MidPoint

Your mid-week, mid-morning source for local and statewide news and public affairs from a local perspective.

Academic freedom is under attack. Over the past 2 years, the DeSantis administration has undertaken a complete reform of education policies constraining academic freedom by passing SB 7044. In the state colleges and universities, professors are concerned. MidPoint interviews the President of the faculty union at USF and a USF History professor to learn why.

Noted University of South Florida forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle discusses her investigations of undocumented deaths and missing persons and her new book, "We Carry Their Bones: The Search for Justice at the Dozier School for Boys." Her investigation of Dozier was the inspiration for Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Nickel Boys.

This week on MidPoint abortion providers and advocates, discuss the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The Dobbs decision will create a "patchwork" of legislation across the country, defining where, when and how women can make decisions about their own bodies. The consequences of this decision are discussed with Kelly, an abortion access advocate from the Tampa Bay Abortion Fund, and Dr. Rachel, a local ob/gyn physician and abortion provider.

Depression and anxiety seem to be a prevailing mood among the masses, and the clinical diagnosis and treatment of such mental illnesses still leave much to be desired. Adverse side effects from prescription medication and a continued sense of distress have given way to new thought processes and ideas on how mental illness could be treated in the future.This week on MidPoint, chemist and researcher Dr. Chris Witkowski of Psilera Bioscience discusses their development of therapeutic and medicinal uses of natural psychedelics.

Your mid-week, mid-morning source for local and statewide news and public affairs from a local perspective.

Your mid-week, mid-morning source for local and statewide news and public affairs from a local perspective.

Your mid-week, mid-morning source for local and statewide news and public affairs from a local perspective.

Psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Tanner, of the Emotional Wellness program of the Hillsborough Co. Public School System and psychotherapist Dr. Wendy Rice joined us on MidPoint to discuss the crisis in teen mental health one day after an 18-year-old boy shot his grandmother,2 teachers, and 18 4th graders at an elementary school in Uvalde, Tx. Research has shown that school shootings by teens are typically motivated by a mix of suicidal impulses, despair, and anger PLUS access to guns, and sometimes these factors are enhanced by online influences. If we can't restrict access to guns then at least we may be able to have a better understanding of what to look for in our teens who may be in crisis and a better grasp of how to approach and assist them.

After the horrific mass shooting in Buffalo, New York that killed 10, the conversation surrounding gun safety and gun control continues. Groups calling for gun reform continue to advocate for heightened restrictions, while others, like Governor DeSantis, call for less regulation and making weapons more readily available, including the implementation of "permitless carry" laws. This week on MidPoint, Gail Powell-Cope, the Tampa Lead of Moms Demand Action, and activist and gun violence survivor, Crystal Turner, discuss their work and viewpoints on gun reform.