of Georgia McBride
• Ashli Simmons, stage manager, The Legend of Georgia McBride
• Greg Hewitt, actor playing Eddie in “The Legend of Georgia McBride”

After much bitterness, delay and a two-week extended special session, the state House and Senate finally coalesced around a $114.5 billion budget, including $30 billion for K-12 education, more than $500 million for Everglades restoration and $425 million for the Rural and Family Lands program. But what lies beneath? Investigative reporter Jason Garcia breaks down what he calls “the more interesting line items, tax breaks and policy changes embedded” in the 501-page document, including money for a Mike Huckabee-aligned anti-Communist school curriculum, tax cuts for casinos and a program to test wastewater for explosives and narcotics that some believe could be used to track the use of abortion medications as well.

Guest: Jason Garcia, investigative reporter, creator of Seeking Rents newsletter and podcast

A Jacksonville ophthalmologist who surgically restores sight for patients who can’t afford the procedure shares his vision for changing healthcare. Dr. Jeffrey Levenson founded the Gift of Sight more than three decades ago, a program providing free cataract surgeries to the uninsured or medically indigent. His work has become part of an ongoing partnership with Vision Is Priceless and, in 2023, a viral collaboration with YouTube megastar MrBeast, which restored vision to 1,000 people around the world. Levenson, who’s given two Ted Talks advocating for greater access to cataract treatments, notes, “Half of all blindness in the world is people who need a 10-minute surgery.” We talk about the eye opening nature of his work in indigent healthcare.

Guest: Dr. Jeffrey Levenson, ophthalmologist, board member/partner physician, Vision Is Priceless

A local event honoring the legacy of one of Jacksonville’s most preeminent writers offers a chance for young, budding poets to amplify their voices and stories. The 2026 James Weldon Johnson Young Writers Festival invites students in grades 3-12 to attend three days of workshops and activities centered around poetry, creative writing, book design and more. This year’s theme is “Our Voices Matter — What Peace Looks Like To Me,” with students asked to submit a poem or monologue to perform for a chance to qualify for scholarships and prizes. The festival also showcases local luminaries, including Action News Jax anchor Tenikka Hughes and award-winning filmmaker and author Nola D. Oracle. The festival will be held from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. June 10-13 at the Jacksonville Main Library. The deadline for students to register is Tuesday.

Guests:

• Sharon Coon, founder, Friends of Brentwood Public Library Inc. and James Weldon Johnson Young Writers Festival
• Nehemiah Cooper, elementary winner, JWJ Young Writers Festival

Each Friday, our media roundtable dives into the biggest stories of the week. Among our topics this week:

• Members of the Jacksonville Aviation Authority Board accuse City Council President-elect Nick Howland of harassment and threats.
• Gov. Ron DeSantis pushes to eliminate property taxes on most primary homes.
• A busy end to the Duval County school year, with the ouster of the school chief, and new records linking a controversial teacher suspension to a School Board member’s complaint.
• The family of four Black men tortured or murdered by police are slated to receive compensation for the 1949 Groveland, Florida, incident.
• The City Council declines to prohibit a new jail from being located in historically disadvantaged, or “redlined,” communities.

Guests:

• Christina Burgess, reporter at First Coast News
• David Bauerlein, metro reporter at the Florida Times-Union
• Megan Mallicoat, education reporter at Jacksonville Today
• Robert Brown, news director, WJXT News4Jax

A man who spent his adult life working for the U.S. Postal Service delivers an entirely new chapter of his career. In his debut young adult novel, M. Nathan King creates a time-shifting landscape to teach kids about history. Ezra Whetstone and the Masters of Time — The Mark of Aion takes readers on a journey following the 13-year-old protagonist as he explores historical settings from the Library of Alexandria in ancient Egypt to the Inca Empire. We talk to King ahead of the book’s release about why he believes age-appropriate storytelling is the key to engaging kids in history.

Guest: M. Nathan King, author of Ezra Whetstone and the Masters of Time — The Mark of Aion

In the beginning, World Golf Village promised a lifestyle as smooth and manicured as a putting green. Originally, the golf course community was home to PGA Tour Productions, the World Golf Hall of Fame, the PGA Tour Stop — Florida’s largest golf store — and an IMAX theater, all arrayed around a 190-foot-tall steeple-topped tower. But in the intervening years, the village has lost all of those amenities and become increasingly hemmed in by big box stores, including a Buc-ee’s, a Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, a Costco, a Home Depot and, soon, a Walmart Supercenter. We talk with St. Johns County beat reporter Noah Hertz about his recent reporting on how the development has evolved.

