The Drain

Today we're looking at the state of the election in California, where the libs never fail to disappoint. We've got our eyes on a few key congressional races--some big wins, as well as some painful losses (we love you, Connie Chan!)--as well as the awful state of our ballot propositions, and some great lefty wins in Jane Kim, Angela Gonzales-Torres, and Nithya Raman. Oh, and we're tracking the bigg...

Hey there, trying to kill some time before election results start rolling in tonight? Well, we sat down with former Sacramento Bee columnist Robin Epley to take a look at some of the more interesting Dem-on-Dem races for Congress here in California. We begin with Mai Vang's push to dethrone billionaire/octogenarian congresswoman Doris Matsui for CA-7 here in the state's capital. This race has take...

Today Kempa sits down with his old friend Bobby Roy, lead negotiator for SEIU Local 1000, to discuss the 100,000-strong state worker union's decision to go on strike for the first time in history this Wednesday, October 21. California governor Gavin Newsom and the billionaire class are showing once more where their allegiances lie, and it looks like workers aren't going to take it without a fight....

Hi all! Sorry for the delay once more; Max has been sick in San Diego and Kempa has been busy up in the capital of the Free World (Sacramento). But we've got a fun one for you before barraging you with a couple of great pre-election episodes: Today we're discussing the rise and fall of Manny Yekutiel , the owner of neoliberal/tech-fascist event space Manny's in San Francisco/former candidate for t...

Happy Saturday, folks! We're unlocking one of our favorite paywalled episodes. If you enjoy it and you're not a patron yet, please consider joining :) Today we've got a reading series on the Vanity Fair piece written by Ruby Rippey ( free link) , who had an affair with Governor Gavin Newsom during his tenure as mayor of San Francisco. It's a really fascinating essay, as well as the first time Ripp...

Today we're discussing the massive layoffs throughout the country of McClatchy publishing's daily newspapers, including multiple Bees in California, as well as the Miami Herald. I know it's been a while since our last episode, but we've got a number of published ones in the pipeline, as well as LOTS of election season coverage this October. See you very soon, Drain Babies! Don't forget to like, ra...

Today we're taking a deep dive into the congressional debate between Sacramento City Council member Mai Vang and U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui , as the DSA-backed progressive seeks to wrest California's 7th congressional district from the out-of-touch octogenarian. Spoiler: this was a one-sided bloodbath in favor of Vang. You may have caught the clip--which has made the rounds nationally--posted by frien...

Hey guys, Kempa here. Sorry for the delay in episodes--Kempa has been dealing with the passing of his sweet baby pit bull, and Max is settling into life down in southern California. The good news is that we have a whole backlog of episodes coming your way in the next few days! Today we're looking at progressive Aisha Wahab defeating an AIPAC-backed moderate Democrat to replace the disgraced Eric S...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** Today we've got a reading series on the Vanity Fair piece written by Ruby Rippey ( free link) , who had an affair with Governor Gavin Newsom during his tenure as mayor of San Francisco. It's a really fascinating essay, as well as the first time Rippey has come out and spoken about her...

Sacramento made national news last week after a hot mic moment captured discussion between the mayor and a council member over how to remove people they deemed disruptive from council chambers. You may have heard about it from Fox News , or maybe in the California Post : City council member Karina Talamantes offering up to seemingly clueless Mayor Kevin McCarty on the protocols for removing protes...

Today we're looking at a phenomenal piece written by Will Sommer at The Bulwark, examining how QAnon conspirators are planning to take over a defunct California women's prison and turn it into a haven for trafficked children . Listeners in northern California may remember the Leo Chesney Female Community Correctional Facility. It was truly the gem of Live Oak. But in 2011 the private prison was cl...

As of July 1, California is the country's first full-time Legislature to allow Capitol staffers to form a union ( free link ). And they're already starting to organize. Today we're taking a look at what a unionized legislature means not just for the Senate and Assembly, but also for workers throughout the state who have been yearning for solidarity in downtown Sacramento. Does this strengthen the...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** Today Max and Kempa dive deep into Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's husband's penchant for driving while hammered, including a recent alleged hit-and-run in Napa County. We also discuss that other time he got hammered, as it were, and look into the strange narrative arc of his attacker, Da...

