Category Florida History
Florida Governors: Key decisions in history
Governor Ron DeSantis has faced a series of tough choices on Coronavirus. In this our 50th episode of The Florida History Podcast we look back at key Gubernatorial crisis decisions of the past. You can listen to the Florida History Podcast on Anchor (which hosts our show), Spotify, Google, Apple Podcasts, Radio Public, Breaker, Overcast, Castro or Pocket Casts. Overcast, Castro, Spotify, Radio Public and Breaker […]
1990: A Walking Legend – The Chiles/MacKay Campaign in film and audio
Below is our Florida Squeeze film on the 1990 Governor’s Race, where the team of Lawton Chiles & Buddy MacKay crushed Bill Nelson in the primary and then incumbent Republican Bob Martinez in the General. Bill Nelson was the leading Democratic contender to take on unpopular incumbent Governor Bob Martinez. Nelson was running in the […]
Florida’s Prohibition era and Rum Runners and Moonshiners of Old Florida
In the latest episode of The Florida History Podcast presented by the Florida Squeeze we discuss the era of prohibition in the state. We look back at the lawlessness and independent streak in the Florida Panhandle as discussed in Rum Runners and Moonshiners of Old Florida as well look at the impact of the prohibition […]
Foundation of Georgia leads to the War of Jenkins Ear for Florida
The following is a brief excerpt from my forthcoming book Albion Florida. The book should be complete later this year. The British colony of Georgia was founded by James Oglethorpe in 1733 as a buffer state against Spanish Florida. Florida had continued to be a haven for runaway slaves and St Augustine had by this […]
#Stayathome #quarantinereading suggestions: Pandemic and Climate Change histories in Rome
No nation in history resembles the United States IMO more than Imperial Rome. A vast empire that “Romanized” all it governed from Syria to Egypt to Spain to Greece, Rome was the greatest empire in the history of the planet. Commerce, engineering and science were more advanced at the height of Roman rule than they […]
Spirit Airlines trims Florida service to a bone during #Coronavirus crisis
South Florida-based Spirit Airlines has temporarily cut domestic service in April to only 28 route pairs, all of which touch the airline’s main bases of Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Las Vegas, Dallas/Fort Worth and Orlando. All service to Los Angeles and New York has been temporarily suspended. April Spirit domestic route pairs from Florida is […]
History repeats? #Stayathome #Quarantinereading : The Jacksonian Era and the Whig Party
American politics and government was largely shaped by the polarizing Jackson era. The Democrats became a party shaped by Andrew Jackson’s personality and his supporters (Similar to today’s Republicans with Donald Trump) while Jackson’s foremost opponent, Henry Clay became a member of a new party called the Whigs which basically was a bunch of people […]
Florida Squeeze Documentary: 1992 Hope and Truth – Coming Soon
On the backs of our successful documentary on Jimmy Carter’s 1976 campaign, we’ll be releasing a similar original film on the 1992 campaign won by Bill Clinton– Thursday at Noon eastern time. Trailer below:
#Stayathome Finding Dan McCarty
This week’s Florida History Podcast is on Dan McCarty’s political career- a transformative figure in Florida Politics, McCarty was the first resident of South Florida ever elected Governor. He was also what we would consider the first “National Democrat” post-FDR to be elected statewide in Florida. He died just months into his term. Robert […]
Trump’s leftward economic lurch well within global “conservative” populist playbook.
President Trump’s lack of a hardened ideology and die-in-the-wool electoral base makes it far easier for someone like him to nimbly position himself wherever he needs to be, without serious political consequence. Very cleverly while much of the media obsesses about how he handled the early stages of COVID-19, Trump is completing a ideological shift […]
The Florida Squeeze 