Guest: Noah Hertz, St. Johns County reporter, Jacksonville Today

A Jacksonville sheriff’s officer literally talks a man off the ledge. On April 12, an officer who just happened to be on scene directing traffic found himself deeply involved in efforts to save a suicidal man on the Dames Point Bridge. Officer Antonio Richardson, also a pastor for more than three decades, pleaded with, prayed over and cajoled the man to step back from the edge, before he finally took Richardson’s hand and was pulled into his embrace. The event was captured in a brief viral video, but the actual incident took most of an hour and involved several other officers as well. We talk to Richardson about how the remarkable moment fits into his career in law enforcement. If you or someone you know is going through a mental health crisis, call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Guest: Officer Antonio Richardson, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office

A free community event anchored in celebrating Asian culture, cuisine and local vendors kicks off with two events next month. Asian Night Market Jax offers live entertainment, including karaoke and cultural dances, along with authentic dishes from Thailand, Korea, Cambodia, Philippines and Vietnam. The event is held the second weekend of every month outside the RD International Supermarket on Beach Boulevard, with the next market night slated from 4 to 10 p.m. June 12 and 13. Organizers added additional nights along the Riverwalk at Central Park at RiversEdge from 4 to 10 p.m. June 26 and 27. We sit down with event organizers to discuss how it has evolved and why the community keeps showing up — plus, we get a sneak peek of what’s on the menu.

Guest:

• Madeline Nguyen, host, Asian Night Market
• Vu Nguyen, co-host, Asian Night Market

Mark Maron, Kevin Smith and Sarah Koenig are just some of the voices that redefined audio journalism. A new documentary traces the evolution and triumph of podcasting, a medium that resurrected audio storytelling through the technology of RSS feeds and (initially) the iPod platform. We meet the director of the film Age of Audio ahead of the screening at WJCT Studios. The film features interviews with such podcast luminaries as Jad Abumrad (Radiolab, Fela Kuti: Fear No Man, Dolly Parton’s America), Ira Glass (This American Life), Matt Gourley (Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend), Sean Rameswaram (Today, Explained), Phoebe Judge (Criminal) and Fred Armisen (podcast omniguest). Following the film, director Shaun Michael Colón will join local podcasters and experts for a discussion and Q&A. The event is free, but an RSVP is requested.

Guests:

• Shaun Michael Colón, filmmaker, Age of Audio
• Badr Milligan, co-founder of Jax Podcasters United
• Letisha Bereola, director of podcasting at WJCT Public Media

If you’ve ever wondered what gives certain sentences their undeniable punch — from Sam Jackson’s iconic “I’ve had it ...” diatribe from Snakes On A Plane to memorable Yoda-isms from the Star Wars franchise — there’s a book for that. This Is a Book of Sentence Diagrams: A Journey Through the Sharpest, Strangest, and Most Stirring Lines Ever Constructed offers a curated, illustrated journey through the land of the unabashed word nerd, breaking down our introduction to Mellville’s whale, Kafka’s cockroach and Mom’s go-to demurral (“Because I said so”). We meet the author and learn how he discovered the power of symbolic language.

Guest: Man Martin, author, This is a Book of Sentence Diagrams

It’s the background of everywhere you look, fills the entire universe and makes up the static hiss on the in-between channels of old TV sets. While you can’t see it with the naked eye, the afterglow left behind thousands of years after the Big Bang is considered the oldest light in the universe. We discuss how scientists have accurately mapped out the Cosmic Microwave Background and how it helps experts timeline the history of the universe.

Guest: Eddie Whisler, director of planetarium and outreach, Museum of Science & History

A new directive from ICE has echoes of Fight Club rules: Not only does it instruct local law enforcement to keep immigration enforcement actions secret, the secrecy applies to the directive itself. A recent report by Florida investigative journalist Monique Madan was sparked when she obtained a copy of the confidential ICE directive, a federal order that directly contradicts Florida’s vaunted public records laws. Critics call it a “gag order” on police, noting the broad order effectively prevents local agencies from releasing any information about their compliance with or arrests made under 287(g), which deputizes law enforcement officers to act as immigration agents in identifying, arresting and detaining noncitizens.

