First Coast Connect

Florida’s longest and arguably laziest river is the city’s visual centerpiece, but also its historical heart and soul. It’s been a place of commerce and recreation; it’s also been an abused repository of human and industrial wastes. In honor of Earth Day, the St. Johns Riverkeeper hosts the first ever “State of the Watershed” event, an opportunity for champions and stakeholders to celebrate progress in protecting the waterway, and to assess ongoing challenges. We talk to the Riverkeeper about the latest concerns over and opportunities for the liquid core of the River City.

Guest: Lisa Rinaman, St. Johns Riverkeeper

From land barons and railroad tycoons to the arrival of the military and the modern era, Atlantic Beach has reached its centennial milestone. A hundred years after the coastal city’s founding, the Beaches Museum offers a retrospective that runs through August. Atlantic Beach 100 includes a speakers series ranging from former mayors and architectural historians to local archivists and authors. The commemoration includes stories and photographs tracking the city’s evolution from remote wilderness to upscale beach town and vacation destination. We ask a director and historian at the Beaches Museum about ways to get involved.

Guests:

• Chris Hoffman, mayor of Jacksonville Beach, Beaches Museum executive director
• Johnny Woodhouse, historian and guide, Beaches Museum

Complexity, connection and catharsis take center stage during Jax Poetry Fest, a monthlong celebration coinciding with National Poetry Month. Though April is half over, there are still plenty of events lined up, from readings and workshops to slams, exhibits and contests. We talk to a participant organizer about the power of poetry as a tool for helping children and adolescents reflect, explore and grow.

Guest: Aniah Heaven Washington, program director and poetry facilitator, Hope at Hand

Each Friday, our media roundtable dives into the biggest stories of the week.

Among our topics this week:

• The governor summons lawmakers back to Tallahassee and piles more on their plate.
• Prosecutors widen the scope of their JEA investigation to include the utility’s senior officials and its former lobbying group, Ballard Partners.
• Public records show the size of the city’s University of Florida graduate campus could be more modest than what many are hoping. 
• A Putnam County commissioner refuses to back down from racist comments about people of Arab descent.

Guests:

• Nate Monroe, executive editor at the Florida Trib
• Obi Umunna, attorney and political consultant
• Christina Burgess, reporter at First Coast News
• David Bauerlein, metro reporter at the Florida Times-Union

Invited to the Cookout

A Downtown block party transforms James Weldon Johnson Park into a collective cookout, showcasing the unique flavors and diverse histories of Jacksonville’s many neighborhoods. The free event features live music, dancing, celebrations of community identity and, of course, food. From a karaoke sing-off and mini golf to a performance by The Katz Downstairs, the cookout aims to engage Jacksonville residents of all ages — and everyone’s invited. The CookOut starts at 2 p.m. Saturday.

Guests:

• Jereme Raickett, event producer, The CookOut
• Sarah Daugherty, United Way of Northeast Florida

For nearly half her life and all of her professional career, Elizabeth Vartkessian has worked with some of the most reviled criminals in the criminal justice system. A trained mitigation expert, it’s her job to tease out and tell the stories of their lives, including their often dark and trauma-laden childhoods. It’s work steeped in brutality, both in the details of her clients’ crimes and their own troubled narratives. Vartkessian’s new book is a chronicle of her work and a testament to the power of story in shaping how justice is meted out. We discuss her advocacy at a time of expanding capital penalties and Florida’s accelerated pace of executions.

Guests:

• Elizabeth Vartkessian, death penalty mitigation specialist, author, The Deserving: What the Lives of the Condemned Reveal About American Justice
• Teri Sopp, assistant public defender, death penalty qualified defense attorney

A new podcast series highlights the mental health challenges facing first responders, veterans and active-duty military members. As a retired police sergeant and former SWAT team supervisor, host Brannon Hicks has more than passing familiarity with first responder trauma. As a suicide survivor shaped by the deaths of his son and fellow officers, Hicks has made it his mission to combat the stigma through storytelling. Clearing the MindField launches this week and features conversations with law enforcement officials and combat veterans who speak candidly about their trauma and recovery.

