Gulf Coast Life

Since 2008, more than 100 cities have officially declared that they are "Compassionate Communities" which affirm the Charter for Compassion. In Florida, St. Augustine signed on in 2013 and St. Petersburg did as well in 2018. One year ago, a group of southwest Floridians held their first ‘shaping a compassionate Fort Myers' event to start building momentum toward imbedding compassion into our local community. Compassionate Southwest Florida is holding its 12th Community Conversation on Saturday, July 25 and we get a preview.

The Burroughs Home & Gardens in downtown Fort Myers was constructed in 1901 so is celebrating its 125th birthday this year, with the help of the Uncommon Friends Foundation — part of their mission is preserving the historic home. Alongside historic preservation, the Uncommon Friends Foundation's mission also includes promoting good character and ethics, and providing scholarships to local students. We get an update on what the foundation is up to, and get a bit of history on the Burroughs Home and the namesake 'uncommon friends'.

The League of Women Voters of Lee County, in partnership with WGCU and the News-Press held a forum, July 9, with Lee County School Board candidates. Six of the 11 qualified candidates participated including Carl Baxter, Crystal Johnson, Debbie Jordan, Jenn McDaigle, India Palencia, and Carline Saintilus. We will listen back to a condensed version of the 90-minute forum in a special hour-long episode of Gulf Coast Life.

Data Centers are all over the news lately because AI companies are building them, apparently as fast as they can manage. They take up huge amounts of resources, including electricity and water and hardware and all of the things building huge facilities requires. But what exactly is a data center, and why do we need so many of them? And why do they consume so much electricity and water and other resources? What are they doing? Are they all doing the same thing or are there different kinds? We discuss these questions, and some of the ways we all use data centers every day even if we don't use Generative AI — and some of the benefits we all receive without realizing there's a data center on the other end of the service.

Dr. Grace Farris is a practicing physician in Austin, Texas. Her graphic memoir, See One, Do One, Teach One: The Art of Becoming a Doctor traces her path through medical school and residency with very candid and funny comics.

The New World Screwworm has been in the news lately because it turned up in southern Texas in early June. These parasites are endemic to central and south America these days, but they were once present in the southern United States but were eradicated in the mid 1960s. The parasite is actually a fly whose larvae burrow into and feed on the living flesh of warm-blooded animals, cattle primarily in the Texas cases but also sheep. Unchecked, screwworm outbreaks can be economically devastating for cattle and other livestock farmers. Because a screwworm outbreak is potentially a big deal for the entire United States, including here in Florida, we talk with an expert from University of Florida.

During the Covid pandemic, retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Michael Troop got into audio production and that led to him pitching an idea to Bryce Alexander from the Naples Players to recreate, from the ground up with professional and amateur actors, and full sound design, old-time narrative radio shows from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s and the Repertoire Radio Theatre podcast was born and is now off and running.

Most people are by now familiar with the term genome — it's essentially a blueprint each person is born with. The exposome is the dynamic, lifelong ledger of every non-genetic exposure a person encounters. It includes thinks like air pollution and pesticides, dietary choices, lifestyle, and chronic stress. We talk with ethnobotanist, Dr. Paul Cox, from the Brain Chemistry Labs in Jackson, Wyoming to learn more about this emerging notion of ‘the exposome'.

McCollum Hall is a two-story building on the corner of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd and Cranford Avenue on the eastern side of downtown Fort Myers, just past the railroad tracks on the western edge of the Dunbar Community. The City of Fort Myers designated McCollum Hall as a local historic landmark in 1998 and it was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2022. Over the years there have been a number of stops and starts in efforts and plans to bring it back to life in some form. The city's Community Redevelopment Agency took over the property in 2008 and repaired the roof and shored up the structure. The building's facade got a facelift in 2016 with the help of a state historic preservation grant. Now, the CRA has approved a new conceptual design proposal from Fort Myers architects Parker Mudgett Smith for the restoration and adaptive reuse which includes a restaurant, performing space, retail space and a business center — and the CRA has purchased the adjoining property so it will have a larger footprint.

