Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: Paul Mitchell

An increasingly rare device -- the dial telephone.

A decade ago, better than nine out of 10 California households with telephones relied on land lines for their service — a scant 5 percent used cell phones for their home connection. This year, nearly half of all households rely on cell phones. So Capitol Weekly’s John Howard and Tim Foster dialed up our favorite numbers cruncher, Political Data analyst Paul Mitchell, to talk about the seismic shift from to cell phones to land lines and how that will play out in the 2018 election cycle.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: Scott Lay

Scott Lay, editor and founder of The Nooner, the widely read online information source that tracks campaign cash and offers political analyses. (Photo: John Howard)

Recorded May 20, 2017: In the heat of the convention battle for the state Democratic Party leadership, The Nooner’s Scott Lay sat down with Capitol Weekly Editor John Howard to chat about the intense fight among the party delegates to pick a successor to John Burton, the party chair since 2009.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: Ruth Bernstein and Paul Mitchell

Paul Mitchell of Political Data and Ruth Bernstein of EMC Research((Photo: Tim Foster)

Political Data’s numbers cruncher Paul Mitchell and pollster Ruth Bernstein of EMC Research stopped by the Capitol Weekly office to chat about the results of a new EMC Research/Capitol Weekly poll of the new voters of 2016. Will those voters be back next year?

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: George Skelton

Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton (Photo: L.A. Times)

Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton, then a young news reporter, was in the Capitol when the Black Panthers entered on May 2, 1967. In this episode of the Capitol Weekly podcast, Skelton shares his memories of that historic day with John Howard and Tim Foster.

Podcast

CA120: Politics in the digital age

An illustration using hard-drawn images on green data paper. (Maksim Kabakou, via Shutterstock)

This past election cycle rewrote the rules for digital campaigning. Most media coverage, especially after the election, has focused on how a brand of digital terrorism – viral campaigns based on fake news stories, fueled by fake social media accounts and hacked computers – put before voters a mix of negative messages and falsehoods that had a huge impact on the U.S. presidential campaign.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: Paul Mitchell

Campaign data expert Paul Mitchell.

Let’s talk data: California political numbers cruncher Paul Mitchell sits down with Capitol Weekly Editor John Howard to chat about all things digital. Consider this: The past election cycle rewrote the rules for digital campaigning. Most media coverage, especially after the election, has focused on what Paul calls in today’s CA120 column “digital terrorism” – viral campaigns based on fake news stories, fueled by fake social media accounts and hacked computers.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: John Hancock

John Hancock, CEO and president of the The California Channel. (Photo: California Channel)

For followers of state politics, Ground Zero is The California Channel, which started broadcasting more than 26 years ago and has never looked back. Okay, so it’s not the flashiest option on your TV dial and people have been known to turn it on late at night as a sleep aid. But among California politicos and policy wonks, the Cal Channel is must-see TV.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: Paul Mitchell

Paul Mitchell (Photo: Scott Duncan, Capitol Weekly)

Paul Mitchell, California political strategist and numbers cruncher extraordinaire for Political Data, stopped by Capitol Weekly’s lavish new offices on H Street to chat about the amazingly crowded field in the upcoming special election in L.A. for #CA34 (the House seat vacated by Xavier Becerra, who was appointed state attorney general); Darrell Issa’s recent shimmy to the left, his early read on the 2018 governor’s race, turnout, redistricting — and more.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly podcast: Dave Lesher

Dave Lesher of CALmatters. (Photo: Tim Foster, Capitol Weekly)

Longtime California political journalist Dave Lesher stopped by Capitol Weekly’s office to talk about his latest gig: Editor and CEO of CALmatters, an ambitious nonprofit journalism startup that has quickly assembled one of the largest political news bureaus in the state.

Podcast

Capitol Weekly Podcast: Jay Lund

Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis.

The Capitol Weekly Podcast crew crosses the Yolo Causeway to sit down with UC Davis Professor Jay Lund, director of the Center for Watershed Sciences. One of the most respected voices in California water, Lund chats about the evolution of the Central Valley’s water storage and delivery systems. He also takes note of our water infrastructure — including what to watch for as storms and snowmelt pummel the the state.

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