Why Are We Like This?

We caught up with our own Thomas Kennedy after he and a group of other protesters who occupied Governor Ron DeSantis' office were arrested in Tallahassee on Wednesday. Along with serial #WAWLTmafia pod guest Ryan Ray (@ryanray_fla, Tropical Depression Podcast) we talk about how the governor's office has become a well-worn path for lobbyists, special interests, and political climbers -- everyday voters and citizens need not enter.

Eighteen months out from what promises to be a torturous, awful Presidential election, the race is beginning to take shape and, wouldn't you know it, Florida is at the center of it. We talked with Tallahassee's finest, Ryan Ray, about the role Florida plays and some other news and notes from the past few weeks. This episode started as a grab bag about Twitter, Trump eating pizza, and Heat-Knicks, but ended up being about -- who else -- Ron DeSantis. Yawn.

You can find Ryan on Twitter @RyanRay_FLA and subscribe to his podcast, Tropical Depression, on Patreon.

Maybe no state has benefitted from immigration more than Florida. From agriculture to hospitality, tourism and food service, the Sunshine State runs largely on people who either a.) are not from the U.S., or b.) have parents who were not from the U.S.

That hasn't stopped the state from putting a target on the backs of the undocumented with a brand new bill that aims to punish family, friends, social groups and churches that lend them any material aid. The bill before the Florida Legislature is maybe the most punitive in recent memory, and like so many other legislative priorities here the cruelty is the point. We talked with Paula Muñoz and Yareliz Mendez-Zamora from the Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) about the bill and the man behind it, Gov. Ron DeSantis. You can learn more about FLIC at https://linktr.ee/weareflorida, and you should join their day of action this Tuesday if you can get to Tallahassee. 

With the ripe stench of fascism in the air, we envision a future that could be better with one of the people who can help make it happen. State Rep. Angie Nixon joins us to talk about the potential for the Florida Legislature's rules to be levied against her or fellow legislators. We also got into the rightward lurch happening in the world of online black tabloid media outlets, and why it's happening.

You'll forgive us if we're a little distracted this week, if our attention is somewhat scattered.

In this super-sized episode, we catch up with returning guest, State Representative Anna Eskamani, to talk about her effort to cut through the media's obsession with indicted ex-presidents and turn focus on the dangerous precedents being set in places like Tallahassee and Nashville.

Later, we talk with Jordan Zakarin about Florida's most famous big-boy resident's made-for-TV arrest, the circus that he witnessed firsthand, and how news coverage could better meet these critical moments by dismissing positions that deserve to be dismissed.

You can follow Jordan on Twitter @JordanZakarin and read his work on More Perfect Union and on his Substack, Progress Report. He's also got a project alongside our own Thomas Kennedy, which is called SWORD. So go follow all that stuff!

Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the absolute finessing that its stakeholders ran on the Fed to get all their deposits back, we talked with The Nation contributing editor Doug Henwood about what this failure means for our banking system, and how a SVB's fallout could affect folks 3,000 miles away in Florida.

Doug hosts Behind The News with Doug Henwood, which you can find here. He's also on Twitter @DougHenwood.

In 1972, then-unknown actor Burt Reynolds approached Florida Gov. Reubin Askew about bringing director John Boorman's new feature, "Deliverance" to film in Florida. Askew declined, and what happened next changed the course of movie and television history. Today we explore an alternate future where Florida (and specifically Miami) became the de facto home away from home for Hollywood, the economic benefit it could have meant, and whether or not our state is too corrupt and short-sighted to support the industry.

But first, join David, Thomas and Gerald for their assorted takes from Hollywood's big night - The Oscars!

Joined by Matt Lech (@MattLech) we take a look forward at the raft of legislation coming online here in Florida and the implications of how it could take hold nationally should the man behind all of it, Gov. Ron DeSantis, find his way to the Oval Office.

But before that, let's talk Twitter files, Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, and some of our other favorite free speech warriors.

You can follow Matt at Left Reckoning (www.patreon.com/leftreckoning) and also on the Majority Report.

In the '90s, Miami's hip-hop scene was undergoing a radical transformation that would evolve the then-Booty Bass-obsessed city into a critical outpost for a new MC/lyric-driven iteration of the genre. Names like Pitbull, DJ Khaled, DJ Raw and many more would come to define "Miami Hip-Hop" in the years after 2 Live Crew and Luther Campbell blazed trails.

John Cordero was there, editing the underground Miami rap magazine The Cypher, and this week he recounts some of the stories from his recently released retrospective, The History of Miami Hip Hop: The Story of DJ Khaled, Pitbull, DJ Craze, and Other Contributors to South Florida's Scene, which you can find on Microcosm Publishing or at your local bookseller.

We made a companion Spotify Playlist to go with this episode, which you can find here. You can follow John on Instagram @Omen305, pick up the book at Lucky Records in Wynwood, and meet him on March 18th at Soul Garden in Wynwood where he will be signing copies.

This week we’ve prepared a comprehensive case file on maybe the highest-profile criminal occupying public office in our state, his role overseeing what has been called the largest Medicare fraud in history, how he’s used his vast fortune to buy three statewide elections despite enjoying very little popular support, and his (maybe just a bit overly ambitious) plan to run for president. Welcome to our extra-super-sized Senator Rick Scott episode, baby.

We also talked about Matt Gaetz being “exonerated” by the Department of Justice for being ick, the Doral Airborne Toxic Event, and the legislation that promises to be the final nail in the coffin of calling racists racist and calling transphobes transphobic.