Why Are We Like This?

On January 1, the so-called HALO Law went into effect across Florida, limiting and in many cases criminalizing citizens' ability to record police in public. The law is part-and-parcel with an ever more reactionary and authoritarian drift in a state that purports to support freedom but is, in practice, one of the least free places in the country. We were joined this week by journalist Carlos Miller...

He's back, and boy does he have some opinions about how to Make America Great Again. That's right, we're once again talking about our favorite invented demographic cohort, the Miami New Guy, who has spent the past few Joining us is author, amateur mangrove trash collector, and professional Cuban Andrew Otazo, who shares his own experience growing up among Miami New Guys before they became Miami Ne...

When's a rug not a rug? When it's pulled right out from under ya, ya dummies. Fans of Javier Milei recently learned that hard lesson when they dropped millions of dollars of (presumably not) hard-earned cash into a meme coin fraud sponsored by the famously sister-curious Argentine president. We invited Andres Fidanza, editor-in-chief of El Observador USA, to talk about the curious case of South Am...

"Nothing Ever Happens" is a classic shit-poster meme about the phenomenon of crisis-based media hype cycles and how we ingest them as people who might not be on the immediate frontlines of the crisis. It's a useful lens for us to examine the onslaught of this month's top headlines, so that's what we do!

Happy MLK Jr. Day! Happy Inauguration-They're-Gonna-Write-About-In-History-Books-But-For-All-The-Wrong-Reasons Day! The WAWLT Boys return from a protracted break to bring you up to date on America's speed-run into full Florida status. We talked about the spasmodic, seemingly hourly new developments surrounding the TikTok ban and its implications for a Democratic Party left holding the bag and look...

So it turns out Florida -- and every swing state -- wasn't in play after all. Following a tectonic collapse that saw Florida Democrats somehow lose even more ground, we discuss the fallout and what it means for the future of our state, our nation, and the world.

Over the summer, Redfin released a report analyzing rent trends across the country and while the national average ticked up 1%, analysts were surprised to find many major metros across Florida cratering due to increased inventory, slowing migration, and myriad other factors. In this episode, we examine whether this is good news, bad news, or maybe a good news-bad news combo. We also got into the d...

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...