Welcome to Florida

What's weird? A Florida city council suing its citizens over the topic of clean water.

Eliot Kleinberg is the father of "weird Florida." In 1998, he published "Weird Florida," a compilation of Florida oddities which would eventually spawn the weird Florida and Florida man genres.

Eliot joins us this week, his second appearance on the show.

Thank you "Welcome to Florida" patrons! Another exclusive bonus episode of the show will be coming your way soon. If you'd like to help support our production of "Welcome to Florida," you can do so for as little as $5 a month at patreon.com/welcometoflorida.

Thanks also to longtime show sponsor Windstorm Products. Protect your home from the effects of hurricane wind damage with the hurricane hardware available for purchase online at www.windstormproducts.com.

"What the f*uck happened here!?!"

If you're a nature lover in Florida, chances are you've said - or screamed - these words upon discovering a beloved tree or beach or meadow destroyed without warning by your city or county, a developer or a resident. We begin the episode exploring "what the f*uck happened here" in Port St. Lucie.

Our guest is writer John Birdsall who joins us to discuss one-time America's sweetheart and Florida orange juice spokeswoman turned anti-gay villain Anita Bryant.

You can find John on Instagram at @john_birdsall.

This week's episode is presented by Windstorm Products, a family-owned Florida small business that has evolved into the world's largest online supplier of hurricane hardware - all that stuff which protects your house from hurricane wind damage.

You can't tell the story of Florida without the story of Hurricane Andrew. That's what we're doing on this episode with the help of longtime University of Miami professor, Hurricane Andrew survivor, and author of "In the Eye of Hurricane Andrew," Eugene Provenzo.

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by Windstorm Products, a Florida small business and the world's No. 1 online retailer of hurricane hardware products.

We start the episode discussing the "Path of the Panther" documentary which you can see now on Disney+.

Our guests are authors Anders and Beverly Gyllenhaal whose book "A Wing and a Prayer: The Race to Save our Vanishing Birds" takes special interest in the Florida Seaside Sparrow. Follow the Gyllenhaal's on their blog, flyinglessons.us.

On this episode, we mentioned White Oak Conservation in Yulee, Project Principalis and the Ivory Billed woodpecker and the Recovering America's Wildlife Act.

If you're interested in this topic, check out previous episodes on flamingos, the Florida scrub jay, the bald eagle, Florida Panthers, North Atlantic right whales, the Florida Wildlife Corridor, Ed Ball and native plants.

Hurricane season is here and that means it's time to get serious about securing your home or business from hurricane wind damage. The best people to do that are at windstormproducts.com.

At "Welcome to Florida" we love celebrating Florida's ecology and wild animals as well as educating and introducing people to the same. That is much the same mission as the Florida Master Naturalist program. If you love this podcast, chances are, you'd be interested in taking one or more of their courses.

Jeanne Murphy from Sensing Nature ecotours in Pinellas County is a long time Florida Master Naturalist instructor and tells us all about the program.

Thank you to everyone who has visited patreon.com/welcometoflorida and supported the program at $5 per month. Craig and I deeply appreciate your help. Since we've reached our initial 20 patron goal, we'll be releasing an exclusive to Patreon bonus "behind the scenes" episode only for Patreon supporters on June 1, 2023 describing the origins of the show and how we put it together each week. You can sign up any time to enjoy member benefits.

Lawn "care" giant TruGreen used its bought and paid for Florida legislators to sneak through a provision in the state budget forbidding cities and counties from regulating the use of fertilizer in summer months, fertilizer often spread by TruGreen, fertilizer which contains phosphorous and leads to blue-green algae blooms and the poisoning of Florida's water.

Our guest this week is Roben Farzad, Miami native and author of "Hotel Scarface: Where Cocaine Cowboys Partied and Plotted to Control Miami." Miami in the late 1970s and early to mid-80s was a wild, violent, tropical paradise and horror show flush with drug cash, killers, CIA and superstars. Roben takes us there in the book.

Follow Roben on Twitter @RobenFarzad and the book across social media using the hashtag #hotelscarface.

Hurricane season is here and to secure your home or business from hurricane wind damage, look up windstormproducts.com. 

Another episode, another example of trouble with the water in Florida.

Our guest is Florida native, author, historian and professor Sara McNamara whose recently published book, "Ybor City: Crucible of the Latina South," details how the enclave of Cuban migrants evolved through the years and how it is distinguished from Cuban communities in Miami.

If this subject interests you, previous episodes on early Cuban exiles to Miami and the Columbia Restaurant will be worth your while.

Thank you to everyone who has signed up to support "Welcome to Florida" through our Patreon page. We have reached our goal of 20 Patron supporters at $5 a month and will be releasing a bonus "behind the scenes" episode of the podcast exclusively to our patrons in June. Of course, we'd love to have you be involved as well and you can sign up to support the show at any time.

"Welcome to Florida" is additionally supported by Windstorm Products, the largest supplier of hurricane wind protection hardware in the world. Hurricane season starts in June, visit windstormproducts.com to find out if you're prepared.

This week's episode takes us back to 1998 when wildfires ravaged Florida.

Our guest is Florida State professor, journalist, author and 8th generation Tallahassee resident Diane Roberts. Her book, "Dream State: Eight Generations of Swamp Lawyers, Conquistadors, Confederate Daughters and other Wildlife" details her family's history across the backdrop of the state capital. She is also the author of a book about college football based on her experience as a lifelong Seminole fan.

Remember to become a patron of "Welcome to Florida" if you enjoy the show and would like to support us for $5 a month at Patreon. 

The state's elected officials continue ignoring the causes of climate change to the peril of everyone living in Florida.

This week's episode focuses on oysters and a new documentary from a pair of native Floridians about the collapse of oyster reefs globally, Apalachicola Bay in particular.

We mentioned the Chiles Hospitality Group's conservation efforts including its oyster shell reuse program.

Oyster Brewing Company in Apalachicola, FL.

We discuss Florida's water quality problems in almost every episode of the show. Here's a new one: lead pipes.

Did you know Florida receives only 5% of its electricity from solar power? Not good for the Sunshine State. That's why we receive an "F" from the Center for Biological Diversity when it comes to solar generation.

Our guest this episode is James Fenton, Director of the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center.  James will tell us about the history of solar power in Florida, where efforts stand today, and how you can pursue solar energy for your house with Solar United Neighbors.

Don't forget to support "Welcome to Florida" through our Patreon page if you're able to. We're close to our 20 patron threshold at which point Craig and I will release a special bonus episode to our supporters through Patreon. Visit patreon.com/WelcometoFlorida.