Florida Spectacular
Take a weekly trip across Florida with authors Cathy Salustri and Rick Kilby and discover a side of Florida you never knew existed. From the scallops in Panhandle bays to the Hemingway cats in Key West, every week's a Florida adventure.
Twice each month, Florida Keys historian Brad Bertelli joins Cathy for premium episodes available to subscribers focused exclusively on the Keys.
Florida Spectacular
Episode 48: St. Petersburg Politics
Send us your Florida questions!
This week The Florida Spectacular talks with Ben Kirby, who worked alongside St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman as the Communications Director for Kriseman's two-term tenure, which ended earlier this year. Cathy and Ben talk about Kriseman's famous "no Trumps allowed" tweet, the challenges facing a Florida community recovering from a Jim Crow South, and the way Florida government – St. Petersburg in particular – allows people accessibility to their government.
More about Ben: Benjamin J. Kirby is a communications professional with 30 years in politics, federal and local government, the nonprofit sector, and advocacy. From 2014 to 2022, he served as the Communications Director for St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. Born in western North Carolina and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Benjamin lives in St. Petersburg, Florida with his wife, Kendra, and his children, Emeline, Finnegan, and Elle.
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Subscribe to The Florida Spectacular newsletter, and keep up with Cathy's travels at greatfloridaroadtrip.com.
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Question or comment? Email: cathy@floridaspectacular.com.
Free, weekly episodes of "The Florida Spectacular" are co-hosted by Rick Kilby.
Get Rick's books at rickkilby.com/ and http://studiohourglass.blogspot.com/. Connect: Facebook.com/floridasfountainofyouth, Twitter (@oldfla), and IG (@ricklebee).
Premium, biweekly episodes of "The Florida Keys" Spectacular are co-hosted by Brad Bertelli. Find Brad's column in The Keys Weekly newspaper, ch...