Next Round

This week, we present a special discussion from a recent PRI webinar featuring PRI's scholars and other policy experts exploring how bad policy influence the recent Southern California wildfires on issues ranging from planning to insurance, sharing the lessons learned from the Maui wildfires that every Southern Californian should know as the rebuilding process begins, and discussing what should be...

This week is our special All-Star Panel of former speechwriters reviewing Pres. Donald Trump's speech to Congress.  Lance Izumi, PRI's Senior Director of Education, was chief speechwriter to Gov. George Deukmejian and Attorney General Ed Meese; Tim Anaya, PRI's Vice President of Marketing & Communications, was speechwriter to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and other leaders in the California legis...

This week, we present a special presentation of our recent webinar with Sally Pipes, PRI President, CEO, and Thomas W. Smith Fellow in Health Care Policy, discussing her new book, The World's Medicine Chest: How America Achieved Pharmaceutical Supremacy – and How to Keep It (Encounter Books). The book explores how America became the world's leader in biopharmaceutical innovation through market cap...

From PRI's 2025 California Ideas in Action Conference, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper sits down with PRI senior fellow Steve Smith to discuss what's next in the push for stronger criminal justice policy reforms following the landslide victory of Prop. 36 combating retail theft.  Plus, Ro and Tim discuss the Elon Musk questionnaire sent to federal employees, Mayor Karen Bass firing the fire c...

This week, we feature a special episode for Presidents' Day – a recording from a recent PRI luncheon in Newport Beach featuring Christopher Cox.  You may remember him as a former congressman and Securities and Exchange Commission chairman, but did you know that he is also an author and presidential historian?  In this week's episode, you'll hear him discussing his new book, Woodrow Wilson:  The Li...

This week, Joe Kent of the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii joins us to share lessons learned from the Aloha State's experience in rebuilding after the devastating Maui wildfires from a few years ago.  It's a conversation everyone who has been affected by the wildfires should listen to, especially as leaders from Gavin Newsom on down are exploring ways to "reimagine" the Palisades after the fires.  P...

PRI Senior Fellow in Business and Economics Dr. Wayne Winegarden joins us for a special episode with his real time analysis of the proposed (and delayed by one month) Trump tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China.  He previews his upcoming issue brief making the case that tariffs are not a sound US economic strategy for growth and prosperity, and discusses the impact that the level of tariffs Preside...

This week, as PRI releases its new documentary "Colorado Springs: Letting Freedom Lead the Way," we present an extended cut of our interview with Mayor Yemi Mobolade and Councilman Brian Risley.  They discuss how Colorado Springs has been so successful in lowering the cost of living and improving the quality of life for its residents through free market policies.  Plus, Tim and Matt Fleming discus...

This week, Free Cities Center director Steven Greenhut joins us to discuss how California's ongoing insurance crisis could be a double whammy for Southern California wildfire victims looking to rebuild.  He gives the history of the state's festering insurance crisis, analyzes Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara's reform plan announced just before Christmas, and discusses how much the crisis and th...

This week, we present an in-depth look at Gov. Newsom's 2025-25 state budget plan.  PRI scholars Wayne Winegarden, Lance Izumi, Steve Smith, and Kerry Jackson join Ro and Tim to explore the budget's impact on taxes and the economy, education, crime, and transportation.  They also explore how the Southern California wildfires will impact Gov. Newsom's budget balancing efforts.

Our podcast this week is a recording of a Festschrift celebration with Charles Kesler, editor of the Claremont Review of Books and professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. A group of his former students came together to publish essays in his honor in the book Leisure with Dignity, edited by Glenn Ellmers and Michael Anton. PRI invited essayists in Leisure with Dignity to offer their r...

The PRI All Stars are back to hand out their annual year end awards to the biggest winners and losers of 2024.  What were the year's best and worst ideas?  What were the fairest and bummest wraps of the year?  Who is destined for stardom and oblivion?  Sit back and enjoy the honorees selected by the PRI All Stars, handed out in the style of the annual McLaughlin Group year-end awards.

