If one author drives obsessive reading out of me (besides David Frum) it is the books by former Republican Strategist turned radical Independent thinker, historian, social commentator and pundit Kevin Phillips. Today for a #StayatHome COVID-19 reading suggestion, we look at Wealth and Democracy: A Political History of the American Rich which was written during George W. […]
Mayor Robert King High, the Democratic nominee for Governor in 1966 was a leading liberal in Florida. A supporter of Civil Rights and a reformist Mayor of Miami, he cut a very different figure than most Democrats in Florida at the time. On this week’s Florida History Podcast (Episode 51) we discuss High, who died […]
River of Interests: Water Management in South Florida and the Everglades, 1948-2010 is a complete and definitive history of the Everglades ecosystem in the second half of the 20th Century. The book which is incredibly well-researched and written covers the draining of significant portions of the Everglades, the original channelization of many of the rivers in […]
In the late 1990’s conservatives throughout the country were pushing Tort Reform as a larger scheme to “defund the left.” Florida was an epicenter of activity as Jeb Bush’s Republican Party made breaking the Trial Lawyers and Teacher’s Union (via merit pay, school vouchers and other education “reforms”) the priorities of having complete control of […]
In 1966, colforul and flamboyent Claude Kirk became Florida’s first post-Reconstruction Republican Governor while his party surged with increased seats in the legislature. Kirk’s flamboyance and ability the state’s racial backlash allowed him to break Democratic dominance of the state for the first time in a century. The Kirk legacy is covered from head to […]
I’ve recently been hyper-analyzing future airline schedules and have come to a very unfortunate conclusion – major US airlines are looking to ramp up service to a large percentage pre-pandemic levels everywhere in the nation outside of Florida. Part of this is to receive bailout money which comes with strings attached (servicing destinations that might […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Florida Squeeze 