Why Are We Like This?

There is a cognitive dissonance when trying to pin down exactly what constitutes a “quality” education in Florida. Is it a critical understanding of the world imparted during your most formative years? Is it technical training and job placement, ensuring your economic well-being into adulthood? Is it a ranking in a defunct magazine that few people actually believe? Or is it the byproduct of a...

***Here's the Change.org petition we mentioned*** https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-great-outdoors-initiative-save-florida-s-state-parks-from-harmful-developments?source_location=tag_ Rising costs associated with so-called special assessments and maintenance have always been a sore spot for Miami homeowners, but add in the recent spate of ill-considered post-Surfside collapse regulations and chall...

Today, the WAWLT fellas get to the bottom of the AI bubble roiling the all-important Dow Jones Industrial Average, what makes a nepo-politico heir endeavor to mistreat a bear cub, and (briefly) discuss the failed disaster that was the season finale of the Dragons and Houses show. As our main story, we dive into the, well, weird proclivities of GOP VP pick J.D. Vance, and the one weird trick that D...

A lot has happened since last we met, dear listeners. With a maelstrom of political upheaval, a historic Republican National Convention, a Presidential assassination attempt gone awry, and more, we make the choice to devote the lion's share of this episode to JD Vance's fasc-adjacent, off-putting interpretation of JRR Tolkien's classic series, The Lord of the Rings. Before that, we devote some tim...

The WAWLT Boys reviewed that devastating Biden debate performance and what the seemingly rudderless Democratic Party could or should do faced with a leader who resembles the Benadryl Hat Man. We also dived into the outrageous recent Supreme Court decisions that threaten to undermine democracy as we know it, unleash heretofore unseen environmental degradation, and shield corporations from any liabi...

We’re talking congestion pricing this week and we refuse to kowtow to the powerful, influential diner lobby that has place New York Governor Kathy Hochul firmly in its pocket. To help us clear the congestion, we welcome back our very own antihistamine Jordan Zakarin ( @JordanZakarin ), publisher of Progress Report ( www.progressreport.news ).  But before that, we talked about the implications...

In this jam-packed summer spectacular we have two interviews that tell the story of Florida governmental ineffectiveness and evil, first on the state level and then locally. First, we welcome back McKenna Schueler ( @SheCarriesOn ), staff writer for the Orlando Weekly , who shares her recent reporting on Florida’s legislation doing away with local municipalities’ ability to make their own rules ar...

The guys talked about the recent proposed fair increases on the Brightline train system, which has been the source of much controversy in its brief tenure as Florida's de facto rail transit system. Along with the hefty price tag that taxpayers mostly carried, the private company that began as a patronage project for former-Gov. Rick Scott has been marred by a decade-plus of missed deadlines, dimin...

This week we are reviewing the latest film from Alex Garland, Civil War, and considering what it would take to get this wonderful, fully functional, definitely real country to descend into the kind of madness where violent rural weirdos embrace guns as a cultural identity. We also touched on friend of the show Billy Corben's brief run to lead the Miami-Dade DEC, among other topics.

Beginning in May, abortion will be effectively banned in Florida with a strict new law making the six-week mark the limit for those seeking care. However, voters will have the chance to vote on Amendment 4 in November to codify abortion throughout the state, and organizers are amping up to get the vote out. Dani Martins, a reproductive rights advocate and expert, helps us break down the implicatio...

In the first half of this episode we catch up with our friend Jordan Zakarin and talk about the media narrative around squatting, the eclipse, Florida's future, and more. Then, we talked with another friend, Yareliz Mendez Zamor from the Florida Immigrant Coalition about the Florida Supreme Court's ruling that will put abortion on the ballot this year, and how women's health issues intersects with...

It’s a familiar story: Haiti is currently experiencing extreme social strife, and the opportunists are lining up to take advantage. We talked with Florida Immigrant Coalition co-executive director Tessa Petit about her home country’s history as a target for the Western powers and how Florida and Ron DeSantis are using the current conditions as a pretext for even more anti-immigrant legislation.&nb...

We spent this week talking about the endless supply of disarray that the Florida Dems seem almost preternaturally capable of concocting around their wheezing party, this time in the form of a completely manufactured controversy wherein our state party has suspended the chairmen of three county parties, including Democrat strongholds Miami-Dade and Palm Beach. Among those suspended is friend of the...

