Welcome to Florida

This week's episode begins with a discussion of Craig's latest Florida Phoenix column investigation the damage the state's latest red tide outbreak has had on seagrass.

Our guest is Andrew Huse, author of "From Saloons to Steak Houses: A History of Tampa," and an upcoming title about the history of the Cuban Sandwich.

Andrew's recommendations for a great Cuban sandwich: The Boozy Pig in Tampa and Sanguich in Miami.

This week's episode begins with some budgetary chicanery linked to the Florida Wildlife Corridor that could mean more trouble to the state's diminishing wetlands.

Our guest is filmmaker Oscar Corral who's new documentary, "The Fellowship of the Springs," examines Florida's best in the world freshwater springs resource and the various threats they face. Visit the film's website to find out when you can watch it on your local PBS station.

This week's episode begins with a tale of governmental treachery - at the behest of developers - from Santa Rosa County.

Our guest is Helen Hartley, the former business reporter at the St. Petersburg Times. She uncovered a massive insurance and investment scam orchestrated by Lou Pearlman in the mid-2000s. Pearlman was the driving force behind the development of boy bands Backstreet Boys and NSYNC which, for a brief period, turned Orlando into one of the music industry's hotbeds.

This week's episode begins with Craig's latest article for the Washington Post looking at the history of Seminole oversight of gaming in Florida. With a new gambling compact agreed to between the tribe and the state, the Seminole are expect to reap an even greater financial windfall due to the introduction of sports gambling in Florida.

Our guest this week is Florida author Bob Kealing. Bob wrote a book all about one of Florida's most underappreciated entrepreneurs, Brownie Wise, who in the 1950s helped the Tupperware company build an empire by staging in-home Tupperware sales parties. Tupperware moved its corporate headquarters to the Orlando area in the 1950s and continues to be located there today.

The book is titled, "Life of the Party: The Remarkable Story of How Brownie Wise Built, and Lost, a Tupperware Party Empire."

Turkey hunting, off road vehicles and drones in the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge? Maybe.

This week's guest, Carlton Ward Jr., has been instrumental in casting a vision for the Florida Wildlife Corridor. The Florida Wildlife Corridor imagines a contiguous linkage of undeveloped land from the Everglades to the Okefenokee Swamp. As a nature photographer, Carlton helped promote the idea by traversing the entire route and sharing his stories with politicians and in the media. In late June 2021, as a result of his efforts and those of many others, the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act was signed into law.

Follow Carlton on line at carltonward.com and floridawild.com. Learn more about the Florida Wildlife Corridor at floridawildlifecorridor.org. Find him on Twitter and Instagram at @carltonward.

This week's episode begins with Craig Pittman and his wife encountering red tide near their home in St. Petersburg.

Our guest is Cynthia Barnett, author of the newly published book, "The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans." Cynthia has written numerous books about Florida's freshwater, but dives into the salt for the first time here. She is also an environmental journalism professor at the University of Florida living in Gainesville. 

This week's episode begins with Craig's investigation of the MURDER of a Florida river.

Our guest for this episode is Punta Gorda native Jason Vuic, author of the recently released book, "Swamp Peddlers: How Lot Sellers, Land Scammers, and Retirees Built Modern Florida and Transformed the American Dream." Jason tells a Florida origin story of sorts about how land speculation, unethical developers and lack of regulation wrought upon the state the numerous environmental disasters we're currently facing.

Why is Florida so screwed up? This book has A LOT of the answers. Find it at your local bookstore or anywhere online.

This episode marks the one year anniversary of the "Welcome to Florida" podcast. Craig Pittman and Chadd Scott look back at the first 52 episodes, highlighting some of the most memorable. All previous episodes, and the "Preview" episode which explains how "Welcome to Florida" came to be can be found in the archives.

This week's guest is Miccosukee tribal elder Betty Osceola. Osceola works as an environmental advocate on behalf of her tribe and the Everglades and owns Buffalo Tiger Airboat Tours in the Glades. You can find Betty Osceola on Facebook as well as her Walk For Mother Earth project.

This week's episode is sponsored by Eco-Pathways. Eco-Pathways is a Florida company working with property owners building better dune walkovers, beach boardwalks, docks, piers and other water access. Eco-Pathways' engineered product has a 50+ year guarantee, won't fade or crack like wood, requires almost no maintenance, is easy to install and isn't full of chemicals like pressure-treated lumber.

This week's episode begins with good news for conservationists in Florida from a most unlikely place: the Florida state legislature.

Craig also updates on a scary development regarding Florida's coral reef.

Our guest this week is Dr. Cynthia Heil, Director of the Red Tide Institute at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.

In the episode, Heil mentions resources available for Florida residents and tourists regarding the health of our beaches including:

visitbeaches.org (updated twice daily with current beach conditions)

myfwc.com/redtidestatus (current sample/cell concentrations of Karenia)

ore info on the Mote Marine website: mote.org/redtidefaq

With the Indian River Lagoon - North America's most biodiverse estuary - two National Wildlife Refuges and miles of critical sea turtle habitat along the Atlantic Ocean, Indian River County boasts remarkable natural beauty, even for Florida.

This bonus episode of "Welcome to Florida" focuses on Indian River County's ecotourism opportunities from sea turtle and manatee experiences, to hiking, biking, kayaking, birdwatching and much more.

Our guests are Barbara Schlitt Ford, Executive Director of the Environmental Learning Center in Vero Beach, and Kendra Cope, founder of Coastal Connections.

We'll learn about what there is to see and do for nature lovers in Indian River County. To begin planning your next long weekend or family vacation in Indian River County, check out VisitIndianRiverCounty.com.