History of California Podcast

California had 1,000 wineries in 1910. By 1965, it had 225. The story of how the industry collapsed, came back, and quadrupled past 4,800 wineries today runs straight through one Piedmontese immigrant family — and Kevin Ferguson's. In this episode, Jordan sits down with Kevin — writer, former brand marketer, and great-grandson of John Gemello, founder of the Gemello Winery in Mountain View — to tr...

Historian Peter Richardson joins Jordan Mattox to discuss his new book, Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine , and to situate the magazine within the broader cultural and political history of the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Richardson — whose previous work includes a biography of Carey McWilliams and studies of Ramparts Magazine and the Grateful Dead — argues that Rolling Stone'...

California wine is often wrapped in romance—rolling vineyards, pioneering families, and world-class vintages. But beneath that familiar story lies a far more complex history of conquest, labor, race, and power. In this episode of the History of California Podcast , Jordan Mattox sits down with historian Dr. Julia Ornelas-Higdon, author of The Grapes of Conquest , to uncover the hidden foundations...

In this episode of the History of California Podcast , host Jordan Mattox sits down with Ann Carlson to explore the history and legacy of air pollution regulation in California, as told in her book Smog and Sunshine . The conversation traces the transformation of Los Angeles from one of the most polluted regions in the United States to a global leader in environmental policy. Carlson explains how...

In this episode of the History of California Podcast , host Jordan Mattox interviews Jenny Chan, founder of the Pacific Atrocities Education Program, about the hidden histories of World War II in the Pacific and the importance of expanding historical education beyond a Western-centric narrative. Drawing from her own family’s experiences and extensive archival research, Chan explains how major even...

The Academy Awards are one of the most recognizable cultural events in the world—but their origins reveal a much deeper story about Hollywood, labor, and the development of California’s film industry. In this episode of the History of California Podcast , host Jordan Mattox speaks with film scholar Dr. Monica Sandler about the origins and evolution of the Academy Awards. Dr. Sandler is the author...

In this episode of the History of California Podcast, Jordan Mattox continues his series on the history of Chinese Californians by confronting one of the darkest chapters in the state’s past: the age of exclusion and anti-Chinese violence. Moving beyond the well-known Chinese Exclusion Act, this episode examines the vigilante terror, mob brutality, and legal indifference that paved the way for fed...

In this episode of The History of California Podcast, host Jordan Mattox speaks with historian John Boessenecker about his new book, Bring Me the Head of Joaquin Murrieta: The Bandit Chief Who Terrorized California and Launched the Legend of Zorro . Long remembered as a Robin Hood–like folk hero — and often portrayed as a symbol of resistance against Anglo oppression — Joaquin Murrieta has occupie...

What keeps Chinatown alive? In this episode of The History of California Podcast , host Jordan Mattox speaks with Dr. Laureen Hom, author of The Power of Chinatown: Searching for Spatial Justice in Los Angeles , about the long history—and ongoing political significance—of Chinatowns in California. Drawing on her research in Los Angeles Chinatown, Dr. Hom explains how Chinatowns have been shaped by...

In this episode, host Jordan Mattox sits down with Dr. Michael Zeitler for an expansive conversation about John Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat — its mythic structure, its treatment of poverty, the nature of friendship and communal codes, and how Steinbeck used the Monterey landscape to explore deep questions about history and identity. Together they examine the novel’s tragic undercurrents, its echoes...

In this episode of The History of California Podcast, host Jordan Mattox sits down with attorney, author, and Yurok Tribe member Amy Bowers Cordalis for an intimate conversation about her new book The Water Remembers: My Indigenous Family’s Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life . Amy shares the story of her family's deep roots along the Klamath River, the Yurok creation narrative that shapes the...

In this episode of The History of California Podcast, host Jordan Mattox speaks with author John Doll about his historical novel St. James Park and the real events behind one of California’s most shocking forgotten crimes: the 1933 lynching of two men accused of kidnapping Brooke Hart. Drawing on Doll’s personal memories of San Jose, his research into the city’s past, and his reflections on writin...

