Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast State of Gold
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Why Grumpy California Voters Still Stick With Democrats | Mark Baldassare | 03 Nov 2026 | 00:19:04 | |
Guest Mark Baldassare, Statewide Survey Director, Public Policy Institute of California Guest Bio Mark Baldassare is one of California’s leading experts on public opinion and how its voters behave. He has directed the PPIC Statewide Survey since 1998 and led the Public Policy Institute of California as president and CEO from 2007 to 2022. Before PPIC he taught urban and regional planning at UC Irvine, and unlike most pollsters he trained in sociology, earning his PhD at UC Berkeley. He has written ten books, including A California State of Mind: The Conflicted Voter in a Changing World. Show Summary “Both parties are underwater in terms of their favorability,” says Mark Baldassare. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with the longtime California pollster to ask why voters who say the state is headed in the wrong direction keep voting the same way. Baldassare says it comes down to how people feel about both parties. Asking a Democrat to vote for a Republican, or the other way around, is a hard choice, because voters “have questions about what the alternatives might do.” His polls keep finding Californians who say a third party is needed, which he reads as deep disappointment in both major parties. The biggest change since he wrote about the conflicted voter, he says, is that distrust of government has become “a fact of life,” along with a hyper-partisanship that keeps people in their political lane. He points to Arnold Schwarzenegger, an independent thinker who did his homework, and to Jerry Brown’s canoe theory of politics, paddling to the left and to the right, as what wins voters over. The conversation moves to the ballot. Voters want to keep the initiative process, he says, but think special interests have too much influence, and they would rather have debates, town halls and a Citizens Initiative Commission than commercials. Only one in three initiatives passes, because “the default for voters is to say no.” He closes on Prop 45, the environmental review measure that pits more housing against the reasons to vote no, as the vote he expects to be the biggest surprise.
00:00 – Cold Open: “I Don’t Actually Like Either of Them That Much” 00:19 – Welcome: Statewide Survey Director Mark Baldassare on Conflicted Voters 01:20 – Both Parties Underwater: Why Unhappy Voters Won’t Switch 02:41 – Fear of the Unknown: Why Californians Want a Third Party 03:21 – The Conflicted Voter, 24 Years On: Distrust Becomes a Fact of Life 04:33 – Grumpy Voters: Who Californians Blame Depends on Their Party 05:58 – Breaking Party Lines: Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown’s Canoe Theory 09:31 – Shifting Opinion: Same-Sex Marriage, Prop 187 and a GOP That Didn’t Move 10:50 – Ballot Overload: 14 Propositions and How Voters Would Fix the System 12:47 – Prop 39 Voter ID: Who Should Write the Ballot Language? 15:22 – Prop 40 Billionaire Tax: When in Doubt, Voters Vote No 17:28 – Election Night Surprise: Why Prop 45 Is the One to Watch Connect with Mark Baldassare
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| Republicans Are Playing DEFENSE in States Trump Won Big | Tom Bevan | 30 Oct 2026 | 00:25:52 | |
Guest Tom Bevan, Co-Founder and President, RealClearPolitics Guest Bio Tom Bevan is the co-founder of RealClearPolitics, home of the polling averages cited across American politics. He started the site in 2000 with John McIntyre and is now its president. A Princeton graduate, Bevan co-hosts RCP’s daily radio show on SiriusXM with Washington bureau chief Carl Cannon, and the two co-wrote a pair of e-books on the 2012 election. He travels the country giving speeches on the election landscape. Show Summary “Republicans are playing defense in a lot of these states,” says Tom Bevan. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with the RealClearPolitics co-founder to size up the 2026 midterms, from the fight for the Senate to the gas prices weighing on Republican voters. Bevan calls the Senate a real toss-up. He points to President Trump’s job approval at 38.8% in the RCP average and a generic ballot where Democrats lead by about eight and a half points, and says to follow where the time and money are going. Trump’s trips to Texas, Ohio and Montana are about turning out the base, because “midterm elections are base elections,” though Susan Collins and Mike Rogers would rather keep their distance. Collins never led a poll in 2020, he notes, and still won by eight points. He says gas prices have the tightest link to how voters feel about the economy because it is “a very tangible thing that everybody across this country feels in a very real way when they go to the pump.” The conversation moves to Texas, where he calls the Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico “a crazy race.” On polling, Bevan admits there have been big misses. Still, he says of the averages, “there’s literally nothing better.” He closes on election confidence, with a two-day national voting holiday he and Carl Cannon have proposed, and says ballot harvesting “erodes” trust and “should be done away with.”
00:16 – Welcome: RealClearPolitics Co-Founder Tom Bevan on the Midterms 00:29 – Senate Toss-Up: Trump at 38.8% and Democrats Up 8.5 Points 02:11 – Follow the Money: Why Republicans Are Spending in Red States 04:12 – Trump on the Trail: Do Red-State Candidates Want Him There? 06:04 – Senate Betting: Susan Collins, Kansas and a Weird Election Cycle 09:10 – Gas Prices: The Pump Problem Dragging Down Republicans 12:00 – Latino Voters: Trump’s 2024 Gains Are Slipping Back 13:59 – Texas Senate: Talarico, Paxton and What Went Wrong for Cornyn 17:33 – Polling Defense: Are the Polls Rigged? Tom Bevan Answers 20:39 – Election Trust: Voting Holiday, California and Ballot Harvesting Connect with Tom Bevan
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| It's No Mystery Why CA Energy Prices Top the Nation | Greg Wallis | 27 Oct 2026 | 00:18:39 | |
Guest Greg Wallis, CA State Assemblyman (47th) Guest Bio Greg Wallis represents California’s 47th Assembly District, a stretch of Riverside and San Bernardino counties that includes Palm Springs, the Coachella Valley, Yucca Valley and Joshua Tree. A Republican in a district where Democrats hold the registration edge, he first won the seat by 85 votes out of about 170,000 cast. He serves on the Budget Committee, belongs to the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, and was ranked by CalMatters as the Assembly’s top “maverick” voter for breaking with his party. Before taking office he was district director for former Assemblymember Chad Mayes. Show Summary Host Jon Slavet sits down with Assemblyman Greg Wallis, who rallied 61 lawmakers from both parties against a proposed Yosemite land swap, and explains why federal park cuts hit tourism towns like Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms. He walks through his reelection fight in a district he first won by 85 votes, and contrasts his record with his opponent Leila Namvar’s, pointing to $24 billion spent on homelessness while the homeless population kept growing. He defends breaking with his party on wildfire prevention, describes how overgrown forests turn into tinderboxes, and lays out why gas prices keep rising as the state loses refineries. Wallis closes with a warning about cap and invest, which he says passed before lawmakers could get a fiscal analysis.
