Why Are We Like This?
A true crime podcast microdosing Florida.
Episodes
It's been a long time, we never shoulda left you... Without some dumb news we did no prep to...
After an extended work/family/pneumonia-driven hiatus the WAWLT Boys are back and we're getting right into it. Among the topics discussed in our comeback episode: Open-carrying in Publix Charlie Kirk memorial campus streets Fort Myers' Madi…
In This House, We Call It "Alligator Auschwitz"
We intended to talk about the so-called Alligator Auschwitz or Alligator Alcatraz Detention Center that opened last week a mere 45 miles from our WAWLT offices at the Dade-Collier Training & Transition Airport in the Big Cypress Preserve. T…
The Gabela Boatlift, Floridians in Israel, and More
Joe Carollo's "Not Involved in Weaponizing City Government" shirt has people asking a lot of questions already answered by the shirt. On May 30, Thomas and David attended a special City of Miami commission hearing with commissioners Joe Car…
Means-Tested Kisses
You've heard WAWLT episodes before, but have you ever heard a cynically-sold-out-to-a-political-party version of a WAWLT episode? To demonstrate our value and in our effort to chase the "Joe Rogan of the Left" title we played a little game…
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Miami? DISINCORPORATION. feat. Billy Corben
Today we're tackling the real problems facing our magical home city, discussing the viability of election and political reforms across Miami like a new election calendar and district map, as laid out in a recent Miami Herald opinion piece. …
Honey I Shrunk the Economy
It's the stupid economy, you stupid idiot. Another week, another spate of economic uncertainty roiling markets and the nerves of our tender tummies. GDP has shrunk (shrank? shrinked?) and while it might SEEM like Florida's favorite presiden…
I Hope You Had the Time of Your Wife
Hope Foundation is a Florida nonprofit that was supposed to help struggling Floridians on government assistance get back on their feet. Instead, the organization -- with profound ties to Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis -- is at the center…
Canadian Cake Wars & Corruption
For our main story this week, we're looking at a brewing scandal plaguing Gov. Ron DeSantis and Casey DeSantis. The Governor's Agency for Healthcare Administration is in hot water for allegedly directing a private healthcare company to shif…
A Blessed Liberation Day To You
We marked our first Liberation Day with a breakdown of the special election results in Wisconsin and Florida. We also checked in on some of our favorite mayors, NYC's Exonerated Eric Adams and Miami-Dade's belt-tightening Daniella Levine Ca…
The New American Era of Being Food Poisoned by Scammers
We talked about the intersection of scamming, regulation, and public corruption against the backdrop of a recent petty scandal where Miami-Dade health inspectors were caught extorting restaurants for clean reports. After that, we get into r…
The Talla-Nasty Shuffle Legislative Check-In
We check in with our roving reporter Thomas Kennedy on the latest bile pouring from the state capital and try to figure out exactly where the priorities lie. It's a short one folks, enjoy it!
How a 2007 Arrest on Biscayne Blvd. Led to a First Amendment Movement & a Law Enforcement Backlash feat. Carlos Miller
On January 1, the so-called HALO Law went into effect across Florida, limiting and in many cases criminalizing citizens' ability to record police in public. The law is part-and-parcel with an ever more reactionary and authoritarian drift in…
Miami New Guy Ascendant feat. Andrew Otazo
He's back, and boy does he have some opinions about how to Make America Great Again. That's right, we're once again talking about our favorite invented demographic cohort, the Miami New Guy, who has spent the past fewJoining us is author, a…
Javi's Worthless Millions feat. Andres Fidanza
When's a rug not a rug? When it's pulled right out from under ya, ya dummies. Fans of Javier Milei recently learned that hard lesson when they dropped millions of dollars of (presumably not) hard-earned cash into a meme coin fraud sponsored…
Nothing Ever Happens (Except For All The Things That Do Happen)
"Nothing Ever Happens" is a classic shit-poster meme about the phenomenon of crisis-based media hype cycles and how we ingest them as people who might not be on the immediate frontlines of the crisis. It's a useful lens for us to examine th…
A New Day Dawns On the United States of Florida
Happy MLK Jr. Day! Happy Inauguration-They're-Gonna-Write-About-In-History-Books-But-For-All-The-Wrong-Reasons Day! The WAWLT Boys return from a protracted break to bring you up to date on America's speed-run into full Florida status. We ta…
The Florida State of Not-In-Play
So it turns out Florida -- and every swing state -- wasn't in play after all. Following a tectonic collapse that saw Florida Democrats somehow lose even more ground, we discuss the fallout and what it means for the future of our state, our …
The Rent's Slightly Less Damn High
Over the summer, Redfin released a report analyzing rent trends across the country and while the national average ticked up 1%, analysts were surprised to find many major metros across Florida cratering due to increased inventory, slowing m…
The Education Episode - 2024 Edition
There is a cognitive dissonance when trying to pin down exactly what constitutes a “quality” education in Florida. Is it a critical understanding of the world imparted during your most formative years? Is it technical training and job place…
The HOA Hustle
***Here's the Change.org petition we mentioned*** https://www.change.org/p/stop-the-great-outdoors-initiative-save-florida-s-state-parks-from-harmful-developments?source_location=tag_Rising costs associated with so-called special assessment…
'Weird' Flex But Ok
