Monday, September 18, 2023:

Happy Monday, 

It's Future Perfect fellow Rachel, and I'm excited to start this week's Sentences by highlighting a new project about my wacky and (sometimes) wonderful home state: Florida! 

Here's what's kicking off our week:

Up first: The United States of Florida 

In other news: Drew Barrymore, Russell Brand, and a US-Iran prisoner swap

The United States of Florida 

Paige Vickers

Examining the Sunshine State's outsized role in American culture: We often think of Florida as its own world. But the truth is, Florida's political, social, environmental, and economic systems are part of, and often representative of, our country's evolution. 

The lowdown: Vox reporters traveled to Florida to investigate invasive species, browse the aisles of the state's most beloved grocery store, sit down with Republican voters, and explore the numbers behind the behemoth that is Disney World. Here are a few of the pieces readers can find in the series:

• Reclaiming "Florida Man." A third-generation Floridian reflects on the state's unofficial, unwanted mascot, the "Florida Man," in a piece that explores how the absurd meme has become a stand-in for bad feelings toward Florida as a whole. Read more from Vox freelancer and Florida native Kristen Arnett here.

• Florida has become a zoo. A literal zoo. The state is brimming with more than 500 nonnative species. These monkeys, reptiles, and birds don't belong in Florida. Should we kick them out? Senior environmental reporter Benji Jones has the answer here.

• How Florida became the center of the Republican universe. In dozens of conversations with locals, politicians, and political experts, a Vox politics reporter learned why residents are joining the GOP,  why Florida went red, and why it will probably stay that way. Read more from politics and society reporter Nicole Narea here.

The stakes: Vox's senior culture editor, Meredith Haggerty, told us what inspired the project and what readers will learn as they delve into its seven stories: 

Why write a story package on Florida? What sparked the idea?

The biggest reason was that Florida just kept coming up. Whether we were talking about national politics, climate change, or the culture wars, the Sunshine State feels like it's at the forefront of every important conversation in American life. We were so excited to step back and think about the state driving so much discourse.

What's your biggest takeaway about Florida from this package?

Besides that Publix has really good cake, it's just so clear how much Florida is what happens when you compress our expansive and difficult national mood down into one very, very humid state, and then add pythons that aren't even supposed to be there. 

The country has a lot of decisions to make in the next decades — on how we do and don't change, how we'll handle the rising seas and soaring temperatures, how we'll vote in our elections and teach our children. 

Florida is on the bleeding edge of so many of these discussions, and that isn't changing soon.

Check out all the stories here.

(PS: The comment section is open on two of these Florida stories, so please share your thoughts about the Sunshine State with us!) 

The Drew Barrymore controversy, explained 

Taylor Hill/FilmMagic

Last week, American actress and producer Drew Barrymore faced backlash when she announced her talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, would resume filming, despite an ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America. Following a wave of criticism, Barrymore reversed course, announcing the show would go on "pause." 

• In May, the WGA went on strike after its members were unable to negotiate a deal with studios and streamers. This is the longest strike on record for the union, and has halted filming for most shows and movies. [Vox]

• Barrymore announced her show would resume filming without its WGA writers, who continued to picket outside the filming studio last week. Though the actor's union, SAG, is also on strike, she wouldn't have been crossing the SAG picket line by continuing her role as host. [The Hollywood Reporter]

• "I have listened to everyone, and I am making the decision to pause the show's premiere until the strike is over," Barrymore wrote in a new statement Sunday, after receiving backlash online. [NBC News]

• Other talk shows, such as The View, resumed filming amid the strike without their writers and with far less backlash. That may be due to Barrymore's position in the industry, and the pro-union image she's cultivated. [Vulture]

Vox Recommends

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• Seven US citizens are headed home from Iran via a Qatari plane. Five of those citizens, who the US says were imprisoned in Iran, are returning to the US as part of a Qatari-brokered exchange between the US and Iran. The deal also unfroze $6 billion of Tehran's funds. [Reuters]
  
  

• This weekend, four women (including one who was a minor at the time) accused comedian Russell Brand of rape, sexual assault, and abuse over a seven-year period. Brand publicly denied the allegations and stated all his relationships have been consensual. [ABC News]
  
  

• Beginning yesterday, China sent 103 warplanes toward Taiwan, an island off China's coast with disputed sovereignty. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has conducted increasingly large military drills and demonstrations around the self-governed island. [AP]
  
  

• Thousands of climate change protesters marched from the Upper East Side of Manhattan to the New York Stock Exchange. The protesters are doing so to condemn financial institutions' $5.5 trillion of investments in fossil fuels since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2016. [ABC 7 Eyewitness News]

Trump still has no policy plans

The terrible paradox of air pollution and climate change

A tenth of the global 1 percent's income could transform the world 

Should you be friends with your kids?

Today's crossword

Join Unexplainable in NYC!

Vox's award-winning science podcast is hosting a live night of fun and learning with special guest comedian and writer Wyatt Cenac on Thursday, September 21.