In this episode, we return to our ongoing narrative on Chinese immigration to California, examining the pivotal economic role Chinese immigrants played in shaping the state during the 19th century. From manufacturing and textiles to mining, service labor, and large-scale industrial work, Chinese labor was central to California’s development. We look closely at the construction of the Transcontinen...

In this episode, host Jordan Mattox speaks with Dr. Jennifer Holland, author of Tiny You: A Western History of the Anti-Abortion Movement , about how the politics of abortion took root and evolved in the American West. Holland traces the movement’s origins from 19th-century medical debates to the late 20th century’s culture wars, exploring the intersections of religion, gender, race, and regional...

Host Jordan Mattox sits down with novelist Shelley Blanton-Stroud for a wide-ranging conversation about Bakersfield, historical fiction, and the hidden corners of California’s past. They begin with stories of growing up in the Central Valley—the stereotypes outsiders project, the Bakersfield Sound, Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, and family traditions rooted in Dust Bowl migration. The conversation tu...

In this episode of The History of California Podcast , host Jordan Mattox discusses Captain of Her Soul: The Life of Marion Davies  by Lara Gabrielle , the definitive biography of film star Marion Davies. Long overshadowed by her relationship with William Randolph Hearst and the gossip that surrounded her, Davies’s true story reveals a woman of independence, resilience, and remarkable talent. Draw...

On this episode, Jordan Mattox is joined by journalist and author Catherine Nichols to dive into the wild and little-known true story behind her book Deep Water . The book traces the rise and fall of a sophisticated drug smuggling ring started by a group of high school swim team surfers on the island of Coronado in Southern California. Their story, filled with risk, betrayal, and ambition, opens u...

In this episode of The History of California Podcast, host Jordan Mattox sits down with author Taylor Kiland to discuss her new book, Murder of the Jujube Candy Heiress: A Coronado Cold Case . Set on the idyllic Coronado Island, the book reinvestigates the unsolved murder of a young heiress, Ruth Quinn, of the Jujube Candy fortune. Kiland shares how she unearthed records, reexamined the evidence,...

In this episode of the History of California Podcast , host Jordan Mattox welcomes Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Michael Hiltzik. Hiltzik is the author of Golden State: The Making of California , a fascinating survey of California’s history in the tradition of Kevin Starr’s acclaimed work. As a columnist and reporter for the Los Angeles Times , Hiltzik has written extensively about...

Today’s episode is the second part of a two-episode series on John Steinbeck’s novel To a God Unknown . I wanted to do two episodes on this because the novel is fascinating, complex, and at times mystifying—and I wanted to get a few different perspectives to better understand it. Today’s guest is Dr. Michael Boyden, a professor in both the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures as well as the...

Today we're continuing our series on John Steinbeck. This year, we've been reading through all of Steinbeck's major works. We started with The Pastures of Heaven , and To a God Unknown is the second book in the series. We’ll be doing two podcast episodes on this novel for a couple of different reasons. First and foremost, it’s probably the strangest, most confusing, and most exploratory of Steinbe...

Today, we have Elaine Chukan Brown on the show. Brown is a writer, speaker, and global wine educator. Brown is the Napa Valley specialist for Wine Enthusiast and previously served as the Executive Editor US for JancisRobinson.com, a columnist for Decanter magazine, and a contributing writer to Wine & Spirits magazine. They contributed to both the fourth and fifth editions of the Oxford Compani...

Today, we have Dr. James Buckley on the show. Dr. Buckley is an Associate Professor and Venerable Chair in Historic Preservation and the Director of the Historic Preservation Program at the University of Oregon, Portland. He has over twenty-five years of experience in the development of affordable housing in the Bay Area, including the adaptive reuse of several historic buildings for residential u...

Tony Platt is the author of thirteen books and 150 essays and articles on race, inequality, and social justice in American history, among them Beyond These Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States; Bloodlines: Recovering Hitler’s Nuremberg Laws, from Patton’s Trophy to Public Memorial; and The Child Savers: The Invention of Delinquency. His work has been translated into German,...

Today's episode is the first in a series of episodes on the history of Chinese Americans in California. We are beginning the series by discussing push and pull factors, immigration and legal status, mutual aid organizations, and more.