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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The Lee County Supervisor of Elections office is now using BallotTrax to keep voters updated on the status of their vote-by-mail ballots. -
Co-founder and original band member of the new wave band DEVO, Bob Lewis, is in Fort Myers to deliver a lecture, reading and Q&A event, Nov. 9, in conjunction with an exhibition now at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Florida Southwestern State College marking the 50th anniversary of the iconic band. Lewis joins us in studio ahead of the event along with Rauschenberg Gallery Director Jade Dellinger. Dellinger is co-author of “The Beginning Was the End: Devo in Ohio,” which serves as a definitive account of DEVO’s early history. -
For more than a decade, a medical device equipment sterilization plant emitted carcinogenic air pollution in Central Fort Myers, creating an increased lifetime cancer risk for those exposed. On Nov. 1, officials with the EPA and the Florida DEP met with concerned residents. WGCU’s John Davis gets details in a conversation with News-Press Senior Writer Amy Bennett Williams, who has been covering this developing story. -
The Southwest Florida Symphony’s first Masterworks Series program features well-known works by iconic American composers Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and John Williams. The Marcus Roberts Trio joins the symphony to perform Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” ahead of next year’s 100th anniversary of the composition. Ahead of the Nov. 4 concert, we get a preview from Maestro Radu Paponiu and the Symphony’s Community Outreach Ambassador Robert Van Winkle. -
A new exhibition of works by Southwest Florida based artist, illustrator, cartoonist, artist and musician Doug McGregor titled “Whimsy & Wonder,” opens Nov. 3 at the Alliance for the Arts. Ahead of next week’s opening reception we get a preview in a conversation with the artist. -
This month marks 25 years since the death of Matthew Shepard, whose brutal murder served as a turning point for gay rights in the U.S. In recognition, Choral Artistry performs Craig Hella Johnson’s powerful three-part oratorio “Considering Matthew Shepard,” Oct. 22 at Naples United Church of Christ. We explore the composition in a conversation with Choral Artistry Artistic Director Trent Brown. -
Players Circle Theater kicks off the performance season with playwright Tom Dulack’s mafioso-style comedy “Breaking Legs.” The show will mark the company’s first production in its newly renovated theater space in the heart Fort Myers’ McGregor corridor. We preview the show and learn about the new theater space in a conversation with Players Circle Theater co-founders Bob Cacioppo and Carrie Lund. -
A settlement has now been reached requiring the Florida Department of Health to release COVID-19 data withheld from the public during the height of the pandemic.The Florida Center for Government Accountability and former State Representative Carols Guillermo Smith fought for release of the data in a two-year legal battle. We take a closer look at the settlement and what release of the hidden data will mean going forward in a conversation with Smith and the Florida Center for Government Accountability’s Michael Barfield. -
The Southwest Florida-based rock band Rosaline celebrates the release of its newest single, “Heartbreakin” with a performance, Oct. 6 at Nice Guys in Cape Coral. The show will also feature performances from other notable musicians in the region. We’ll speak with Rosaline front man Caleb Neff and hear him perform acoustic versions of the band’s new music live in studio. -
The use of intimacy choreographers and intimacy coordinators in the performing arts has been growing across the industry in recent years. These experts provide direction in the process of actors performing sensitive scenes that may involve content of a sexual nature, nudity, violence and more. We talk with Laboratory Theater of Florida Artistic Director Annette Trossbach about a new report titled, “A Case for Intimacy Choreographers in SW Florida.”
