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Regular listeners of this show will be familiar with the podcast series, The Last Ride, which we’ve been airing in serial since the first episode released in early April. It uses extensive reporting done over two decades to tell the story of two young men of color who disappeared in Naples — both of whom were last seen with the same Collier County Sheriff’s deputy, Steven Calkins, who is now retired. Deputy Calkins was fired for giving inconsistent statements about the cases, but was never formally accused of any wrongdoing in their disappearances. We sit down with three of the four-member team who reported on this story, and worked together to produce the podcast, to talk about that process and whether The Last Ride has brought forth any new information that might illuminate just what happened to Filipe Santos and Terrance Williams.

Project 2025 is not an entirely new concept. The Heritage Foundation has published what it calls Mandate for Leadership policy blueprints since 1979. The first one preceded the first Reagan administration. Over the decades they have outlined what conservatives hope to see out of a Republican administration, if that’s who wins the election. But, Project 2025 has a different tone and nature — and is far more detailed when it comes to exactly what policies it’s calling for, and just how they can be achieved.

Florida’s Supreme Court recently ruled that the state’s constitution does not protect abortion, allowing the state law passed in 2023 that bans abortion after six weeks to take effect next month. But in a separate decision, the Florida Supreme Court also just ruled that an amendment to guarantee abortion rights in the state’s constitution can go on the November ballot. As all of this unfolds we listen back to a conversation from 2021 when the first modern bill to restrict abortions in Florida was filed, to get a big picture history of the legality, and criminality, of abortion in America.

Karyn Parsons spent six years playing the ditzy character, Hilary, on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show was huge in the culture in the 1990s — it ran for six seasons beginning in 1990 and left an indelible mark on pop culture. Her character, Hilary, was — and still is — truly beloved by fans everywhere. What fans didn't know is that during her time playing Hilary, Parsons was devoting quite a bit of her own personal time to writing short fiction, and learning about history — particularly inspiring and empowering stories of African American achievement.

2021 was the highest year on record for documented reports of violence, harassment, and vandalism directed toward Jews — and the 2022 numbers are likely to show the same or even an increase. That’s according to the Anti-Defamation League. Much, if not most, of these incidents begin in the virtual world, where hate speech often flows freely, even on large social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. It’s especially prevalent on smaller social media sites which generally provide no moderation or censorship whatsoever. Our guest today has spent much of his academic career focusing on antisemitism — both the why and the how, especially online.

Karyn Parsons spent six years playing the ditzy character, Hilary, on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The show was huge in the culture in the 1990s — it ran for six seasons beginning in 1990 and left an indelible mark on pop culture. Her character, Hilary, was — and still is — truly beloved by fans everywhere. What fans didn't know is that during her time playing Hilary, Parsons was devoting quite a bit of her own personal time to writing short fiction, and learning about history — particularly inspiring and empowering stories of African American achievement.

Hurricane Milton made landfall on Wednesday night around 8:30 p.m. as a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour near Siesta Key in Sarasota County. Milton spawned scores of tornadoes left more than 3 million utility customers without power. The AP reports at least five people died due to Milton's impacts. While there has been significant flooding along the coast — and hundreds of thousands of people remain without power — Milton did not turn out to be as damaging as projections showed as it approached the peninsula. We debrief the storm with a meteorologist with the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. We also check in with someone from Sarasota County, where Milton made landfall. And we check in with FPL and LCEC to see how their power systems fared and how many people are still without power.

The idea that Ukraine is an independent nation with its own national identity is one that Russian President Vladimir Putin has openly disputed since long before the invasion, and he’s not alone and this is not a modern idea but one that dates far back into history. Our guest today strongly disputes this claim, and his recent books offer direct evidence of a decades-long effort by the Soviet Union and then Russian to stoke divisions among the Ukrainian diaspora and people around the world, and cast doubt on the very idea of an independent Ukraine.

Mahjong originated in China in the mid-to-late 19th century, but its exact origins are debated. It was first introduced to the United States in the 1920s and it quickly became a massive fad. There was a mahjong revival in the 1950s and 60s and in recent years there’s been a resurgence in popularity, with new generations discovering this century old game. We meet three members of Southwest Florida Mahjong to find out what their group is all about, and exactly what it is about this 'old-fashioned' game that resonates in today's world.

The 2010 Citizens United decision by the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed U.S. campaign finance laws by saying that corporations, unions, and other organizations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money on political campaigns, as long as the spending is independent and not directly coordinated with candidates or political parties. It allowed for the creation of Super PACs and 501(c)(4)s which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose candidates. We get an overview of the recent history of campaign finance rules and spending patterns, and learn what campaigns spend all of that money on.