Gulf Coast Life

When President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January, he declared a commitment to tightening immigration policies and enhancing border security. The administration has followed through on its promise to ramp up deportations, and recent military strikes on boats departing Venezuela are demonstrations of its willingness to act upon its goal of targeting what they claim are drug smugglers from ‘cartels or other organizations.’ The administration has also designated six Mexican cartels as terrorist organizations so the question remains whether it will take similar military action in Mexico. So, what effect have these kinds of policies had on our relationship with Mexico and other countries in Latin America, and how people in those countries perceive the United States?

Players Circle Theater is preparing a robust seventh season, which kicks off next month. We’ll get a preview of the season ahead in a conversation with Players Circle Theater co-founder and Artistic Director Bob Cacioppo.

Thunderstorm Aversion or storm anxiety is when dogs experience significant fear or anxiety during storms. Loud noises are the most obvious trigger, but dogs can react to other storm-related cues like lightning flashes, the sounds of wind or rain hitting the home, changes in barometric pressure, and even static electricity in the air. We learn about Thunderstorm Aversion and ways veterinarians try to help dogs and their owners. And we learn about a three-year, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of a new treatment that’s hoping to become a medical solution.

The word compassion can be somewhat amorphous depending on the context it’s used in. Our guests would say it definitely takes action to be a truly compassionate person, and they’re all supporting an effort to develop a compassionate attitude in the community. This Saturday, Sept. 20, they are hosting their third “Shaping a Compassionate Fort Myers” event since they held the first one two months ago. We talk about out how their first two events went, and have a conversation about compassion and why it’s important, especially during the times we’re in.

In 1963, gossip columnist Irv Kupcinet's daughter Karen died tragically. In Peter Orner's latest novel, he imagines what went on surrounding the death.

Right now our public debt is about 97% of our GDP. The last time we had a ratio that high was around World War II. A key number that economists are focused on right now is how much interest the U.S. Government is paying to manage the national debt. Right now, we’re paying almost $1 trillion dollars per year in interest. That is more than we spend on the military budget and almost as much as we spend on healthcare, including Medicare and Medicaid, every year. So, in order to get an overview of how the U.S. national debt works, how the government borrows money to service the debt or even pay it back, how we’ve found ourselves in a place with such a high debt to GDPT ratio, and how concerned we all should be, we talk with the author of a recent piece in The Journalist’s Resource titled “The national debt: How and why the US government borrows money.”

The new Florida Philharmonic arose after the closure of the Punta Gorda Symphony in January 2024. Ahead of the Florida Philharmonic’s second performance season, we talk with Music and Artistic Director Richard Stoelzel about his plans for the future of the symphony and his personal life journey through music.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has floated the idea of Florida following Texas and California in drawing new Congressional districts mid-decade, breaking with norms. But what do the 2010 Fair Districts Amendments to Florida’s constitution have to say about mid-decade redistricting being done for openly partisan reasons? We talk with the leader of the Fair Districts Coalition when it helped to create and advocated for the passage of the Fair Districts Amendments to find out.

We learn about a nationwide clinical trial, funded by the National Institute of Aging, that's trying to determine if high doses of a synthetic form of Vitamin B1 called benfotiamine might be an effective treatment for mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer's Disease. Also known as thiamine, Vitamin B1 is important for brain health, and it's known that people with Alzheimer's have a thiamine deficiency.

The Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center’s latest exhibition “Exposed: The Art of Photography” explores the distinctive styles and vision of five different photographers. Ahead of the Sept. 5 opening reception, we talk with three of the featured photographers: Tonya Barnes, Beth Everhart and Brian Tietz.