7 Questions Nick D'Alessandro, Creator of the Wait Five Minutes Podcast

Since the summer of 2018, Nick D'Alessandro has been producing a history and culture podcast about the state of Florida called Wait Five Minutes. Since those early days, the show has worked with experts from across the state and country, covering life in the Sunshine State as it is and how our history has shaped us. The central goal of the show is to explore the story of Florida with affection and scrutiny, sharing who we are through how we get here.

 

1.     How and/or when did you get hooked on history?

 

It’s nearly impossible for me to pinpoint a specific beginning, as my love of history has found new beginnings at so many different ages and periods in my life. My family all loves history and has certainly imbued me with their passions. I have had some genuinely incredible teachers in my youth, teachers that made me engaged with the history I was learning. The Smithsonian visits I was able to do at a very young age certainly imprinted on me, but it’s hard to overstate the impact of my middle school history teacher, Jason Leinheiser, and my high school aerospace teacher, Bill Yucius. They taught history in engaging ways, ways that made the people feel real, made them feel present, and I often find I’m trying to match their excitement and passion in every episode I write.

 

2.     What role does history play or has it played in your personal life?

 

History has just changed the way I see everything, even little things. I’ve always loved road trips and maps, and since I started the show three years ago, I often find myself searching up the towns, roads, natural landmarks, and everything in between whenever I travel. Name origins, town placements, the most menial insignificant stuff is so fascinating because I know for a fact that everything is connected to some broader historical trend or moment. I’m lucky my partner and my family enjoy hearing me rant about the things I find or the things I notice because I can’t contain myself at most points.

 

3.     How will history play a part of your professional life/career?

 

This podcast started out as a current event show approaching the 2018 gubernatorial election in Florida. There were so many issues in Florida I knew so little about, and I wanted to make a show to answer questions I had about the election itself. But as the election passed, I realized how much I preferred to write about the historical backgrounds of these stories, how much richer the stories were, and I instantly pivoted. History is just more thrilling to explore for me.

 

That being said, I call the show a history and culture podcast, but in many ways it’s a show about experts in those fields. Nearly every episode has a historian, a biologist, a journalist, a writer, a scientist, an expert of some kind. They are certainly on the show to discuss their expertise, to provide some insight, but I’ve had dozens of guests now and, in many ways, the show is really a testament to them and how crucial their work is. Getting to talk with them and learn from their experiences and studies has been really one of the most rewarding elements of creating this show. I hope I get to celebrate them for the rest of my career.

 

4.     Why is studying/knowing history important?

 

I think about this often. Sometimes, when I’m making an episode, I pause to consider why this is the story I want to tell. I think the idea I always come back to and can’t quite shake is how often history is still happening. The impact of events is just a straight line, a solid string, connecting events from centuries ago to this exact moment, in everything we do. It would feel foolish to live in a world where we didn’t understand how we got here. We can only get better as a society, as a people, if we understand the tragedies and injustices and conflicts that have shaped us, warts and all.

 

5.     What is your favorite period or aspect of history to learn about and why?

 

This is such a tough question. Obviously, my passion is for Florida history and I love all aspects of its history, from the earliest inhabitants, through the Spanish period, through the years as a territory, to the last century of development. It’s all just so fascinating.

 

However, if I have to pick a time period, in Florida or nationwide, I think I have a keen interest in post-Civil War, as in Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. There’s so much to be learned about our nation today by examining the things that occurred in those years, by exploring how the expansion of the West, and the changes in the South, and the political strife approaching the 20^th century explained so much of our country in the successive years. Florida especially faced so much change in that era, and I always find myself drawn to those stories.

 

6.     What is Wait Five Minutes about and what was your inspiration?

 

Wait Five Minutes is a podcast about Florida, by a Floridan. That’s the tagline, and I think it’s important to the character of the show. I feel that the perception of our state is so tied to people seeking to minimize us, to mock our history or our presence in the world. In truth, Florida is so formative to our entire nation, so indicative of the things that have transpired in the last three centuries. People often write off the problems of my state without considering why those problems exist, the history of how we came to be the way we are. I think everything deserves that consideration and, since I’m from here and since I love it the way I do, I take it as a personal mission to do my level best to tell the truth of our state, our backstory, with as much love and attention as it so rightfully deserves.

 

7.     What are some of the topics you’ve covered?

 

I’ve covered authors like Zora Neale Hurston and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas. I’ve also talked to many current authors, like novelist Kristen Arnett, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Gilbert King, and the expert on all things Florida, Craig Pittman. I’ve covered the development of various cities, from the tiny Sanibel Island, to the massive Jacksonville. I’ve discussed a variety of animals, from the gopher tortoise to the bonneted bat, from sandhill cranes to the common house spider. I’ve done a handful of episodes on the supernatural, including UFO sightings, ghost stories, and everyone’s favorite cryptid: the Skunk Ape. We’ve talked about archaeology, geology, botany, astronomy, anthropology, and more. We’ve discussed the Floridian who brought a sandwich into space, we’ve discussed the town that banished the Devil, we’ve discussed basketball, football, baseball, and golf. Whatever kind of Florida story you want to hear, you can bet there’s an episode about it in the catalog.

 

People have often asked me where a good place to start on the show is, and I always recommend doing what I do whenever I start a new podcast: I search the back catalog for a topic that jumps out to me, and I listen to that episode. I promise, whatever you’re looking for, there is an episode in the list that will fit your criteria, and there’s even more to come. In my opinion, Florida is a place with stories always unfolding. There’s no end to the tales we’ve yet to explore.