Shows / Wait Five Minutes
Wait Five Minutes
Wait Five Minutes: The Floridian Podcast is about the curious stories and cultural changes sweeping through the Sunshine State. Join us every Monday for an informative and charming look into an issue on America’s infamous peninsula.
Episodes
- Wait Five Minutes
Season 6 Prologue: The Lonely Statue
Between towns, on a strip highway along the Atlantic Coast, a lonely statue denotes one of the most significant events in Florida history. That is if you can…
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The 2020 Holiday Special
In our first annual Wait Five Minutes Holiday Special, we are joined by past guests to share tales of iguanas, oranges, massive decorations, freak snowstorms…
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Pork Chop Gang, Part Two: THE SCARES
Content Warning: This episode includes conversations about racism and homophobia, and a brief mention of suicide. For eleven years, the Johns Committee…
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Pork Chop Gang, Part One: POWER BLOC
For nearly twenty years, a group of conservative Democrats ruled Florida's legislature with impunity. When segregation began to end in 1954, the group rallied…
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The Florida Trail
Slipping through the neighborhoods of Florida, from the Panhandle to the Everglades, is the Florida Trail, one of many national scenic trails in the country…
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The Confederate Spy of Florida
During the American Civil War, the town of Palatka was a vital port along the St. Johns River. As paranoia ran through the city, one woman and her sisters…
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The Longleaf Pine
In the wake of Hurricane Michael, scientists grappled with all the ways that climate change could affect our forests. One tree, the longleaf pine, faced total…
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Reubin the Good
Check your polling location and more information in Florida here! Governor Reubin Askew spent his entire career advocating for total government transparency…
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The Devil Went Down to Florida
Check your polling location and more information in Florida here! On the night of Halloween, 2001, the Mayor of Inglis drafted a memorandum banishing Satan…
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Our Florida Spiders
Check your polling location and more information in Florida here! Across Florida, people face the scourge of the brown recluse bite. There's only one problem…
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Florida's Historic Tolomato Cemetery
Check your polling location and more information in Florida here! The oldest marked grave in Florida is of a kid with an unremarkable history. She is…
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SWING STATE, Part Three: 1992
Check out your voting status at Vote.org! Register to vote in Florida! 1992. George H.W. Bush vs. Bill Clinton (vs. Ross Perot). The last blip in our record…
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SWING STATE, Part Two: 1960
Check out your voting status at Vote.org! Register to vote in Florida! 1960. Richard Nixon vs. John F. Kennedy. The first blip in our record. The nation is on…
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SWING STATE, Part One: 1924
Check out your voting status at Vote.org! Register to vote in Florida! 1924. Calvin Coolidge vs. John W. Davis. The losing streak ends. As the Great Depression…
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Season 4 Epilogue: MEMORY
Where did our state's name come from? Why is our collective memory so short? Will we ever have the answers to all the questions in our history? Follow Wait…
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Cross Florida Canal, Part Two: GREENWAY
Marjorie Harris Carr spent the last years of her life battling a dam along the river she loved so dearly. When a fierce politician pulled out all the stops to…
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Cross Florida Canal, Part One: SANTOS
The federal government has tried many times to create a canal through Florida. When they finally got their way, more than just the environment paid the price…
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Short Summer Tales
A repeated anthem, a shared loaf of bread, and a twisted myth of pirates and islands. These tales are all parallels to other stories from this season, from…
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The Vero Man
In 1915, human remains were found in a freshly dug canal near Vero. As scientists flocked to the site to seek out answers, controversy soon followed. The…
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The Railway War
Fifty years after Henry Flagler died, the railroad company he founded was at war. With a labor strike raging, and anonymous attacks against the tracks mounting…
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Vacation on Sanibel Island
Today is the Two Year Anniversary of Wait Five Minutes, and to celebrate, we are taking a podcast holiday to the beautiful Sanibel Island. This city, mostly…
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Beer in Ybor
The first brewery in Florida was on the edge of Ybor City, one of the state's most important cities. Today, beer is still inherent to its character and, for…
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The Early Years of (Orlando) Magic
The Orlando Magic were on a surefire trajectory to win the NBA Championship within their first decade of existence. By 1997, however, those dreams were dashed…
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The Humble Gopher Tortoise
Of all the animals native to Florida, it is hard to imagine an animal as unique, and as vital, as our beloved tortoise. Named for their burrowing habits, these…
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Florida's State Song
Over the course of the last century, Florida has had a handful of songs that could potentially hold the title of State Song. Our first state song sounds very…
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Season 4 Prologue: Mountains
Florida is flat. Florida has hills. Both are true, and every story we tell ourselves about our state changes each time we tell them. In Season 4 of Wait Five…
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FLORIDIANS - Olivia Matthews, Playwright
Olivia Matthews puts a little bit of herself into every story her tells. Her voice is essential to the plays she creates and, when someone sees her work, she…
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FLORIDIANS - Craig Pittman, Reporter and Author
Read Cat Tale and Craig's other books right here! Check out Craig's work at the Florida Phoenix right here! Craig Pittman writes about Florida with a signature…
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FLORIDIANS - Laura VonMutius, Education Manager at Audubon Center for Birds of Prey
Check out more about the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey right here! Support the Center right here! When you work for the Audubon, your career is dedicated to…
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Season 3 Epilogue: HOPE
