Talk Cocktail

Adam Nagourney , a veteran New York Times reporter based in Los Angeles, wrote recently about whether the California Dream had become a mirage. On this California Sun Podcast, Nagourney reminds me that even as the state has grown into the world’s fourth-largest economy, the promise of reinvention that defined the Golden State feels increasingly elusive. As young people flee, wildfires destroy neig...

On a recent WhoWhatWhy podcast I spoke with Katherine Stewart, author of Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy . She outlines a covert alliance of wealth, faith, and fear is quietly dismantling American democracy — one lie, one spectacle, and one grievance at a time. When we imagine democracy collapsing, we picture tanks in the streets, ballots burning, or shadowy...

The “Golden Dome” that Trump is promising is a fantasy at best. Back in February, on the WhoWhatWhy podcast , I explored the seductive dream of an impenetrable missile defense — and the sobering reality behind it. I spoke with Marion Messmer, a senior research fellow at Chatham House’s International Security Program in London. She lays bare the hard truths behind the rhetorical hype of space-based...

New York Times film critic Alissa Wilkinson discusses her new book, “ We Tell Ourselves Stories : Joan Didion and the American Dream Machine,” which explores the California author’s prescient understanding of how entertainment would colonize American political life. Wilkinson examines Didion’s work through the lens of a Hollywood insider and cultural critic, revealing how she anticipated our drift...

Science and medicine promise breakthroughs, but what if the foundation of today’s Alzheimer’s research is built on fraud? Investigative journalist Charles Piller uncovers this disturbing reality in Doctored: Fraud, Arrogance, and Tragedy in the Quest to Cure Alzheimer's. Vanderbilt neuroscientist Matthew Schrag’s forensic work exposed doctored images and manipulated data that propped up a dominant...

In this latest podcast I talk with Emmy-winning journalist Gianna Tobani about "The Volunteer." Gianna Tobani takes me through the harrowing story of Scott Dozier, a death row inmate who volunteered for execution but was ultimately driven to suicide after the state repeatedly failed to carry out his sentence. Through intimate conversations with Dozier, Tobani unveils a broken death penalty system...

America once built highways and reached the moon. Now we can’t even fix a bridge. The reason? The reforms meant to improve government have paralyzed it. In this recent WhoWhatWhy podcast I talk with Marc Dunkelman, whose recent book, Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress — and How to Bring It Back , uncovers the real reasons why America has lost its ability to build and manufacture. The culprit?...

On this recent California Sun podcast I talk with Ben Fritz, who covers the entertainment industry for The Wall Street Journal. We explore Hollywood’s perfect storm of existential threats — empty theaters, streaming wars, production flight, artificial intelligence. If that wasn’t enough, as Fritz has reported : audiences today seem to be rejecting both franchise tentpoles and original films. He di...

My guest Christine Wenc was present at the creation, as The Onion evolved from a Madison coupon delivery vehicle to America's finest news source. In a world drowning in existential threats, political polarization, and assaults on truth, humor and satire aren't just entertainment—they're essential lifelines for our collective sanity and democracy. For over 35 years, The Onion has masterfully wielde...

In this WhoWhatWhy podcast , I talk with China expert Dinny McMahon who explains how Beijing is desperately racing to innovate its way out of demographic disaster — replacing construction-led growth with advanced manufacturing and automation. But as the collapsing property market exposes mountains of municipal debt, and rising global trade barriers threaten China’s export-driven strategy, the sust...

David Denby, long time New York Magazine film critic and acclaimed New Yorker writer, joins me to discuss his captivating new book " Eminent Jews." He examines how Leonard Bernstein, Mel Brooks, Betty Friedan, and Norman Mailer—all born within eight years of each other—wielded their Jewish heritage as a creative weapon in post-WWII America. In our conversation, Denby reveals how these boundary-bre...

Why is California the first state to file suit against the Trump administration over trade? Olaf Groth, a futurist and professor at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, examines how global trade tensions, artificial intelligence advancements, and economic shifts are reshaping California’s position in the world economy. Groth explores AI’s transformative effects on employment, the emerging defe...

