How Florida Fixed Its Vote-Counting Problem After the 2000 Election
Ballots should be counted quickly and accurately.
January 2024
Monkey Herpes, Face Eating, and the Pork Chop Gang: How Public Records Laws Created the Florida Man
The growing anti-transparency atmosphere in the state might make the Florida Man extinct.
Features
The Villages Is America's Boomer Boomtown
The Florida master-planned retirement community spans 33 square miles and counting.
Freedom Towns: A Vast but Largely Forgotten Movement of Black Self-Rule
Zora Neale Hurston’s hometown of Eatonville, Florida, was one of the first all-black municipalities incorporated in the U.S.
Florida Is Shunning the People Who Helped Build It
The state can thank immigrants for much of its recent economic success, but now they're getting the cold shoulder.
Everglades Restoration Complicated by Florida Agricultural Interests
Tariffs and sugar subsidies have propped up overvalued land needed to fix the environmental damage.
Meet Florida's Python Bounty Hunters
Eradication of the apex predator is “likely impossible.”
Interview
Jeb Bush on Why Florida Thrives: 'We Don't Try To Micromanage People's Lives'
Former Gov. Jeb Bush makes the case for why "Florida works pretty good."
Editor's Note
The Future Is Florida
The siren song of the Sunshine State is the promise of freedom tinged with the idea of escape.
Topics
Is Florida Finally Fixing Its Broken Homeowners Insurance Market?
Floridians spend millions litigating insurance disputes after hurricanes. There's a better way.
Jimmy Buffett, Bard of the Florida Man
Buffett realized that what the consumer thought of him was ultimately more important than what he was.
How the Bushwacker Cocktail Migrated to Florida
The Pensacola favorite gave rise to festivals and even a federal trademark case.
Public Pensions Threaten To Bankrupt State Governments. Florida Has an Answer.
Thanks to recent reforms, most government workers in Florida now enroll in less risky defined contribution plans.
A New Political Bellwether: Osceola County, Florida
Watch Florida's Hispanic communities for clues about the 2024 election.
This Company Is Running a High-Speed Train in Florida—Without Subsidies
Brightline is the first privately funded intercity rail line in the U.S. in over 100 years.
Photo: The 'My Boxes' Theory of Trump's Records Case
"I don't want you looking through my boxes," Donald Trump told his lawyers, according to court documents.
How Florida Cut Red Tape To Fast-Track Hurricane Repairs
Bureaucracy usually mires construction projects in delays. Florida is trying to buck that norm.
Anti-Woke Classroom Rules Threaten Florida's School Choice Achievements
School choice is supposed to prevent politicians from pushing their ideas into the classroom.
The Florida Barrier Reef's Last Stand
Summer heat this year posed an existential threat to the world's third-largest barrier reef.
Infographics
Infographic: Who's Moved to Florida Since COVID Started?
Over 2 million Americans have moved to Florida since COVID began. Where did they come from?
Infographic: Floridians From Overseas
Nearly half of Miami's population was born outside the continental United States.
Infographic: Florida's Special Districts
It's not just Reedy Creek and The Villages. Florida has nearly 2,000 special districts.
Infographic: Florida's Public School Book Bans
The Bluest Eyes and 13 Reasons Why top the list of controversial books in Florida.
Culture
DeSantis vs. Disney: Florida's Fight Over Private Governance
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crusade to end America's greatest success in private governance.
Books
Janet Reno Is No Hero
A new biography by Judith Hicks Stiehm ignores Janet Reno's many failures as attorney general.
How a Law No One Understands Brought Down Florida Drug 'Kingpins'
Jordan S. Rubin's Bizarro tells the story of the men who tried and failed to challenge the government's arbitrary rules on synthetic drugs.
Reviews
Review: The Disputed Roots of the Cuban Sandwich
It's Miami vs. Tampa in the Florida sandwich wars.
Review: Scarface Shows How Prohibition Leads to Violence
Tony Montana has a bloody rags-to-riches story.
Review: When Pirates Take Over Tampa
Real pirates terrorized the Gulf Coast. These modern pirates just want to have fun.
Review: The Cross Florida Barge Canal That Never Was
Libertarians will read Ditch of Dreams as a story about bureaucracy and environmentalism run amok.
Review: The Florida Novels of Charles Willeford
“Just tell the truth, and they’ll accuse you of writing black humor.”
Review: Craig Robinson's Extremely Florida Sitcom
Killing It mocks capitalism, but at least it's funny.
Review: The Album That Helped Make Florida the Epicenter of Death Metal
Death's 1990 Spiritual Healing paints a right-wing culture warrior’s nightmare vision of America.
ETC.
This Florida Republican Is All in on Criminal Justice Reform
Former state lawmaker Jeff Brandes says the Florida Legislature has "ceded its role" to high-profile Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Crossword
Brickbats: January 2024
News of Florida politicians, police, and bureaucrats behaving badly.