Today we're discussing the story out of San Francisco that's been hitting national headlines and opinion columns for well over a week: Congressional candidate Scott Wiener was chased out of a trans rights march at the tail end of Pride Month over his longtime support of Zionism and his too-little, too-late acknowledgement of the genocide taking place in Gaza. Folks are making a lot of hay about th...

Today Kempa sits down with The Drain's chief Mamdanistan correspondent, Peter Lucas, to discuss the wave of astounding political victories that New York's democratic socialists and their lefty union allies enjoyed over the Democratic establishment in last week's primary elections. The Democratic Socialists of America celebrated a gentleman's sweep of their endorsed candidates last Tuesday , leavin...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** Hi all!! Sweet Palma here. By the time you read this, I'll be 'pon di island, if you will--I'm taking a brief two-week vacation to Taiwan during the last half of June. Don't fret! I'll be back before the end of the month to talk more California politics with Kempa, and will be using my...

As late votes have been counted throughout California, leftists all over have secured their spots against Democrats in the November runoffs. And MAGA is furious. It's not just the Twitter ghouls, either. Donald Trump lost his shit in a corrugated shed during a feisty Meet the Press interview last week in Wisconsin. And Nick Shirley is traveling the Golden State, harassing people he believes to be...

Listen: Some of our faves have been out there showing frustration with the initial votes in the California elections, referring to our state's voters as "Cattlefornia." But we'd like to push back on that. Here are some big wins for DSA and Working Families Party candidates in the state, as we see it: Mai Vang (CA-7) Connie Chan (CA-11) Aisha Wahab (CA-14) Randy Villegas (CA-22) Angela Gonzalez-Tor...

Today Kempa is joined by Sacramento Bee columnist Robin Epley to discuss the latest polling in the governor's race , which shows Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton and Tom Steyer in the lead in the final days before the California election ends on Tuesday. We also look into the latest reporting from political guru Paul Mitchell, who has been making the rounds on national media to explain why our liberal...

Hey all, Kempa here. As a welcome to all of our new listeners from the Chapo boost, I wanted to unlock a bizarre little patron-only episode from a little while back. It's local, yes, but it's fucking wild. I promise you'll enjoy: This is a thrilling six-year saga of a California municipal elected official riddled with drama and controversy ( free link ), resulting last week in his pleading guilty...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** It's a new Plug, folks. We're discussing Kempa's latest trip to weird-California-town, Mojave--an eerie stop-off in the desert west of L.A. that is home to a mysterious air-and-space port--as well as billionaire Stephen Cloobeck's most recent post-Swalwell antics involving threats/tamp...

Today we're speaking with Nevada County Supervisor and progressive candidate for Congress in US District CA-03, Heidi Hall . Heidi is up against conserva-Dem juggernaut Ami Bera for this seat, and it is crucial that he doesn't carpetbag his way into office in 2026. We're discussing the big issues facing the northern California foothills and Sacramento's progressive pockets such as Tahoe Park, and...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** On the other end of a week's worth of gubernatorial debates and town halls, we're taking a look at all the ways that Xavier Becerra--the presumed frontrunner in the California governor's race--has shot himself in the foot. From his former chief of staff's troubles in court, to his ties...

Last week, journalist/attorney Matt Breunig published a piece about a union president's bizarre decision to engage in union-busting--forcing the California State University Employees Union (SEIU Local 2579) to waste tens of thousands of dollars of labor movement money in a tiff with rightly annoyed attorneys at UAW Local 2350. All because CSUEU President Catherine Hutchinson refuses to respect her...

Today we're discussing the billionaires trying to ruin California politics with their Building a Better California "nonprofit," as well as the cynical neoliberal argument against the one viable gubernatorial candidate who supports the billionaire's tax and Medicare for All. We also get deep into the weeds on Google cofounder Sergey Brin's gut-health MAGA girlfriend , Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto . You may...