In this recent WhoWhatWhy podcast, I talk with John Lechner, author of Death Is Our Business . He details how private armies increasingly blur the lines between state power and mercenary force. The prospect of billionaires and politicians commanding their own military forces is no longer just a dystopian idea. John Lechner’s five-year investigation into Russia’s notorious Wagner Group reveals a di...

Americans see Canada as that friendly neighbor up north. Canadians now see America as their greatest threat. How did we get here, and what does it mean for both nations? Joining me on this week’s WhoWhatWhy podcast is veteran political analyst and Globe and Mail columnist Andrew Coyne . Trump’s talk of annexation and punitive tariffs has profoundly transformed Canada’s relationship with the US, cr...

Lili Anolik, author of the new book “ Didion & Babitz ,” delves into the complex and largely unexplored relationship between literary icons Joan Didion and Eve Babitz in 1960s Los Angeles. Anolik explains how these contrasting personalities — Didion’s calculated reserve and Babitz’s uninhibited sensuality — shaped our understanding of them and the era. Their story illuminates broader themes about...

For over two centuries, the American experiment has weathered crises that would have toppled lesser democracies — a resilience celebrated as uniquely American. But what if this story of perpetual reinvention through adaptation has reached its limits, our Constitution stretched too thin by the democratic achievements we cherish most? In this WhoWhatWhy podcast , Yale professor Stephen Skowronek tal...

Elsa Devienne takes us behind the iconic beaches of Los Angeles to reveal a hidden history of transformation, conflict, and reinvention. The author of “ Sand Rush ,” Devienne talks to me about how L.A.’s shores went from eroding, polluted strips in the 1920s and ’30s to expansive public spaces that defined the city’s image and culture. It was a time when government could actually change a city. Wi...

There was a time when geographic mobility defined America — one-third of the population relocated each year, chasing better jobs and brighter futures. But today, historian and journalist Yoni Appelbaum argues in his new book, Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity , that America’s once-robust engine of upward mobility is grinding to a halt. Appelbaum...

What if Donald Trump’s strange fixation on William McKinley isn’t just historical trivia, but the key to understanding what happens next? On this WhoWhatWh y podcast, long-time journalist and author Chris Lehmann argues we’re not necessarily headed for authoritarian collapse — we’re rewinding to the Gilded Age. How might McKinley’s transformation from economic nationalist to global imperialist mor...

The sports betting explosion has unleashed a $500 billion monster that engulfs everything game its path. Since the Supreme Court opened the floodgates in 2018, betting and its betting apps bombard fans during every game, turning each play into another chance to wager. As millions will trade their paychecks for the dopamine hit of a winning bet during March Madness, the same leagues that banned Pet...

Democrats once counted on the votes of blue-collar workers, but two rival teams of consultants saw change coming. Their fight over the party’s future still echoes today. Today, Democrats typically dominate America’s wealthiest zip codes while Republicans claim the mantle of the working class. What happened? In this WhoWhatWhy podcast, historian Timothy Shenk — author of Left Adrift: What Happened...

How did America transform from a nation of self-aware optimists to one of angry cynics in less than two decades? In this recent WhoWhatWhy podcast I talk with political scientist Yascha Mounk , an associate professor at Johns Hopkins’s School of Advanced International Studies. He witnessed this cultural metamorphosis first hand after arriving in the US in 2005; his insights on this podcast paint a...

In a recent special WhoWhatWhy podcast, I spoke with Sam Ramani, an Oxford-trained geopolitical expert and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. Ramani, one of the foremost analysts of Russian global strategy, has become a trusted adviser to policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic. Unlike mainstream analysis with its simplistic narratives, Ramani offers granular understanding...

In this otherwise grim moment, I share a glimpse of what real heroism looks like. In this recent California Sun Podcast, I spoke with Dr. Shayan Rab, associate medical director at Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, He explains his revolutionary, if controversial, approach to helping mentally ill homeless individuals. As the county’s first street psychiatrist. His innovative program co...

David Pakman, host of his eponymous podcast and program, joins me to talk about his book "The Echo Machine" and how right-wing extremism has methodically undermined America's shared information ecosystem over decades. Pakman and I discuss the deliberate fragmentation of media from talk radio through social media, explaining how this has eroded critical thinking and created parallel realities in Am...