Starting July 1, Fla student-athletes are required to get an EKG. Pediatrician Sal Anzalone joins us to describe how they've organized the testing and what they found so far.

Former global advertising executive Tim Love's 2025 book “The Medium is the Mirror: The Reformation of Truth Reshaping Our Relationships, Politics and Sacred Beliefs” explores the way our online world works, and how behavior data being collected on us is being used to shape our behavior. It was recently awarded first prize in the Business Marketing & Advertising category in the 2026 International Book Awards so we're checking back in with him, and former Missouri Congressman and Democratic House Majority Leader, Dick Gephardt, who wrote the book's introduction.

There is always some level of need for food assistance in Southwest Florida, but during times of economic stress — like many people are facing now because of rising prices and increased fuel costs — the need only grows, so we check in with Midwest Food Bank Florida to see how things are going. Through their volunteer-driven operation, Midwest Food Bank Florida provides tens of thousands of meals every month through their partners, and they make and distribute what are called Hope Packs for kids which provide nutritious weekend meals through local school partnerships to children facing food insecurity when school is not in session.

Juneteenth was declared a federal holiday in 2021 when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. The State of Florida actually recognized Juneteenth back in 1991 under Governor Lawton Chiles, and some Florida municipalities focus their historical Emancipation celebrations on May 20 instead, because that's the date the Emancipation Proclamation was announced in Tallahassee in 1865. This weekend the Lee County Black History Society is leading the celebrations locally, so we talk with three people directly involved to learn more.

In early 2023, a small group of southwest Floridians met to discuss what they saw as autocratic trends unfolding in Florida and beyond. Not long after that first meeting just over three years ago, they formed a nonpartisan nonprofit called Floridians for Democracy. On Tuesday, June 16 at 7pm they're presenting a program called “Guardians of Democracy: Speaking Truth to Power." They will also presenting Dr. Robert Hilliard with a Lifetime Achievement award. Dr. Hilliard is a humanitarian, author, educator and former professor and Dean at Emerson College. He is also a veteran of WWII and was Chief of Public Broadcasting at the FCC when the Public Broadcasting Act was signed in 1967.

Catherine Price is co-author ofT he Amazing Generation: Your Guide to Fun and Freedom in a Screen-filled World. It's aimed at kids and tweens, to help them choose a life not dominated by screens.

Narratives of public education in the early United States generally describe the building of a public system designed to allow people to gain knowledge and access to advancement in their lives. But, what's often left out is the role race has always played at the root of education in America. The new book, “America Grammar: Race, Education, and the Building of a Nation” makes the case that the exploitation of Black and Indigenous people played an essential role in building American education systems all the way back to this country's founding. We talk with its author to dig into this aspect of American history.

While the term “Underground Railroad” is probably most associated with enslaved people fleeing to free northern states and Canada in the 19th century, there was actually a less formal southern-bound route and destination centuries earlier. We learn about this overlooked aspect of North American history with a woman who gives talks through the Florida Humanities Speakers Bureau. She'll be giving a talk on this topic on Thursday, June 18 in Fort Lauderdale.

The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum and Aquarium on Sanibel has been a fixture on the island since it opened in 1995. Its story began in the 1980s when a local shell collector named Charlene McMurphy provided some seed funding, and then a nonprofit was formed to begin raising funds and attention. In 1989, three local brothers deeded eight acres on Sanibel Captiva Road to the Museum to memorialize their parents, Frank P. Bailey and Annie Mead Matthews and the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum officially opened to the public in 1995. A year later, Dr. Jose Leal came onboard as Executive Director — he held that role for 17 years before becoming Science Director and Curator. He plans to retire, so we invited him in to chat about his career and the work he does.

Back in the 1990s, as the southwest Florida population grew, it became apparent that local water bodies and waterways were being impacted — and impaired — by nutrient pollution. So, in the late 2000s several local governments began implementing ordinances that prohibited the application of lawn fertilizer during the rainy season, which generally speaking runs from June first through September or so. We learn about Lee County's ordinance, and the importance of complying with these rules to benefit our waters and ecosystems.

The GUIDE program provides respite, care coordination, and other services at no cost to Medicare beneficiaries with dementia.

