Top of Mind Florida

Palm Beach County Administrator Joe Abruzzo joins Michael Williams and Brian Crowley to explain why November's property tax vote could mean a quarter-billion-dollar hit to county services. They cover what's actually exempt (and what isn't), the risk to small cities like Belle Glade, and Abruzzo's ongoing dispute with the state CFO over "wasteful spending" claims. And every one of Florida's 67 coun...

Cybersecurity expert Alan Crowetz joins hosts and veteran journalists Michael Williams and Brian Crowley to make sense of an AI landscape moving, in his words, exponentially rather than linearly. The episode opens with a sobering case study — a Florida political news site with convincing bylines and bios that turned out to be entirely AI-generated and stealing copy from real outlets — before turni...

Palm Beach County | Sun, Surf and Secrets — Michael Williams and Brian Crowley step away from politics this week to talk sun, surf, and secrets with Amy Woods, author of "Secret Palm Beach: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure." From the real origin of the Lily Pulitzer print to a Cold War-era bunker buried on Peanut Island, Woods digs up the Palm Beach County stories nobody knows — includ...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this episode was recorded, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has suspended his campaign for governor following a prostate cancer diagnosis. DeSantis, Donalds and Democrats | Florida's Road to November — Florida's 2026 political season is wide open, and veteran broadcast journalist Michael Williams and Florida political analyst Brian Crowley break down everything moving right n...

Democratic challenger Victoria Doyle joins veteran journalists Michael Williams and Brian Crowley to make her case for unseating incumbent Congresswoman Lois Frankel in Palm Beach County. Doyle, a retired federal intellectual property attorney living in Lake Worth Beach, argues Frankel has been largely passive and ineffective — passing just five laws in nearly 14 years in office. Doyle outlines he...

Florida is in special session, and the centerpiece is a proposal to dramatically increase the homestead exemption — from $50,000 to (eventually) as much as $500,000. Governor DeSantis is pushing hard, but local governments across all 67 Florida counties are warning the impact on services could be devastating. Veteran broadcast journalist Michael Williams and Florida journalist/political analyst Br...

Veteran journalists Michael Williams and Brian Crowley break down Florida's 2026 governor's race — Byron Donalds' commanding lead and a Fox News comment that could haunt him, Jay Collins' DeSantis problem, Paul Renner's uphill climb, and whether Democrats Jerry Demings or David Jolly can thread the needle in a red state. Plus: the U.S. Senate race, Ashley Moody vs. Alex Vindman, the stalled state...

Who's going to cover the cities, school boards, and water plants that Florida's shrinking newsrooms have left behind? CB Hanif spent more than two decades at the Palm Beach Post — as editorial page editor, ombudsman, and columnist — before spending the last 11 years teaching multimedia journalism at Inlet Grove Community High School in Riviera Beach. His students cover real government meetings, wr...

Florida's congressional map was redrawn in a matter of hours — with almost no public input — and Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law before most voters knew the special session had even begun. The new map shifts Florida's House delegation from a 20-8 Republican advantage to a projected 24-4 split, reshaping districts across South Florida, Tampa, and Central Florida. Veteran broadcast journali...

They drove to the studio together. One Democrat, one Republican — same campus, very different politics, and a shared belief that the system is failing young people. Nicholas Ostheimer, President of the FAU College Democrats, and Joseph Semprevivo, President of the FAU College Republicans, join veteran broadcast journalist Michael Williams and Florida political analyst Brian Crowley. Both students...

Boca Raton Mayor Andy Thomson won his race by just five votes — one of the closest margins in the city's history. Veteran broadcast journalist Michael Williams and Florida veteran journalist/political analyst Brian Crowley sit down with Mayor Thomson for a wide-ranging conversation about the explosive development referendum that dominated the election, the steady erosion of local government author...

Think your vote is safe? Think again. Michael Williams sits down with Dianna Wynn, National President of the League of Women Voters, who says her organization — 106 years old — has declared a constitutional crisis for the first time ever. She explains exactly what the SAVE America Act could do to your ability to vote, why millions of women could be locked out at registration, and why mail-in votin...