00:00 – Yosemite Is Not for Sale: 61 Lawmakers Push Back 01:48 – Federal Park Cuts and the Tourism Economy 03:31 – Won by 85 Votes: Holding a Democrat-Leaning District 05:27 – Leila Namvar and California’s Spending Problem 07:16 – Prop 40 and Protecting Prop 13 07:55 – Breaking With His Party on Wildfire Prevention 09:26 – How Unmanaged Forests Become Tinderboxes 11:16 – What’s Really Driving Gas Prices 13:46 – Climate Goals and Rising Utility Rates 15:23 – Proving Clean Energy Can Be Affordable 16:36 – Cap and Invest Without a Cost Analysis 17:02 – Good Policy Needs Good Process Connect with Greg Wallis
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| Restorative Justice for Selling Children? | Shannon Grove | 23 Oct 2026 | 00:18:51 | |
Guest: Shannon Grove, California State Senator (12th) Guest Bio: Shannon Grove is a Republican California State Senator representing the 12th District, which includes much of Kern County and the southern Central Valley. An Army veteran, she co-founded Continental Labor and Staffing Resources and still serves as its CEO. She served in the State Assembly from 2010 to 2016 before winning her Senate seat, and she later led the Senate Republican Caucus. Grove is known as Kern County’s loudest voice on oil and energy, the author of SB 237 to restart Kern drilling, and a persistent advocate for child safety and victims’ rights. With her Senate term ending in 2026, she is running for the State Board of Equalization, District 1. Show Summary “I don’t vote for tax increases,” says Senator Shannon Grove. Host Jon Slavet sits down with the California State Senator as she runs for the Board of Equalization in a race against Democrat Nelson Esparza. Grove explains what the BOE does, from overseeing county assessors to defending Prop 13’s two-thirds vote, and calls an $11.25 billion veterans bond a Trojan horse after $24 billion spent on homelessness. The two dig into the billionaire tax and why it could reach any taxpayer. Then the talk turns to energy: SB 237’s 2,000 Kern County permits a year, Valero’s Benicia closure, and why importing refined fuel from overseas makes no sense. Grove recounts a colleague pitching restorative justice for people who traffick children, the Safe Passage for Youth Act now on the Governor’s desk, and SB 1373’s fight over mental health diversion. She closes with Jay Leno crashing a press conference.
00:00 – Death and Taxes: Why the Board of Equalization Matters 01:31 – An 8,000-Vote Race: Grove vs. Esparza on Taxes 02:07 – Holding the Line on Prop 13 and the Two-Thirds Vote 03:16 – $24 Billion on Homelessness and an $11.25 Billion “Veterans” Trojan Horse 04:02 – The Billionaire Tax: A Door to Taxing Everyone 05:21 – SB 237: Why 2,000 Kern Drilling Permits Can’t Flip a Switch 07:21 – Refineries Closing: Importing Fuel from India and Japan 09:45 – Kern County, Energy Capital: 58% of California’s Renewables 11:34 – Restorative Justice for Child Traffickers? Inside the Legislature 14:15 – Safe Passage for Youth: Paris Hilton and Survivors on the Governor’s Desk 16:02 – SB 1373: The DSM-5 Loophole in Mental Health Diversion 17:47 – Leno’s Law: Jay Leno Crashes the Press Conference Connect with Shannon Grove
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| UC Is Now Teaching College Kids MIDDLE SCHOOL Math | Gloria Romero | 20 Oct 2026 | 00:19:55 | |
Guest Gloria Romero, Candidate for CA Lt. Governor Guest Bio Gloria Romero is a former California State Senator who represented East Los Angeles and served as Senate Majority Leader. A longtime champion of school choice and education reform, she left the Democratic Party, and is now the Republican candidate for Lieutenant Governor of California. She is also endorsed by the American Independent Party and the Bakersfield Californian. Show Summary Host Jon Slavet welcomes back Gloria Romero, candidate for Lieutenant Governor, who says the biggest difference between her and Fiona Ma is education policy. Romero argues that K through 12 schools and the University of California have now collided, after 3,000 UC professors warned that students arrive unprepared and need remedial middle school math. Her fixes: bring back the SAT, tighten teacher tenure that now comes after just 15 months, pay for merit, and expand school choice. She rejects the claim that testing is racist and cites a striking figure: at current rates, a Black kindergartner in LA Unified would need 54 years to reach reading proficiency. Romero lays out her path to victory through the Republican base, independents, disaffected Democrats and the Central Valley, and tells voters Trump is not on this ballot. She closes with her day one plan for two extraordinary sessions, one to rebuild the budget from zero and one to go after waste, fraud and abuse.
00:00 – Gloria Romero vs. Fiona Ma: The Biggest Difference 01:18 – Education: The Issue That Eats Half the Budget 03:04 – 3,000 UC Professors Sound the Alarm 05:07 – Teacher Tenure After Just 15 Months 05:59 – Bring Back the SAT, Merit Pay and School Choice 07:17 – Is the SAT Racist? The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations 08:43 – 54 Years to Reading Proficiency in LA Unified 10:13 – The Math to Win: 200,000 LA Republicans Who Didn’t Vote 12:04 – No Flyover Country: Why the Central Valley Matters 12:46 – Trump Is Not on This Ballot 14:58 – Day One: Two Extraordinary Sessions on the Budget 16:55 – Going After Waste, Fraud and Abuse 18:23 – Not a Red State or a Blue State, a Golden State Connect with Gloria Romero
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| "You Can’t Have Sunlight Without the Sun": Does MAGA Survive Trump? | Victor Davis Hanson | 16 Oct 2026 | 00:23:50 | |
Guest Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution Guest Bio Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist, military historian and senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, and a farmer who still lives in his family’s 150 year old home in California’s Central Valley. He has written dozens of books on ancient warfare and modern politics. His newest, The Counterrevolution: The Fall and Rise of Donald Trump and the MAGA Movement, is becoming a bestseller. Show Summary “You can’t have sunlight without the sun,” Victor Davis Hanson says, quoting a senior official on whether MAGA can outlast Donald Trump. Host Jon Slavet sits down with Hanson in his family home to discuss his new book, The Counterrevolution. They start with the midterms and why Republicans have failed to address affordability, then turn to the Iran war. Hanson argues it is not a forever war, citing 38 days of combat, 19 fatalities and a $40 billion cost, and he warns against negotiating with a regime he believes is near collapse. The conversation moves to the threat from within: Tucker Carlson, Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene, the antisemitic fringe JD Vance must reject, and influence peddling around the White House. Drawing on Thucydides, Hanson explains how lawfare destroys the norms its users later need. He closes with the changes he says nobody talks about, from Latin America to NATO to military recruiting.