ChatGPT and the other Large Language Models (LLMs) that have followed started off as chatbots that were pretty good at writing. But it quickly became apparent that that kind of use was just the tip of the iceberg. The nonprofit Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg has been training journalists, newsroom leaders, and media executives since the mid 1970s. They offer seminars and coaching on the craft of reporting, as well as ethics, leadership, and digital adaptation — which of course now includes the use of Generative AI. We talk with a longtime journalist who is now a faculty member at Poynter to get some context on the nexus between Generative AI and journalism.

Diane Devereuax grew up in Michigan and has been growing and preserving food since she was a kid. She's known as ‘The Canning Diva' and is author of seven cookbooks, and she's an internationally recognized food preservation expert, television presenter, and instructor. Ms. Devereaux recently transplanted to Southwest Florida, so we invited her into the studio to talk about her latest book, “From Seed to Table: a comprehensive guide to gardening, preserving, and cooking for sustainable living.”

As generative AI continues its meteoric and disruptive rise a recent controversy emerged around a novel called “Shy Girl.” It is the first known instance of a major publisher canceling a book due to suspected AI generation. After cancelling the U.S. release, Hachette Book Group issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to "original creative expression" and noted that authors are required to disclose any use of AI. Our guest says the "Shy Girl" story is just the tip of the iceberg and that he knows of major publishers that accept manuscripts they suspect contain AI-generated text and simply edits them so it's not obvious. We talk with Joshua Lisec to get some clarity on where AI is finding its way into publishing, and what U.S. Copyright Law has to say about it.

In this episode, we are talking with professionals who work with children in Collier County. When children have been traumatized, these professionals help to shield them from further trauma.

Schools are letting out and summer is fast-approaching so many parents are considering activities for their kids to experience over the break. We meet the Education Manager at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to learn about their Summer Adventure Camp and other nature experiences at the sanctuary. And we meet two Corkscrew summer camp alumni, aged 11 and 14, to get their perspectives.

Governor Ron DeSantis, on Monday, signed into law Florida's new congressional district map approved by the state legislature in last week's special session. Just hours later, lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the new map were filed. FGCU Political Science Professor Sandra Pavelka, Ph.D., and UCF Political Science Professor Aubrey Jewett, Ph.D., weigh in on what this means for candidates and voters, and what's next for the Florida legislature.

Florida Gulf Coast University professor, Dr. Jo Muller, has spent much of her career studying the history of hurricanes and tropical storms, from how frequently they occur to how damaging they are. For instance, she studies past tropical cyclone activity using geological evidence found in core samples taken from lagoons and bays behind barrier islands. She her team have created a comprehensive database of Atlantic tropical cyclones that impacted the continental United States since 1963, with a focus on how many people died as a direct result of storms, and what caused their deaths.

Whether you're an absolute newbie with no experience yet hoping to catch up, or if an educator or researcher, or industry professional or nonprofit leader, the Summer AI Academy is offering more than 30 sessions totaling more than 150 hours, with topics ranging from basic AI literacy and using image generation tools, to things like programming with AI and doing data analysis. They even have sessions aimed at certain industries like one called Hands-On AI Workshop for Construction Professionals. The Summer Academy kicks off on May 4.

With a measles outbreak ongoing in Florida and historically low rates of vaccination, we hear from Dr. Nicole Iovine, infectious disease expert as well as chief hospital epidemiologist at University of Florida Health Shands Hospital. She'll discuss how vaccines—and our immune systems—work to keep us healthy.

Then President Trump recently posted “Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters." Some people believe there is evidence that can be produced that proves the existence of non-human life or intelligence present on planet Earth. Others believe this whole idea is either delusion or misinformation designed to distract.

Patrick Mork has spent more than two decades working in the tech world, building and leading marketing teams at tech startups and helping to launch numerous products and brands across 3 different continents. In 2011, he joined Google and led the team there that created the Google Play brand. But, in 2017, he had a major life crisis that led him to pivot toward coaching and developing leaders in startups across Latin America. He moved to Chile and launched LEAP, it's a leadership development company. All of that inspired his first book, “Step Back and Leap: 9 Keys to Unlock Your Life and Make Change Happen.” He was on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus last week to give the final talk for the university's Provost's Seminar Series. The title of his talk was “Becoming Unstoppable: 5 Pillars to Build Resilience in the Age of AI.”

