The Florida Roundup

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about the use of artificial intelligence in political campaigns with WUSF’s Megan Bowman, Your Florida team government reporter (00:00). Then, we looked at the controversy over large scale data centers (09:24). Plus, we were joined by Justin Senior, CEO of the Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida, about how cutting property taxes might impact the state...

This week on a rebroadcast of The Florida Roundup from May 22, we revisit conversations with two Florida-based authors. We spoke first with Artis Henderson about her novel No Ordinary Bird (03:22) and then Kip Lyman about her novel The Purple Ribbon. (29:32).

This week on a special edition of The Florida Roundup live from Fort Myers, we spoke with Cape Coral Mayor John Gunter about the potential impacts of the property tax proposal (00:00). Then, we spoke with FGCU’s Shawn Felton about a regional initiative to increase the healthspan of Southwest Floridians (20:38). Plus, we examined the health of the Caloosahatchee River with WGCU’s senior environment...

This week on a special Juneteenth edition of the Florida Roundup, we spoke with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Eugene Robinson about his latest book Freedom Won, Freedom Lost. (00:00). Then, we revisited our conversation about a film that explores the unique history of Fort Mose (19:20) and the state’s plan to create a museum dedicated to Black history in Florida (31:36). Plus, histo...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we checked in with reporters from across the state to look at how the 2026 Florida midterms are shaping up (00:00). Then, we looked at a legal challenge to the property tax ballot amendment (21:10) and took a closer look at its language with Douglas Soule, Your Florida state government team reporter (33:56). Plus, we hear from the mother of one of the victims of t...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about what made it to the final version of Florida's property tax proposal with Douglas Soule, reporter with Your Florida and WUSF (00:00). Then, we heard from one of the co-sponsors of the measure Sen. Mack Bernard (08:40). Plus, we fact-checked some recent claims about the impact the ballot measure would have on local governments with PolitiFact’s Saman...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we looked at the official federal forecast for the Atlantic hurricane season that begins June 1 with meteorologist John Morales (00:00). Then we spoke about emergency response and preparedness with former FEMA administratior Craig Fugate (13:40). We also spoke with the mayors of Daytona Beach Shores and Cedar Key to talk about how their coastal communities are pre...

On this edition of The Florida Roundup, we feature some of the fiction and creative nonfiction that you should read in our Summer Reading Special. Authors Artis Henderson (No Ordinary Bird) and Kip Lyman (The Purple Ribbon) join to talk about their novels. In No Ordinary Bird, Henderson writes about her father, a pilot involved in a South Florida drug smuggling operation in the 1970s and 80s who d...

Florida Roundup with New York Times reporter Patricia Mazzei talking about Alligator Alcatraz (1:08). Jake Shore from WLRN talks the Florida Highway Patrol's role in immigration enforcement (12:12). Politico's education reporter Andrew Atterbury joins to talk the state’s voucher program (20:24). We also look at the historical legacy of Florida Emancipation Day ahead of the May 20 anniversary (38:1...

This week on the Florida Roundup, we took a look at Florida two years after the state enacted its six-week abortion ban. We talked with OB-GYN Dr. Aaron Elkin about how his practice has changed and how patient care is affected (3:11). We also spoke with Kate Payne of The Florida Trib about how her reporting into the state’s maternal mortality committee led to the release of years of missing data (...

