Welcome to Florida

Back-to-back hurricanes this October have Craig thinking about 2004 when four major hurricanes battered the state in a six week period. What was learned from those catastrophes 20 years ago? Nothing.

Our guest this episode is Florida author Leslie Kemp Poole's whose recently published book, "Tracing Florida Journeys: Explorers, Travelers, and Landscapes Then and Now" follows in the footsteps of famous visitors to Florida, including "Red Badge of Courage" author Stephen Crane. His trip here in 1898 was not a pleasant one.

VOTE "NO" ON AMENDMENT 2, the so-called "Right to Hunt and Fish."

Big Cypress National Preserve in south Florida celebrates its 50th anniversary as the nation's first National Preserve on October 11, 2024. The Preserve will be hosting a variety of events through the end of the year in recognition of the milestone. Lisa Andrews is the education and outreach coordinator at Big Cypress and joins us to discuss what makes it a unique place.

We start by explaining how climate change and increased development have made hurricanes in Florida stronger and more destructive.

Theodore Pratt isn't a name most folks will know, but he was a highly acclaimed and prolific mid-century Florida author who is largely responsible for sustaining the legacy of the Barefoot Mailmen. Taylor Hagood is a professor at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton where Pratt's archive is housed. Hagood had a biography of Pratt published in summer of 2024.

Florida's so-called "law and order" governor isn't concerned about law or order when it comes to the state's freshwater springs. The best way to stay informed on news related to our springs is via the Florida Springs Council.

We've previously featured Marjorie Kinnan Rawling's "The Yearling" book in an episode, this episode will center on the movie adaptation which starred Gregory Peck and won a pair of Academy Awards. Our guest is documentary filmmaker and Cross Creek local Donna Green-Townsend who produced a documentary on the making of "The Yearling."

Visit Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park.

Another secretive, shady deal attempted between a private developer and the state government on supposedly protected public land has been exposed by the media.

Harry Truman spent a remarkable amount of time during his presidency at his Little White House in Key West. The home is open to the public for tours. Clinton Curry, Director of Operations in Key West for Historic Tours America, which operates the home, joins us this episode. 

A secret meeting about water policy convened by a Florida congressman allowed polluting industries and state officials to scheme behind closed doors without the public or press allowed in.

This episode takes us to Florida's most remote location, the Dry Tortugas. Ian Wilson-Navarro spent a month there photographing and fishing, and recalls the experience in a new book out this fall, "Dry Tortugas: Stronghold of Nature."

Craig recently turned a story in to "Flamingo" magazine about Miami's Criteria Recording Studios, one of the 20th century's most influential hit makers.

Our guest this episode is social media personality, humorist, and Florida Man OMGitsWicks. Follow him on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Don't believe Ron DeSantis' lies when he says he had no advance knowledge of plans to bring golf courses and hotels into Florida's state parks.

Our guest this week is Florida author Cathy Salustri. She joined us all the way back on Episode 5 to discuss her first Florida book, "Backroads of Paradise," and she's back to discuss her latest book, "Florida Spectacular: Extraordinary Places and Exceptional Lives."  We focus on her chapter about Polly Parker.

Craig's column on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's plan to build golf courses and hotels in the state parks. Story update.

Another episode, more politicians lining up with developers to destroy protected natural areas against the wishes of citizens.

Our guest is Florida food, travel, and lifestyle writer Carrie Honaker who took a trip scalloping off New Port Ritchey and wrote about the adventure for Flamingo magazine. Scallops are in trouble across Florida, but remain abundant enough in select locations to allow for a harvesting season.

Florida's estuaries are warming faster than the Gulf of Mexico or Atlantic Ocean.

Doug Alderson kayaked down the Kissimmee River twice, once in 2007 and again in 2024. He wrote about those experiences as well as the river's historic importance to Florida, it's channelizing in the 1960s, and restoration efforts to renaturalize it beginning in the 1990s, in his book "New Dawn for the Kissimmee River: Orlando to Okeechobee by Kayak."

More information on:

Kayaking in Kissimmee

Florida's designated paddling trails

Florida Paddling Trails Association

The failed community of Destiny, FL