Capitol Weekly Podcast

Longtime political journalist Dan Morain joins us this week to chat about former Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner's surprise late entry into the current race for Insurance Commissioner as an independent candidate. Will the multimillionaire former Commissioner be able to shake the curse that has befuddled GOP statewide office-seekers in California by shedding the party label? Or, will his right...

Sacramento Bee reporter Alexei Koseff covers California politics and higher education for the Bee’s capitol bureau — and handles the state Assembly, too. Alexei joined Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster to chat about the challenges facing UC — Alexei is a Stanford alumnus, by the way — and the unique, constitutionally protected position the institution occupies in California’s educational...

Longtime journalist and Jerry Brown biographer Chuck McFadden joins the Capitol Weekly Podcast to talk about Brown's 16th - and last - State of the State address, his legacy, and what may lie ahead for the 79-year old governor. Presidential run? Mayor of Colusa? Or, just the "Only adult in the room." All that and much more on today's Capitol Weekly Podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWi...

Southern California voter registration outweighs the north by big numbers, and some pundits are predicting that a surge of Southern California votes will boost Angelinos running for office in 2018, leaving NorCal candidates - like Gavin Newsom - at a disadvantage. 'Not so fast,' says political data whiz Paul Mitchell. He sat down with the CW Podcast for a deep dig about why the Bay Area outperform...

Bill Magavern of the Coalition for Clean Air declares 2018 "The Year of the Truck" as he joins us for the first Capitol Weekly Podcast of 2018. New, proposed legislation (SB 210) from Senator Connie Leyva would introduce clean air rules for big trucks, which - a surprise to us - do not have to undergo the same types of smog checks that have been required for passenger vehicles for many y...

Will California catch the wave? Last week’s elections in Virginia and elsewhere can only be categorized as a Democratic wave - a wave that swamped Republican candidates in once-safe GOP seats. Energized Democrats are hoping to retake congress in 2018, and have their sights set on seven California house districts which voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but are represented by Republicans. California...

Journalist, educator and now, documentary filmmaker Rob Gunnison joins us to talk about the new Open California Oral History project, which recently finished its first two projects: filmed interviews with Judge Thelton Henderson and George Steffes. Henderson, a civil rights lawyer who later joined the federal judiciary (and later took control of the state's prison health care system), is the defin...

Political Data's Paul Mitchell sits down with John Howard and Tim Foster to discuss his latest CA120 column, which examines changing - and not-so-changing - attitudes among California's Trump voters. How are the president's early supporters feeling about his time in office, the Republican majority in congress, and journalists? Listen here to find out! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See...

Longtime journalist Tom Chorneau joins us to talk about his debut novel, Enterprise Reporting, which follows one of the state's top political reporters and his lobbyist uncle as they game the system during Arnold Schwarzenegger's reign as California governor. Informed by Chorneau's real-life experiences covering Sacramento, and featuring thinly-veiled portraits of familiar capitol figures, the nov...

California Business Roundtable president Rob Lapsley joins us to talk about efforts to extend the state's cap-and-trade program, and the effect cap-and-trade has on California's business community. Earlier this month, the Assembly rejected AB378, a bill that would extend, and make changes to California's landmark cap-and-trade program. The legislation had earlier cleared the Senate, but strong opp...

The 2020 Census could have a big impact on California's political districts. Could changes in population - or an undercount - cost California a congressional seat? Or, will improved counting methods give California a 53rd seat in the House? Political Data's Paul Mitchell joins John Howard and Tim Foster to discuss the possibilities for the state's second round of redistricting since the creation o...

California political data guru Paul Mitchell sits down with Capitol Weekly's John Howard and Tim Foster to talk about his latest CA120 column, which looks at changes in political polling. What does the decline of land lines, surge of cell phones and increased reliance on email mean for the future of California political polling? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for inf...

