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Remembering Wilton Manors Mayor, NPR's Ari Shapiro, Florida Panther Field Biologist & Inter Miami

Courtesy of artist MGMT
The band Pink Martini will perform in Miami on Saturday.

On this Thursday, Feb. 27, episode of Sundial:

Remembering Wilton Manors Mayor

Remembrances continue to pour in across South Florida and beyond for Justin Flippen, the 41-year-old mayor of Wilton Manors, who died suddenly from a brain aneurysm on Tuesday. Flippen was elected a Wilton Manors city commissioner in 2008 and mayor in 2018. He’s remembered as an LGBTQ leader. Broward County Reporter Caitie Switalski joined Sundial to talk about the mayor’s legacy. 

Read more: Tributes Paid To Wilton Manors Mayor Justin Flippen After His Sudden Death Shocks Community

NPR Host Ari Shapiro talks Pink Martini

NPR host Ari Shapiro will be getting his groove on with the band Pink Martini in Miami. 

“It’s true. I live a double life,” says Shapiro. 

Shapiro is most notably known for his work as host of NPR’s afternoon news magazine show, "All Things Considered," but the public radio show host is also an occasional singer and makes frequent guest appearances with the jazz-swing band Pink Martini. The band will be performing at the Adrienne Arsht Center this Saturday, Feb. 29.

 

Credit Dan Monick
NPR host Ari Shapiro.

Sundial host Luis Hernandez spoke with Shapiro, who is reporting from Colorado this week and talked about his short stint working in Miami, his experiences covering some of the biggest stories of the past two decades and how he started his singing career.

A biologist who helped save the Florida panther

The Sundial Book Club this month is reading “Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther'' by Craig Pittman, a Tampa Bay Times environmental reporter. 

The book details how the Florida panther almost became extinct and features interviews with a few of the key figures who helped save the species from extinction. One of those people is field biologist Deborah Jansen. 

“It was fascinating to see up in a tree a cat. It was almost like your eyes were playing tricks on you,” says Jansen.

She was one of the first people hired by the state of Florida back in the 1980s to find and help protect the Florida panther. Jansen joined Sundial to talk about how she once performed mouth to mouth on a panther and why she felt the need to protect the animal.

Here’s where you can join the Sundial Book Club.

Inter Miami’s season opener game 

Inter Miami CF's first official season kicks off this weekend in Los Angeles. 

The Major League Soccer team’s logo and nickname is a heron. Their colors are black and pink. Inter Miami’s first game is versus the Los Angeles FC on March 1 and the first home game is March 14 against the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Miami Herald sports writer Michelle Kaufman joined Sundial to talk about what the team already represents to the community and what can be expected from Miami's first soccer team.