Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Last night we published the 17th edition of Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 – our annual analysis of the unelected political power structure in California. KQED’s Marisa Lagos, co-host of the Political Breakdown podcast and radio show joins us to chat about the list. Lagos has been reporting on California politics for nearly two decades, and is intimately familiar with the Golden State’s political power players – elected and not.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Governor Newsom and Democratic allies announced Thursday that they will propose a constitutional amendment — The Election Rigging Response Act — to counter Texas and other Red states’ mid-decade redistricting plans. Our guest today is California political data and redistricting whiz Paul Mitchell, who was tasked with coming up with the new maps just two weeks ago. Mitchell described the process of drawing the new maps, why the redistricting effort was necessary, and tells us which seats will see the most changes.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We’re joined today by Kevin Liao of Frontrunner Strategies. Liao spent over four years as Press Secretary and Communications Director for former Speaker Anthony Rendon, before moving on to national campaign work. He was on first Elizabeth Warren and then Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign teams, and handled comms for Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz as she barnstormed the Midwest for the Harris-Walz ticket in 2024. He shares stories from the road – and tells what advice he’d give any other California politicians who might be seeking the White House.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Another jam-packed episode. We start with reaction to Kamala Harris’ bombshell announcement that she will not seek the governorship in 2026, effectively resetting the race, at least on the Dem side. Next up, we welcome Brad Heavner who has stepped into big shoes as Executive Director of The California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA), replacing longtime ED Bernadette Del Chiaro. Heavner has his job cut out for him; the transition comes at a crucial time for California’s solar industry, with rooftop solar facing headwinds from DC and Sacramento. And finally, we tell you Who Had the Worst Week in California Politics.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We’ve got a jam-packed episode this week: Podcast cohost Tim Foster marks TWENTY years at Capitol Weekly. Then we speak with Frank Torres, the new Director of Political and Legislative Advocacy for the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals. Finally, we tell you who had the Worst Week in California Politics.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We won’t use that old Mark Twain quote (that he probably never wrote anyway) but fighting over water has been California’s favorite pastime for at least 175 years. If you think norcal/socal baseball rivalries are bitter – try the socal vs. Delta water wars. One of the people tasked with managing that aqua drama is Jennifer Pierre, General Manager for the State Water Contractors – a statewide, non-profit association of the public water agencies that contract with the Department of Water Resources to receive water from the State Water Project. The SWP provides water for 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: This Special Episode of the Capitol Weekly Podcast was recorded live at the California and AI, which was held in Sacramento on Tuesday, July 8, 2025. This is Panel 1: The Here and Now: A Levelset, featuring Mona Pasquil Rogers, Meta; Jonathan Mehta Stein, California Initiative for Technology and Democracy (CITED); Camille Crittenden, Ph.D., CITRIS; Ramesh Srinivasan, UCLA School of Education & Information Studies. The panel was moderated by Robin Epley of the Sacramento Bee
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: On July 8, Capitol Weekly and the University of California Student and Policy Center presented California and AI, a daylong look at the Golden State’s approach to regulating Artificial Intelligence. Senator Scott Wiener led the charge both this year and last, and has emerged as one of the key voices in the discussion around AI regulation, and we present his Keynote as part of today’s podcast.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: We’re joined today by Christina Snider-Ashtari, Tribal Affairs Secretary to Governor Gavin Newsom and head of the Governor’s Office of Tribal Affairs. Snider-Ashtari was first appointed to the position in 2018 by Governor Brown and previously served as Executive Secretary of the California Native American Heritage Commission. We spoke to her about both governors’ approaches to Tribal policy, about the California Truth & Healing Council, and about the deep Native history on Alcatraz, which President Trump has suggested might be returned to use as a federal prison.
Podcast
CAPITOL WEEKLY PODCAST: Chris Lehane has a solid gold resume in professional politics: consultant and oppo research in the Clinton White House, Press Secretary to VP Al Gore, and the source of the report on the “vast right wing conspiracy” so infamously cited by Hillary Clinton. Since 2024 he has been VP of Global Affairs and a member of the executive team at OpenAI, a leading artificial intelligence organization based in San Francisco. Lehane joined us to talk about the opportunities and dangers of this fascinating new technology and to make the case for the importance of California maintaining its role as a global leader in AI.
