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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In this installment from the StoryCorps Mobile Tour visit to Fort Myers in Feb. 2024, Simone Monaco interviews her 6-year-old daughter Selah, about their family’s experience with Hurricane Ian, and aspirations for the future. -
The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center hosts an inclusive group exhibition of works by STARability Foundation participants titled “Divergent Inspiration.” The Foundation also recently received a game-changing $5 million donation from philanthropist and entrepreneur Tom Golisano. STARability CEO Karen Govern talks about the exhibit, plans for expansion, and the foundation’s work, mission, and history. -
In this installment from the StoryCorps Mobile Tour visit to Fort Myers in Feb. 2024, Dr. Pierre Loredo tells his wife Elizabeth Loredo about his childhood, daring to dream big, defying others’ expectations, and becoming a pediatrician. -
The Southwest Florida Symphony’s final Masterworks concert of the season features guest cellist Sterling Elliot performing Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme,” a new work by Taiwanese composer Ke-chia Chen titled “Ebbs and Flows,” and Shostakovich’s beloved Symphony No. 5 in De minor, which is steeped in the turbulent history of the Soviet Union.We take a deeper dive into the program with Southwest Florida Symphony Maestro Radu Paponiu. -
In this first installment from the StoryCorps Mobile Tour visit to Fort Myers in Feb. 2024, Lucy Garcia tells her daughter Samantha Garcia her story of coming to the U.S. as an teenage undocumented immigrant, getting an education, and building a social work career in service to others. -
Renowned guitar player, singer songwriter and music educator Dave Isaacs, known as the “Nashville Guitar Guru, is leading Babcock Ranch’s inaugural “Musician in Residence” program. We talk with Isaacs about his musical background, his unique and personal teaching style, and his vision for the new program. -
Ghostbird Theatre to perform play “Artificial Genesis” written by generative Artificial IntelligenceGhostbird Theatre Company is mounting a production of a new play titled “Artificial Genesis” about the end of the world brought about by artificial intelligence. The play itself was written by a generative AI model. We’ll take a closer look in a conversation with the show’s director Barry Cavin and his son Emory Cavin, who’s responsible for the AI interface design and programming that led to the creation of the play. -
Tuesday’s early morning collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore after being struck by a cargo ship is reminding long-time Florida residents of the Sunshine Skyway bridge collapse after it was similarly struck by a freighter nearly 44 years ago. -
The Collier County Supervisor of Elections office will conduct a machine recount followed by a manual recount of ballots from the Naples mayoral race and a city council race that were too close to call following Tuesday’s elections. -
Delta Blues guitarist, bassist and vocalist Anthony “Big A” Sherrod performed live in studio while in Southwest Florida for a Big A & The All Stars concert at Florida Gulf Coast University earlier this month. We’ll hear music and conversation from Sherrod along with Delta Blues documentarian, organizer and advocate Roger Stolle.
