Why Are We Like This?

Remember when the “jobs of the future” were supposed to be things like software engineer, graphic designer and, inexplicably, actuary? Well, the future arrived, and Florida is hiring.

This week, we dust off the old career almanac to explore the exciting opportunities awaiting tomorrow’s workforce: prediction-market gambler, degenerate sports bettor, crypto trader, Brickell LARPer, Kick streamer, online guru, looksmaxxer and, perhaps most respectably, OnlyFans creator.

Along the way, we examine how gambling, influencing, meme coins, passive-income fantasies and algorithmic brain damage somehow became an economic development strategy — and why South Florida increasingly resembles the trading floor for an economy built entirely out of people trying to game one another.

Plus: Maria Elvira Salazar discovers immigration enforcement has consequences, Byron Donalds hangs with Kodak Black, Robert Kraft humiliates Ed Sheeran, and Florida insurers apparently discover some exciting new accounting techniques.

Kids, choose your careers wisely. The future is bright, provided you never look up from your phone.

CBP reads Thomas’s books, Miami politicians fight over a microphone next to a plane crash, Florida schools simultaneously fear books and embrace AI, and somehow Hunter Biden has a meme coin. It’s embarrassments all the way down.

The boys are back, and Thomas has returned from Egypt and Turkey with a souvenir he definitely didn’t ask for: a two-hour detention and interrogation by Customs and Border Protection at Miami International Airport.

Thomas recounts being flagged for secondary inspection, questioned about his travels and political activity, grilled over books about Palestine and Iran, and eventually forced to surrender his phone to CBP agents. The crew talks about the extraordinary powers border authorities wield, whether Tomas was specifically targeted, and the broader chilling effect of government scrutiny on political speech.

Then it’s on to another disaster at Miami International: the deadly Amazon cargo-plane crash that killed five workers and the astonishing political squabble that followed as Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava’s staff and Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz apparently battled over who should speak first at the press conference. Join us as we try to comprehend how an actual aviation tragedy became the backdrop for a made-for-Miami fight over cameras, protocol and political turf.

Angie Nixon shocked Florida’s political establishment, defeating Alex Vindman despite being outspent 16–1. We break down how she did it, why Nikki Fried and the state Democratic apparatus had such a disastrous night, and what Nixon’s victory says about the limits of consultant-driven campaigns.

We also survey the rest of Florida’s primary results: Oliver Larkin’s uphill campaign against Jared Moskowitz, James Fishback’s army of college-age groypers, MAGA’s growing capture of Florida’s judiciary, Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s continued political immortality, and the increasingly blurred line between state politics and a Republican theme park.

Plus: Nancy Mace’s tattoo crisis, Florida Politics' AI-generated pay-to-play journalism, Randy Fine’s mailbox adventure, Politicon nostalgia, and an unexpected Democratic victory in Butler County, Pennsylvania.

• 00:00 The coolest summer of the rest of our lives
• 02:17 Nancy Mace’s tattoo crisis
• 05:05 Florida Politics deploys the Scorch Bot
• 08:47 Angie Nixon defeats Alex Vindman
• 10:17 How weak is the Florida Democratic Party?
• 12:00 Nixon’s ground game—and Vindman’s nonexistent campaign
• 20:48 Prediction markets completely miss the upset
• 23:38 The Florida governor’s races
• 27:04 James Fishback and the groyper youth vote
• 34:27 Oliver Larkin takes on Jared Moskowitz
• 39:24 Glenna Milberg’s genocide denial
• 41:01 Tomas’s history with Glenna Milberg
• 43:52 MAGA’s judicial capture in Miami-Dade
• 46:28 South Florida’s congressional results
• 50:41 The statewide races
• 52:49 Florida becomes MAGA Disney World
• 55:34 Remember Politicon?
• 57:47 JJR versus James Uthmeier
• 01:01:52 Kat Cammack becomes permanent furniture
• 01:04:38 Dan Bilzerian, Randy Fine, and the mailbox
• 01:06:18 Democrats win in Butler County
• 01:11:22 Congratulations, Angie Nixon

Florida U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon joins Why We Like This to explain why she believes voters are rejecting establishment politics—and why Alexander Vindman refuses to debate her. Nixon discusses her progressive campaign, Florida’s affordability crisis, Medicare for All, universal childcare, and what Democrats must offer beyond simply opposing Donald Trump.