00:00 – Back at the Farm: A 150-Year-Old Home and The Counterrevolution 00:51 – Shaky Midterms: Prices, Affordability and Selling the Boom 03:40 – A Binary Choice: Democratic Socialists and a 50-50 House 07:00 – Is Iran Jacksonian? The War Seven Months In 08:37 – Cutting Off the Mothership: Hezbollah, the Houthis and Why Not to Negotiate Now 10:21 – “I Decide What’s America First”: Can MAGA Outlast Trump? 13:31 – Jilted Egos and the Groyper Problem: Why J.D. Vance Must Draw the Line 17:51 – Thucydides on Faction: Lawfare and Who Weaponized Justice 20:00 – The Critical 5 to 10%: Independents, Latin America and NATO 22:02 – The Undersold Wins: Military Recruiting and the Border Connect with Victor Davis Hanson
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| Trump's Midterm Strategy Is Wrong and Karl Rove Knows Why | Karl Rove | 13 Oct 2026 | 00:28:58 | |
Guest Karl Rove, Republican Political Strategist and Former Senior Advisor to President George W. Bush Guest Bio Karl Rove is one of the most influential Republican political strategists in modern American history. Known as "The Architect" of George W. Bush's two presidential campaigns, Rove served as Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff in the Bush White House from 2000 to 2007. Before his government career, he ran Karl Rove + Company, an Austin-based public affairs firm that worked on more than 75 Republican campaigns across 24 states. He writes a weekly column for the Wall Street Journal, appears regularly on Fox News, and is the author of the New York Times bestseller Courage and Consequence. Show Summary "Authenticity matters," says Karl Rove, and he means it as a warning. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with the Republican strategist who helped put George W. Bush in the White House, to talk about what the GOP is getting wrong heading into the 2026 midterms, and what it would take to get it right. Rove argues that the current Trump-centric strategy is a mistake. If the president isn't popular, don't make him the issue. Let candidates like Mike Rogers in Michigan and Steve Hilton in California run as individuals. He points to Trump's biggest policy win, securing the southern border, and asks why the president never went to the border to celebrate it with the local (mostly Democratic, mostly Latino) officials who would have praised him on camera. The conversation moves to the Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico, the 2028 presidential field (Rove is blunt about JD Vance: "How do you go from saying Donald Trump is Adolf Hitler to saying I'm honored to be his running mate?"), and a California voter ID ballot initiative that Rove says could start rebuilding Republican credibility in the state. He closes with the story of his great-grandfather Olaf Julius Rove, a Norwegian peasant who came to America with nothing and whose great-grandson ended up working in the White House. Chapters 00:01 – Welcome: Karl Rove, "The Architect," on State of Gold Connect with Karl Rove
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| Only 40% of LA Republicans Voted and They're Still Complaining | Roxanne Hoge | 06 Oct 2026 | 00:15:32 | |
Guest Roxanne Hoge, Chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party Guest Bio Roxanne Hoge is the Chair of the Los Angeles County Republican Party, the largest Republican county party in the United States. A legal immigrant from Jamaica and a U.S. citizen, Hoge is a former business owner, actress, and SAG member who has run for California State Assembly and the LA County Board of Supervisors. She has appeared on Fox News, CNN, and OANN, and writes for the California Globe. She ran the LA County GOP's voter turnout operation through recent election cycles including the successful campaign to replace George Gascon with Nathan Hochman as District Attorney. Show Summary Only 40% of registered Republicans in LA County voted in the June 2026 primary. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with LA County GOP Chair Roxanne Hoge to ask why Republicans keep complaining about a system they refuse to show up for. Hoge makes a blunt case: Everything most people call voter fraud, from ballot harvesting to bloated voter rolls, is already codified in California law. The left has been building this architecture since 2011, starting with driver's licenses for undocumented immigrants, then Motor Voter automatic registration, and now a system that pushes voter registrations to anyone who interacts with state government. She wrote to both Attorney General Rob Bonta and the Department of Justice asking for election monitors and got no response from Bonta, just hate mail. The conversation then turns to LA's taxpayer-funded campaign matching system, which has quietly grown from a voter-approved 1:1 match in 1990 to a 6:1 ratio today. Raise $100,000 and the city hands you $600,000. Hoge argues the system is nearly impossible to use without public sector union ground operations, and that Mayor Karen Bass made a political mistake by publicly touting it. Hoge also calls for outlawing public sector unions entirely, warning that unfunded pension liabilities are "coming like a train, unlike the bullet train, a train that will actually hit us." The episode closes on the LA City Council's push for non-citizen voting and why Hoge believes California's best-run cities share a common thread: Conservative leadership at the local level. Chapters 00:00 - Cold Open: "Voter Fraud Is an Excuse for Not Doing the Work" Connect with Roxanne Hoge
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| The Billionaire Tax, Voter ID, and 12 Other Initiatives That Will Shape California's Future | Jon Fleischman | 02 Oct 2026 | 00:18:48 | |
Guest Jon Fleischman, political commentator and author of the "So Does It Matter" Substack Guest Bio Jon Fleischman is a veteran California political commentator, publisher of the "So Does It Matter" Substack, and one of the state's most respected voices on ballot initiatives, fiscal policy, and taxpayer advocacy. His voter guide covering all 14 November 2026 ballot propositions is a go-to resource for California voters looking for clear, principled analysis. Show Summary Jon Fleischman joins Jon Slavet to break down California's November 2026 ballot, which features 14 propositions, the most in recent memory. They cover six key measures: Prop 3, which would make the 13.3% top income tax rate permanent after voters were promised it was temporary; Prop 39, Carl DeMaio's voter ID initiative; Prop 40, the so-called billionaire tax that Fleischman warns is really an "everyone tax" because it gives the legislature unchecked power to levy wealth taxes on anyone; Props 41 and 42, counter-measures that would nullify the billionaire tax if either gets more votes; and Prop 43, the Save Prop 13 initiative restoring the two-thirds requirement for local special taxes. Fleischman explains how the California Teachers Association bankrolls the tax push, why even Gavin Newsom and Xavier Becerra oppose the billionaire tax, and how Hoover economist Joshua Rauh calculates it would cost the state $25 billion. The episode closes with which ballot outcome will send the strongest signal about California's future. Chapters 00:00 – Jon Fleischman on California's November Ballot Connect with Jon Fleischman
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| California Has One Governor's Debate and CNN Is Running It | John Phillips | 29 Sep 2026 | 00:22:24 | |
Guest John Phillips, KABC Talk Radio Host & OC Register Columnist Guest Bio John Phillips is a Southern California radio host, political commentator, and columnist for the Orange County Register. He has covered California politics for two decades and has been called the state's political historian by figures in the California political establishment. Phillips is a regular voice on the intersection of state policy, elections, and the consequences of one-party rule in the Golden State. Show Summary California has one gubernatorial debate this November, and CNN is moderating it with out-of-state hosts who have no stake in the issues destroying the state. Host Jon Slavet sits down with veteran California political commentator John Phillips to walk through the full landscape of the November 2026 ballot: the governor's race between Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, the LA mayor's race between Karen Bass and Nithya Raman, 14 ballot initiatives including three major tax measures, and the homelessness crisis that no level of government seems willing to solve. The conversation closes on the LA mayor's race, the homelessness industrial complex, and a historical parallel that sticks: in the 1930s, when Upton Sinclair nearly won the governorship on a platform of government ownership of farms and factories, California's business elites (the Chandlers, Hearst, Louis B. Mayer) stepped in and stopped it. Today's elites, Phillips says, the Elon Musks and Peter Thiels, have the resources to do the same. Will they?