Kids Minds Matter is a program out of the Golisano Children's Hospital that focuses on mental andbehavioralhealthcarehere in Southwest Florida.

Since 1970, the bird populations of North America have experienced a net loss of nearly 3 billion birds, and biologists say we are approaching "tipping points" that could fundamentally alter our ecosystems. More than one-fifth of native North American pollinators are at risk of extinction due to climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use, including key species like monarch butterflies and various bumble bees that are declining even faster. While these large-scale problems might seem beyond the scope of what an individual can do in their own lives to help, a new campaign from Audubon Western Everglades called “Nature Where We Live” seeks to help people understand that the kinds of plants we use around our homes can make a real difference.

In January of 2023 Governor Ron DeSantis appointed six new trustees at New College of Florida in Sarasota, and they immediately set about to change the state's public honors college. As this was playing out, a team of filmmakers which included New College alumni were documenting events on campus, from the Board of Trustee meetings to just students spending time on campus. Now, the new documentary film “First They Came for My College” is making the rounds at film festivals. We talk with the film's director and one of its producers.

Research into the science of kindness in recent decades has moved the conversation from kindness being a "feel-good" sentiment into a rigorous field of study that shows significant physiological and psychological benefits for people who practice it. At the same time, there is a growing global kindness movement comprised of a network of organizations dedicated to highlighting these kinds of benefits, and encouraging ways to embed the practice of kindness into our everyday lives. FGCU's Roots of Compassion & Kindness Center is hosting the first K20 Kindness Summit to kick off the "Kindness Without Borders" initiative.

Dr. Justin Garcia, the executive director of the Kinsey Institute, discusses his new bookThe Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why we Live and Die for Love.

The modern Generative AI revolution is built on what are called Large Language Models. If you think of Generative AI systems, like ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude, as ones that requires your input to move forward — you ask it a question and it give an answer; or you ask it to make a picture and it does its best — Agentic AIs are systems that allow you to give them a goal and they'll figure out the steps themselves. We learn how Agentic AI systems are already being used by businesses, and what the future may bring, with the Head of AI Platform Services at Google Cloud, Sheri Senge Cunningham.

Since it was founded in 2023 the nonpartisan nonprofit Floridians for Democracy has grown to nearly 3000 members in Florida and beyond, and they've held many online events and have reached out across the political spectrum to provide educational programs, including some that featured traditionally conservative attorneys and leaders who share their concerns. With the third national No Kings Day protests coming up on Saturday, March 28 we invited two of the founding members back for an update on the work they're doing, and to get their take on what's unfolded over the past three years.

As Southwest Florida's population has grown in recent decades, there have been efforts to find ways to diversify our regional economy beyond the staples of tourism & hospitality, healthcare and financial services, construction, and agriculture. The volunteer-driven nonprofit SWFL Tech recently released their first Tech Pulse report that breaks down the data and it shows that between 2019 and 2024 the tech industry here grew faster than other parts of our economy. The tech sector grew almost 39% over those five years. We break down the report and talk about the challenges this region faces in growing a tech sector.

State lawmakers closed Florida's regular legislative session, March 13, without passing a budget and with several priority bills going down in defeat. We talk with UCF Political Science Professor Aubrey Jewett, Ph.D., and FGCU Political Science Professor Sandra Pavekla, Ph.D. about what, passed, what didn't, and what it all means for Florida going forward.

Dr. Martínez-Fernández has published at least eight books, including “Key to the New World: A History of Early Colonial Cuba” in 2019, and “Revolutionary Cuba: A History” in 2014. He was also a nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate — it's an independent media and syndication company. He was on the FGCU campus last week to give a talk titled “Chiseled out of stone and cast out of bronze: a history of the Caribbean as told by its statues.” But, because of recent events in South & Central America and the Caribbean — and in Iran and the Middle East and other parts of the world and how it's all connected — we didn't talk about statues, but instead began our wide-ranging conversation with his most recent book, “When the World Turned Upside Down: Politics, Culture, and the Unimaginable Events of 2019-2022."

