California Future Society

California has been the greatest economic miracle in modern history. People came here to build, to dream, and to better their lives. But today I believe we are living off the inheritance of past generations instead of building a future of our own. In this solo episode, I make the case that California has become a “trust fund society.” We are coasting on the wealth and institutions created before u...

Subscribe at californiafuturesociety.com El Segundo is five square miles of extremes: a small-town beach community with Fortune 500 headquarters, a refinery, three pro sports teams, toy showrooms, rocket labs, and more PhDs per capita than almost anywhere in California. Mayor Chris Pimentel pulls back the curtain on how this tiny South Bay city became one of the most dynamic economic hubs in the s...

I sit down with my friend Chris Lengerich , a researcher, investor, and founder of Context Fund, to map the AI “gold-rush” reshaping California’s most important economy. After talking about how we ended up with nine-figure talent bidding wars for AI talent, we discuss how smaller teams, AI-accelerated funding, and vertically-integrated TechBio firms will upend SaaS economics and, could let us “asy...

In this solo episode, I reflect on a question I keep coming back to: How do you actually change California politics? After nearly 20 episodes of California Future Society, I’ve started to see clear themes focused around a desire for change. I walk through historical examples of movements that drove real change, from the Progressive Era to Prop 13 to modern groups like GrowSF and YIMBYs. Movements,...

Dick Lucas isn’t running a typical campaign. In this episode, the Assembly candidate for California’s 51st District joins to talk about housing, energy, and why California needs to rediscover its appetite for building growth. An entrepreneur turned political insurgent, Lucas argues for CEQA reform, nuclear revival, and making space for brand-new cities. We talk about California's stagnation, h...

California has always been a mirror—and a magnifier—of the American spirit. In this solo episode, I trace the evolution of the California Dream: from gold rush ambition to postwar abundance to modern gridlock. Drawing heavily on the work of historian Kevin Starr, I explore how California came to represent both utopia and disillusionment and ask what it would take to dream again.  Chapters 00:00 -...

Author and thinker Virginia Postrel joins me to talk about California’s past, present, and future, from anti-growth politics to the rise of AI. We get into what dynamism really means, why creative destruction is inevitable, and how housing and regulation shape everything. 00:00 Intro   03:58 California's Changing Landscape: A Historical Perspective   07:43 Political Shifts: The Republican Part...

From Star Trek to Skunk Works, California once led the world in space-age dreaming. What happened? In this solo episode, I trace the roots of that generation of techno-optimism and ask what it might look like to summon it again in an era of cynicism, scarcity, and political drift to get Californians dreaming again.  00:00 Intro   03:31 Defining the First Space Age   05:28 The Twin Boosters of the...

California has the highest gas prices in the country, and they may rise even further. USC Professor Michael Mische drew attention with a projection that upcoming refinery closures could push prices past $8 per gallon. In this conversation, we explore what’s behind California’s fuel costs from shrinking in-state production and growing reliance on imports to the state’s unique regulatory structure....

**Editor's Note: Dr. Sonenshein later corrected that West Altadena, not East Altadena, did not receive notifications** Despite its dysfunction, LA has always been a place where people come to live the good life. So why is it so hard to govern?  Dr. Raphe Sonenshein has spent decades inside LA politics as a teacher, author, and reformer and is the leading expert on LA governance. In this conver...

In this episode, I sit down with Bill Fulton - urban planner, professor, former Ventura mayor, and author of one of my favorite books (The Reluctant Metropolis) - for a wide-ranging conversation on how California stopped growing and what it will take for the state to build again. We explore how the state’s postwar growth machine broke down, how laws like Prop 13 and CEQA warped local incentives, a...

California’s fertility rate is near historic lows. Politicians keep proposing pro-family policies—but what if none of them actually work? In this episode, I talk with policy researcher and fellow Californian Noah Johnson about the hard truths behind declining birthrates. Why aren’t paid family leave, baby bonuses, and daycare subsidies moving the needle? What can California learn from other countr...

What if building a home was as fast and seamless as assembling a car? In this episode, I sit down with Alexis Rivas , co-founder and CEO of Cover , to talk about his company's bold efforts to reinvent how homes are built and the slow-motion disaster of LA's permitting system. Alexis shares how Cover is rethinking every step of the building process—from design and engineering to manufacturi...

I sat down with Sheel Mohnot of Better Tomorrow Ventures to talk FinTech and whether a state that struggles to build can maintain its edge as the global leader of innovation. We get into why New York has an advantage in FinTech, his thoughts on SF and CA local politics, and some startup ideas he’d like to see in the world (even though they not make money!). Enjoy! Chapters 00:00 — Introduction and...

Chapters 00:00 Introduction 04:43 The Importance of City Budgets 08:10 Los Angeles Budget Challenges and Deficits 14:08 The Fires on LA Budget 21:35 Civic Engagement and Community Leadership 30:20 Lessons From 40 Years of City Reform 36:27 The Future of Local Government 43:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts Los Angeles is facing a billion-dollar budget shortfall. But this isn’t a blip. It’s a struct...

What if building better cities didn’t have to take decades? In this conversation, I sit down with Devon Zuegel of the Esmeralda Institute and Edge Esmeralda, to explore how a Solarpunk-inspired pop-up village in Northern California is creating new models for community, experimentation, and urban design. We talk about what it means to build spaces that are human-scale, how aesthetics shape culture,...

I had so much fun talking with Sanjana Friedman from YC about the future of California and everything from SF politics to homelessness, AI, biotech, and the need for greater techno-optimism in the media. We dug into the gap between political narratives and real-world outcomes, the rise of PirateWires, and why emerging technologies could drive a new California technological renaissance. Enjoy! Sanj...

I sat down with Nolan Gray to unpack one of the biggest challenges facing California today: housing. We got into how the YIMBY movement has evolved, what’s happening on the ground in 2025, and why things still feel so stuck despite all the momentum. We talked CEQA (of course), permitting bottlenecks, and what actually needs to change to make building easier. But we also zoomed out to look at the c...

What does it take to change the politics of a city like San Francisco? In this episode, we talked to the founders of Grow SF, the leading and most innovative civic organization in San Francisco that has already had a tremendous impact on the city's politics. If you live in SF, make sure to check out their site to find ways to get involved! Chapters 00:00 - The Birth of GrowSF 03:10 - Quitting to A...

Casey Handmer, PhD is the founder of Terraform industries (https://terraformindustries.com/) who recently wrote about California (https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2025/03/02/californias-path-to-redemption/)Find him on X (https://x.com/cjhandmer?lang=en)Get all my writing and interviews at californiafuturesociety.com00:00 Casey: The Gentleman Inventor 03:17 Casey's Path to California 04:55 &q...

It's our first episode! I'm talking with Cameron Wiese, the founder of the World's Fair Company to talk about the future of California, the historical impact of past World's Fairs, and what it takes to get people excited about the future. 00:00 - Intro 00:54 - The Role of World's Fairs 01:50 - 3 Ingredients Required to Get People Excited About the Future04:48 - The Importance o...