Guest: Monique O. Madan, senior investigative journalist and founder of the “Two Can Be True” newsletter

A collective giving initiative celebrates 25 years of philanthropy to support the needs of women and girls in Northeast Florida. Since 2001, the Women’s Giving Alliance has awarded $10 million in grants to more than 80 nonprofit organizations in the area. To commemorate this milestone, Delores Barr Weaver, an alliance co-founder, has offered a $150,000 match for donations through September. This is part of a larger strategic effort to address violence against women and girls by supporting organizations that share in this mission through mental health, safety, education and empowerment efforts. Duval County alone sees almost 5,000 cases of domestic violence per year, though research indicates many incidents don’t get reported.

Guests:

• Sabeen Perwaiz, president, Women's Giving Alliance
• Isaiah M. Oliver, president, The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida

A celebration of one of Jacksonville's most historic neighborhoods set to a soundtrack of Jill Scott and Mary J. Blige. Held the last Friday of every month, the event was created in 2022 to foster community and generate foot traffic for merchants on St. Johns Avenue. Stores and restaurants keep their doors open late for visitors, as multiple local bands perform along a community art walk that includes vendors from nearby neighborhood Murray Hill Farmer’s Market. We sit down with the event’s founder, aka the “Mayor of Avondale,” as well as a featured musician to discuss what’s planned, how the event has grown and how it might evolve in the future. Amplified Avondale is held from 6 to 9:30 p.m. May 29 on St. Johns Avenue.

Guests:

• Ron Rothberg, founder, Amplified Avondale
• Tommy Bridgewater, musician, Groove Coalition

Each Friday, our media roundtable dives into the biggest stories of the week. Among our topics this week:

• Congestion, confusion and contusions complicate Jacksonville’s inaugural Ironman.
• The NAACP calls on college athletes to boycott eight Southern states, including Florida, for voting rights rollbacks.
• Yet another subpoena expands the JEA investigation sparked by City Council President Kevin Carrico’s errant email.
• A sworn statement contradicts a Deegan administration official’s claim that he was unaware of a city illegal gun registry.

Guests:

• Nate Monroe, executive editor at the Florida Trib
• Anthony Austin, anchor at First Coast News
• Will Brown, race and poverty reporter at Jacksonville Today
• David Bauerlein, metro reporter at the Florida Times-Union

An open mic poetry collective with hip-hop roots promises a night of rhythm and creativity from local poets and artists. Described by organizers as one of Jacksonville’s few events devoted to incubating and fostering dynamic, performance-based poetry, Poetically Mic’d welcomes writers of all levels to share their work on stage in a welcoming atmosphere. Poetically Mic’d is founded by local rapper and community organizer Merci, hosting events ranging from poetry battles, artist showcases and other live performances. He says the movement “is dedicated to blending the power of poetry with hip-hop and dynamic lyricism to elevate Northeast Florida’s cultural scene.” A Poetry Open Mic is 7 to 11 p.m. May 31 at 9570 Regency Square Blvd.

Guest: Merci, rapper, founder and director of Poetically Mic’d

Making sure new homes aren’t built in flood zones sounds like a no-brainer, but a surprising number of developments are in at-risk areas, made more vulnerable by rising seas. A proposed amendment to the city’s master plan for development focuses on steering new development out of harm’s way. Nearly three years after the mayor rolled out the 50-year resilience plan, the city is considering a comprehensive plan change that would incentivize rather than force developers to build with an eye to sustainable housing. The proposal creates “target growth areas” in which developers can build more densely in exchange for including affordable housing units and building properties resilient to the risks of climate change. We discuss how the city arrived at this approach and what the timetable is for adopting the change.

Guest: Helena Atalla Parola, director of the city’s Planning Department

With a lineup that ranges from P-Funk and esperanza spalding to Nile Rodgers and CHIC, the Jacksonville Jazz Fest showcases a vast expanse of musical styles, including some not traditionally thought of as jazz. We talk to acclaimed saxophonist and host of the WJCT 89.9 FM jazz program Bop City Daniel Stark about past Jazz Fest greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Marcus Roberts, as well as what he’s most looking forward to this year (hint: Ghost-Note and John Lumpkin & The Covenant are on the shortlist). We also discuss what the annual event contributes to the local jazz scene, and whether more can be done to integrate the moment into a larger musical movement.

