Wait Five Minutes

Zora’s Folktales

In her book, Mules and Men, Zora Neale Hurston catalogues the folk stories, songs, ritual and practices of Black Americans in the 1920s. How she wrote the book - her travels, her partners, and her failings - layer in the story to detail a fascinating chapter in the author's life.

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Read more from Zora Neale Hurston here!

Read Wrapped in Rainbows by Valerie Boyd here!

 

All of the music was originally composed. 

 

The recording of Zora Neale Hurston is from the Library of Congress and does not belong to Nicholas D'Alessandro or Wait Five Minutes. The credit of the song goes to the following:

Herbert Halpert 1939 Southern States Recording Expedition (AFC 1939/005) American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Listen more at the Library of Congress website!

Al Capone and the Valentine’s Day Massacre

On the morning of Valentine's Day, 1929, seven mobsters were murdered in the streets of Chicago. Al Capone, the man who coordinated the massacre was in the town he had called his vacation home: Miami, Florida. 

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Thank you so much to Geoff Schumacher from the Mob Museum for all of your assistance! Check out more from the Mob Museum here!

 

All of the music was originally composed.

The Great Freeze, 127 Years Later

127 years ago to the day, the sun set in Florida and so did the temperature. A freeze swept over the state, devastating the citrus industry for the second time in six weeks. Florida would never be the same.

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Thank you so much to Brigitte Stephenson and the Sanford Museum for all of their help! Check out the Museum and plan a visit here!

Thank you to Melissa Procko from the Orange County Regional History Center for all of your help. Plan your visit to the History Center here! 

 

All of the music was originally composed. 

The 2021 Holiday Special

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.

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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.

A Walk in Paynes Prairie

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. 

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Read more about the near extinction of the American bison in Michelle Nijhuis' book, Beloved Beasts

 

All of the music was originally composed. 

Saving A Florida Tree

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. 

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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. 

Our Florida Seashells

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. 

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Hear more about Sanibel here!

A Conversation with a Florida Refuge Ranger

Vacation on Sanibel Island

 

All the music in this episode was originally composed. 

BONUS: A Conversation with Mary Roach

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.

The Trouble with Pests (w/ Mary Roach)

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.

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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. 

What‘s Happening to Florida‘s Manatees?

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. 

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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.