Guest: Brannon Hicks, podcast host, military and first responder program manager for Here Tomorrow

From severe weather workshops to hands-on safety demonstrations, Jax Ready Fest is an annual free community event centered on preparing Jacksonville residents for a range of potential disasters. Held for the first time in 2024, the event seeks to empower families and individuals with knowledge and resources for staying safe. This year’s event includes more than 40 partnering agencies and offers interactive experiences ranging from emergency 911 calls to water safety training. We ask the emergency preparedness division’s deputy chief about the value of advance planning, especially as hurricane season approaches.

Guest: James Schaudel, deputy chief of emergency preparedness, city of Jacksonville

She saw flight as a path to empowerment and once dreamed of opening her own flight school. That dream was never realized, but the legacy of Bessie Coleman has continued to inspire generations of aviators. The first Black and Native American female pilot in history to earn an aviator’s license, Coleman was forced to learn to fly in France because no U.S. instructor would take her as a student. But she would later barnstorm the country, dazzling crowds with her aerobatic feats. She died as she lived, during an air show in Jacksonville in April 1926. On the centenary of her death, we remember her impact with two historians who’ve made her life a focus of their research and activism.

Guests:

• Ed Booth, pilot, board-certified aviation attorney
• Opio Lumumba Sokoni, author, activist

As Florida eliminates the phrase “climate change” from state law and the Legislature bans local government “net-zero” policies, it seems increasingly difficult to have discussions about a changing climate that aren’t colored by politics. Local environmental nonprofits and faith leaders hope to remove that lens, hosting a “nothing-but-the-facts” discussion on the varied impacts many are already beginning to experience on the First Coast. The discussion features an overview of the science behind more extreme or frequent weather occurrences, and outlines ways to protect yourself, your property and your loved ones. Breaking the Silence: Talking Climate Change in Jacksonville will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at St. John’s Cathedral in Jacksonville. The event is free and open to the public.

Guests:

• Rev. Mark Anderson, St. John’s Cathedral
• Kathleen Biggins, president and founder, C-Change Conversations

Mentorship didn’t come to Ally Capriotti early. It started with a service learning class during her senior year at Jacksonville University. But the impactful experience quickly turned into a commitment, one she wanted to continue after graduation. Capriotti connected with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida and through it met her “little sister” Abby, who she’s now known for nine years. For her work, Capriotti was recently named 2026 Big Sister of the Year by the Big Brothers Big Sisters Association of Florida.

Guest: Ally Capriotti, 2026 Big Sister of the Year, Big Brothers Big Sisters Association of Florida

A subpoena issued to JEA late last week indicates the State Attorney’s Office is expanding an investigation sparked by the Jacksonville City Council president's effort to appoint his boss to the utility’s board. At the same time, a former JEA staffer alleges CEO Vickie Cavey created a toxic workplace, and the public utility may have failed to collect millions in water fees from large commercial customers going back decades. We ask Mayor Donna Deegan about the impact of mounting JEA-related controversies. The mayor also addresses listeners' concerns from e-bike traffic safety to neighborhood efforts to quell youth violence.

Guest: Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan

Since making her professional debut at Jacksonville’s Alhambra Theatre at age 7, Tatum Matthews has expanded her work to include film and television. Now 17 and a junior at Fletcher High School, Matthews has claimed starring roles in the CW’s The Waltons specials, played the lead in the sci-fi thriller The Artifice Girl, and was honored as a “rising star” by the city of Jacksonville’s Film & Television Office. For her latest project, an indie short called Would You Rather, she wears several hats: writing, directing and starring in the drama. The story explores the complexities of adolescence, friendship and trauma, with Jacksonville as its backdrop. The film premiered in 2025 at the Oscar-qualifying Calgary International Film Festival and is set to screen at the Beverly Hills International Film Festival on Friday. We ask Matthews about the filmmaking process, what inspired the film’s narrative and what it means to represent her hometown at the international level.

Guests:

• Tatum Matthews, writer, director and actor, Would You Rather
• Franklin Ritch, executive producer and editor, Would You Rather
• Britt McTammany, executive producer, cinematographer, Would You Rather

A modern spin on a Roald Dahl classic takes off later this week in St. Augustine. The Flagler College Theatre Department’s James and the Giant Peach features an all-female cast and a “truck-style” performance, in which costume and lighting changes as well as scene transitions are done in full view of the audience. We ask the director and star of the production about the enduring appeal of the childhood tale and the promise of happiness beyond a bleak present. The show runs through Sunday at Lewis Auditorium on the Flagler College campus.

