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ENCORE: Florida-grown Podcasts Start Local, Reach National on Topics from Shakespeare to Pop Culture

Images courtesy their respective podcasts.

Despite growing in popularity for over a decade, only 20 percent of Americans listen to podcasts in 2017. While podcast fans tend to listen to hours of audio across multiple shows, most radio listeners have yet to discover the on-demand variety podcasts have to offer, even when produced in their own back yard.

The "feminist nerd culture" SPEW podcast from Fort Myers; the arts and culture interviews from Planted in Miami; and the scholarly exploration of The State of Shakespeare are just a sample of the podcasts being produced in South Florida, and consumed around the world.

Gulf Coast Live is joined by the creative forces behind three Florida-based podcasts—Shelby Elmore and Jesi Cason from SPEW, Gerritt VanderMeer from the State of Shakespeare, and  Jeanette Ruiz of Planted in Miami—to discuss their shows, how they came to create their podcast, what role podcasts play in our information and entertainment-saturated world, and how they each connect with guests, topics, and listeners.

Matthew Smith is a reporter and producer of WGCU’s Gulf Coast Live.