Florida Spectacular

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Stephanie Shuster, CEO and owner of "WDW Magazine." Stephanie and Cathy talk about a different part of Florida: the Walt Disney World Resort. They chat, of course, about Disney and why they both enjoy it, but also about the landscaping, natural plants, and acres of preserved land on the Walt Disney World Resort pr...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular talks to food historian Andy Huse. Cathy and Andy talk about Florida restaurants, Florida cocktails, and Florida desserts. Huse, who's written three books with the University Press of Florida , lives in Tampa. He's the archivist and special collections librarian at the University of South Florida, but his fascination is Fl...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Susan Rogers, author of the forthcoming book " Learning the Birds ", available in April from Cornell Press. Susan talks with Cathy about her birding trip to the Everglades, the time she (sort of) found a dead body, and why birding is dangerous. Cathy and Susan also talk about the most dangerous animal in Florida (...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes back Bill DeYoung, author of many books, most recently "Vintage St. Pete Volume II: Legends, Locations, Lifestyles."  Even people who don't live in St. Pete will appreciate this picturesque history of the area, told through some of the city's more interesting people and places throughout history. In this...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular talks with Ben Kirby, who worked alongside St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman as the Communications Director for Kriseman's two-term tenure, which ended earlier this year. Cathy and Ben talk about Kriseman's famous "no Trumps allowed" tweet, the challenges facing a Florida community recovering from a Jim Crow Sou...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Bill DeYoung, a St. Petersburg native, veteran journalist, and author of "Skyway: The True Story of Tampa Bay's Signature Bridge and the Man Who Brought it Down." Bill and Cathy talk about the Skyway Bridge disaster of 1980, the (untrue and harmful) rumors about Captain Lerro's role in the disaster and,...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Tara Lush , author of the Coffee Lover's Mystery Series, talks about writing cozy mysteries, using Florida as a backdrop, her love of coffee, and other Florida cozy writers.  Connect with her on Twitter ( @tamaralush ) or Facebook , or come see her at the Gabber Book Club in Gulfport on Jan. 12.  Links we mentioned:  S...

Send us your Florida questions! This week, The Florida Spectacular welcomes John Fleming, author of " The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman ." Host Cathy Salustri and John talk about the actual Barefoot Mailman, his book about what may have happened to Ed Hamilton, and why Cathy thinks his next book about the Lewis & Clark expedition should talk about Florida. John's a creative wri...

Send us your Florida questions! This week Cathy Salustri welcomes Dr. Saundra TenBroeck, an associate professor and state extension horse specialist for the University of Florida's Extension Service, to The Florida Spectacular. Dr. TenBroeck works with kids and adults... and horses. They chat about Florida's horse industry, which has an annual $6.8 billion economic impact on Florida. The...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular chats with John Pendygraft , a longtime journalist with a forthcoming book, "Lost Storytellers: The Information Apocalypse in the Modern Newsroom." John and Cathy talk about journalism, and its future in Florida.  Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter , and keep up with Cathy's travels at...

Send us your Florida questions! This week, The Florida Spectacular welcomes John Fleming, author of " Fearsome Creatures of Florida ." Host Cathy Salustri and John talk about the Skunk Ape, were-panthers and a host of other fearsome creatures of Florida – some real, some maybe not so real. John's a creative writing professor at the University of South Florida, the founder of Saw Pal...

Send us your Florida questions! Today host Cathy Salustri welcomes Colette Bancroft, book editor for the Tampa Bay Times. Listen in as they talk about the Tampa Bay Times annual Festival of Reading (the Festival takes place over seven days this year, via Zoom, Nov. 8-14), why Florida has so many writers, and which book in this year's lineup will make you remove your mindfulness app from your...

Send us your Florida questions! This week the Florida Spectacular welcomes Holly Abeels , to talk about Florida fishing and how to find a fishing guide who will help you make your next fishing trip exciting – and sustainable.  Links we mentioned: • Choosing a Florida-friendly fishing guide • What is Florida Sea Grant ? Want more Florida? Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter , and keep u...

