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, o...

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...

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 Mosk...

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 raci...

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 Fishbac...

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...

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 pr...

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 t...

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 joi...

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 go...

Is public rail designed to fail? We’re revisiting our favorite public-private partnership (aka privatization) and checking in on the Brightline rail system which seems to be teetering on the edge of bankruptcy after burning through billions of dollars and propping. How did they lose so much money? How did the venture fail so stunningly? And what will become of the valuable land where the downtown...

Two big stories on the docket today: First, Thomas has new reporting on TruthOut.org about how Miami and wide swaths of Florida have become a show-me-your-papers state, where fishing-while-Latino can get you stopped, frisked, and maybe detained. The proliferation of so-called 287(g) agreements with law enforcement, state agencies, municipalities and all manner of other organizations has become alm...

Florida ain't goin' anywhere! Why Are We Like This is back after an extended break, and we're talking about, well, just a whole slate of goings-on in the Sunshine State during our dark period, picking up with Thomas and David's trip to the Emerge Americas Conference last week and their interaction with some of Miami's new AI hologram ambassadors that will soon be gracing the halls of our finest ai...

We're back with a new season of Why Are We Like This?, and the guys play a round of catch-up on various topics, including the impact of good internet on media professionals, the intersection of sports and politics, the Venezuelan crisis, human rights violations in Alcatraz, conspiracy theories related to high-profile crimes, cultural commentary on nepo babies, crisis communications in politics, th...

After an extended work/family/pneumonia-driven hiatus the WAWLT Boys are back and we're getting right into it. Among the topics discussed in our comeback episode: Open-carrying in Publix Charlie Kirk memorial campus streets Fort Myers' Madison Cawthorne infestation Miami mayoral race Eric Adams update Dominion Voting out, Liberty Voting in Argentina-Puerto Rico soccer match out in Chicago, in in S...

We intended to talk about the so-called Alligator Auschwitz or Alligator Alcatraz Detention Center that opened last week a mere 45 miles from our WAWLT offices at the Dade-Collier Training & Transition Airport in the Big Cypress Preserve.  The $450 million affront to common decency and humanity was hastily slapped together by the Florida Division of Emergency Management and our old friend...

Joe Carollo's "Not Involved in Weaponizing City Government" shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the shirt. On May 30, Thomas and David attended a special City of Miami commission hearing with commissioners Joe Carollo, Miguel Gabela and Damian Pardo aimed at exploring how Carollo has government resources against his political and perceived enemies, including Gabela. Duri...

You've heard WAWLT episodes before, but have you ever heard a cynically-sold-out-to-a-political-party version of a WAWLT episode? To demonstrate our value and in our effort to chase the "Joe Rogan of the Left" title we played a little game where we transplanted our own opinions with those of the Democratic Party. See, we can play nice when we have to! But first, we discussed the recent town hall w...

Today we're tackling the real problems facing our magical home city, discussing the viability of election and political reforms across Miami like a new election calendar and district map, as laid out in a recent Miami Herald opinion piece . Our conclusion? It's all too far gone, and the entire city is no longer viable. What about... disintegrating Miami? Longtime Magic City raconteur and returning...

It's the stupid economy, you stupid idiot. Another week, another spate of economic uncertainty roiling markets and the nerves of our tender tummies. GDP has shrunk (shrank? shrinked?) and while it might SEEM like Florida's favorite president is to blame, it was actually previous president Joe Biden's fault. It just is! We also hear from Thomas about the end of a legislative session in Tallahassee...

Hope Foundation is a Florida nonprofit that was supposed to help struggling Floridians on government assistance get back on their feet. Instead, the organization -- with profound ties to Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis -- is at the center of the first scandal threatening to affect the DeSantis family's waning political prospects. Today, we had returning guest Jason Garcia (@Jason_Garcia) to talk...

For our main story this week, we're looking at a brewing scandal plaguing Gov. Ron DeSantis and Casey DeSantis. The Governor's Agency for Healthcare Administration is in hot water for allegedly directing a private healthcare company to shift a $10 million penalty to Hope Florida, a nonprofit with direct ties to his wife Casey. Before that, we look to the north and explore the de-Canadafication of...

We marked our first Liberation Day with a breakdown of the special election results in Wisconsin and Florida. We also checked in on some of our favorite mayors, NYC's Exonerated Eric Adams and Miami-Dade's belt-tightening Daniella Levine Cava.

We talked about the intersection of scamming, regulation, and public corruption against the backdrop of a recent petty scandal where Miami-Dade health inspectors were caught extorting restaurants for clean reports. After that, we get into recent news including more tariff chaos, DOGE moves, and the latest from Tallahassee.

We check in with our roving reporter Thomas Kennedy on the latest bile pouring from the state capital and try to figure out exactly where the priorities lie. It's a short one folks, enjoy it!