This week on the Florida Roundup, we took a deep dive into Florida’s newly-approved congressional map that could eliminate four districts represented by Democrats. We talked with the University of Florida’s Political Science Professor Dan Smith and Fair Districts Now CEO Ellen Freidin about the new map changes and how voters may respond (00:00). We were also joined by Rep. Kathy Castor from the Ta...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about how congressional redistricting impacts voter representation and bipartisanship with the Center Aisle Coalition (00:00). Then, we spoke about the legality of mid-decade redistricting with PolitiFact’s Samantha Putterman (19:30). Plus, we spoke about the tension between free speech on campus and safety with UF’s Jane Bambauer (26:00). And later, news...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke with the Miami Herald’s deputy investigations editor Carol Marbin Miller about their reporting into problems with the state’s Adult Protective Services (00:00). Then, we joined our colleagues at Houston Public Radio for a simulcast to discuss Florida and Texas’s redistricting efforts (19:44). Plus, we spoke with a middle school aerospace technology teache...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about the impact rising gas prices are having on Floridians with WUSF’s Gabriella Paul (00:00). Then, we were joined by Rep. Ryan Chamberlin to talk about his push for a citizens-led campaign to put the elimination of property taxes up for a vote in 2028 (20:50). Then, PolitiFact’s Samantha Putterman joined us to fact-check a recent claim from U.S. Rep. B...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we were joined by former NFL head coach Tony Dungy to talk about the state’s challenge to the league’s ‘Rooney Rule’ (01:10). Then, we spoke about the corrosion of trust among neighbors and how we can better foster community with author Maxwell King (21:00). Plus, WUSF’s Douglas Soule joins us to talk about a new state law that prohibits local governments from ban...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about NASA’s new plans to build a lunar space base and more with Don Platt, the director of Spaceport Education Center at Florida Tech and Adrienne Dove, Planetary Scientist and Chair of Physics at University of Central Florida (00:00). Then, former astronaut Chris Hadfield joined us to talk about the Artemis II launch and mission (14:26). Plus, we spoke...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke with Florida Senate President Pro Tempore Jason Brodeur about the Senate’s stop-gap funding measure for the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program or ADAP (00:00). Then, KFF’s Lindsey Dawson joined us to talk about the troubles facing the federal ADAP program and how states are responding (17:16). Plus, best-selling author James Patterson joins us to talk a...

This week on The Florida Roundup, a second-generation gas station owner in Florida who is navigating the price hikes (00:00). Then, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor joined us for updates on the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and partial government shutdown (06:26). Plus, WUSF’s Kerry Sheridan and Dr. Shalika Katugaha with Baptist Health joined us to discuss a rise in measles cases in the state and pushback agains...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we looked at state spending on Alligator Alcatraz, the immigration detention center near the Everglades with Eve Sample, executive director of Friends of the Everglades (00:00). Then, we visited a small citrus farm in Central Florida (20:20). And we looked at what’s left on lawmakers’ agenda as the 2026 legislative draws close to an end (37:30).

This week on a special edition of The Florida Roundup, we spoke with Orange County Schools Superintendent Maria Vazquez about possible school closures (00:00). Then, we were joined by Central Florida Public Media’s Brendan Byrne and Greg Autry, Space Czar and Associate Provost at the University of Central Florida (21:00). Plus, the founder of TastyChomps Orlando Food Guide Ricky Ly joined us to ex...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about the push to build new large-scale data centers for artificial intelligence and how local communities in Florida are responding with WUSF’s Jessica Meszaros (00:00). Then, we checked in with Douglas Soule, ‘Your Florida’ state government reporter, about an effort to restrict the governor's use of the state’s emergency fund (14:42). Plus, we heard abo...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we looked at the state’s report on local government spending with Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting (00:00). Then, we were joined by the Chair of the Hillsborough DOGE Liaison Committee Jake Hoffman to discuss the county’s fiscal accountability efforts (12:40). Plus, we looked at the state’s food contamination testing with an environmental sc...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we first spoke with Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times reporter Lawrence Mower about how much money the state has spent on immigration enforcement efforts (00:00). Then, we were joined by Rep. Alex Andrade about a report that the DOJ will not take up a criminal investigation into the Hope Florida Charity (08:54). ‘Your Florida’ reporter Douglas Soule also joined us for...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we spoke about a new state law that gives cities the option to allow churches and other religious institutions to build affordable housing on their property regardless of zoning. First, we spoke with the sponsor of the law Sen. Alexis Calatayud (00:00) and then we heard from a pastor of a church in St. Petersburg that is close to breaking ground on a new housing d...

This week on The Florida Roundup, we look at immigration policy a year into the second Trump administration (00:00). Then, we looked at Florida's affordable housing problem with FSU professor Sam Staley (20:26) and bills aimed to address the issue with Douglas Soule, ‘Your Florida’ state government reporter (34:02). And later, news from the week from across the state including an update on the sta...