Unsealed

Florida Department of State

A podcast by and about the Florida Department of State

  1. 12/22/2025

    Business in the Sunshine State

    Florida prides itself on being a business friendly state, and the Department of State intersects with the world of business on a couple of fronts. One is through the aforementioned Division of Corporations, which is the State's central location for filing business entities; serves as an informational resource for statewide business activities, registrations and certificates; and provides sole proprietors and companies with the legal right to do business in the state of Florida. As of October 2025, there were over three and a half million businesses registered with the Division of Corporations. The Department also houses the Florida Main Street Program, which is a technical assistance program with the goal of revitalizing historic downtowns and encouraging economic development within the context of historic preservation.   In this episode, we chat with Katherine Beck, the Director of Florida Main Street, about how that program benefits small businesses. We also sat down with Division of Corporations Director Sean Toner to find out what is involved in keeping up with Florida's millions of businesses.

    38 min

  2. 11/07/2025

    Florida's Veterans' History Program

    While November might be most associated with Thanksgiving, Veterans day also falls with in the month.  This federal holiday is observed every November 11th and honors military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. At the Florida Department of State, the Major John Leroy Haynes Florida Veterans' History Program collects, preserves, and shares the stories of Florida's veterans and the State of Florida's military contributions. By documenting veterans' personal narratives, the program ensures their firsthand experiences remain accessible to the public and future generations. In this episode, we chat with program administrator Julian Duncan about the work of the program and we hear some excerpts from interviews he has conducted with veterans in the course of his work.

    30 min

  3. 10/20/2025

    Native Americans in Florida

    Indigenous people have lived in Florida for more than 14,000 years, long before the European explorers and the settlers who journeyed to Florida arrived. Today, Florida is home to two federally recognized tribes the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians and Seminole Tribe of Florida. But throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, there were many tribes and other groups who lived throughout the state. But over the years, many of these more ancient tribes either merged and combined with other tribes, no longer exist due to conflict and exposure to disease, or moved or were removed from the area and now live in other parts of the country. In this episode, we'll take a look at two of Florida's native tribes and explore a little bit about their history and culture and how the Department works with Florida's tribes today.

    44 min

  4. 09/19/2025

    Spanish Influence in Florida

    It been said that during its long history Florida has flown the flags of five nations. One of those nations was Spain, and it's flag actually flew over Florida twice. The first Spanish period (1565-1763) and the Second Spanish Period (1783-1821). The two Spanish periods were broken up by a brief 20 year span when Florida was under British rule while Florida's neighbors, the 13 original colonies, were declaring their independence from the King.  In this episode, we will take a look at what was happening in Florida during it's time as a Spanish territory, and how Spain's claim to the sunshine state eventually came to an end.

    39 min

  5. 08/26/2025

    Florida's Maritime History: How Florida's waterways tell the story

    Florida is a land surrounded by water. Water has played a key role in the development of Florida throughout it's history and the artifacts and structures left in and around waterways help tell the story of the history of Florida. In this episode we talk to a number of historians and archaeologist about the things we can learn about Florida's past buy exploring it's many waterways.   To learn more: Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail Underwater Archaeology Collections and Conservation

    44 min

  6. 07/21/2025

    America's 250: Celebrating the Semiquincentennial

    As America approaches a significant birthday, all 50 states are planning events and activities to commemorate the semiquincentennial.  In this episode, we take a look at some of the past, present, and future aspects of Florida's role in the creation and celebration of America over the last 250 years.  You can view images of some of the artifacts from the Centennial and Bicentennial celebrations here.  https://dos.fl.gov/unsealed-podcast/unsealed-podcast/season-two/americas-250/artifacts/

    28 min

  7. 10/24/2024

    Tallahassee's Bicentennial

    In this special episode celebrating Tallahassee's Bicentennial, we will explore some Florida history, as well as hear from some Department of State employees who helped to recreate a piece of the past. First up, Secretary of State Cord Byrd and Assistant Director of the Division of Historical Resources, John Grandage, discuss Florida's Territorial Period and some of the events leading up statehood and the establishment of Tallahassee as the state capital. Then host Elizabeth Johnson chats with Museum of Florida History Artisan Conrad Brayman and Museum Educator Brennan Jammer about the creation of a model of Florida's first log cabin capitol building.

    56 min

  8. 07/12/2024

    Voting in Florida: Setting the Gold Standard for Elections Administration

    Join us as Maria Matthews, Director of the Division of Elections, shares insights into how the Division provides administrative support to the Secretary of State, Florida's Chief Election Officer, to ensure that Florida has fair and accurate elections.

    38 min
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About

A podcast by and about the Florida Department of State

Information

  • Creator
    Florida Department of State
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ©2023
  • Show Website
    Unsealed