Handwritten signs on the interior office doors remind colleagues, “Shhh … Podcast recording in progress.” Behind the door is our “recording studio,” which looks a lot like a dining room table, four chairs, three sets of headphones, two microphones and some sort of sound mixing board that I’m not supposed to touch. Ever.
The Florida Keys Weekly Podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
The past year included a few big-name podcast guests who either called in to the show, or joined us in our Stock Island “studio.”
Musician Jelly Roll
Keys Weekly’s Alex Rickert and Britt Myers had the chance in April to interview perhaps the world’s most unexpected country star — Jelly Roll, who had just ruled the CMT Music Awards and won all three of the categories in which he was nominated. He was due in Key West the following month to headline the annual Key West Songwriters Festival. Later in the year, he’d also collect the New CMA Artist Award.
But during the podcast interview, the gracious and face-tattooed Jelly Roll, who was calling in from his tour bus, was more interested in trying to buy a baby goat from the back of a passing pickup truck than bragging about his awards.
Pitcher Roger Clemens
When the Major League pitching great Roger Clemens visited Key West in February to emcee a charity golf tournament, he made stops at the Key West baseball and softball fields to sign autographs and chat with local players, kids and parents. At the Key West Golf Club, he graciously posed for selfies and chatted with media – including our own Britt Myers.
“I was blown away by how gracious and engaged Clemens was with our questions,” Myers said. “Regardless of anyone’s opinion of him, this was clearly a man of sincere resolve — proud of his playing days, but more importantly, proud of who he is as a husband, father, grandfather and friend.”
Columnist/Author Carl Hiaasen
While in Key West before Christmas, legendary South Florida newspaper columnist, novelist and satirist Carl Hiaasen joined the Keys Weekly podcast on Dec. 8.
The consummate newspaperman — and thorn in the side of corrupt politicians — retired from writing his opinion column in the Miami Herald a few years ago, but had recently penned an essay for “Vanity Fair,” comparing two infamous “Florida men,” Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis. Hiaasen’s newest book, “Wrecker,” is intended for kids, but is apparently still devoured by adult readers. The adventure tale takes place in Key West during the COVID pandemic.
Hiaasen will be back in Key West for this year’s Key West Literary Seminar, Jan. 11-14, where the theme is, most appropriately for today’s political climate, “Florida: The State We’re In.”
Artist Wyland
Robert Wyland, known to millions simply as Wyland, is one of the most renowned and recognized artists and conservationists on the globe. He joined the Florida Keys Weekly Podcast in April to discuss his love for the Florida Keys, his “Whaling Wall” murals seen around the world and the 45th anniversary of Wyland Galleries. USA Today called him the “Marine Michelangelo” and during his career an estimated 1 billion people have seen his artwork on an annual basis. But in the Keys, he’s a guy who regularly shows up and gives back to the community.
Peanuts artist Tom Everhart
Famed “Peanuts” artist Tom Everhart, who continued the work of the cartoon’s creator Charles Schulz, joined the Florida Keys Weekly Podcast in March as he prepared for an art show and appearances at Ocean Blue Galleries, 109 Duval St. in Key West.
Everhart discussed his friendship with Schulz, who approved Everhart as the only artist legally authorized to use the cartoonist’s subject matter to create fine art.