Every year hundreds of thousands of students in dozens of countries act as delegates in a simulation of the United Nations. The 33rd annual Southwest Florida Model UN was held on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University last week. This year's keynote speaker was Andrea Bedoya. She's a 2020 graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University, and since leaving FGCU with her Political Science degree her career has already spanned four continents and a wide range of global service experiences. She stopped by the studio while she was back on campus to chat.

When confronted with a difficult conversation – or person – it's often hard to contain our emotions and respond to the moment, rather than have a kneejerk reaction to it. But our guest today, legendary sports agent and negotiator Ron Shapiro, says it's possible to learn. He was on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus last week to give a talk so stopped by our studio for a chat about his civil approach to difficult conversations.

Dr. Karen Tang is the author of the new book It's Not Hysteria: Everything You Need to Know About Your Reproductive Health (But Were Never Told). It's a comprehensive guide to treatment options and common conditions, many of which are under-discussed and misunderstood.

Stephen Cavitt's bio begins by saying he's always chasing the next great story. He's been an instructor at Florida Gulf Coast University since 2018, teaching English, Creative Writing, and Interdisciplinary courses as well as advising the university's Creative Writing Club and is a Faculty Mentor with the WiSER Research Assistant Program. His sci-fi novella, The Distance Between Stars, came out in April, 2025 and was also released as a podcast audiobook. It's the first entry in what he calls the Und Wars series. It tells a story of survival after Earth is devastated by Aliens called the Und. It's told through short monologues by everyday people who escaped and are headed into space to try to start over.

Naples resident Tony Hall served in Congress for 23 years and was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture. He testified before a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Feb. 10 about child labor and exploitation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where about 70% of the mineral cobalt comes from. It's a crucial ingredient of the rechargeable batteries in our devices and vehicles. He gives us an update on the Blood Battery Campaign that he chairs.

In 2016 the nonpartisan global policy think tank RAND Corporation published a piece called "The Russian "Firehose of Falsehood" Propaganda Model: Why It Might Work and Options to Counter It" that outlined ways Russia was flooding the internet and social media with false claims, and why this technique — which featured a lack of consistency or relationship to truth — was effective in both creating confusion and getting people to tune out because there was just too much information swirling around. We talk with one of the researchers behind the 2016 perspective to learn how it came about, how they did their research, and what it means through the lens of today, far beyond Russian propaganda.

Dr. Stephen Knott has spent his career learning about, teaching about, and writing about Presidents of the United States of America. He is a Professor of American History & Government at Ashland University in Ohio, and Emeritus Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College. He is the author of eleven books dealing with the American Presidency, the early republic, and American foreign policy. His latest, which is due out in May, is “Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency” which details through extensive research and citations the ways, according to his telling, eight United States Commanders in Chief used conspiracy theories to advance their causes. They were examples, Dr. Knott would say, of the kinds of demagogues the country's founders were concerned could someday take on the role.

Lee Health's self-management resource program meets once a week for six weeks and provides people with tools to manage their chronic pain.

Found on the northern end of Marco Island in 1896 during an expedition led by a renowned archeologist named Frank Hamilton Cushing, the Key Marco Cat is considered a true gem — a once in a lifetime, or more, find — discovered during the early days of the science of archeology. Just six inches tall and carved out of some sort of hardwood, the Cat, and the many other objects that were discovered alongside it, represent the most comprehensive and spectacular collection of pre-Columbian Native American material culture ever discovered in Florida.

Craig Pittman is a native Floridian who has written about Florida and Floridians and them any, shall we say, unique characteristics they both have. He covered environmental issues for the Tampa Bay Times for more than two decades and he now writes a weekly column for the nonprofit newsroom Florida Phoenix, and he co-hosts the “Welcome to Florida” podcast. Pittman is author of  “Oh, Florida! How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country,” and 2020's “Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther.” He'll be in town on Wednesday to give a talk about Florida panthers at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples so we get a preview.