Back-in parking has become the subject of a surprisingly contentious — and not inconsequential — debate. Buoyed by recent articles in The New York Times and USA Today, as well as online challenges by social media influencers, the question has thrown the issue in stark relief. We talk to a local urban planner about the science behind the controversy, including the history, safety and previous efforts to mandate the practice in several Western municipalities.

Guest: Fred Jones, urban planner at Haskell, Downtown Development Review Board member

Tracking maternal deaths

A committee created within the Florida Department of Health to monitor cases in which mothers die during and after pregnancy went virtually dark after the appointment of Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who oversees the department. According to a new report by the Florida Trib, the data lag also tracks with post-Dobbs Florida, where abortions are effectively prohibited after six weeks, frequently before a pregnancy is detected. We talk to the reporter behind the investigation about the increasingly secretive work of Florida’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee at a time when other states with near-total abortion bans have seen an increase in maternal mortality rates.

Guest: Kate Payne, state government reporter, the Florida Trib

The Pillowman

The writer behind Oscar-nominated films In Bruges, Three Billboards and Banshees of Inisherin is also the author of a deeply dark comedy taking stage in Jacksonville. The Pillowman, which opens this weekend at Lumen Repertory Theatre, tells the story of a writer of gruesome fairy tales, who is interrogated over his stories' resemblance to several child murders. A black comedy spiked with allusions to Kafka and The Brothers Grimm, the play is also an exploration of totalitarianism and the cost of censorship. We discuss the psychological thriller with the play’s director and the theater's artistic director.

Guests:

• Joshua Andrews, director, The Pillowman
• Brian Niece, artistic director, Lumen Repertory Theatre