Florida political analyst Brian Crowley and veteran broadcast journalist Michael Williams break down the issues reshaping Florida politics ahead of 2026. Democrats scored three surprise wins in elections — including a district covering Mar-a-Lago, a St. Pete/Tampa stunner, and a Boca Raton mayor's race decided by five votes. Byron Donalds leads the Republican field for governor but faces headwinds...

Alexandria Ayala, CEO of the Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County, joins hosts Michael Williams and Brian Crowley for a conversation that covers far more than homelessness. Ayala breaks down who is really unhoused in South Florida, why the official numbers tell only part of the story, and how cuts at HUD and Florida's anti-camping law are squeezing nonprofits and the people they serve. The form...

Patrick Franklin, President and CEO of the Urban League of Palm Beach County, joins hosts Michael Williams and Brian Crowley for a wide-ranging conversation about community leadership, voter engagement, and economic challenges facing South Florida. Franklin — who began his career as a geophysicist with Shell Oil before spending 24 years leading the Urban League — discusses the organization's missi...

Artist and The Peach Art Collective manager Craig McInnis joins Michael Williams and Brian Crowley to make the case that human-made art isn't disappearing — it's becoming more valuable. Craig breaks down what it really takes to build a sustainable career in art, why the "starving artist" stigma is nonsense, and how South Florida's art scene is still in its early chapters. Is AI replacing artists —...

The 2026 Florida legislative session ended without a budget, no meaningful relief on homeowners insurance, and no resolution on property taxes — even though Governor DeSantis made property tax reform his signature issue and never offered a plan. Veteran journalists Michael Williams & Brian Crowley break down the session's biggest wins, failures, and what comes next — including special sessions...

Distinguished American history professor Dr. Robert Watson of Lynn University joins hosts Michael Williams and Brian Crowley for a wide-ranging conversation on America's 250th anniversary. Watson, a Smithsonian fellow and author of Declaration , argues the nation faces its gravest threat since the Civil War — and draws on the founders' own fears to explain why. Topics include the founding principl...

Taylor Morgan, founder of Kind Diners Society, joins hosts Michael Williams and Brian Crowley on Top of Mind Florida to talk about a Palm Beach-area movement that's quietly changing how Floridians treat restaurant workers. Kind Diners Society members pay $8.99/month, save 20% at 160+ local restaurants, and help fund a monthly surprise tip — always $500 or more — for a deserving hospitality worker....

Turn down the heat in Florida politics and beyond. Join Brian Crowley and Michael Williams every Sunday at 9:00 AM EST for the analysis you’ve been missing since our broadcast TV days. In this episode, we dive into a potentially big budget gap facing Florida lawmakers and the surprising bipartisan support for school vaccine mandates. We also take a hard look at the "profound anxiety" in American p...

Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link joins hosts Michael Williams and Brian Crowley to break down critical voting legislation moving through the 2026 Florida Legislative Session. Link discusses three major bills under consideration: documented proof of citizenship requirements, vote verification procedures, and mandates for pen-to-paper voting that could eliminate popular E...

Holly Baltz, editor and reporter at Stet News and former Palm Beach Post investigative editor, joins Michael Williams and Brian Crowley to examine the possible connection between disappearing local news coverage and the too frequent disappearance of competitive democracy in Florida. With 50 plus unopposed races in Palm Beach County alone the conversation reveals how the absence of accountability j...

The 2026 Florida Legislative session is well underway, and the sparks are already flying. Michael Williams and Brian Crowley dive into the heated debate over eliminating property taxes—a move Peter Schorsch calls "dangerously revolutionary" and a "legislative assault" on local police and fire services. We also look at the massive $45 million fundraising lead in the GOP gubernatorial primary and th...

The 2026 Florida Legislative Session is here, and the biggest fight on the table is the future of property taxes. While some leaders push for total elimination, others warn of a massive funding gap for vital local needs. Florida Senate Minority Leader Lori Berman joins Michael Williams and Brian Crowley to explain why "tax relief" might come with a catch. In this episode: Property Tax Reality Chec...

Your Taxes Your Money The Florida Fight Florida House Representative Toby Overdorf, a Treasure Coast Republican joins the podcast to discuss the 2026 legislative session's biggest priorities. We break down the proposed constitutional amendments for property tax relief, the potential for Byron Donalds to succeed Ron DeSantis as Governor, and why Florida might be looking toward small modular nuclear...