MAX POWER takes over Kennedy Space Center Nov. 6–8! Get a preview of the aerospace festival in our latest SpaceCast blog post, written by WUCF Executive Director Jennifer Cook.📌 https://www.wucf.org/blogs/wucf-spacecast/nasas-max-power-air-show-coming-to-kennedy-space-center-this-weekend/

Going shopping this weekend? Pick up a new or gently used picture book at your favorite local bookstore and help a Central Florida child build a home library! Drop it off at a participating VyStar branch or partner bookstore. 📚Help us reach 6,000 books by Nov. 30: WUCF.org/BookDrive

That’s a wrap on Season 2026 of Florida Road Trip! We’re grateful to everyone who brought these Florida stories to life and to the viewers who joined us along the way. Thank you to our supporters for helping make another season possible!

A botanical garden in Coral Gables, Florida, is helping NASA prepare for the journey to Mars. Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden partners with NASA on research into growing food in space, with more than 400 schools worldwide helping gather data. 🥬 More at WUCF.org/space

Watch the season finale of Florida Road Trip: America 250 Part 2 and discover how Florida’s agriculture, art, tourism and space exploration helped shape the state and our nation. 📍 Thursday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. on WUCF and streaming free on PBS platforms!

The WUCF VyStar Book Drive starts today! You can help put a book into the hands of a local Head Start child. Donate a new or gently used picture book at a participating VyStar branch or local bookstore. Let's collect 6,000 books together! 💚 Find a drop-off location near you at WUCF.org/BookDrive

Happy Halloween from WUCF! 🎃

What if your name could travel all the way to Saturn? In our latest SpaceCast blog, we feature an extraordinary mission to Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, aboard the Dragonfly rotorcraft. Learn how you can be part of the journey at WUCF.org/space🪐

Send Your Name to Saturn

Dragonfly is currently being assembled in Maryland, ahead of its planned 2028 launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

wucf.org

What if your next bookstore stop helped a child fall in love with reading? All Booked Up, Sunshine Book Co., Barrel of Books & Games and Ocoee Book Rack are collecting new and gently used picture books this November to help us deliver 6,000 books to Central Florida Head Start kids. 💚

The next big breakthrough in space could start with a conversation at Kennedy Space Center. Inside the Florida Space Summit, researchers, industry leaders and students explored what’s next for the industry. Get a look inside our latest SpaceCast blog (link in comments) 💫

This briefcase has collected a lot of stories along the way. But before we wrap up Florida Road Trip Season 2026, we’re taking a few steps back in time. Our next episode reveals how the road to America’s founding also ran through Florida. 🇺🇸

Call in this Friday during Morning Jazz with Bob for a chance to win tickets to see UCF’s Flying Horse Big Band! Led by Jeff Rupert, this student ensemble has toured globally and topped the national jazz charts with two albums. Catch them Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. at UCF.

Last week, WUCF’s Education Team visited welcoming Paisley, Florida, our smallest On My Way to K stop yet! Before heading to the library, we brought a little learning and fun to VPK kiddos at nearby Spring Creek Charter, sharing some of our “learning worlds” and connecting with local educators.

“You’re not going to understand the whole story of Melbourne if you don’t include Eau Gallie.” Explore two distinct histories that came together to shape Melbourne in this week’s Florida Road Trip. 📺 Watch Oct. 22 on WUCF PBS or stream free on PBS app and YouTube.

Last chance to pull up a virtual seat next to beloved author Barbara Kingsolver! 📚 Grab your ticket to this LIVE online event and you’ll receive a copy of Kingsolver’s brand-new novel, Partita, so you can read along before or after the conversation.

Where's your favorite space nerd? Grab them and head to the Orlando Science Center for a FREE watch party featuring NOVA’s Return to the Moon, special guests from UCF and Kennedy Space Center! 🌕 Save your seat: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/nova-return-to-the-moon-watch-party-tickets-2001889174410

Before SCUBA, divers in the Florida Keys wore heavy helmets and suits, relying on teams of up to seven people on the surface. Today, divers explore vibrant reefs and historic shipwrecks. Dive into the history beneath the surface with Florida Road Trip. 🤿 Streaming free on PBS.org!

✨Tuesday, October 13 ONLY✨ Win a signed vinyl from Grammy-winning musician Mark Tremonti! Make a gift to WUCF Jazz in any amount on October 13 for a chance to win your choice of Mark Tremonti Sings Sinatra or Christmas Classics New & Old.

We’re spending the evening at the Orlando Science Center exploring what it will take to get humans back to the Moon. 🌕 Join us Monday, October 26 at 6:30 PM at the Orlando Science Center for a free watch party of Return to the Moon, a special 2026 NOVA documentary.

Orlando traffic testing your patience? Keep 89.9 WUCF Jazz saved for that. And during our Fall Donation Drive, Oct. 12–18, a $50+ gift, new sustaining membership or increased sustaining gift gets you a WUCF Jazz piano stress reliever! 🎹

Take a little WUCF Jazz home. We’ve got a few new pieces of WUCF Jazz merch available during our autumn giving campaign, including this ultra-soft shirt, mug, and coasters. Your support keeps the commercial-free jazz on the air.

Barbara Kingsolver fans, this one’s for you. Join the Pulitzer Prize-winning author for an exclusive live virtual PBS Books event on November 5 at 8 p.m. ET. 📌 Reserve your spot and be among the first to hear from Barbara Kingsolver about her newest work!

Look closely at the rusty rails. They’re remnants of Henry Flagler’s original Florida East Coast Railway, which once crossed the Florida Keys. Today, a restored 2.2-mile section of the Old Seven Mile Bridge leads pedestrians to Pigeon Key. 🚗💨 Florida Road Trip: Florida Keys airs Thursday at 8 p.m.

A new adventure is coming to PBS KIDS! 🌟 Super Why’s Comic Book Adventures has joined the PBS KIDS lineup, helping preschoolers and kindergartners build early literacy skills through stories, superheroes and plenty of imagination. You’ll find it at 9:30 a.m. on the WUCF PBS KIDS broadcast channel!

We loved welcoming families from all across Central Florida to our PBS KIDS Book Bash for a day filled with books, story time, smiles and plenty of fun with Clifford the Big Red Dog. 📚❤️ Thanks to everyone who came out to celebrate reading with us!

Three years in a row! WUCF has once again been named one of the Orlando Sentinel’s Top Workplaces. We’re especially proud of this recognition during a challenging year for public media. It says a lot about the people who show up, pitch in and keep WUCF moving forward every day.

We love seeing Florida Road Trip find its audience on YouTube. Our first two episodes of the new season have passed 20,000 combined views, and our Clay County episode is now the fastest-growing episode ever on our channel. 📍Head over to youtube.com/@Florida_RoadTrip!

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission has sent four astronauts to the International Space Station, with DeLand's own Luke Delaney serving as pilot. 🚀 Details from WUCF's SpaceCast here: https://www.pbs.org/video/spacecast-central-floridas-luke-delaney-launches-to-the-international-space-station-ehl8d3/

Big news for WUCF 🎉 Executive Director Jennifer Cook has been elected to a three-year term on the PBS Board of Directors. After more than a decade at WUCF, Jennifer will bring the perspective of Central Florida communities to the national public TV conversation.

Join us at WUCF this Saturday, Oct. 3, for our free PBS KIDS Book Bash. Families can celebrate reading with story times, meet Clifford the Big Red Dog and help us get the annual WUCF & VyStar Credit Union Preschool Book Drive off to a great start. 📚 See you Saturday!