Alcoholic, womanizing, Islamophobe U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is also a climate denier. He has instructed the armed forces to ignore climate impacts and has demanded the Pentagon cut funding on military installations aimed at combating the effects of climate change, including at bases in Florida.

The Montbrook Fossil Site roughly 45 minutes south of Gainesville in Levy County has become one of the most globally significant paleontological digs in the world. Jonathan Bloch runs the site for the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He joins us on this episode to discuss the site's discovery, what it has revealed, and how to volunteer there.

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A combination of increasing and increasingly devastating hurricanes along with skyrocketing property insurance prices have resulted in an amazing demographic event in Florida.

Our guest this week is Michael Sipos from the Florida Sea Grant who joins us to talk about mullet. 

Make it a point one year to attend the Seminole Tribal Fair & Pow Wow held each late January at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. While you're in the area, take a Tigertail airboat tour.

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Donald Trump's threatened tariffs would be another nail in the coffin for Florida's citrus industry.

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Greg Asbed from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers joins us on this episode to discuss the history of working conditions for agriculture workers, especially tomato pickers, in southwest Florida. The CIW was instrumental to enacting one of the most effective programs to improve working conditions for agriculture workers in U.S. history, the Fair Food Program. 

If you're interested in working conditions for agricultural workers in Florida, the limited edition "Big Sugar" podcast is essential listening revealing the historic and ongoing abuses of workers by Florida sugar companies. The weekly "Seeking Rents" podcast examines corporate power and influence run amok in Florida and our politicians' complicity with corporate power to the detriment of citizens.

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Donald Trump signed an executive order seeking to open the eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil drilling, potentially endangering Florida's beaches and economy from the spills that inevitably follow drilling.

In 1960, Cuban parents began sending their children, unaccompanied, to Miami on Pan-Am flights to get them out of the country and away from Fidel Castro. This program was called "Operation Pedro Pan" - Peter Pan. Yvonne Conde was one of the Pedro Pan child immigrants from Cuba and has written a book about her personal experience, as well as the experiences of more than 200 other Pedro Pan children she interviewed.

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The federal government in the closing days of the Biden Administration failed to secure a protection for critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Stories like this can be found in our weekly "Florida Conservation Newsletter" exclusively available to "Welcome to Florida" patrons at www.patreon.com/welcometoflorida.

Marineland opened south of St. Augustine on the Atlantic Ocean in 1938 as a movie studio and roadside tourist attraction. In the decades since, it has seen its mission evolve from strictly entertainment to marine mammal conservation, primarily focused on dolphins. Now named Marineland Dolphin Adventure, the facility focuses on in-water experiences with dolphins for guests. Anyone interested in the park's history can also visit the Marineland History Museum in downtown St. Augustine, located at The Oldest House Complex. 

Our guest for this episode is Marineland historian Terran McGinnis.

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Ron DeSantis wants the state to assume responsibility of Everglades restoration from the federal government. Terrible idea for the Everglades.

Our guest this episode is Susan Anderson, outgoing executive director of the Apalachicola Riverkeeper. Susan grew up on the river and shares what makes it special and the numerous threats it faces.

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The Cape Sable seaside sparrow is one of the most endangered birds in the continental United States, numbering only 2,000 or so individuals, all living in the Everglades. Conflicting water management aims in South Florida pitting Big Sugar against the environment is resulting in the state taking drastic measures to pursue survival of the species.

In 1960, African American equal rights activists in Tampa followed suit along with those in other cities around the South, staging sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in department stores like Woolworth's. Joining us to discuss this little known aspect of Florida history are Steven Lawson, an historian of the Civil Rights Movement and the former chair of the History Department at USF, and Karla Hartley, Producing Artistic Director of Stageworks Theatre, which will be performing a play based on the sit-ins, "When the Righteous Triumph," March 6-9, 2025, at the Straz Performing Arts Center in Tampa.

Our previous episode about oysters featured a documentarian working on a film about oyster bed restoration. That documentary is now available on PBS stations and streaming.

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Buyer beware when it comes to a new organization promoting itself as a gopher tortoise conservation solution.

Miami's Criteria Recording Studios has produced a staggering volume of hit music from James Brown's "I Feel Good" to Eric Clapton's "Layla," Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours," the Eagles' "Hotel California," Jimmy Buffett's "Margaritaville," and on, and on, and on. Trevor Fletcher grew up at Criteria Recording Studios - literally - and is now the music production company's vice president. He joins us to detail a story few know about how Miami changed music.

The Criteria Recording Studios Spotify playlist.

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Craig takes a look back at the most amusing and unusual Florida news stories from 2024.

Fred Rogers studied in the Music Department at Rollins College in Winter Park before going on to host "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" on PBS. Fred Rogers' nephew, Daniel Crozier, teaches in the Music Department at Rollins and shares stories of his uncle and how the famous TV personality got to Winter Park.

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Craig Pittman has a wish list of gifts he hopes Santa brings Florida's environment.

Our guest this episode is poet, essayist, and professor of English at Florida State University David Kirby. His latest anthology of poems is titled "The Winter Dance Party." 

In the episode, Craig quoted an Elizabeth Bishop poem you can read here.

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