Today, the WAWLT fellas get to the bottom of the AI bubble roiling the all-important Dow Jones Industrial Average, what makes a nepo-politico heir endeavor to mistreat a bear cub, and (briefly) discuss the failed disaster that was the seaso…
The Lord of the Cringe
A lot has happened since last we met, dear listeners. With a maelstrom of political upheaval, a historic Republican National Convention, a Presidential assassination attempt gone awry, and more, we make the choice to devote the lion's share…
Semi-Emergency Podcast: The Road to Fascism is Riddled with People Telling You to Calm Down
The WAWLT Boys reviewed that devastating Biden debate performance and what the seemingly rudderless Democratic Party could or should do faced with a leader who resembles the Benadryl Hat Man. We also dived into the outrageous recent Supreme…
The Diner Lobby is Strong feat. Jordan Zakarin
We’re talking congestion pricing this week and we refuse to kowtow to the powerful, influential diner lobby that has place New York Governor Kathy Hochul firmly in its pocket. To help us clear the congestion, we welcome back our very own an…
It's a Cruel Summer from Florida to Gaza
In this jam-packed summer spectacular we have two interviews that tell the story of Florida governmental ineffectiveness and evil, first on the state level and then locally.First, we welcome back McKenna Schueler (@SheCarriesOn), staff writ…
Florida's Brightline Problem & Why We Can't Have Good Transit
The guys talked about the recent proposed fair increases on the Brightline train system, which has been the source of much controversy in its brief tenure as Florida's de facto rail transit system. Along with the hefty price tag that taxpay…
Civil War Review - Bring On the Civil War Please
This week we are reviewing the latest film from Alex Garland, Civil War, and considering what it would take to get this wonderful, fully functional, definitely real country to descend into the kind of madness where violent rural weirdos emb…
Amendment 4 and the Fight for Reproductive Freedom in Florida feat. Dani Martins
Beginning in May, abortion will be effectively banned in Florida with a strict new law making the six-week mark the limit for those seeking care. However, voters will have the chance to vote on Amendment 4 in November to codify abortion thr…
Amendment 4, Immigration & Squatters Rights feat. Jordan Zakarin & Yareliz Mendez Zamora
In the first half of this episode we catch up with our friend Jordan Zakarin and talk about the media narrative around squatting, the eclipse, Florida's future, and more.Then, we talked with another friend, Yareliz Mendez Zamor from the Flo…
Interview: Haiti's Hard Times Equal Opportunity for DeSantis
It’s a familiar story: Haiti is currently experiencing extreme social strife, and the opportunists are lining up to take advantage. We talked with Florida Immigrant Coalition co-executive director Tessa Petit about her home country’s histor…
The Attempted Political Assassination of Robert Dempster & Super Tuesday Roundup
We spent this week talking about the endless supply of disarray that the Florida Dems seem almost preternaturally capable of concocting around their wheezing party, this time in the form of a completely manufactured controversy wherein our …
Conversation: Linda Loves Florida (Tourism Industry) feat. Jason Garcia
We welcome back Jason Garcia (@jason_garcia), the publisher of Seeking Rents, for a discussion about State Sen. Linda Stewart's recent scandal wherein she was caught advancing industry-written legislation that would prevent Orlando being ab…
Conversation: Biden's Betrayal on Immigration
The WAWLT Boys analyzed President Biden and Democrats' controversial immigration bill, what it gets wrong, why it's good that it's doomed, and how it represents a negative shift in the Overton Window, acquiescing to the far-right at the exp…
EMERGENCY POD: Ron Backs Down
Folks, they're calling it the Worst Run Campaign in History, and we had a front row seat to its demise. Joined by Ryan Ray (@RyanRay_fla) we joined in with the rest of America in celebrating and ridiculing the death of Ron DeSantis' preside…
Interview: Thomas' Own Great Resignation, Miami & Tallahassee Check-In, feat. Ryan Ray & Ida Eskamani
We're joined for this episode by longtime friend and guest Ryan Ray (@ryanray_Fla) who talked through the latest spates of Miami corruption and local politics, the changes afoot at New College of Florida, and Iowa caucus predictions. Ryan s…
Conversation: Florida Man Jeffrey Epstein, Florida Gov. Flailing in Iowa, & Javier Milei Watch
The WAWLT Boys begin today's episode sharing their culture by taking the listeners on a tour through history of Santa's Enchanted Forest, a uniquely Miami-Dade working class holiday experience. From there, we dive into the release of the Je…
Conversation: It's a complicated city
The WAWLT boys catch up ahead of the holiday and discuss the ongoing controversy surrounding Miami City Attorney Victoria Mendez, who faces the chopping block on January 11th for her and her husband's rampant, blatant, predatory corruption.…
Interview: Reining in the HOAs and Insurers feat. Adrian Madriz
We talked with Adrian Madriz of Struggle for Miami's Affordable and Sustainable Housing Incorporated (SMASH Miami) about their new campaign to overhaul the unfair and predatory practices of Homeowners Associations and insurance companies in…
WAWLT Halloween Special: The Great MAGAgration
Things keep getting spooookier here in Florida, as all the worst people continue moving here for all the wrong reasons. We took a deep-dive into the forces behind the Great MAGA Migration to the Sunshine State and how Florida became the hom…
Conversations: Argentina's dead-dog medium presidential candidate & a Florida property insurance crisis update
We've got a two-pack of WAWLT topics today. First, we talked with Hernan Reyes, a public opinion analyst based in Buenos Aires, about the ascendance of political figure Javier Milei, Argentina's very own Donald Trump, a Libertarian radical …