Nixon also opens up about the racism, sexism, and classism she says she has encountered inside the Democratic Party. She responds to criticism from Vindman’s wife, challenges assumptions about who is “electable,” and explains why corporate donors and political consultants wield so much power over Democratic campaigns.

Plus, Nixon discusses Gaza, America’s expanding wars, Miss Rachel’s endorsement, and her decision to invest in organizers instead of costly consultants and media firms. Can a working-class, people-powered campaign defeat Florida’s political establishment?

Florida’s housing crisis has reached a grim new milestone: Miami renters now need a $97,000 salary to comfortably afford a two-bedroom apartment. David, Tomas, and Gerald unpack the soaring cost of living, stagnant wages, corporate price-gouging, and why fixing Florida’s affordability problem may require an economic reckoning.

The crew also examines Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, his appeal among disaffected Gen Z men, and the uncomfortable parallels between today’s online right and Bernie Sanders’ anti-establishment movement. Plus: Byron Donalds, Angie Nixon, Alexander Vindman, and the increasingly chaotic state of Florida politics.

Before diving into the Sunshine State’s active crime scene, the guys review Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, celebrate 20 years of Michael Mann’s Miami Vice, investigate Fake Melania, and wander into the bizarre culture war surrounding Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and the WNBA.

In our ongoing quest to shift our coverage to sports we don't really know much about, we called in our friend and frequent collaborator Kartik Krishnaiyer to help us wrap up World Cup 2026. We talk all things Spain, Argentina, Trump, US-Belgium, what went surprisingly right and what went predictably wrong.

In news and notes, we talked explosive diarrhea, the Tate brothers' arrest in Florida, Miami surpassing New York in cost of living, and more!

Mayor Eileen Higgins’ proposed mega bond project, a public safety slush fund that will likely cost taxpayers more than a billion dollars over time, is heading to your ballot in November after a series of fits and starts. We dive into what it means for a city that still has $180 million of principal left on its last bond project.

Also, Grahams down, the Fishback kids are fucked, a Kalshi episode preview, and more!

A couple years ago, the US electorate — and especially in Florida — was fired up for mass deportations and welcomed the second Trump administration with hopes that it would solve all our problems by blaming foreigners.

Today, between the closing of Alligator Alcatraz and cities like Miami regretting their participation with 287G agreements, which allow ICE and DHS pernicious unprecedented access to law enforcement, it seems like the tide might be turning on one of the darkest chapters in American history. This and more in our news and notes section.

Miami is one host city for this summer’s World Cup, joining others across North America, for what is shaping up to be one of the biggest debacles in the tournament’s history. Woefully underprepared and overpriced, the US has provided no end of friction by suspending visas and travel privileges, exerting pressure on foreign visitors, and using dynamic pricing to price out the average fan.

We’re joined by soccer scribe Kartik Krishnaiyer from Beyond the 90 (Beyondthe90.net) to discuss how the US has joined a very short list of tinpot dictatorships that have allowed their xenophobia to trump the diplomatic missions of international sporting tournaments, and exactly whose wheels are getting greased this time around.

You can also follow Kartik on X.com @kkfla737.

A spate of news you can use this week from the WAWLT boys, who will continue to stay posting on main. On tap this week:

• What's going on with Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jared Moskowitz, Maria Elvira Salazar, and the congressional district hopscotch being played across South Florida?
• Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's confirmation and the the statistical subterfuge we are all living through.
• The Atlantic has good news: The economy is all just bad vibes and Debbie downers! You're all actually doing great!
• A look at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) recent report on how Miami is failing to assimilate. Yeah. Ok.