00:00 – Welcome: John Phillips on the State of California Politics 00:30 – One Debate, CNN Moderators, and the Issues They Won't Touch 00:59 – Homelessness, Insurance, the Bullet Train: California-Only Problems 02:46 – The Train to Nowhere: Waste, Fraud, and Uber Blacks to Sacramento 03:51 – Becerra 60, Hilton 38: The PPIC Polls and the Basement Strategy 05:30 – Embarrass Becerra Into Debating: Boyle Heights and the Cold Storage Fire 06:38 – 14 Ballot Initiatives and the Case for Direct Democracy 07:18 – Hiram Johnson, Southern Pacific, and Why Initiatives Exist 08:06 – The SEIU and CTA: The New 800-Pound Gorilla in Sacramento 09:39 – Prop 43: A Supermajority for Local Taxes (Currently Failing) 10:08 – The Billionaire Tax (Prop 40): How It Split the Labor Movement 11:19 – Will the AI Industry Leave California? The Catastrophic Risk of Prop 40 13:01 – Bass vs. Raman: The LA Mayor's Race Nobody Wants 15:13 – The Doctored Fire Report: Karen Bass Can't Learn from Failure 16:03 – Defund the NGOs: The Homeless Industrial Complex 16:51 – Enforce the Rules: Rehab, Treatment, or Prison 17:39 – Dr. Drew and the Missing Coordination Between City, County, and State 18:20 – Nothing Changes Until People Vote Differently 20:18 – Upton Sinclair and the Elites Who Saved California Before 21:29 – Today's Titans (Musk, Brin, Thiel) Won't Step Up. Yet. Connect with John Phillips Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast | |||
| California Is Ranked Dead Last for Business. Here's the Treasurer's Fix | Fiona Ma | 22 Sep 2026 | 00:23:25 | |
Guest Fiona Ma, California State Treasurer Guest Bio Fiona Ma is California's State Treasurer, overseeing the state's debt portfolio, investment pool, and savings programs including CalSavers, CalABLE, and the ScholarShare 529 plan. A CPA by training, Ma has held five elected offices over three decades: San Francisco Board of Supervisors, State Assembly, State Board of Equalization, and two terms as Treasurer. She is currently running for Lieutenant Governor against Republican Gloria Romero in the November 2026 general election. Show Summary California ranks dead last among all 50 states for business climate, according to the latest Chief Executive magazine survey of CEOs. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with State Treasurer Fiona Ma to ask what she would do about it if elected Lieutenant Governor in November 2026. Ma, who spent her pre-government career as a real estate tax accountant advising businesses on where to locate, makes the case that California has failed to create meaningful incentives to attract or retain companies. Texas now has more Fortune 500 headquarters than California, and Ma says the state government's lack of outreach to business leaders is a core part of the problem. The conversation covers a wide range of policy ground: the $1,600 per acre tax burden crushing family farmers, a wine grape surplus with no market, the cannabis industry (where 60% of sales are now illegal due to tax rates as high as 40%), the philosophical debate over billions in state spending on undocumented residents while citizens struggle with affordability, and Ma's work launching the Early Wealth Partnership Navigator with Google.org to help families access savings programs. Ma also signals openness to a California flat tax, calling the current system too complicated for ordinary taxpayers.
00:00 - Cold Open: "I Used to Advise Companies to Leave California" Connect with Fiona Ma
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| CA Democrats Killed All 3 of Her Affordability Bills | Suzette Valladares | 18 Sep 2026 | 00:20:50 | |
Guest Suzette Valladares, California State Senator Guest Bio Suzette Valladares represents California's 23rd Senate District, spanning Santa Clarita, the Antelope Valley, and the high desert. Born and raised in Los Angeles to a family that has been in California for a hundred years, she was first elected to the State Assembly in 2021 before moving to the Senate, where she has made affordability the test she applies to every vote. She is a member of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus and one of Sacramento's most persistent authors of public safety legislation, from human trafficking enforcement to lifetime protective orders for victims. Show Summary Senate Democrats killed all three of Senator Suzette Valladares' affordability bills in a single day. She joins host Jon Slavet fresh out of session to explain who runs Sacramento, starting with the story behind her politics: A Latino family a century deep in California, now watching relatives leave for Texas and Arizona because they can no longer afford the state they were born in. The same pattern runs through her public safety work. Her MAST Act, a statewide human trafficking task force bill built to include survivors, passed the Senate without a single no vote and died in Assembly appropriations. Kayleigh's Law, which would let judges issue lifetime protective orders so victims can stop re-petitioning courts every few years, was whittled from lifetime to 25 years, to 20, and then gutted entirely. She also explains why every sexually violent predator released in Los Angeles County has been placed in her high desert district, and what would happen if one were ever headed for Beverly Hills. The back half is about how she wins anyway: The bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, a build-first energy answer that pairs small modular nuclear with extending Diablo Canyon, the E15 fuel bill that could save drivers 20 to 40 cents a gallon, and the Reagan rule she governs by: It is amazing what you can achieve if you do not care who gets the credit. Chapters: Connect with Suzette Valladares
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| Rent Control Destroys a City Better Than Bombing It | Nick Gillespie | 15 Sep 2026 | 00:19:05 | |
Guest Nick Gillespie, Editor at Large, Reason Magazine Guest Bio Nick Gillespie is editor at large at Reason, the libertarian magazine founded in 1968 under the banner of "free minds and free markets", where he has spent 32 years making the case for limited government and individual autonomy. He hosts The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie and co-wrote The Declaration of Independents, which argued a decade ago that unaffiliated voters had become the largest bloc in American politics. The grandson of Italian and Irish immigrants who arrived in 1915, he lives in New York City, where he watched the Democratic Socialists of America take the mayor's office up close. Show Summary "They are beating nothing with something." That is how Nick Gillespie, editor at large at Reason, explains the sudden rise of democratic socialism in America's blue cities. The DSA has a young, motivated army and a big promise: rent control, price controls, Medicare for all. What it ran against in New York was Andrew Cuomo's sense of entitlement. On the national stage, Gillespie says, JD Vance fielded a question about expensive gas and the high cost of living without mentioning tariffs, the Iran war, deportations of the people who build houses, or federal spending that went from $4.4 trillion to $8.8 trillion in two fiscal years. Gillespie then takes apart what the socialists are actually selling. The goal is a world without billionaires, which in practice means a world without the dynamic economy that raises living standards. Price controls failed in the 1970s and everywhere else they have been tried. He also names who is buying: highly educated, mostly white, upper income voters for whom socialism is a source of meaning and a status symbol. The same generational signaling, he argues, explains why anti-Israel politics now travels bundled with the socialist package. The back half goes wider. Independents are the biggest voting bloc in America and Gillespie argues both parties are "paper mache" institutions, one captured by the DSA, the other by a backward-looking leader in Donald Trump. He defends Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos as builders rather than looters, explains why Starlink may be Musk's most revolutionary product, and closes on America's 250th year: bullish, because we always do the right thing after trying all the wrong ones. Then a warning for Jon's home state. California and New York are handing their future to Texas and Florida, and it is entirely about governance.
00:00 – Cold Open: Beating Nothing With Something Connect with Nick Gillespie
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| Why a National Wealth Tax Would Bury California | Steve Moore | 11 Sep 2026 | 00:20:29 | |
Guest: Stephen Moore, Economist; Co-Founder, Committee to Unleash Prosperity Guest Bio: Stephen Moore is one of the country's best-known free-market economists. A co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity and the Club for Growth, and a former member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, he served as a senior economic adviser to Donald Trump and, with Larry Kudlow, helped craft the tax cuts that passed in 2017. He first came to Washington in 1983, when the national debt was $1 trillion, and today he also sits on the board of Lightspeed, a company building houses with robots. Show Summary California's billionaire tax is headed for the November ballot. Moore's answer starts with a construction worker's line he loves to quote: "I was never hired by a poor person." His new Committee to Unleash Prosperity project puts a number on it, finding that a billionaire's benefit to everyone else, in jobs, wages, and taxes, runs about ten times what they keep. Tax billionaires, he argues, and you simply get fewer of them, and he explains why the national wealth tax Ro Khanna wants, with the floor dropped to $50 million, would put California in an even deeper hole.
