Florida Matters

In 2017, our series, "Telling Tampa Bay Stories," took us to Tampa's Progress Village. In 2018, the focus turned to Plant City -- a Hillsborough County community where agriculture and development, history and progress all meet.

It's 2019. As WUSF prepares to bring you the news you rely on this year, we’re looking back at some of the station's big moments in 2018 through the lens of Florida Matters.

Last month, the first installment of our series, "Telling Tampa Bay Stories," took us to Plant City, where we heard stories about the history and development of the Hillsborough County community.

This week's Florida Matters highlights some of the places and events that make Plant City special.

In this week's podcast, Florida Matters host Robin Sussingham sits down with Lillian Dunlap, the executive director of Your Real Stories and creator of Story Days in Tampa Bay. The annual storytelling festival has just finished up, and Robin asks Lillian what she hopes listeners will come away with.

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Story Days in Tampa Bay recently hosted its fifth annual festival in St. Petersburg. This week on Florida Matters we hear excerpts from a performance  that reflects on Hurricanes Irma and Maria a year after the storms.

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Florida Matters host Robin Sussingham speaks to Kim Rivers, CEO of Trulieve; Daniel Elias, president of Pharmacology University, a medical marijuana education program; and Darrin Potter, Chief Horticulture Officer at GrowHealthy in Lake Wales. GrowHealthy and Trulieve are licensed medical marijuana treatment centers and are authorized to cultivate, process and dispense medical marijuana in Florida. They tell us that you're going to need very deep pockets to get started in the medical cannabis business in Florida.

It’s been a year since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico. Recovery continues on the devastated island, but transitions are also happening here in Florida, where many residents evacuated and some have chosen to stay.

WUSF’s University Beat has been doing something new this year – profiling entrepreneurs with ties to the University of South Florida.

That includes faculty, students and alumni who have started their own businesses, ranging from watermelon-flavored water and anti-nausea wristbands to apps and movie production companies.

From creating a new beverage to an app for finding study partners, entrepreneurs with ties to the University of South Florida are trying hard to turn their ideas into actual products.

This week on Florida Matters, we speak to some of the USF faculty, students and alumni who share some of the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

It was an exciting state primary election with some unexpected results, and we break it down with Zac Anderson, editor of the Sarasota Herald Tribune, and William March, longtime political analyst and journalist. Progressives got what they've long wished for in Andrew Gillum, the Democratic nominee for Governor, and set up what Zac says will be an interesting "political science experiment" going forward.

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Florida's primary election was full of surprises. WUSF reporters Steve Newborn, Mark Schreiner and Roberto Roldan have been following the races and were out covering campaign events on primary night. They sit down with host Robin Sussingham to talk about the evening's upsets and drama.

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Carson Cooper was a radio guy, through and through.

While most people know him best as the longtime host of WUSF’s Morning Edition and Florida Matters, his sonic roots ran deep. This week on Florida Matters, we’re remembering our friend and colleague who died recently at the age of 58 – and the stories he shared with all of us.

For today's podcast , Florida Matters host  Robin Sussingham is bringing you along on the tour she took through the William Dean Chocolates kitchen.  It’s like a real-life trip with Willy Wonka through the Chocolate Factory. Is it possible to sample a little too much chocolate?  We'll find out.

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In this podcast, WUSF's Robin Sussingham, Stephanie Colombini and Julio Ochoa break down the recent Florida Matters Town Hall that was recorded in front of a live audience in St. Petersburg.

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He'll tell you himself: the most dangerous place in Polk County is to get between Sheriff Grady Judd and a TV camera. Polk County Sheriff Judd is never at a loss for words or opinions on criminal behavior, and he's played a big role in the response to the school shooting in Parkland. Florida Matters host Robin Sussingham talks to the Sheriff about juvenile justice and more.

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Retail is changing fast, and there will be winners and losers. Florida Matters Host Robin Sussingham talks to the Tampa Bay Business Journal's Ashley Gurbal Kritzer; David Ortinau, a Marketing Professor at USF's  Muma College of Business; and Paul Rutledge, First Vice President, retail brokerage in CBRE’s Tampa office about the secrets to retail success. And also, why do the big drug stores always want to be right next to each other?

The National Hockey League is marking its 100th year by bringing the NHL All Star Game to Tampa Jan. 26-28, 2018. And the Tampa Bay Lightning is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

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On this Florida Matters More podcast, we talk about whether ethnic newspapers' niche markets will help them survive the demise of  traditional print media. It may all depend on if they, like other print outlets, can figure out how to make money from their social media.

Sometimes when something is as universal, necessary and mundane as eating, it's hard to make "food" sound special. But not for the people on this Florida Matters.

WUSF has been talking to people who communicate their passion about food in particularly interesting ways. Food...as muse.

Our guests include:

The best rowers in the world will converge on Sarasota at the end of September. This will be the biggest competition to date at a new facility built in the shadow of Interstate 75.

On a recent Tuesday, the weekly produce market co-op at the Woodbrook Estates mobile home community in Lakeland was bustling. 

As 2016 winds down, we’re taking another listen to some of the best news stories we discussed on Florida Matters throughout the year.

As 2016 winds down, Florida Matters is taking a look back at some of the best news stories we discussed throughout the year.