Recorded live, Saturday, May 20, 2017, at the California Democratic Party convention - Capitol Weekly editor John Howard talks with The Nooner's Scott Lay about the bitter battle over the party chairmanship between establishment Dems and "Berniecrats." Inspired by the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, the left wing of the party surged in activity during the 2016 election and has continued to...

Political Data expert Paul Mitchell and pollster Ruth Bernstein stop by the Capitol Weekly office to talk about Paul's latest CA120 column, which looks at results from a new EMC Research/Capitol Weekly poll of 2016 new voters. Historically, new voters who register in a presidential election year are likely to skip mid-term elections - will 2016 new voters follow that pattern, or will they break th...

Fifty years ago this week, Black Panther Party leader Bobby Seale led an armed delegation of Oakland Panthers into the California state capitol in a bid to derail a proposed gun control bill. The event made international news, and photos of black-clad Panthers brandishing shotguns and other long guns were published around the world. George Skelton, then a young news reporter, was in the capitol wh...

California political data expert Paul Mitchell sits down with Capitol Weekly editor John Howard to talk about his latest #CA120 column. Digital spending boomed in campaigns in 2016 - consultants and candidates are sending real dollars into the digital realm. Paul digs into the realities of online campaigning in 2017, including Geo Fencing and Digital Terrorism. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz com...

The California Channel may not be the flashiest option on your TV dial, but among California politicos and policy wonks it is "must-see-TV." Capitol Weekly sits down with CalChannel president John Hancock - a capitol insider who knows everyone in the biz - to talk about his 25+ years heading the station. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about...

California Political data whiz Paul Mitchell stopped by the Capitol Weekly office to chat about the upcoming #CA34 special election (to replace now-AG Xavier Becerra in congress), Darrell Issa's recent shimmy to the left, and the early read on the 2018 governor's race. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for ad...

Longtime California political journalist Dave Lesher stopped by the Capitol Weekly office to talk about his latest gig: Editor and CEO of CALmatters, an ambitious nonprofit news startup that has quickly put together one of the largest political news bureaus in the state. We talk about that venture, and the status of political media in 2017. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz...

The Capitol Weekly Podcast crew crosses the Yolo Causeway to sit down with UC Davis prof. Jay Lund. One of the most respected voices in California water, Lund discusses the evolution of the Central Valley's water storage and delivery systems, and the state of our water infrastructure, including what to watch as storms and snowmelt continue to threaten the Oroville Dam. Hosted by Simplecast, an Ads...

As floods ravage San Jose and the spillway of the Oroville Dam continues to erode, we're joined by California's essential water policy blogger, Chris Austin, of Maven's Notebook, to talk about water storage, conveyance, subsidence, aquifers, the Yolo Causeway and of course, the Twin Tunnels project. And we find out why one of the state's most closely read water policy blogs has such an odd name. H...

John Howard and Tim Foster take a short tour of the California state capitol with "unofficial" legislative historian Alex Vassar. Alex shares some tales from his new book, "California Lawmaker," about a few of the 4,424 people who have served in legislature since the state's inception. Alex serves up stabbings, shootings and fistfights on the floor - and that's all from just on...

Capitol Weekly headed over to the California Endowment's offices on K Street to chat with Endowment VP Daniel Zingale about what a repeal of the Affordable Care Act would mean for California. Zingale also weighs in on other health-related topics including Universal Health Care, how your neighborhood affects your health and EXACTLY how bad soda ("it's mostly chemicals") is for you. We con...

Capitol Weekly's John Howard and Tim Foster sit down with Anthony Wright of Health Access California to talk about the impact of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare. Is it happening? If so, when? How much will it cost Californians? And, what's the significance of February 20? All this and more on the latest Capitol Weekly Podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm....

UC Davis College Republicans pulled the plug on a January 13 speaking event featuring far-right firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos and pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli after protests against the duo's appearance overwhelmed campus security. The event was destined to court controversy - Breitbart editor Yiannopoulos is a vocal opponent of feminism and was banned from Twitter for conducting a harass...