John Davis
Host, Reporter, Assistant News Directorjrdavis@wgcu.org
John Davis has been a Reporter/Producer for WGCU since 2007. For more than a decade he served as the local host for NPR’s Morning Edition. He currently serves as producer and host of WGCU’s radio talk program Gulf Coast Life Arts Edition with John Davis. Prior to joining WGCU, he worked at WDUQ-FM in Pittsburgh, PA (now WESA) covering local government and general assignments. John studied journalism at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Florida Gulf Coast University. His work has garnered awards from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, the Radio Television Digital News Association, and a first-place award and “Best in Show” from the Florida Associated Press for his investigative work in 2011. Davis helped lead news team coverage around the clock during Hurricane Irma in 2017, which won a National Edward R. Morrow Award. More recently, his election and political coverage has garnered awards from the Florida Association of Broadcast Journalists.
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Laboratory Theater of Florida in Fort Myers announced this month that founding producing artistic director Annette Trossbach is retiring from the theater company. Trossbach reflects back on the triumphs and challenges that have come during her tenure, the theater’s impact on the Southwest Florida community, and highlights some of Lab Theater’s stand-out productions over the years. -
A production of playwright August Wilson’s “Jitney” opens this week at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers. The play marks the eighth chronological installment in Wilson’s series known as the American Century Cycle. Set in the late 70s, “Jitney” centers on the lives of some unofficial, unlicensed taxi drivers operating in Pittsburgh’s Hill District community, where traditional taxi services wouldn’t go. We take a deeper dive in a conversation with director Sonya McCarter and actor Shontae White. -
In this installment from the StoryCorps Mobile Tour visit to Fort Myers in 2024, we hear Finzo Hall and his mother Marcia Robinson talk about immigrating from Jamaica to the U.S, Finzo’s determination to follow his dream of becoming a pilot, and helping other young people achieve their dreams through the powers of faith and resiliency. -
Florida Repertory Theatre in Fort Myers is mounting a production of playwright Steven Dietz’s time travel love story “Bloomsday.” We feature a conversation with the playwright recorded on the set of the Florida Rep’s production. -
In this installment from the StoryCorps Mobile Tour visit to Fort Myers in 2024, we hear husband and wife Siddharth and Dharani Sridharan talk about how they met through an arranged marriage, their relationship, and building a life together in the U.S. -
Renowned author, interviewer and photographer Victor Bockris is in Southwest Florida for an ArtSPEAK@FSW lecture and book signing in conjunction with the current exhibition at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery titled “David BRADSHAW & William S. BURROUGHS: Propagation.” Over a career spanning more than half a century Bockris has interviewed and written about icons stretching from the Beat Generation to the 1970s Punk scene. We’ll talk with Bockris about his career, his approach to interviewing and his latest book “The Burroughs-Warhol Connection.” -
In this installment from the StoryCorps Mobile Tour visit to Fort Myers in Feb. 2024, lifelong friends Karen Hurst and Cathy Goodacre Smith share childhood memories of growing up on Fort Myers Beach in the 1950s and 60s. -
Our annual music review takes a look back at some of the great music featured on Gulf Coast Life Arts Edition in 2024, including a new album from the rock band Rosaline, new solo music from Southwest Florida-based musician Caleb Vilca, Tampa-based blues/roots musician Damon Fowler, and Delta Blues musician Anthony “Big A” Sherrod. -
In this installment from the StoryCorps Mobile Tour visit to Fort Myers in March 2024, we hear Samantha Garcia interview her mother Luzcelina “Lucy” Garcia, about her experience coming to the U.S. from Mexico as an undocumented immigrant when she was just a young teen, earning a master’s degree on her career path in social work, and what led her to create her own non-profit organization OILE, also known as “Healing Stitches.” -
January 18th marks the opening reception of an exhibition at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery titled “David BRADSHAW & William S. Burroughs: Propagation.” The exhibition will feature never-before-seen works reflecting the artistic collaboration between the late, legendary Burroughs and internationally acclaimed painter, sculptor, and sharpshooter Bradshaw. We delve into the exhibit in a conversation with David Bradshaw and Bob Rauschenberg Gallery Director Jade Dellinger.
