The Babcock Ranch Podcast

710 WOR-AM
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  • Home & Garden
  • Updated Weekly

What does it take to build a town from scratch - one that runs on sunshine, keeps the lights on through a Category 4 hurricane, and gives thousands of people a place they're proud to call home? Every week, Co-Hosts Syd and Tyler Kitson pull back the curtain on America’s first solar-powered town. Join them as they sit down with the leaders, innovators, and neighbors who transformed 18,000 acres of Southwest Florida ranchland into a pioneering community. Part origin story, part front-porch conversation, part inspiration, it's a candid look at the decisions, setbacks and breakthroughs behind a town that's built to be better. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts - get inspired about what’s possible when you build with Mother Nature, not against her.

Episodes

  1. 6h ago

    Bending the Story Toward Hope

    Syd Kitson welcomes Bill Weir, CNN's chief climate correspondent, former Nightline and Good Morning America anchor, and creator of The Wonder List, for a candid conversation broadcast from New York City. Bill opens up about a turbulent childhood shaped by his parents' divorce, a mother chasing religious visions across 16 schools in six states, and a father who instilled in him a deep love of the natural world.  He traces his career path from local sports anchor in Los Angeles, covering Shaq and Kobe's early years, to a pivot toward hard news after 9/11, eventually finding his calling covering climate and the environment around the world. Bill and Syd discuss the personal costs of a life spent traveling to disaster zones and war zones, the tension between chasing big stories and building a stable home life, and what keeps Bill hopeful despite the scale of the climate crisis. The two dig into the politics of clean energy, misconceptions Americans have about innovation happening abroad (particularly in China's EV industry), and why climate resilience shouldn't be a partisan issue.  Bill speaks directly to Babcock Ranch as a real-world proof point, a community that kept its power on through Hurricane Ian. It's a conversation about resilience, purpose, and the case for optimism in the face of a changing climate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  2. Sep 10

    Long-Term Thinking with Governor Jeb Bush

    Babcock Ranch founder Syd Kitson sits down with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush to break down the bold decisions that redefined a state and built America’s first solar-powered town. From the bipartisan 2006 deal that created the largest land preservation project in Florida history to the brutal 2004 hurricane season that forged modern storm resilience, Kitson and Bush share the inside story of political grit, pioneering design, and why they built a world-class school before a single resident ever moved in. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  • 2 Episodes

About

What does it take to build a town from scratch - one that runs on sunshine, keeps the lights on through a Category 4 hurricane, and gives thousands of people a place they're proud to call home? Every week, Co-Hosts Syd and Tyler Kitson pull back the curtain on America’s first solar-powered town. Join them as they sit down with the leaders, innovators, and neighbors who transformed 18,000 acres of Southwest Florida ranchland into a pioneering community. Part origin story, part front-porch conversation, part inspiration, it's a candid look at the decisions, setbacks and breakthroughs behind a town that's built to be better. Follow and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts - get inspired about what’s possible when you build with Mother Nature, not against her.

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