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.

Maternity group homes for young pregnant women and mothers who are homeless or lack support have existed in the United states since the 1800s. The number of these group homes declined starting around 1970 after the U.S. Supreme Court made birth control legal through two landmark decisions. But the number of maternity homes has grown by nearly 40 percent in the past two years. We talk with the reporter whose recent feature in the New York Times “These Maternity Homes Offer Sanctuary, but It Can Feel Oppressive” highlights how some of these homes in Florida are licensed and regulated, and are subject to oversight and inspections — while others don’t face oversight or inspections that are made public.

Conservation photographer Ian Wilson-Navarro was born in Miami but has lived his entire life in Key Largo. He got his first camera as a teenager, and first visited the Dry Tortugas around that same time camping and fishing with his father. In 2021, he and a friend were chosen for a National Parks Arts Foundation artist residency in the Dry Tortugas on Loggerhead Key. His proposal for the residency pitched the idea of capturing images to create a book, and that book is now out. "Dry Tortugas: Stronghold of Nature" was published last month by University Press of Florida. It features about 200 of his photographs along with essays by people with intimate knowledge of the park who explore its history, culture, and environment.

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.

The first documented use of a robot in surgery dates back to 1985 when doctors used what was called a PUMA 560 to conduct a neurosurgical biopsy. The robotic arm was originally designed for industrial use. The technology advanced through the 1990s and then in 2000 the da Vinci Surgical System received FDA approval for general laparoscopic surgery. It had a console the surgeon would use to control robotic arms and they could see what they were doing with 3D visualization and this became a cornerstone of modern robotic surgery that’s still being built upon today. In order to learn more about this not entirely new, but certainly cutting edge field of medicine, we talk with two people who oversee robotic surgery and surgical services at Lee Health.

Tim Love spent his career in advertising, and he says there are correlations between the early days of that industry and mass media, and where we find ourselves today with our wide open and unregulated online world. He was Vice-Chairman of Omnicom Group, it’s a global advertising and marketing services company. But since retiring in 2013, he has focused his attention on our online world, and how, he says, it’s being openly used against us to sow division and uncertainty.

Next month, Florida voters will decide whether to approve Amendment 4 to the state constitution. It is a response to SB 300, which was approved by Florida lawmakers last year. On Sunday, Oct. 27 the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Greater Naples is hosting a “Forum on Four” community conversation to provide clarity on Amendment 4, and details on SB 300. It will be moderated by a woman who grew up in the Right to Life Movement but now hosts a podcast called “Right to Life” in which she’s been seeking clarity for herself and her listeners about these extremely complicated issues. We talk with the forum's moderator and two of its panelists.

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.

Hurricane Milton continues its approach and will be making landfall this evening or early Thursday morning as a major hurricane with extreme storm surge levels and damaging winds. Projections show Milton’s landfall somewhere between Sarasota and Tampa Bay. The latest projections show storm surge levels between 8-12 feet from Bonita Beach to Boca Grande — and 10-15 feet from Boca Grande to Anna Maria Island, which is on the southern end of Tampa Bay. That means more than 150 miles of coastline experiencing storm surge that could top 8 feet and be as high as 15 feet. We get an update from Tim Miller at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network. We also check in with the Salvation Army of Collier County to learn about the preparations they're making for after Milton passes through. And we get some tips on staying calm and maintaining peace of mind during these tense times.

While Hurricane Milton’s intensity diminished some since it peaked at 180 mph winds on Monday, it is still a major hurricane and remains a serious risk to the west coast of Florida and our entire listening area. Its current projected path shows landfall around Tampa Bay late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning. But areas south of landfall are expected to receive significant storm surge and damaging winds. We get an update from Megan Borowski at the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network — and we get some helpful advice on things to consider in terms of health and medicine as the storm approaches, and once it’s passed through.