00:00 – Welcome: Economist Steve Moore Connect with Stephen Moore X : https://x.com/StephenMoore LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-moore-89bab738a/ Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast | |||
| Californians Give Their Leaders a Failing Grade - Then Vote for Them Anyway | Alex Marlow | 08 Sep 2026 | 00:21:11 | |
Guest: Alex Marlow, Editor-in-Chief, Breitbart News & Host of the Alex Marlow Show Guest Bio: Alex Marlow is the editor-in-chief of Breitbart News, where he was the site's first employee and has run its newsroom since 2013. He is a bestselling author whose latest book, Breaking the Law, examines the six major court cases brought against President Trump. A Los Angeles native who came up through an elite LA prep school, UC Berkeley, and an early obsession with talk radio, he covers national politics from the perspective of someone still living in, and rooting for, Southern California. Show Summary Gavin Newsom is polling at or near the top of the 2028 Democratic field, and Breitbart News editor-in-chief Alex Marlow joins host Jon Slavet with the obvious question: how does anyone run for president on that record? Marlow runs through the surplus that became a deficit, the fires, the homelessness, and the oppo file Axios reports is already being assembled - and explains why none of it may matter in a Democratic field he considers weak.
Connect with Alex Marlow
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| Top GOP Strategist's Secret Advice to Steve Hilton | Mike Murphy | 04 Sep 2026 | 00:26:28 | |
Guest Mike Murphy, Republican Political Strategist; Co-Founder, EVs for All America Guest Bio Mike Murphy is one of the Republican Party's most successful political consultants, having advised presidential and gubernatorial campaigns for John McCain, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with dozens of GOP senators, governors, and members of Congress. A longtime media strategist and co-host of the Hacks on Tap podcast, he later founded EVs for All America and the EV Politics Project, organizations working to take the partisanship out of electric vehicle adoption in the United States. Show Summary Republican strategist Mike Murphy joins host Jon Slavet to lay out why he thinks California Republicans are mathematically doomed in the near term, what he actually advised Steve Hilton to do differently, and why he sees Democratic frontrunner Xavier Becerra as this cycle's Joe Biden. Murphy digs into the recent Berkeley poll showing deep partisan splits in trust of California's election system, explaining why the state still is not part of the multistate voter file compact most others use. The conversation turns to the 2026 midterms, where Murphy predicts Democrats take the House by a narrower margin than historical trends suggest, and where he thinks the real fight, and the real risk for Republicans, is the Senate.
Connect with Mike Murphy
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| California's Billionaire Tax Would Cost $25 Billion | Josh Rauh | 01 Sep 2026 | 00:25:36 | |
Guest Bio: Joshua Rauh is the Ormond Family Professor of Finance at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Senior Fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution, where he leads the Fiscal Policy Initiative. He is also a Senior Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research centers on public finance, state and local government pension liabilities, and taxation. From November 2019 to March 2020 he served as Principal Chief Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers. He has testified before Congress on public pension debt and is best known for his "Hidden Debt, Hidden Deficits" series, which documented the true scale of unfunded pension promises across U.S. states. Find his finance Substack here: https://libertylensecon.substack.com/ Show Summary In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with Stanford economist Josh Rauh to work through the numbers behind California's proposed Billionaire Tax and why Hoover Institution research puts the net fiscal impact at negative $25 billion. Rauh explains how the tax is already accelerating founder departures, how the legislation could be leveraged to sieze assets from any Californian, and what France's failed experiment tells us about what happens next. The conversation shifts to the federal debt, where Rauh makes the case that $40 trillion in accumulated deficits is the single biggest threat facing the American economy: The real reason mortgage rates won't come down, the reason 25 cents of every non Social Security tax dollar now goes straight to interest payments, and why the 1970s stagflation era is the closest historical parallel if Congress doesn't change course.
Connect with Joshua Rauh
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| Is the Jewish Community in LA in Danger? | Elizabeth Barcohana | 28 Aug 2026 | 00:19:02 | |
Guest: Elizabeth Barcohana, Attorney & CAGOP Delegate Guest Bio: Elizabeth Barcohana is a California Republican strategist, political commentator, and founder of Vote Gold, a 501(c)(3) voter education organization working to register 460,000 Republican voters in Los Angeles County. She serves as Chair of Jewish Community Engagement for the California Republican Party and is a prominent voice on California politics, election integrity, and Jewish community issues. Her family fled Iran just before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, a history that shapes her urgent perspective on antisemitism and political displacement. With over 95,000 Instagram followers, she has built one of the most engaged conservative audiences in California. Show Summary Elizabeth Barcohana joins host Jon Slavet for a wide-ranging conversation about rising antisemitism in American cities, the accelerating leftward shift of California's Democratic Party, and what Republicans can actually do about it in Los Angeles County. She describes, for the first time publicly, her family's contingency planning for possible displacement from Los Angeles, drawing a direct line from her parents' flight from Iran months before the Shah fell to what she sees forming in American cities today. From there the conversation covers why so many Jewish voters remain with the Democratic Party despite rising antisemitism in its progressive wing, why Barcohana believes the DSA takeover of California's Democratic establishment is already complete, what the LA City Council's non-citizen voting proposal actually contained and how far it exceeded anything California law currently permits, and why Vote Gold is targeting voter registration as the single highest-leverage play available to California Republicans right now.
00:00 Rising Antisemitism & Contingency Plans: Discussing safety concerns and family history in Los Angeles. 01:17 Lessons from the Iranian Revolution: Comparing historical Jewish diaspora persecution to modern urban realities.04:48 Demystifying the Jewish Democratic Vote: Analyzing historical alignment and the post-Oct 7th political shift. 08:47 The Progressive Democratic Takeover: Explaining why far-left factions have already captured urban party leadership. 10:17 Auditing the LA Mayoral Primary: Assessing Spencer Pratt's campaign and the Bass-Raman runoff. 14:05 Non-Citizen Voting Push: Unpacking the LA City Council's proposal and progressive voting strategies. 19:34 The Vote Gold Initiative: Outlining the 460K LA campaign to educate and register voters. Connect with Elizabeth Barcohana Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethfromcalifornia/ Official Website: https://www.elizabethbarcohana.com/ Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast | |||
| Why the Major AI Firms Are Fighting to Self-Regulate | Nick Gillespie | 25 Aug 2026 | 00:03:27 | |
Guest Nick Gillespie, Editor-at-Large - Reason Magazine Guest Bio Nick Gillespie is an acclaimed libertarian journalist, cultural critic, and Editor-at-Large at Reason, the magazine of free minds and free markets. The former editor-in-chief of Reason.com and Reason magazine, Gillespie hosts The Reason Interview with Nick Gillespie podcast and is co-author of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong with America. Recognized as one of America's leading classical liberal commentators, he offers sharp, principled analysis on technology, government overreach, free speech, and the future of human agency. Show Summary As artificial intelligence rapidly accelerates toward recursive self-development and human-level intelligence, a high-stakes debate is unfolding over who should control its safeguards. Libertarian commentator and Reason Editor-at-Large Nick Gillespie joins host Jon Slavet on State of Gold to discuss why handing AI regulation to politicians will stifle technological progress and entrench corporate monopolies. Gillespie exposes how entrenched tech giants utilize "regulatory capture" under the guise of public safety to write rules that protect their market share and block emerging competitors. Addressing the global AI race, Gillespie argues that attempting to out-regulate an authoritarian state like China is a losing strategy, insisting that America's true competitive edge lies in free-market dynamism and first-to-market innovation. Finally, Gillespie rejects apocalyptic AI job doom-saying, offering an optimistic vision of AI as an empowering tool - that will ultimately expand human agency, creativity, and economic opportunity.
