Like the palm tree, the Everglades, Disney World, and the “Florida Man,” the orange is a classic symbol of the Sunshine State. But maybe not for much longer. Production has declined to catastrophic levels, a decrease of more than 95% in less than 25 years. It’s a produce murder mystery—and Decoder Ring is tagging along with reporter Alex Sammon to crack the case. The suspects include insects, hurricanes, mortgage-backed securities, and the American habit of not reckoning with enormous, load-bearing flaws until it’s way too late.In this episode, you’ll hear from Alex, a feature writer at Slate, who visited Florida to check on the orange and <a href="https://slate.com/business/2026/04/florida-state-orange-food-houses-real-estate.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">write about its demise</a>. You’ll also hear from <a href="https://www.usf.edu/arts-sciences/florida-studies/faculty/gary-mormino.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Gary Mormino</a>, Florida lover, expert, and professor emeritus of Florida Studies at the University of South Florida.This episode was produced by Katie Shepherd and Evan Chung, Decoder Ring’s supervising producer. It was edited by Josh Levin. Decoder Ring is also produced by Willa Paskin and Max Freedman. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at <a href="mailto:DecoderRing@slate.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DecoderRing@slate.com</a> or leave a message on our hotline at (347) 460-7281.Get more of Decoder Ring with Slate Plus! Join for exclusive bonus episodes of Decoder Ring and ad-free listening on all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/decoder-ring/id1376577202" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Apple Podcasts</a> or <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/3vYNA0Ki5sUHnYC9QwQnKl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify</a>. Or, visit <a href="https://slate.com/podcast-plus?utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=plus_pod&utm_content=Decoder_Ring&utm_source=episode_summary" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slate.com/decoderplus</a> for access wherever you listen.Sources for This EpisodeHamilton, Alissa. <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300164558/squeezed/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Squeezed: What You Don't Know about Orange Juice</a>, Yale University Press, 2010.Hussey, Scott D. “<a href="https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/1664/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Sunshine State's Golden Fruit: Florida And The Orange,1930-1960</a>,” USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Apr. 2, 2010.McPhee, John. <a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374512972/oranges/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Oranges</a>, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1967.Mormino, Gary. “<a href="https://www.gainesville.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2016/04/03/gary-r-mormino-the-enduring-but-endangered-symbol-of-florida/31893109007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z115245e004100v115245d--52--b--52--&gca-ft=156&gca-ds=sophi" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The enduring but endangered symbol of Florida</a>,” The Gainesville Sun, Apr. 3, 2016.Sammon, Alex. “<a href="https://slate.com/business/2026/04/florida-state-orange-food-houses-real-estate.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Who Killed The Florida Orange</a>?” Slate, Apr. 20, 2026.Walkey, Will and Amory Sivertson. “<a href="https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025/08/19/florida-citrus-decline-orange-economy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The fall of Florida citrus</a>,” On Point, Aug. 19, 2025Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.<hr> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.

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