A few final thoughts and a recap of the theme in Season Three of Wait Five Minutes: HOPE. Follow Wait Five Minutes on Twitter Follow Wait Five Minutes on…
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Kermit Weeks and Orlampa
Read Gabrielle Calise's companion piece to this episode right here! Off the interstate in the middle of the state lies a museum with shuttered doors. Inside…
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Our Empty Towns
Donate to Feeding America here Donate to One Blood here It is believed that Florida has more ghost towns than any other state east of the Mississippi. In a…
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The Everglades UFO
Donate to Feeding America here Donate to One Blood here In the darkened swamp of the Everglades, as civilization ripped away at the edges of the wilderness, a…
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HOMOSASSA, Part Two: Native Animals
Donate to Feeding America here Donate to One Blood here Throughout the 1960s, cinema made its way to Florida’s shores through jungle adventure movies. One…
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BONUS: Grover Cleveland Slept Here
Rumor has it that President Grover Cleveland once slept at the old Rendezvous Inn on the Homosassa River. A pair of married historians in Citrus County hope to…
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HOMOSASSA, Part One: Nature's Own Attraction
Donate to the CDC Foundation here Donate to Feeding America here Donate to One Blood here A former governor of Maine, a Confederate Senator, some bad land…
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Jackie Robinson's First Game
Donate to the CDC Foundation here Donate to Feeding America here Donate to One Blood here In the city of Daytona Beach, right after World War II, a legendary…
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Brownie the Dog and Other Tales
Donate to the CDC Foundation here Donate to Feeding America here Donate to One Blood here A mysterious cartoon in a tiny museum. A friendly face who watches…
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The Ghosts of Henry Flagler
When Henry Flagler died in 1913, his memory was preserved not just in legacy, but in the spirits that find themselves roaming the hallways of the places he…
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Greens and Cranes
Florida has more golf courses than any other state in the country. What happens when those courses fall apart? When the sandhill cranes reign, what place do…
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BONUS: Florida Fair Food (w/ Gabrielle Calise)
In a special bonus episode, I chat with Gabrielle Calise of the Tampa Bay Times about our favorite fried food, the food we couldn't handle, and the food we…
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Cracker Country and the Fair
Tucked in a corner, at the back of the Florida Fairgrounds, there is a living museum. It is vibrant with artists, docents, historians and more, all who have…
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After Hurricane Andrew
In August of 1992, a massive hurricane hit South Florida. The storm passed, and the damage was laid bare. It was clear things needed to change. When pythons…
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Florida's Poet Laureates
Since 1927, four individuals have been chosen as the Poet Laureate for the state of Florida. Each one has brought something new to the position. The current…
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Orlando's Main Street
For the last thirty years, one community has been at the center of a neighborhood that today is a main street in Orlando. From its origins to the present day…
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From Florida to the Moon
Thousands of rockets were launched from Florida's coast in the last seventy years. How did the space program come to Florida? And when will Americans return to…
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The End of Greyhound Racing
At the beginning of next year, greyhound racing in Florida will be illegal, exactly ninety years after it was made legal in 1931. How did we get here? And what…
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The Shape of Florida
Every border of Florida is defined by its connection to the water all around us. The lines they follow are set by human ingenuity and violence. But what will…
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FLORIDIANS - Gabrielle Calise, Reporter with the Tampa Bay Times
Gabrielle Calise refuses to be put into a box. She has written a wide variety of stories for the Tampa Bay Times, from haunted houses to city government, from…
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FLORIDIANS - Rachel Simmons, Archivist of the Winter Park Public Library
Rachel Simmons collects the memories of the town she calls home. In the archive of the Winter Park Public Library, information about the history of this town…
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Season 2 Epilogue
Some final thoughts and a recap of the second season of Wait Five Minutes. Follow Wait Five Minutes on Twitter Follow Wait Five Minutes on Instagram Follow…
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Billy the Swan, Kristen Arnett and Taxidermy in Florida
In the 1920s, the biggest celebrity in Orlando was a grumpy old swan. When he died, the city couldn't let him go. They had him stuffed and, to this day, he…
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The Unbeatable Dolphins
In 1972, the Miami Dolphins couldn't be stopped. At a time when America was facing uncertain futures, the hope of one team was enough to distract, for just one…
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Florida's State Play
Florida's state play, Cross and Sword, ran for thirty-two consecutive seasons. During that time, the production shifted and changed, finding brand new ways to…
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The Election of 1966
In the 1960s, politics in the South changed forever. Nowhere is that more evident than in the rivalry between two Democrats: the mayor of Miami and the mayor…
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Orlando's Haunted Theater
The Annie Russell Theatre is almost ninety years old now, but the lore wrapped up in the building will stretch much, much longer. Every person who encounters…
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Florida Bonneted Bats
The Florida Bonneted Bat exists nowhere else in the world. They are some of the most fascinating animals in the country and, thanks to a group of brilliant…
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Spook Hill and Other Tales
Every story we tell has some falsehoods. We complicate or muddle without meaning to and the story always changes. What happens, then, to the stories about…
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The Murder of Guy Bradley
Florida's egrets were on the brink of demise. Enter Guy Bradley, an outdoorsman who, for three short years, fought adamantly to keep the birds safe. Then, on…
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Gardening in Florida
Growing your own plants is harder. Growing your own plants in Florida is even harder. We take inspiration from the professionals, but getting it right can be…