A New History Puts a Critical Eye to Florida’s Past

The Takeaway

Earlier this month, Florida celebrated the 500th anniversary of explorer Ponce de León’s discovery of the state.  In  new book, “Finding Florida,”  T. D. Allman  takes a critical look at the forces that shaped that state – starting with Ponce de Leon.
Allman writes: “Florida is like Play-Doh. Take the goo; mold it to your dream. Then watch the dream ooze back into goo. Contrary to what our school books taught us, Ponce did not discover Florida. He never did much of anything here except get himself killed.”

Will you support The World? 

The story you just read is accessible and free to all because thousands of listeners and readers contribute to our nonprofit newsroom. We go deep to bring you the human-centered international reporting that you know you can trust. To do this work and to do it well, we rely on the support of our listeners. If you appreciated our coverage this year, if there was a story that made you pause or a song that moved you, would you consider making a gift to sustain our work through 2024 and beyond?