Episodes

Monday Dec 20, 2021
The 2021 Holiday Special
Monday Dec 20, 2021
Monday Dec 20, 2021
In our second annual Wait Five Minutes Holiday Special, we are joined by past guests to share tales of ornaments, beach trees, manatees, spoonbills and the unusual qualities of the holidays in Florida.
Get your WFM Merch at Cast & Clay Co. on Etsy!
Go to the Wait Five Minutes website for more!
Check out more from our guests this week!
Read more work from Laura Albritton here!
Keep up on the reporting from Max Chesnes here!
Check out Beloved Beasts by Michelle Nijhuis here!
Read the article about Florida Christmas from Gabrielle Calise here!
All of the music was originally composed.

Monday Dec 13, 2021
A Walk in Paynes Prairie
Monday Dec 13, 2021
Monday Dec 13, 2021
For the finale of the Conservation Season, we go for a long walk in the woods, through the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park, searching for wild horses and bison and stories to tell.
Get your WFM Merch at Cast & Clay Co. on Etsy!
Go to the Wait Five Minutes website for more!
Read more about the near extinction of the American bison in Michelle Nijhuis' book, Beloved Beasts
All of the music was originally composed.

Monday Dec 06, 2021
Saving A Florida Tree
Monday Dec 06, 2021
Monday Dec 06, 2021
The Florida Native Plant Society works every day to preserve the native species of flora in our state. But in the case of the Florida Torreya, a functionally extinct tree, they're trying to save whatever is left.
Get your WFM Merch at Cast & Clay Co. on Etsy!
Go to the Wait Five Minutes website for more!
Thank you to Valerie Anderson and Lilly Anderson-Messec for your help in this episode! Check out more from the Florida Native Plant Society and TorreyaKeepers here!
Hear more about north Florida trees in our episode about the longleaf pine!
All of the music was originally composed.

Monday Nov 29, 2021
Our Florida Seashells
Monday Nov 29, 2021
Monday Nov 29, 2021
Visitors to Florida often pick up shells when they visit our beaches. What many people forget is that those shells -- all of them -- were created by animals that once lived within. This week, we chat with Cynthia Barnett, author of THE SOUND OF THE SEA, about seashells, inside and out.
Get your WFM Merch at Cast & Clay Co. on Etsy!
Go to the Wait Five Minutes website for more!
Hear more about Sanibel here!
A Conversation with a Florida Refuge Ranger
All the music in this episode was originally composed.

Friday Nov 26, 2021
BONUS: A Conversation with Mary Roach
Friday Nov 26, 2021
Friday Nov 26, 2021
I sat down with non-fiction author (and one of my favorites) Mary Roach to talk about her new book FUZZ: WHEN NATURE BREAKS THE LAW as well as how she got her start as a writer, the ways she finds interesting people to chat with, and the animals of Florida that dazzle us both.

Monday Nov 22, 2021
The Trouble with Pests (w/ Mary Roach)
Monday Nov 22, 2021
Monday Nov 22, 2021
The lines between human and animal spaces are constantly blurred. That's exactly what the new book, FUZZ: WHEN NATURE BREAKS THE LAW by Mary Roach, is all about. Our guest this week is Mary Roach as we discuss pests, invasive species, and the complicated ways we manage our animals.
Get your WFM Merch at Cast & Clay Co. on Etsy!
Go to the Wait Five Minutes website for more!
Read more about the peacocks of Tampa from Gabrielle Calise!
Read more about python hunting in Florida from Craig Pittman!
Read more about feral hog hunting here!
Listen to our episode about python hunting and Hurricane Andrew here!
All the music in this episode was originally composed.

Monday Nov 15, 2021
What‘s Happening to Florida‘s Manatees?
Monday Nov 15, 2021
Monday Nov 15, 2021
It's suspected that nearly a thousand manatees will have died in Florida by the end of this year. That is already the largest number of manatees deaths in a year in Florida history. This week, we chat with Max Chesnes of the TCPalm about the manatees, the Indian River Lagoon, and the fight to protect our seagrass.
Get your WFM Merch at Cast & Clay Co. on Etsy!
Go to the Wait Five Minutes website for more!
Thank you to the Florida Oceanographic Society for having us! Plan your visit to their Coastal Center right here!
All the music in this episode was originally composed.

Monday Nov 08, 2021
Florida‘s First Road
Monday Nov 08, 2021
Monday Nov 08, 2021
In the early days of East Florida, the new British governor and his lieutenant were set the task to create a public road for those living along the east coast. Fighting back Florida's nature proved a task no one was ready to face.
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Go to the Wait Five Minutes website for more!
Read more about the King's Road right here!
Listen to more about 18th century Florida here!
Florida's Historic Tolomato Cemetery
All of the music in this episode was originally composed.

Monday Nov 01, 2021
The Civilian Conservation Corps
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Monday Nov 01, 2021
In the 1930s, as part of the New Deal, Franklin Roosevelt started a program called the Civilian Conservation Corps. It brought new jobs to young working men, but also changed the way Americans looked at the nature around them.
Get your WFM Merch at Cast & Clay Co. on Etsy!
Go to the Wait Five Minutes website for more!
Thank you to Neil Maher for his assistance in the creation of this episode! Read more about Neil's work and pick up a copy of his books here!
Listen to the story of another CCC park in this previous episode!
All of the music in this episode was originally composed.

Monday Oct 25, 2021
The Bride of Bellamy Bridge
Monday Oct 25, 2021
Monday Oct 25, 2021
Along the Chipola River in northern Florida, a spectral bride wanders the swamps. She is part of a grand tradition of ghost stories, one that stretches around the world, one that can tell us a lot about our histories.
Get your WFM Merch at Cast & Clay Co. on Etsy!
Go to the Wait Five Minutes website for more!
Thank you Elizabeth Randall for taking the time to chat. Check out her book about the Women in White right here!
Read more about the Bride of Bellamy Bridge right here!
Read about the true story of Elizabeth Bellamy here!
All of the music in this episode was originally composed.