00:00 Recursive AI Growth: Examining AI's evolution toward breakout self-development.
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| The Financial Abyss Los Angeles Won't Admit | Andrew Gruel | 21 Aug 2026 | 00:18:54 | |
Guest: Chef Andrew Gruel, California Business Owner Guest Bio: Andrew Gruel is an acclaimed chef, television personality, restaurateur, and elected official serving on the Huntington Beach City Council. Renowned for founding Slapfish and American Nightcap, Gruel has become a leading national advocate for small business freedom, food quality reform, and fiscal realism. His hands-on experience navigating California's heavy regulatory environment, labor mandates, and municipal challenges provides an authoritative critique of local governance, state legal overreach, and the economic policies impacting working families. Show Summary Los Angeles is hurtling toward a financial abyss, driven by exploding pension liabilities, mismanaged city budgets, and an unsustainable administrative apparatus. Following the primary election, the city faces a November runoff between progressive incumbents whose primary solutions remain expanding government, adding regulations, and raising taxes on a depleted tax base. Chef, restaurateur, and Huntington Beach City Councilmember Andrew Gruel joins host Jon Slavet to deliver a candid audit of the fiscal collapse facing Southern California's largest municipality. Gruel explains how the flight of productive taxpayers and businesses has left Los Angeles unable to maintain basic municipal infrastructure, creating an administrative power vacuum. Rather than waiting on an inept municipal government, Gruel emphasizes the need for grassroots civic action and neighborhood-level self-governance. He also exposes the destructive legal mechanisms crippling California employers, placing particular focus on the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) - a unique legal framework that allows trial lawyers and state agencies to turn minor errors into ruinous class-action lawsuits. The conversation pivots to broader economic and health reforms, evaluating the real-world fallout of Sacramento's fast-food minimum wage mandate on price inflation, job losses, and forced automation. Gruel contrasts LA's municipal decline with the independent charter city model implemented in Huntington Beach. Drawing on his work with the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, Gruel outlines a practical vision for dismantling top-heavy food supply chains, and restoring free-market transparency. Chapters Connect with Chef Andrew Gruel
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| Why Doctors Aren't Allowed to Save Them | Dr. Drew Pinsky | 18 Aug 2026 | 00:16:14 | |
Guest: Dr. Drew Pinsky, Host of "Ask Dr. Drew on Rumble" Guest Bio: Dr. Drew Pinsky is a board-certified physician, addiction medicine specialist, New York Times bestselling author, and acclaimed media personality. For over three decades, Dr. Drew has been a trusted public voice on addiction, mental health, and medical policy, hosting iconic programs such as Loveline, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, and the Dr. Drew Podcast. Having served as the medical director for chemical dependency services at Pasadena Recovery Center for over twenty years, his hands-on clinical background provides an authoritative critique of California’s public health frameworks, street-level addiction crises, and administrative barriers to compassionate, medical-based care. Show Summary California has poured over $24 billion into addressing homelessness and addiction under Governor Gavin Newsom, yet conditions across major metropolitan hubs continue to visibly decline. Board-certified physician and addiction medicine specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky joins host Jon Slavet to unpack the structural, legal, and medical failures driving this ongoing humanitarian disaster in Southern California. Dr. Drew targets the state's refusal to acknowledge severe brain disorders and addiction as medical conditions requiring custodial care and intervention. He exposes how Los Angeles has effectively created an "outdoor psychiatric hospital" where trained doctors and nurses are barred from rendering care, leaving unhoused residents in the hands of untrained social workers and volunteers while fatal overdoses mount. The conversation contrasts Los Angeles's administrative paralysis with functional municipal governance in cities like Pasadena and across Orange County. Dr. Drew also offers actionable medical advice on healthy longevity, emphasizing resistance training, managing genetic cardiovascular risks, and focusing on quality of life over mere longevity.
00:00 The $24B Homeless Failure: Why state spending produced worse outcomes. Connect with Dr. Drew Pinsky
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| Why Trump Terrifies the Socialist Left More Than Any President | Victor Davis Hanson | 11 Aug 2026 | 00:27:08 | |
Guest Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow - Hoover Institution Guest Bio Victor Davis Hanson is a world-renowned military historian, classicist, author, and the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. A fifth-generation California farmer from the Central Valley, Hanson has authored over two dozen books covering ancient warfare, modern geopolitics, and American political culture, including The Dying Citizen, The Case for Trump, and The End of Everything. His sharp historical commentary offers a critique of progressive ideology, elite governance, and the constitutional principles required to sustain the American Republic. Show Summary A profound political and cultural shift is sweeping through urban centers across America, driven by an affluent class of educated, urban professionals. Renowned historian and scholar Victor Davis Hanson joins host Jon Slavet for a look at the rise of Democratic Socialism in America, tracing how elite university indoctrination and DEI frameworks have replaced traditional civic education with systemic resentment. Hanson audits the real-world fallout of progressive governance in California under Governor Gavin Newsom. From sky-high sales taxes and astronomical utility rates, to a 21% poverty rate and the $100+ billion High-Speed Rail project sitting like a modern-day Stonehenge across Central Valley farmland - Hanson details how state mandates have manufactured artificial scarcity. He explains how agricultural communities and multi-generational families are being squeezed out by regulatory paralysis and water cutoffs, leaving a hollowed-out middle class. The conversation pivots to the fiscal tipping point facing the state as productive taxpayers flee for low-tax states. Hanson describes how California is reaching a critical threshold where there are no longer enough productive tax-paying households to sustain the state's expanding welfare and administrative apparatus. Finally, reflecting on America's upcoming 250th anniversary, Hanson offers perspective on the constitutional genius, federalism, and individual liberty that have kept the American Republic intact while other grand political experiments collapsed. Chapters 00:00 The Rise of Socialism: Analyzing the urban elite push toward radical politics. 00:43 The Three Constituents: Breaking down university elites, unassimilated immigrants, and DEI rules. 05:37 Democratic Electoral Conundrum: Examining historical landslides and McGovern parallels. 09:58 The 2028 Field: Assessing Newsom's liabilities, AOC's limits, and party drift. 12:40 Newsom’s California Record: Auditing sky-high taxes, poverty, and High-Speed Rail waste. 18:00 Taxpayer Exodus: Detailing wealth flight and aggressive tax enforcement. 21:53 The American Republic at 250: Celebrating federalism, middle-class roots, and constitutional genius. Connect with Victor Davis Hanson Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast | |||
| Newsom's Inner Circle Is Now Talking to the FBI | Jennifer Van Laar | 04 Aug 2026 | 00:21:59 | |
Guest Jennifer Van Laar, Editor - Redstate.com Guest Bio Jennifer Van Laar is an award-winning investigative journalist and the Editor-in-Chief of RedState. Known for her fearless, ground-level reporting on public corruption, government accountability, and California politics, Van Laar has broken major stories on state-level financial improprieties, non-profit influence peddling, and federal law enforcement probes. With over two decades of background in judicial administration and investigative media, her sharp exposure of political networks and executive ethics has made her a prominent, uncompromising voice in West Coast political journalism. Show Summary A major federal shadow has fallen over Sacramento, as the Department of Justice and IRS criminal investigators probe the personal finances, real estate transactions, and non-profit connections of Governor Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel Newsom. While state leadership dismisses these inquiries as partisan political attacks, investigative journalist Jennifer Van Laar joins host Jon Slavet for a reality check on the actual origins, scope, and timeline of these federal probes. Van Laar pulls no punches as she details the intricate web of Sacramento corruption, tracing how wiretapped conversations involving political operative Alexis Podesta and the federal conviction of Newsom’s top aide Dana Williamson unlocked wider scrutiny. She breaks down the financial gaps in the Newsoms' luxury real estate portfolio, from the unexplained $3.7 million cash purchase of their Sacramento mansion by a cousin's LLC, to favorable, a below-market interest rate mortgage on their $9.1 million Marin County estate. The conversation expands into the machinery of legal corruption in California. Van Laar audits how state-funded licensing deals for Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s non-profits and non-competitive contracts for friends funnel taxpayer money to political allies. She also diagnoses the rampant waste within Los Angeles's homeless services agency, LAHSA. Finally, Van Laar shares her alarming personal story of being forced to flee California after receiving dark web threats for exposing activist organizations.
