This week's episode begins with a takedown of the Florida Legislature (both parties), Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Secretary Nikki Fried, all of who bowed down to BIG SUGAR in allowing them to continue poisoning residents of western Palm County through pre-harvest sugar cane field burning. Our guest is New College of Florida anthropologist and archaeologist Uzi Baram. We discuss Florida's surprisingly robust history of ancient inhabitants along with the emerging researching shining more light on the maroons of Angola and Florida's connection to the Underground Railroad.
Craig Pittman is the award-winning author of Oh, Florida!: How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country, The Scent of Scandal, Cat Tale, Manatee Insanity and The State You’re In, and co-author of Paving Paradise. Born in Pensacola, he graduated from Troy State University in Alabama, where his muckraking work for the student paper prompted an agitated dean to label him “the most destructive force on campus.” Since then he has covered a variety of newspaper beats and quite a few natural disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires and the Florida Legislature.