Adam Abolfazli, Sacramento-area public high school student and author of the new book Permission to Fail , shares with us his firsthand view from the classroom on how recent changes in public education such as increased parent and student apathy toward the learning process and a lack of academic rigor, have been detrimental to student learning and negatively impact America's future.  Plus, Tim and...

Manhattan Institute fellow and director of policing and public safety Hannah Meyers joins us this week to discuss what's next for public safety policy in California after voter approval of Prop. 36 on retail theft.  She also discusses her new paper on the impact of Prop. 47 on crime and drug abuse, "Not Taking Crime Seriously."

This week, Tevi Troy – acclaimed presidential historian, former White House aide and Deputy Secretary of Health, joins us to discuss his terrific new book, The Power and the Money:  The Epic Clashes Between Commanders in Chief and Titans of Industry.   Plus Rowena and Tim discuss the latest Trump cabinet nominations, Gov. Newsom's plan to hand out even more electric vehicle subsidies, and preview...

This week's guest is Dallas Lawrence, a communications pro who has worked at the highest levels of government, the military, and corporate America, who joins us to discuss his new book Communicating Under Fire .  The book offers terrific advice for communications novices and PR pros alike on how to prepare and respond to communications crises that everyone will eventually face in our cancel cultur...

Now that the 2024 election is finally over, the PRI All Stars (Rowena Itchon, Tim Anaya, Lance Izumi and Kerry Jackson) share their thoughts on the election results.  They discuss what went wrong for Kamala Harris, preview what policies we might see from an incoming Trump administration and break down Gavin Newsom's campaign fighting everything from the incoming administration.  Plus, they share t...

Our guest on this week's podcast is Norton Rainey, CEO of Ace Scholarships, an organization focused on securing financial support for low-income kids to attend great schools.  We chat with Norton about their recent education survey of parents and their thoughts on school choice.  We also discuss the many advancements of school choice across the states and the further challenges ahead.

PRI's All Stars – Lance Izumi, Kerry Jackson, Rowena Itchon, and Tim Anaya – are back with our usual preview of the 2024 presidential election.  We preview what a potential President Harris or re-elected President Trump would do in their upcoming terms, discuss the key propositions including Prop. 36 on retail theft and Prop. 33 on rent control, and breakdown the hot House races in California and...

With housing - including rent control and development policies – and homelessness key issues for voters across California this election year, we present an expanded version of our recent conversation between the Manhattan Institute's Judge Glock and our Steven Greenhut of PRI's Free Cities Center.  The two discuss government housing mandates, NIMBY-ism, free market housing policy solutions, rent c...

Our guest this week is journalist Tim Carney.  We recorded his talk on his new book, Family Unfriendly , at a recent PRI luncheon in Newport Beach, California.  Tim discusses what's ailing so many families these days – record rates of anxiety, depression and medication among children, and stress suffered by parents.  His book focuses on how we got here as a society and how families can begin to re...

Phil Goldberg, special counsel with the Manufacturers Accountability Project of the National Association of Manufacturers, joins us to discuss a key upcoming Supreme Court case that could impact the future of state and local climate change litigation.  We discuss with Phil why these lawsuits drive up energy costs and hurt innovation, and why a comprehensive, national legislative session is the way...

In a special episode, we interview co-host Tim Anaya and his co-author Kerry Jackson on their new book, The California Left Coast Survivor's Guide , which chronicles the bad policy ideas that have been emanating from Sacramento for years and now are inspiring the Biden-Harris administration and policymakers nationwide.  They talk about the state's myriad bans on everything from plastic hotel shamp...

As we conclude our look back at the 2024 legislative session, PRI senior fellow in tech and innovation Bartlett Cleland joins us for a look back at this year's big tech debates on issues ranging from AI to how social media companies are disrupting traditional media outlets.  We also explore how a Trump administration or Harris administration would approach tech policy over the next for years and l...