The Drain

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** 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 to federal charges ( free link ) of abuse of undocumented employees in his Viva supermarkets, and to fraudulently re...

Today we're taking a look at the new polls surrounding the California gubernatorial race, now that establishment darling Eric Swalwell's chances have, thankfully, fizzled out. Obviously, the conversation includes Tom Steyer, Chad Bianco, Katie Porter, Steve Hilton, and--for some reason--San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan. But Kempa and Palma go over some new polls showing a surge for current Governor Gavin...

Today we're covering the meteoric fall of U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell, and what it means for the California gubernatorial race, now that its frontrunner is out of the picture. Don't forget to like, rate and subscribe to The Drain on your favorite podcast platforms. Questions? Comments? Pitches? Email us at  thedrainpodcast@gmail.com . We're still hanging about on Twitter: @sweetxpalma and @y...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** Hey folks! We've both been working a lot this spring, so episodes have been hard to come by, but we're ramping up once again for you all -- expect your usual two per week. Today we're discussing a couple of major things. To begin: Kempa's sweet baby pit bull (and The Drain's official m...

Hasan Piker has somehow dominated liberal and rightwing discourse in recent weeks, to the point that leftists are just making fun of the mainstream for their obsession with the leftist streamer. Today we're discussing Democrats' and conservatives' manic rantings against Piker, and looking at two of California's presidential hopefuls--progressive U.S. Representative Ro Khanna and eely Governor Gavi...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** For this week's episode, Palma and Kempa are exploring the what and why of one of San Francisco's foremost venture capital projects: Y Combinator. Venture capital has become the scourge of San Francisco culture. And Y Combinator stands at the forefront of that cancer. We take a look at...

Today we're joined by Caledon Myers, founder and Executive Director of the ProRep Coalition , which is fighting to bring proportional representational democracy to California and beyond. You might have read his case for a new form of governance in Cal Matters or the San Jose Mercury News ( free link ). That's because he's been working with experts for years to analyze just why the United States' f...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** It finally happened. On The Drain's one-year anniversary, we visited the Lake Berryessa Glory Hole. That's right: Kempa and Sweet Palma wrangled up their two favorite guest hosts, Kat and El Güero, to take a trip out to the Monticello Dam's Morning Glory Spillway last weekend. We origi...

Hello friends, Kempa here. I'm publishing a somewhat overdue episode while preparing for the crew's Hole Hajj to the Lake Berryessa Glory Hole (patron-only recording on that forthcoming). It's a good one. For our one-year anniversary, Palma and I are discussing some of our faves, including: President Donald Trump's obsession with California in his marathon-length State of the Union California Demo...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** Today we're discussing a few bizarre California stories, including: Britney Spears's incredible wherewithal in responding to a suspected drinking and driving incident in southern California. A registered sex offender posting up at a church across from a school ( free link) while he hol...

Hello, Drain-iacs! Max and Kempa are back this week with a real corker of an episode, with someone who we've been a fan of for quite some time – San Francisco's very own Connie Chan! As supervisor for SF's District 1, Connie is one of the progressive voices in the foreground of the local fight against the Tech Right, the Doom-Loopers, the Hacker News set and the Faux-gressives swarming City Hall –...

This was some of the most fun we've had recording in The Drain's 50-week existence. So if you're not a patron yet, subscribe today to listen to the full episode. We begin with a couple of excerpts from Kempa's favorite modern poet: California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell . Does he yearn for another night with star-crossed Fang Fang? Move us to tears with vivid verse on uncontrolled farts?...

We're joined this week by a friend of the show, who we're going to call "Tommy", to discuss the continuing crisis in California's school funding. Tommy is a member of the California Teachers Association, working in our local unified school district, and has firsthand (and quite deep) insight into how Labor is dealing with the effects of the state's chronic school under-funding, while also expectin...

It's official: The Supreme Court is letting Proposition 50 stand ( free link ), allowing California Democrats (led by political GURU Paul Mitchell) to slice up the state's congressional districts in a manner that will obliterate Republican representation in D.C. This is another embarrassing loss for Assistant Attorney General/longtime state GOP attorney Harmeet Dhillon, who made headlines weeks ag...

We begin today with a look at Californians' responses to ICE agents murdering Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis. By and large, the Golden State is horrified by what it's seeing--even members of some of the Golden State's most right-leaning, rural Second Amendment rights groups . But not all of the state's mayors are living up to the population's standards. Down in California City, for exam...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to  patreon.com/thedrain .** Today we're joined by El Güero to discuss the Costa-Gavras classic, État de Siège . Based on the 1970 killing of an American official by the Tupamaro guerrillas in Uruguay, this film examines how police states backed by the United States in Latin America forced the hands of rebels. We...

Hey folks, We recorded this episode before ICE murdered VA nurse Alex Pretti in the streets of Minneapolis last weekend, but Max hopped on to lead us in with a note on that horrible escalation by state-sanctioned terrorists. We will certainly be covering this story in the weeks to come, particularly as it affects our undocumented neighbors here in California. Today, however, we're covering a potpo...

U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA17) may have more billionaires in his affluent San Jose district than any other member of the House of Representatives, but he's showing that he's not afraid to go against the grain. He staunchly supports California healthcare workers' signature initiative for a state billionaire tax . He visits ICE detention centers , using his stature to elevate just how danger...

**This is a preview of our premium show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to patreon.com/thedrain .** Today we're looking at California Governor Gavin Newsom just after his final State of the State address , posturing himself for a 2028 presidential run. Can our favorite AI-era Patrick Bateman find his way into the White House? We touch in his latest profile in The Atlantic ( free link...

Today we're having a talk about the illegal kidnapping of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro. How did Sacramento respond ? ( free link ) And how did the rest of California respond ? ( free link ) John Fetterman discussed the state of " Venezwenians ," for whatever that's worth. We then dive into the California oil industry's ties to Venezuela --a la Chevron--( free link ), and what that means for...

We start our first episode of the year on a somber note after ICE terrorists murdered Renee Good in Minneapolis. Here in California, the people are pushing back hard against the jackboots . Hundreds showed up to the capital's ICE headquarters to show their disdain, after which agents descended from the building to deface Good's memorial . (If anyone has information on the name of the agent, please...

We've hit a pretty big milestone in listeners as 2025 comes to and end, so we're coming to you with a Long Boy. Palma and Kempa are joined by a mysterious, handsome, young guest-host to discuss what's in and what isn't in the year to come. Is this the year of the billionaire's tax in California? Will Antichrist Peter Thiel finally reveal himself after a particularly violent hangover? Will NIMBYs a...

Welcome to your holiday episode of The Drone--er, Drain. We've got plenty for you to enjoy as you hide from your family this holiday, starting with drone wars in San Francisco! The Bay Area's strongest lefty on the SF Board of Supervisors, Jackie Fielder, is coming out strong for workers in her city . And the billionaires can't stand it . Fielder has ruffled the feathers of the DoorDash folks with...

**This is a preview of our premium weekend show, The Plug. To listen to the full episode, go to patreon.com/thedrain .** Merry Christmas, to all who celebrate. For this week's Plug we're looking at a couple of issues facing AI behemoths as the year comes to a close: First, we touch on a potential new iteration of The Big Short, wherein Wall Street is starting to short AI , leaving many wondering i...

Hello. Today we're discussing a phenomenal piece in Politico written by Jeremy White, exploring the "Massacred" California Republican Party ( free link ) as they wrestle with the fallout of Proposition 50, which has hatcheted their representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. GOP members of Congress are now forced to run against one another, and they are truly showing their capitalist scar...