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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Encore broadcast of blues, roots, and folk singer/songwriter and guitarist Jon Shain performing live in studio. -
A new report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families finds that the rate of uninsured children nationally dropped from 5.7% to 5.4% between 2019 and 2021 and that the rate of uninsured kids in Florida fell from 7.6% to 7.3%. Health policy experts warn, these gains could be short-lived because when federal protections in the Families First Act expire, states will be reevaluating Medicaid eligibility requirements and that could happen as soon as April 2023. We take a closer look in a conversation with the lead author of the report, Georgetown University Center for Children and Families co-founder and Executive Director Joan Alker. -
A new report from Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families finds that the rate of uninsured children nationally dropped from 5.7% to 5.4% between 2019 and 2021 and that the rate of uninsured kids in Florida fell from 7.6% to 7.3%. Health policy experts warn, these gains could be short-lived because when federal protections in the Families First Act expire, states will be reevaluating Medicaid eligibility requirements. That could happen as soon as April 2023. -
A conversation about the Laboratory Theater of Florida’s regional premiere production of “SISTAS! The Musical” with the show’s director Sonya McCarter and cast members Makayla Davis and Julissa Jean-Bart. -
A conversation with Southwest Florida Music Education Center Executive Director Jennifer Clark and the organization’s mission to provide comprehensive post-secondary music certificate programs for neurodivergent students, with a goal of preparing students for careers in the music industry. -
Southwest Florida’s new, first, and only professional ballet company Florida Gulfshore Ballet is holding a fundraising performance event at Artis-Naples, Nov. 18 to benefit local arts organizations impacted by Hurricane Ian. We talk with Florida Gulfshore Ballet artistic directors Iliana Lopez and Franklin Gamero about the event, their vision for the new ballet company, and their own impressive careers as professional ballet dancers. -
Analysis of Florida’s 2022 general election results with a look toward what they’ll mean for the state going forward in a conversation with UCF political scientist Aubrey Jewett, Ph.D., and FGCU Political Scientist Peter Bergerson, Ph.D. -
The Southwest Florida Symphony begins its performance season with a new artistic and music director, Maestro Radu Paponiu. We’ll explore the new symphony conductor’s background in music and explore performance offerings in the 2022-23 season in a conversation with Paponiu and the organization’s Community Outreach Ambassador Robert Van Winkle. -
As Florida medical boards continue advancing proposed rules to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth living with gender dysphoria, we explore how gender-affirming care for minors is actually carried out. We also hear the story of one local family now getting gender-affirming care for their teenage sons. -
Players Circle Theater is currently presenting the suspense murder comedy “Murder at the Howard Johnson’s.” The plot follows a series of hilarious murder plots and a messy love triangle between a dentist (played by Steve Coe), his lover (played by Angela Watson), and her husband (played by actor/comedian RC Smith). We’ll learn all about the show and hear from the actors bringing this production to life as well as the show’s director and Players Circle Theater founding Artistic Director Bob Cacioppo.
