Gulf Coast Life

Players Circle Theater is putting on a production of the one-woman play “I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti,” based on the bestselling book of the same title by Giulia Melucci. In the show, Giulia regales audiences with tales of her dating life all while actually cooking a three-course meal on stage. We’ll explore the play in conversation with actor Amanda Ladd and director Bob Cacioppo.

Since 1970, the bird populations of North America have experienced a net loss of nearly 3 billion birds, and biologists say we are approaching "tipping points" that could fundamentally alter our ecosystems. More than one-fifth of native North American pollinators are at risk of extinction due to climate change, habitat loss, and pesticide use, including key species like monarch butterflies and various bumble bees that are declining even faster. While these large-scale problems might seem beyond the scope of what an individual can do in their own lives to help, a new campaign from Audubon Western Everglades called “Nature Where We Live” seeks to help people understand that the kinds of plants we use around our homes can make a real difference.

In January of 2023 Governor Ron DeSantis appointed six new trustees at New College of Florida in Sarasota, and they immediately set about to change the state’s public honors college. As this was playing out, a team of filmmakers which included New College alumni were documenting events on campus, from the Board of Trustee meetings to just students spending time on campus. Now, the new documentary film “First They Came for My College” is making the rounds at film festivals. We talk with the film's director and one of its producers.

Laboratory Theater of Florida is performing a provocative reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Julius Ceasar,” set not in ancient Rome, but in the dark parking lot of a derelict apartment building. The show maintains the original Elizabethan language but condenses the play to about 90 minutes. It maintains the iconic monologues and soliloquies in a way that places heavy emphasis on the timeless themes of power, ambition, and betrayal. We’ll take a deeper dive into the production in a conversation with co-directors Alex Dragg and Nykkie Rizley.

We discuss the new novel Ensoulment, the winner of the 2025 Thomas E. Kennedy Novel Award.

Research into the science of kindness in recent decades has moved the conversation from kindness being a "feel-good" sentiment into a rigorous field of study that shows significant physiological and psychological benefits for people who practice it. At the same time, there is a growing global kindness movement comprised of a network of organizations dedicated to highlighting these kinds of benefits, and encouraging ways to embed the practice of kindness into our everyday lives. FGCU's Roots of Compassion & Kindness Center is hosting the first K20 Kindness Summit to kick off the "Kindness Without Borders" initiative.

The modern Generative AI revolution is built on what are called Large Language Models. If you think of Generative AI systems, like ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude, as ones that requires your input to move forward — you ask it a question and it give an answer; or you ask it to make a picture and it does its best — Agentic AIs are systems that allow you to give them a goal and they’ll figure out the steps themselves. We learn how Agentic AI systems are already being used by businesses, and what the future may bring, with the Head of AI Platform Services at Google Cloud, Sheri Senge Cunningham.

The featured artists chosen to create four new large-scale public murals in downtown Fort Myers through the fourth annual Southwest Florida Mural Festival were announced this week. We’ll talk with artists, festival organizers, and co-founders of Artsemble Underground Cesar Aguilera and Brian Weaver to learn more about the festival and their broader mission of making art more accessible and transforming Fort Myers into a vibrant arts district.

Dr. Justin Garcia, the executive director of the Kinsey Institute, discusses his new bookThe Intimate Animal: The Science of Sex, Fidelity, and Why we Live and Die for Love.

Since it was founded in 2023 the nonpartisan nonprofit Floridians for Democracy has grown to nearly 3000 members in Florida and beyond, and they’ve held many online events and have reached out across the political spectrum to provide educational programs, including some that featured traditionally conservative attorneys and leaders who share their concerns. With the third national No Kings Day protests coming up on Saturday, March 28 we invited two of the founding members back for an update on the work they’re doing, and to get their take on what’s unfolded over the past three years.