00:00 Exiled From California: Threats force Van Laar to flee. 00:38 DOJ Probe Realities: Unpacking federal inquiries into Newsom finances. 02:16 The Wiretap Trail: Detailing Alexis Podesta and Dana Williamson connections. 05:11 Sacramento Mansion Deal: Exposing $3.7M cash purchase anomalies. 07:42 The $9.1M Marin House: Auditing Axos Bank favorable mortgage terms. 12:18 Non-Profit Influence: Examining Jennifer Siebel Newsom's state-funded deals. 15:30 LAHSA & Homeless Fraud: Tracking corruption in Los Angeles homeless agencies. 17:23 Exposing CHIRLA Operations: Uncovering migrant day-labor networks and dark web threats. 21:59 Newsom's Political Future: Assessing indictment risks and 2028 ambitions. Connect with Jennifer Van Laar
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| His Opponent's Entire Platform Is: Repeal HR1 | Kevin Kiley | 31 Jul 2026 | 00:18:05 | |
Guest: Kevin Kiley, Candidate for Congress (CA-6) Guest Bio: Kevin Kiley is the U.S. Representative for California's 3rd Congressional District and currently serves as the only Independent member of the United States House of Representatives. A former high school teacher in inner-city Los Angeles and former California State Assemblyman, Kiley has spent his career advocating for educational choice, tax relief, public safety, and governmental accountability. As Chair of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, he is a leading national voice against regulatory overreach and legislative gerrymandering, championing independent representation focused on lower living costs for California families. Show Summary Congressman Kevin Kiley has stepped out of party confines to become the sole Independent member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Navigating a hyper-partisan chamber that forces independent members to caucus with a major party to retain committee assignments, Kiley joins host Jon Slavet for a discussion on what authentic, non-partisan representation looks like for Californians. Kiley pulls no punches as he explains his willingness to break with Trump on core policy issues - including opposing tariffs and defending international support for Ukraine - while remaining focused on delivering local results. He details the fallout from Proposition 50's aggressive gerrymandering, which splintered his original district into six separate pieces, and outlines his strategy for victory in the newly formed 6th District with a focus on kitchen table issues like the cost of living. The conversation gets tactical as Kiley audits the legislative record of his opponent, Richard Pan, exposing past votes for gas tax increases, elderly parole laws for violent offenders, and extreme pandemic mandates. Kiley outlines his active federal legislative initiatives, including a proposed cap on state gas taxes, expanding federal Tax Credit Scholarships despite Gavin Newsom's state opt-out, and bipartisan legislation to ban insider stock trading for members of Congress, executive appointees, and judges. This episode offers a look at real independent governance and economic realism.
00:00 The Independent Shift: Caucusing in a partisan House. 01:50 Independent Policy Stance: Breaking with Trump on tariffs and Ukraine. 03:35 The Prop 50 Gerrymander: Running in California's new 6th District. 06:37 Auditing Richard Pan: Rebutting healthcare attacks and extreme mandates. 09:37 Gas Tax Cap Legislation: Proposing a 50-cent federal ceiling. 10:57 Education Tax Credit: Expanding choice despite Sacramento's opt-out. 12:27 Banning Gerrymandering: Ending mid-decade redistricting chaos. 14:32 Sacramento Corruption Probes: Examining Newsom administration federal investigations. 16:10 Banning Stock Trading: Ending insider profiting in public office. Connect with Kevin Kiley
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| Why Los Angeles Now Has More Rats Than New York | Renee Pinel & Roger Niello | 28 Jul 2026 | 00:13:45 | |
Guests Roger Niello, California State Senator Renee Pinel, CEO - Western Plant Health Guest Bios Roger Niello is a California State Senator representing the 6th District and the Vice Chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. A seasoned business owner, former Sacramento County Supervisor, and former State Assemblymember, Niello brings decades of private-sector experience and legislative governance to state fiscal policy discussions. He is widely recognized for his advocacy on budget transparency, structural tax reform, and common-sense regulatory change to foster economic growth and business retention in the Golden State. Renee Pinel is the President and CEO of the Western Plant Health Association (WPHA), a premier regional trade association representing the fertilizer, crop protection, and agricultural biotechnology industries across California, Arizona, and Hawaii. With decades of advocacy experience at the intersection of agricultural science and state regulation, Pinel is a leading voice for science-based policymaking, public health safety, and agricultural sustainability. Show Summary A dual crisis is unfolding in California, where a massive rodent epidemic is plaguing major metropolitan hubs and agricultural fields alike, exacerbated by a regulatory chokehold that prioritizes ideological environmentalism over public health and economic reality. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with Western Plant Health Association CEO Renee Pinel and State Senator Roger Niello to expose the devastating human and economic costs of Sacramento's regulatory paralysis. Senator Niello targets the state's backward agricultural rules, revealing how advanced technology like autonomous vehicles - widely accepted on urban streets - are banned on private farmland due to hyper-regulation, driving up operational costs and stifling innovation. Niello calls for an "economic development ethic" in regulatory policymaking, demanding that the state measure outcomes and balance costs against real-world benefits. Pinel sounds the alarm on the public health emergency brewing in California's urban centers. With Los Angeles overtaking New York as the rodent capital of America, diseases of the Middle Ages like the plague, typhus, and leptospirosis are surging to epidemic levels within vulnerable homeless populations. Pinel argues that progressive local governments have sacrificed sanitation and practical disease control for philosophical ideals, leaving our poor population to bear the brunt of rat infestations. The conversation turns to the agricultural fallout, where over 100,000 acres of Central Valley farmland are infested with rodents, endangering crops and threatening farmworker safety. Pinel exposes the hypocrisy of banning critical pest control chemicals, which forces vulnerable farmworkers to harvest fruit exposed to toxic rodent waste. This episode delivers a bracing reality check on the necessity of returning to science-based governance to protect plants, people and our planet.
