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Back in early June when protests in response to the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers were rapidly spreading and growing across the country we assembled a panel comprised of members of southwest Florida’s Black community to talk about what was happening. While protests have mostly stopped, efforts continue to try and address systemic racism and police violence. And, with the election just a week away with these issues in many ways central on the ballot, both nationally and locally, we have invited them back to talk about what’s happened since the summer and where things stand today.

We talk with a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University who is working with a team of researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland to try and help the World Health Organization decrease the number of deaths and disabilities caused by venomous snakebites by half by 2030. Their team has developed a web-based app called Snake ID that uses visual pattern recognition algorithms to help doctors and patients identify venomous snakes. The technology can also be used to help healthcare systems determine what kinds of antivenom treatments to have on hand in particular geographic areas.

Marine researchers of all kinds began studying the ecological impact caused by the Piney Point pollution release, including those with the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, which was asked by the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration to expand its monitoring efforts to include the dolphin population near Piney Point. While that research work is still in its infancy, we're checking in with Dr. Randy Wells, director of the Sarasota Dolphin Research Program, which is the world's longest-running study of a dolphin population.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its first data set from the 2020 census last week, with more detailed numbers expected at the end of September. This means states, including Florida, are beginning the process of drawing new congressional, and state legislative districts as required by the U.S. Constitution.Here in Florida it’s up to the state legislature to draw the new districts, and because of two 2010 amendments to the the state constitution passed by Florida voters — called the Fair Districts Amendments — new districts are supposed to establish "fairness," be "as equal in population as feasible" and use existing "city, county and geographical boundaries."We plan on following this process closely on this show, as the 2022 legislative session approaches. For starters we’re going to get a bit of a history lesson from the leader of the Fair Districts Coalition, which led the 2010 effort.

A new column in the Naples Daily News and the News-Press called "The Racial Reality" hopes to stir the hearts and minds of readers and move them to act boldly in the service of racial justice in Southwest Florida and beyond. The columnist is Florida Gulf Coast University associate professor of sociology, and Director of FGCU’s Center for Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Dr. Ted Thornhill. He's been a professor at FGCU since 2015, where he’s taught classes on Sociology, Social Stratification, The African American Experience, White Racism, and Racism and Law Enforcement.

Last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the preferred alternative for how Lake Okeechobee water releases will be managed in the future under what’s called the Lake Okeechobee Systems Operating Manual, or LOSOM. As currently designed the so-called “CC alternative” will reduce the amount that is discharged to the east down the St. Lucie River, and increase the amount of water that is sent to the west down the Caloosahatchee River. Flows south toward the Everglades would be increased.We go over the proposed release schedule, and what will happen next as the optimization process gets underway, with Tim Gysan, he is the LOSOM Project Manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

How did America become a nation obsessed with race? That’s the fundamental question asked in the new book “A Time for Change: How White Supremacy Ideology Harms All Americans” by Punta Gorda-based author and lecturer Dr. Martha Bireda. She says the purpose of her new book is to explore how the ideology of white supremacy has done immeasurable damage to all Americans, whites as well as blacks and other persons of color. And, she argues, racial healing in the U.S. can only occur through a true examination of America’s history, as well as individual and collective responsibility and efforts to undo over 300 years of racist cultural conditioning.

We meet the new Senior Scientist in Mote's Research Division, Dr. Demian Chapman, who will also serve as the Manager for the Sharks & Rays Conservation Research Program, and hold the title of Perry W. Gilbert Chair in Shark Research. Dr. Chapman was recently an Associate Professor at Florida International University in the Department of Biological Science, and was the lead scientist for the international initiative, Global FinPrint, which is the world’s largest-ever shark survey.

We talk with a professor at Florida Gulf Coast University who is working with a team of researchers at the University of Geneva in Switzerland to try and help the World Health Organization decrease the number of deaths and disabilities caused by venomous snakebites by half by 2030. Their team has developed a web-based app called Snake ID that uses visual pattern recognition algorithms to help doctors and patients identify venomous snakes. The technology can also be used to help healthcare systems determine what kinds of antivenom treatments to have on hand in particular geographic areas.

As the country continues to react to the disclosure by Politico of the draft of a Supreme Court opinion that would overturn the right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade, reportedly circulated by Justice Samuel Alito, we are revisiting a conversation we had last October on the history of the legality, and criminality, of abortion in the United States going all the way back to its founding.We also get a snapshot of the work being done by Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.