Guests:

• Kip Taisey, Flagler College musical theater director and director of James and the Giant Peach
• Amberly Rodriguez, Flagler College student, actor playing James

The small homes and shared communal spaces of Jacksonville’s signature bungalow courts are the very picture of what’s often dubbed “new urbanism.” But unlike idealized retro developments, these vintage communities are true vestiges of the past, and in need of significant investment and restoration. The remaining 24 colorful bungalows of Oneida Court are the largest single relic of the once-thriving Black community of West Lewisville. The owner has tried, mostly without success, to get government backing to help return the properties to habitable, affordable housing. This year’s state budget is an inflection point. We sit down with the owner and a local historian to discuss the past and the future of the historic neighborhood.

Guests:

• Spencer Fletcher, owner of Oneida Bungalow Court
• Tim Gilmore, author, educator and historian at JaxPsychoGeo

Nearly eight years after he took the top job at WJCT Public Media, President and CEO David McGowan bids the station farewell. His departure comes at a dynamic time in journalism in general, and public media in particular. We ask McGowan about his tenure at the station, including how he charted a course through the COVID pandemic and why he prioritized the local digital journalism initiative Jacksonville Today. We also get an update on how the station is responding to the funding changes that followed a cessation of all state and federal funding.

Guest: David McGowan, president and CEO of WJCT Public Media

Jacksonville University President Tim Cost started a tradition in 2012, turning the annual Charter Day commemoration of the school’s founding into a campus-wide day of service. Since then, volunteers have spent 36,000 hours volunteering with established nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity, the Humane Society and the Ronald McDonald House, as well as with groups supporting veterans, the environment, cancer patients and youth. As Cost prepares to transition to the role of chancellor on July 1, he joins us to discuss what’s planned for the school's 14th annual Charter Day of Service.

Guests:

• Jacksonville University President Tim Cost 
• Jack Kukis, Jacksonville University graduating senior

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

• Is Jacksonville getting “fleeced” in its new stadium deal? The Washington Post editorial board thinks so.
• JEA is being investigated for a hostile work environment. Is the City Council contributing to the problem?
• Duval County Public Schools absorbs two recent school bus crashes, as well as redoubled efforts to ban books. 
• A year after he died from "catastrophic injuries” suffered in an altercation with jail guards, Charles Faggart’s family sues the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office for information about his death.

Guests:

• Jim Piggott, former City Hall reporter at News4Jax
• John Daigle, political consultant, former reporter
• Megan Mallicoat, education reporter at Jacksonville Today
• Trinity Webster-Bass, investigative journalism fellow at the Florida Trib

A post-funeral hookup leads to a second chance at love in a Florida retirement community. We preview the local staging of Morning After Grace with its creator, award-winning playwright Carey Crim, along with the star of the Alhambra Theatre’s production, Kevin Anderson, who plays the lead role of Angus. Anderson, a familiar face in the world of TV and film, is perhaps best known for his role opposite Julia Roberts in Sleeping With the Enemy. The comedy opens Friday and runs through May 10.

Guests:

• Carey Crim, playwright, Morning After Grace
• Kevin Anderson, actor playing Angus in Morning After Grace

Judy Bense, a lifelong anthropologist and founder of the Florida Public Archaeology Network, distills her vast knowledge of “America's oldest colony” in her latest book, Early Spanish Florida. Lushly illustrated and packed with information, the book specifically targets lay readers with an interest in the state’s 250-year period of Spanish colonization. Bense deftly explores both the conflicts engendered by the brutal efforts to subjugate and enslave the state’s indigenous residents, and the vital history that remains through archaeological excavations around the state and region.

Guest: Judith A. Bense, anthropologist, author of Early Spanish Florida: Unearthing the History of America’s Oldest Colony

Did you hit that communal bottle of tequila circulating at the Guided By Voices show? Zone to the drone of Mdou Moctar's guitar? Or just enjoy a cold Jon Boat Ale on a broiling Jax weekend? We’re reliving the memories of a Jacksonville institution, Intuition Ale Works, ahead of the iconic brewery's final day on April 24.

Guest: Ben Davis, founder of Intuition Ale Works

Food writer Hanna Raskin opened up a can of whipped cream cheese on readers in her recent broadside on the evolving practices of bagel preparation. Wrapped around a review of Jacksonville’s first iteration of the influencer-ensnaring bagel chain, PopUp Bagels, Raskin boldly tackles the question of what constitutes “too much” cream cheese, to what is (in our minds) a contestable conclusion. Raskin is the publisher behind The Food Section, a James Beard award-winning newsletter covering food and drink across the American South. She joins us to discuss acceptable bagel/cream cheese ratios and other matters of culinary import.