Guest: Daniel Stark, host of Bop City on WJCT 89.9 FM, executive director of Friday Musicale 

Right whales are on the move north after a successful calving season, and an exhibit celebrating the endangered mammals is also on a journey. The Right Whales of Amelia Island exhibit is on display at the Beaches Museum through Aug. 23, part of a tour that began in Fernandina Beach and ends up at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium later this year. We talk to a local whale ambassador about why this was a bumper year for baby whales and what this season means for the creature’s long-term health and survival.

Guest: Krissi Barr, Amelia Island Whale Ambassadors

From his role in the birth of alt-country to his tragic death at age 26, we explore the life and legacy of Florida’s own Gram Parsons on the eve of his induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Known for his work playing with The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, in addition to launching the career of Emmylou Harris, Parsons is considered the founding father of country rock and alt-country. His preferred label was "Cosmic American Music," a genre-jumping style that blended R&B, folk and rock with traditional country. As one of 18 inductees this November, Parsons joins a class that includes Phil Collins, Fela Kuti, Iron Maiden and Queen Latifah. We talk to the Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist and author Bob Kealing about his definitive biography of the groundbreaking musician.

Guest: Bob Kealing, journalist and author of Calling Me Home: Gram Parsons and the Roots of Country Rock

He’s been called one of “Florida’s earliest and more successful snake-oil salesmen” and “America’s most colorful medical huckster,” but his signature elixir continues to captivate customers. Munyon’s Paw-Paw liqueur has been reanimated by two entrepreneurs and beverage industry veterans, who dug into the checkered but colorful history of Dr. James M. Munyon, a turn of the (last) century wellness guru and self-made millionaire (though never a doctor). Their new aperitif kindles the taste and ambiance of earlier times, without the original product’s secret ingredient: THC. We talk to the reporter who recently profiled the product and its creators in Flamingo Magazine.

Guest: Steve Dollar, freelance journalist, artistic director of the Tallahassee Film Festival

A storied after-school and summer program receives the largest grant in its 35-year history. The $250,000 gift from the Ponte Vedra Beach-based philanthropy the Warren and Augusta Hume Foundation will allow Sanctuary on 8th Street to upgrade its facilities and expand its offerings. Established in 1992, the 8th St. program has grown from a dozen participants in after-school and summer camp programs to hundreds of kids over the years. The facility, which caters to children ages 5 to 17 in the Eastside/Springfield area, plans to use the funds to create a "sensory, development and play" space and launch a new summer nourishment program. We talk to its executive director about what else the nonprofit needs and how the community can help.

Guests:

• Rick Cartlidge Jr., executive director, Sanctuary on 8th Street
• Emani Walker, program coach, Sanctuary on 8th Street

The typical office worker checks email 77 times a day. You may have already figured out: That’s not the most efficient use of your time. New York Times bestselling author David Epstein breaks down why setting boundaries helps us make better life decisions in his new book, Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better. He also explores why more choices, whether it’s swiping on a dating app or trying to choose something to watch on Netflix, aren’t necessarily a good thing and can, in fact, paralyze our ability to make satisfying decisions. He suggests adopting a practice of “satisficing,” which he says is a term “coined by Nobel laureate Herbert Simon, who famously said, ‘The best is the enemy of the good.’”

Guest: David Epstein, journalist, author of Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better

A new research lab at the University of North Florida will test the long- and short-term health effects of extreme weather on athletes, laborers and members of the military. The new Perry Weather Heat Lab held its grand opening Monday at The Korey Stringer Institute’s UNF satellite location. The Connecticut-based institute is named for the Minnesota Vikings offensive tackle who collapsed and died 25 years ago of exertional heatstroke during the team's training camp. Established in 2010, the institute focuses on “research, education, advocacy, and consultation to maximize performance, optimize safety, and prevent sudden death.” We discuss how the work of the lab could translate into specific remedies in an ever-warming planet.

Guests:

• Michael Szymanski, director, Perry Weather Heat Lab and assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of North Florida
• Gabrielle Brewer, associate director, Perry Weather Heat Lab and post-doctoral associate at the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of North Florida

As more people search for ways to unplug, a Jacksonville entrepreneur is blending creativity and connection. What began as a personal mental health outlet has evolved into a creative series centered on wellness and community for LaRoLé Studio owner Amber Lettsome. Her Sip & Grow botanical workshops offer immersive hands-on experiences designed to help adults create and unwind. Lettsome shares the inspiration behind the events and the upcoming jellyfish terrarium class Wednesday at Juice Wine Bar.

Guest: Amber Lettsome, founder and creative director, LaRoLé Studio