Send us your Florida questions! This week the Florida Spectacular welcomes back Jamie Rich, founder and publisher of Flamingo Magazine . With the new issue just days away from subscribers' mailboxes , Cathy and Jamie talk about what to expect under the cover, the Fresh Squeezed newsletter , why Carlton Ward's work makes the magazine even more amazing, and the upcoming Florida gift guide....

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes back historian Brad Bertelli, who talks about his historical (mostly) fiction book, "The Florida Keys Skunk Ape Files: Island Cryptids, Histories & Mysteries" and whether or not he believes in the Skunk Ape. Take a listen to hear his stories and learn about the Southernmost Skunk Ape (that's a bigfoot, fo...

Send us your Florida questions! Today The Florida Spectacular welcomes Lu Vickers , author of – among others – "Weeki Wachee, City of Mermaids: A History of One of Florida's Oldest Roadside Attractions." Lu and Florida Spectacular host Cathy Salustri talk about the Weeki Wachee Mermaids No matter where you are, you can always see Weeki Wachee mermaids on film and in photos at the Fl...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Joey Vars, the historian at the Belleview Inn (formerly Henry Plant’s Belleview Biltmore) as well as the Curator of the Gulfport Historical Society. He’s also a masters student in the USFSP Florida Studies Program.  Host Cathy Salustri and Joe talk about the Plant empire, the urban legends about Morton Plant hospital, and w...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Alex Freeze, who talks about the Florida Wildlife Corridor. As a sixth-generation Floridian, Alex's passion for the Corridor – and all of wild Florida – comes through in this episode, co-hosted by Cathy Salustri and James Chapin. Connect with Alex – and the Corridor – at the links below. The Last Green Thread film Hidd...

Send us your Florida questions! Today the Florida Spectacular welcomes Craig Pittman, Florida environmental reporter, columnist, and author of many books – most recently, The State You're In .   Get Craig's book for a discounted price – $20 – plus free shipping when you order from upress.ufl.edu or call 800-226-3822 and use the code FLMAN. Valid through September 30, 2021. Stories from C...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Lara Milligan and Shannon Carnevale, and Cathy chats with them about their podcast, Naturally Florida , which delves into natural Florida and the things that live here. They also talk about Cuban tree frogs and other exotic invasives, fireflies (yes, we have them here!) and green anoles (you may call them geckos, but you&ap...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes John Bisney and J.L. Pickering, the co-authors of Picturing the Space Shuttle: The Early Years . On the podcast they chat about the space shuttle, but not only that – you'll learn about I Dream of Jeannie's connection and the nude beach by Cape Canaveral.  John Bisney, a retired journalist who covered the space pr...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes Holley Short, an Audubon Florida Shorebird Program Manager in the Tampa Bay Area. Holley works closely with cities, counties, and landowners to project nesting shorebirds and seabirds. Check out the Florida Audubon Society's website, flbeachbirds.org and follow them on Twitter , Instagram and Facebook . Also, check out...

Send us your Florida questions! This week the Florida Spectacular welcomes Ray Bodrey of UF/IFAS Extension Gulf County. Ray's the County Extension Director and Florida Sea Grant Agent. Today we're talking about scallops in Franklin, Gulf, and Bay County. Ray talks about bay scallops and the volunteer scallop sitter program.  Links we mentioned: Find the Gulf County Extension on Facebook...

Send us your Florida questions! This week The Florida Spectacular welcomes author Cynthica Barnett to talk about seashells and her new book, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans . Cynthia and host Cathy Salustri talk about sushi, scallops, and whether or not it's OK to collect seashells (yes, as long as they're not alive and please don't take them all!) Connect...

Send us your Florida questions! Today The Florida Spectacular welcomes Tom Wichman, who works with landscapers to teach them how to keep landscapes Florida-friendly. Learn about how to mulch, which tree stands through (most) hurricanes, and how Florida-Friendly landscapers (and landscaping you can do yourself!) can make your Florida yard more spectacular.  Florida-Friendly LandscapingTM in a Minut...