Guest: Hanna Raskin, food writer at Jacksonville Today

Between the possibility of college debt, a volatile economy and a job market that seems destined for major AI disruption, the future can be a scary place for teens on the verge of adulting. For those feeling anxious, the Rotary Club of Jacksonville offers some stability in the form of financial preparation. The club’s second annual financial literacy summit schools 11th and 12th graders in a daylong program that covers saving, investing, debt management and career planning. The summit will be held April 17 at Ribault High School, and transportation to and from the event is provided at Raines, Riverside, First Coast and Andrew Jackson high schools.

Guest: Bill Laird, certified financial adviser, financial literacy summit volunteer with the Rotary Club of Jacksonville

On April 20, Florida will become one of 22 states to limit what federal food assistance dollars will buy. Among the new items on ban: soda, energy drinks, candy and prepared desserts. The view from under the MAHA umbrella is mostly positive, with supporters praising it as a necessary shift away from unhealthy and ultra-processed foods known to accelerate or even cause illness. But some food access advocates worry the change creates additional stigma for SNAP recipients and will lead to confusion and higher prices while making life more difficult for those already unable to afford small indulgences. We break down both perspectives and discuss how the changes will be felt on the First Coast.

Guests:

• Gina Plata-Nino, SNAP director at the Food Research & Action Center
• Chloe Kuhn, director, Riverside Arts Market, and marketing director, Riverside Avondale Preservation

A new exhibit at the Cummer Museum dials back the clock to a pre-digital era of photography, where all photos were precious and, today, offer rare portals to a bygone era. Moment in Time, A Legacy of Photographs is composed of 115 photos dating back the invention of the medium in the 1830s and includes artists who defined the craft, ranging from Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson to Julia Margaret Cameron, Walker Evans, Paul Strand and Helen Levitt. We discuss the images in the Bank of America photo collection as well as the ongoing exhibit, Art in Bloom, which showcases contemporary and legacy works on a floral theme.

Guest: Holly Keris, J. Wayne & Delores Barr Weaver chief curator, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens

Seeing and being seen are the themes at the core of this dark comedy. Set during "Body Awareness” Week on a Vermont college campus, the titular play follows the arrival of a controversial photographer known for his nude portraits of women. The play continually redirects the audience’s “gaze” and ultimately challenges the characters’ perception of art, family and identity. The local staging at The 5 & Dime opens Friday and runs through April 18, with a community conversation on April 12 that includes a panel on neurodiversity.

Guests:  

• AJ Heekin, director, Body Awareness at The 5 & Dime
• Cynthia Riegler, actor playing Phyllis
• Erin Barnes, actor playing Joyce
• Tyler Lewis Wardle, actor playing Jared

Cocaine bear, meet caffeine shark. In our monthly House Call with Dr. Joe Sirven, we discuss the effects of polluting pharmaceuticals and ordinary stimulants found in the world’s top marine predator. We also discuss new research into the effectiveness of morning chemotherapy regimens and why scientists think prolonged weightlessness might have something to do with why a NASA astronaut became temporarily mute in outer space.

Guest: Dr. Joe Sirven, Mayo Clinic neurologist and host of WJCT’s What’s Health Got To Do With It?

The line between a crisis and child abuse or neglect is often vanishingly thin, and it is often drawn where there is family education, resources or just a moment of respite. For the past 30 years, the Exchange Club Family Center has offered free, supportive, in-home services for families who are at risk or just need a little help. The group will have its annual child abuse prevention and awards luncheon on April 16, hosted by abuse survivor and motivational speaker Derek Clark.

Guest: Sue Watson, executive director, Exchange Club Family Center

WJCT’s annual community celebration, Be My Neighbor Day, brings together kids, grownups, friends and community partners for a free, fun-filled festival on April 11. The event features crafts for kids, beloved PBS characters like Daniel Tiger and a chance to meet the people behind the scenes at WJCT Public Media. The day is built around activities aimed at teaching kids how to find and be “helpers” in their own neighborhood and includes a face-painting station and food trucks. Entry into WJCT’s Studio A is timed, so registration is required.

Guest: Circe LeNoble, director of grants management and community events, WJCT Public Media