This week's episode begins with our annual holiday tradition: Craig Pittman's favorite wacky headlines from the year gone by across Florida.

Our guest this week is dolphin researcher Randy Wells who works for the Chicago Zoological Society out of offices in Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. Randy has been studying dolphins in and around Sarasota for over 50 years! Craig and Randy go way back as he has written about Randy's work previously.

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by Visit Sarasota. For ecotours and dolphin watching out on Sarasota Bay, head to visitsarasota.com and check out the "sports and outdoors" section under "things to do." Here you'll find information about eco-tours, outdoor adventure, wildlife viewing and all of the wonderful outdoor activities available to visitors in the area.

This week's episode begins with foolishness from the governor in the state's efforts to combat climate change where he's more concerned about "left wing stuff." 

Our guest this week is Erin Thursby, author of "Florida Oranges: A Colorful History." From the Spanish colonizers through the Harriet Beecher Stowe, the Ku Klux Klan, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Bing Crosby and citrus greening, we discuss the enormous impact oranges have had on Florida.

This week's episode begins with Craig Pittman telling us how the CIA took over Sanibel Island!

Our guest this week is Pamela Marsh, executive director of the First Amendment Foundation in Tallahassee, a non-profit group working to secure and enforce open government in the state of Florida. Our topic this week is the state's Sunshine Law which requires official government meetings be open to the public.

In the episode, we mention a story from Madeira Beach you can read more about here, and a story from Sebastian you can read more about here.

This week's episode of "Welcome to Florida" is sponsored by Visit Sarasota. Be sure to follow Visit Sarasota on Twitter and Facebook at @visitsarasota and on Instagram @visitsarasotacounty for inspiration ahead of your next trip to Sarasota.

This week's episode begins with discussion on a potentially unprecedented effort to sustain manatee populations through Florida's winter months.

Our guest is civil rights activist Desmond Meade. Meade spearheaded the effort to restore voting rights to felons in Florida, an effort which resulted in the passage of Amendment 4 in 2018, restoring voting rights to some 1.5 million Florida residents.

Meade is the author of "Let My People Vote: My Battle to Restore the Civil Rights of Returning Citizens."

He has been the subject of a documentary.

He serves as executive director for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.

You can follow him on Twitter @desmondmeade and he has recently been awarded the MacArthur Fellowship for 2021.

Nate Sweetman from VisitSarasota.com rejoins us to discuss the top winter and holiday events and activities to enjoy in Sarasota County.

We discussed:

St. Armond's Circle

Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall

Selby Gardens

The Ringling

The Celery Fields

MLB Spring Training

Sarasota's architectural history

Sarasota Trolly Tours

If you thought the "Roads to Ruin" were dead, think again. This week's episode begins with Craig's fabulous column from the Florida Phoenix which alerts us to how the Florida Department of Transportation, at the behest of developers and the road construction industry, wants to force another unwanted, unneeded, expensive turnpike extension in north Florida. As background to this story, an explanation of how roads can be racist.

This week's guest is Scott Satterwhite, author of "A Punkhouse in the Deep South: An Oral History of 309." Satterwhite, who now teaches at the University of West Florida, didn't just write the book on the 309 Punkhouse, he is a former resident. Learn more about the 309 Punkhouse here and follow them on Instagram and Facebook @309PunkProject.

This week's episode begins by discussing how Florida's lack of a clean energy plan is costing the state federal infrastructure dollars.

Our guest is Dr. Jaret Daniels who leads the lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) research efforts at the University of Florida. Daniels' team can be found working at the world's most prestigious lepidoptera research facility in the world, the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity inside the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus in Gainesville. The McGuire Center houses 12 million butterfly and moth specimens from around the world. 

We discuss collapsing monarch populations, butterfly rescue efforts in Florida, and what you can do to help sustain butterfly numbers in state.

Helpful links to learn more:

Florida Native Plant Society.

Xerces Society, the world's foremost conservation group working to save butterfly and pollinator populations.

Why you should NOT use tropical milkweed to attract monarchs to your landscape.

Discover the power of backyard pollinator habitats using native plants and their potential to protect biodiversity.

This week's episode is sponsored by VisitSarasota.com. Here is a link to the best places to find butterflies across Sarasota County.

If this topic interests you, listen back to Episode 41 where we spoke to Florida author Jeff VanderMeer who's rewilding his Tallahassee yard and offers suggestions for how you can do the same.

This week's episode begins with a conversation about a state law little-known to the public that further stacks the deck against conservation and sustainable growth in Florida in favor of developers. Meet Bert Harris.

Our guest this week is Florida author Tim Dorsey. Tim will soon have his 25th novel in a series of wacky crime thrillers about a Florida-obsessed serial killer, Serge A. Storms, that use outlandish humor to pass along tidbits about the state's history and culture. Tim will be appearing at this year's Miami Book Fair.

This week's episode begins with cowboy Craig telling us about a recent trip to a Florida ranch he took as well as introducing us to a new Florida acronym: earwig.

This week's guest is part of the annual Miami Book Fair, author James Grippando whose written almost 30 novels, 17 of which focus on the adventures Miami criminal defense lawyer Jack Swyteck. Grippando is a practicing attorney and professor at the University of Miami.

"Welcome to Florida" is presented by VisitSarasota.com. From camping at Miakka River State Park to beach combing along Longboat or Siesta Keys, Sarasota is a nature lover's paradise. It also has an artsy side with the Ringling Museum, Sarasota Art Museum, an opera, Marie Selby Botanic Gardens and much more. Start planning your next getaway to Sarasota today at www.visitsarasota.com.

This week's episode begins with some Florida myth-busting from Craig Pittman.

Our guest is author and Miami Herald investigative reporter Julie Brown. Brown's book "Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story" helped bring some measure of accountability to Palm Beach resident Jeffrey Epstein following his years' long, worldwide sex trafficking ring which saw him rape dozens of underage girls.

Brown continues to report on the case and ongoing legal proceedings for the Herald. Find her writing and insights on Twitter at @jkbjournalist.