Fluent in Floridian

Mac Stipanovich is known throughout Florida as a Republican cognoscente, so when he penned an open letter to his fellow Republicans in 2016 imploring them to vote for Hillary Clinton, it came as somewhat of a shock. Now he’s left the Republican party completely.   He explains why in the latest episode of Fluent in […]

The fastest growing sector in the United States job market isn’t technology or real estate. It’s marijuana.

Dr. Larry Robinson has been a steadfast presence at Florida A&M University since joining the faculty as a visiting professor in 1997. A nuclear chemist and researcher by trade, Dr. Robinson went on to serve as interim president at FAMU on three separate occasions. In 2017, he was finally named the 12th president of Florida's only historically black public university.

One of three U.S. Attorneys for the state of Florida, Larry Keefe has spent his life setting and achieving his goals as the result of hard work and great mentorship. On the newest episode of Fluent in Floridian, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Florida Larry Keefe talks to SalterMitchell PR CEO April Salter […]

“The future 100 years of Southeast Florida will be about managing the water relevant to the land, building vertically, and connecting them with elevated transportation systems.” This week on Fluent in Floridian, SalterMitchell PR President, Heidi Otway, sits down with Jim Murley, the Chief Resilience Officer for Miami-Dade County to talk about the ways Southeast […]

Since he was in the eighth grade, Tim Nickens knew he would be a journalist. What began as a dream to become a sports writer turned into a 35-year career reporting for two of Florida’s top newspapers and winning a Pulitzer Prize.   Nickens is Fluent in Floridian. Over the course of his impressive career, he […]

Sea level rise. Unprecedented super storms. Toxic algae blooms.   The effects of climate change on Florida’s environment have become increasingly overt in the last decade. However, activists like Aliki Moncrief are reminding us that while global warming is a human-made phenomenon, it can also be solved by people working together. As the executive director […]

John Lux got his start in Florida working for Walt Disney World, but after leaving the mouse’s house, he was drawn to a career in film production. Since becoming involved with Film Florida, Lux progressed from volunteer to treasurer before being named the full-time executive director in 2016.   Lux is Fluent in Floridian. As […]

When Eric Eikenberg graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, he had little idea who Stoneman Douglas was, or that he would be walking in her boot-prints as an activist championing the Florida Everglades. Eikenberg began his position as the CEO of the Everglades Foundation in 2012 and has since been an unapologetic advocate for […]

From top to bottom, the state of Florida is filled with distinctly ‘Floridian’ features, yet in one corner of Orlando it’s possible to experience the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of London. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter has been one of Universal Orlando’s calling cards ever since it opened in 2010 with the help […]

A transplant from tar-heel country, Scott Maxwell has spent the better part of the last two decades reporting for the Orlando Sentinel as the Taking Names columnist. In his 20 years of reporting, Maxwell has seen it all – describing the Florida political reporting scene as “addictive.”   Maxwell is Fluent in Floridian. From covering […]

Since this episode of Fluent in Floridian was recorded, Ashley Moody was elected Florida’s Attorney General.   Growing up in Plant City during the 1980’s, Ashley Moody’s life was surrounded by family, faith, community, and the town’s singular McDonald’s restaurant. Who would have guessed that in 2006, the woman with a Master’s in Accounting from […]

Some kids grow up wanting to be an astronaut or a firefighter, but as Sean Shaw grew up in Tallahassee, his vision of the future was shaped by his after-school hang out spot: the Florida Supreme Court. After integrating the Jacksonville bar association, Leander Shaw, Sean’s father, spent 20 years on Florida’s Supreme Court, becoming […]

Since the early 1800s, Matt Caldwell’s family has had roots in Florida. Today, Matt is staying true to those roots and running for Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Before deciding to run for Agriculture Commissioner, Matt Caldwell was your average, everyday, pocket constitution carrying member of Florida’s House of Representatives. The man who once […]

Love and family. Devoted Health, a start-up launching Medicare Advantage plans in 2019, aims to connect those words with healthcare. In this episode, Dariel Quintana, the Florida market president for Devoted Health, talks about what’s changed with healthcare in his two decades in the industry, what’s remained the same, and why choosing a healthcare plan […]