We welcome back Jason Garcia (@jason_garcia), the publisher of Seeking Rents, for a discussion about State Sen. Linda Stewart's recent scandal wherein she was caught advancing industry-written legislation that would prevent Orlando being able to rein in taxpayer spending on Visit Orlando. Jason stuck around to guide us through the Florida legislative session and we wrapped up talking about the FII...

The WAWLT Boys analyzed President Biden and Democrats' controversial immigration bill, what it gets wrong, why it's good that it's doomed, and how it represents a negative shift in the Overton Window, acquiescing to the far-right at the expense of real people's lives. We also touched on Ron DeSantis' (ahem) beef with lab-grown meat and where the Florida abortion ballot amendment stands after a jud...

Folks, they're calling it the Worst Run Campaign in History, and we had a front row seat to its demise. Joined by Ryan Ray ( @RyanRay_fla ) we joined in with the rest of America in celebrating and ridiculing the death of Ron DeSantis' presidential campaign, discussed what went wrong, and tried to chart a future for Florida's 46th governor.

We're joined for this episode by longtime friend and guest Ryan Ray ( @ryanray_Fla ) who talked through the latest spates of Miami corruption and local politics, the changes afoot at New College of Florida, and Iowa caucus predictions. Ryan stuck around as we talked with Ida Eskamani ( @Ida_v_e ) to preview the toxic legislative calendar coming out of Tallahassee and threatening to afflict our sta...

The WAWLT Boys begin today's episode sharing their culture by taking the listeners on a tour through history of Santa's Enchanted Forest, a uniquely Miami-Dade working class holiday experience. From there, we dive into the release of the Jeffrey Epstein flight log list and what was really happening there. We then head to Argentina to check in on how newly minted president Javier Milei's nascent Li...

The WAWLT boys catch up ahead of the holiday and discuss the ongoing controversy surrounding Miami City Attorney Victoria Mendez, who faces the chopping block on January 11th for her and her husband's rampant, blatant, predatory corruption. Don't worry, of COURSE we talked about Christian and Bridgette Zielger's recent throuple issues and the sexual assault charges they are facing, as well as what...

We talked with Adrian Madriz of Struggle for Miami's Affordable and Sustainable Housing Incorporated (SMASH Miami) about their new campaign to overhaul the unfair and predatory practices of Homeowners Associations and insurance companies in Florida. Be sure to sign their petition and learn more by visiting SMASH Miami . Afterwards, the boys get into a pair of recent crypto-focused newly released b...

Things keep getting spooookier here in Florida, as all the worst people continue moving here for all the wrong reasons. We took a deep-dive into the forces behind the Great MAGA Migration to the Sunshine State and how Florida became the homing beacon for transplants who have irrevocably changed our cultural and political landscape.

We've got a two-pack of WAWLT topics today. First, we talked with Hernan Reyes, a public opinion analyst based in Buenos Aires, about the ascendance of political figure Javier Milei, Argentina's very own Donald Trump, a Libertarian radical running as an outsider promising change, including an economic policy that would pin the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar. Then (33:35) we talked with Lawrence...

This week, we focus on a name that not many folks know outside of the hyper-targeted world of lobbyists, consultants, pollsters, and special interest groups in Florida. Florida Politics at first blush looks like a finely tuned news-gathering machine, stepping in to provide deep, often well-reported coverage of the political landscape here during a time of retracting local news operations and outri...

Saddest four words in podcasting: It's just the boys! We've got a lot to say about Florida Man Matt Gaetz's inevitable path to Florida governor, the current governor's qualities that would make him an awful Speaker of the House, and our favorite topic: Miami Mayor Frances Suarez, who's out with a fresh pair of scandals. We also play a quick round of Canadian Wildfire Smoke Or Toxic Sugar Waste, th...

To celebrate a year of WAWLT, we welcomed back three-time returning guest Billy Corben to talk about the recent arrest of Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla and to help tell the inside story behind our own Thomas Kennedy's ethics complaint against Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. We also talked about New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez's contention that doing crimes and stashing gold bullion...