Host Nanette Wiser chatted with author/podcaster, journalist, humorist, emperor of puns and tropical shirt fashionista Craig Pittman at our THRIVE DTSP studio. We are THRILLED to be re-broadcasting some of his BEST Welcome to Florida Podcasts on RadioStPete.com! His popular Welcome to Florida (WTF) podcast is live every Tuesday. Pittman is joined by radio personality and Florida transplant Chadd Scott to discuss the state's history, people, politics, environment, animals, current events and weirdness. You'll hear great storytelling and have great fun in each weekly episode.
--Craig's weekly podcast goes live every Tuesday. Click here for all the episodes
--Curated WTF podcasts are rebroadcast on RadioStPete.com 3x monthly on Saturday during Lunchtime Conversations noon-1:30pm.
OCTOBER
10/11 Craig Pittman E275 Robert Rauschenberg in Captiva Island A scam of epic proportions has been perpetrated by the governor upon the people of Florida. Land conservation used an excuse to pay off political bribes.  Robert Rauschenberg is arguably the most influential American artist of the 20th century. He moved from New York to Captiva Island in 1970 and would spend the rest of his life there, more than 30 years. 2025 is the centennial of Rauschenberg's birth year with celebrations being held around the world.   Jade Dellinger is Director at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College in Fort Myers and joins us to discuss the artist's time in Florida.
10/4 Craig Pittman 274  In little Arcadia in southwest Florida in the 1980s, two tragedies became national news: the exoneration of a Black father wrongfully convicted in 1968 for the death of his seven children, and three little white boys being ostracized from the community after contracting the AIDS virus through blood transfusions. 
Jason Vuic grew up in nearby Ponta Gorda and remembers following these events closely as they unfolded. He dug back into the stories, and the story of Arcadia, in his newly released book for fall of 2025, "A Town Without Pity: AIDS, Race, and Resistance in Florida's Deep South."
If the James Richardson portion of this episode interests you, be sure to visit our Florida Black History YouTube channel with all of our previous shows about Black History in Florida.


AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
Saturday 8/9 Lunchtime Conversations E263
Reconstruction and Freedmen in Florida
Saturday 8/16 Lunchtime Conversations E265 

Saturday 8/24 Lunchtime Conversations E261 Florida has a sewerage treatment problem.  Our guest this week is Michael Adno who wrote a beautiful story about the life of north Florida native Ernie Mickler. Mickler became famous in the late 1980s for his offbeat Southern cookbook, "White Trash Cooking," which merged old country recipes with folklore, storytelling, and ethnography.
Saturday 8/30 Lunchtime Conversations E258 Developers run Florida and the state legislature wants to keep it that way, even if municipalities would like less construction to safeguard themselves from hurricanes. Julian Dimock photographed Southwest Florida in the early 20th century. His photographs depict Seminole Indians, African American laborers on Marco Island, and the areas remarkable ecology. Jerald T. Milanich has authored multiple books on Dimock's time in Florida and photographs and joins us on this episode.
Saturday 9/3 Lunchtime Conversations E262 Could a 'Super Tree' Replace Florida Citrus? The governor wants to put a concentration camp for immigrants in the Everglades, following in the footsteps of "Florida's Worst Idea."
Previous “Welcome to Florida” podcast episode about "Florida's Worst Idea," the Everglades Jetport, which gave rise to conservation legend Marjory Stoneman Douglas. 
Our guest on that episode was Michael Grunwald, author of "The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida, and the Politics of Paradise," and he joins us again for this episode to discuss his new book about how the global agriculture system is destroying the planet. "We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate" prominently features a Florida man and a "super tree" that could replace failing Florida citrus.
September E273 

ABOUT PITTMAN: A Florida native, Craig Pittman has been an award-winning journalist since 1981 and the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including "Oh, Florida! How America's Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country" and "Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther, and "The State You're In: Florida Men, Florida Women, and Other Wildlife." His newest book is "Welcome to Florida: True Tales from America's Most Interesting State" and he is currently at work on an environmental novel. In 30 years at the Tampa Bay Times, he won numerous state and national awards for his environmental reporting.  In 2020 the Florida Heritage Book Festival named him a Florida Literary Legend. 
Follow Craig Pittman on Social! LINKED IN    Facebook
Read his commentary in Florida Phoenix
BOOKS by Craig Pittman - You can find his books at Tombolo, St. Petersburg Museum of History and in bookstores & online. New in Paperback:
WELCOME TO FLORIDA: TRUE TALES FROM AMERICA'S MOST INTERESTING STATE
THE STATE YOU'RE IN: FLORIDA MEN, FLORIDA WOMEN,  AND OTHER WILDLIFE 

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#stpete #stpetefl  #tampabay #radio #radiostpete #cityofstpete  #dtsp #downtownstpete