Connect with Renee Pinel
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| Why UFOs Keep Showing Up at Nuclear Sites | Tim Gallaudet | 24 Jul 2026 | 00:22:23 | |
Guest: Tim Gallaudet, PhD, Rear Admiral, US Navy (Ret) Guest Bio: Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., USN (Ret.) is an oceanographer, national security expert, and decorated former U.S. Navy flag officer. Over a 32-year military career, Gallaudet served as the Oceanographer and Navigator of the Navy, leading thousands of military and civilian personnel in global weather, ocean, and intelligence operations. During President Trump’s first term, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and served as the Acting Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Now a prominent voice on Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP), Gallaudet serves on the ODNI UAP Science Advisory Council and is the author of Holding Fast in Heavy Seas: Leadership Lessons from the Navy to NOAA. Show Summary A quiet paradigm shift is taking place across national security circles, where the reality of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) is moving from fringe speculation to top-tier defense strategy. Classified Pentagon disclosures, historical Navy logbooks, and transmedium ocean encounters all point to an uncomfortable truth: Non-human intelligence is interacting with our planet. Rear Admiral Tim Gallaudet joins host Jon Slavet for a reality check on what top military brass and intelligence officials know - and why decades of deliberate government secrecy are finally unraveling. Gallaudet details the genesis of official UAP cover-ups, tracing the lineage back to the CIA’s 1953 Robertson Report. He explains how fear of adversary manipulation triggered a 70-year campaign of intentional debunking and public stigmatization. Addressing why successive administrations kept this hidden, Gallaudet notes that no government wants to admit its inability to protect sovereign airspace and territorial waters from technology operating with unexplainable speed and maneuverability. The conversation gets tactical as Gallaudet highlights California’s central role as a UAP hotspot. From mass security breaches at Vandenberg Space Force Base to craft plunging seamlessly into the Catalina Channel, California’s coastal waters remain an active corridor for unexplained encounters. He breaks down high-speed sonar tracking around nuclear submarines, Defense Intelligence Agency health reports on radiation injuries, and his work on Avi Loeb’s ODNI UAP Science Advisory Council. From leadership under budget constraints at NOAA to a profound reality check on human hubris, this episode offers an unfiltered look at the most explosive issue of our time. Chapters 00:00 The Pentagon UAP Files: Tracking transmedium craft and unexplained intelligence. 01:33 Navy Ship Logs: Uncovering historical UFO sightings in archives. 02:28 The 1953 Robertson Report: Exposing 70 years of government disinformation. 03:44 Higher Order Intelligence: Losing control over national airspace. 04:33 Pop Culture & The Abyss: Linking Hollywood depictions to ocean encounters. 06:22 Whistleblowers: Reviewing Jay Stratton and David Grush claims. 08:42 Top Brass Taking Notice: Analyzing comments from Rubio, Clapper, and Ratcliffe. 09:43 California UAP Hotspots: Detailing Catalina Channel and Vandenberg sightings. 12:37 Global UAP Race: Examining China, Russia, and Japan research task forces. 15:02 Nuclear Silo Interactions: Tracking submarine maneuvers and DIA health reports. 17:51 Holding Fast in Heavy Seas: Leadership lessons from running NOAA under Trump. 21:50 Rapid Fire Realism: Lessons on leadership, intelligence, and academic UAP studies. Connect with Tim Gallaudet
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| Is California’s Voting System Designed for Fraud? | Jeff Vaughn | 21 Jul 2026 | 00:22:33 | |
Guest Jeff Vaughn - Founder of OnLACA.com Guest Bio Jeff Vaughn is an Emmy Award-winning journalist with over three decades of experience anchoring and reporting for major news networks across the country, including KCBS and KCAL in Los Angeles, WXYZ in Detroit, and KENS in San Antonio. Known for his rigorous general assignment reporting and investigative boots-on-the-ground style, Vaughn has spent his career covering critical crime, public policy, and municipal stories. In response to corporate shifts and ideological capture in modern newsrooms, he founded onLACA.com, an independent media platform dedicated to investigating underreported local stories, public safety issues, and political realities in Southern California. Show Summary A crisis of trust is unfolding across California's political landscape, driven by loose election rules and shielded by mainstream media that has abandoned hard investigative reporting. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with Emmy Award-winning journalist and media disruptor Jeff Vaughn to expose the structural flaws behind California’s voting procedures and the top-down corporate capture of traditional newsrooms. Vaughn sounds the alarm on the logistical chaos of California's election administration. With 25 million registered voters, California automatically mails ballots to every registered citizen, regardless of whether they requested one, and pairs this with legal ballot harvesting. Vaughn details how this process opens avenues for administrative error and potential fraud, detailing instances of multiple ballots arriving at single households and PO boxes. He raises critical questions about automatic DMV registrations, which may cause non-citizens obtaining driver's licenses to be swept into voter rolls without rigorous citizenship verification. The conversation gets raw as Vaughn diagnoses the demise of corporate news. Drawing on his decades of experience in Detroit and Los Angeles, he explains how corporate newsrooms stripped trust from local general assignment reporters and concentrated narrative control in the hands of top-down managers. He reveals how local outlets actively suppress critical stories - such as Los Angeles’s covered-up failures with its first electric fire truck - to protect political narratives and climate agendas. This episode is a bracing reality check on the critical need for a new era of citizen-led, independent media to keep the Golden State's leadership accountable
00:00 The Most Ignored Story: Exposing California's election counting delays. Connect with Jeff Vaughn
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| California's Budget Priorities Are Upside Down | Roger Niello | 17 Jul 2026 | 00:21:28 | |
Roger Niello, California State Senator Guest Bio Roger Niello is a California State Senator representing the 6th District and the Vice Chair of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee. A seasoned business owner, former Sacramento County Supervisor, and former State Assemblymember, Niello brings decades of private-sector experience and legislative governance to state fiscal policy discussions. He is widely recognized for his advocacy on budget transparency, structural tax reform, and common-sense regulatory change to foster economic growth and business retention in the Golden State. Show Summary A high-stakes fiscal crisis is unfolding in Sacramento, masked by a $350 billion state budget that is neither balanced nor on time. Under simple-majority rules passed via ballot initiative, Republicans have little say in the state budget, leaving taxpayers to shoulder structural deficits. California State Senator and Budget Committee Vice Chair Roger Niello joins host Jon Slavet for a bracing reality check on the economic math behind California’s current spending priorities. Niello pulls no punches as he exposes the upside-down priorities embedded in the latest budget. He details a shocking policy swap: Sacramento completely eliminated state-level healthcare funding for legal immigrants while retaining it for undocumented residents. Niello explains how these rich benefit structures, combined with an estimated deficit that reemerges at $10 billion in two years, create a deep moral hazard while ignoring the needs of taxpaying citizens. The conversation gets tactical as they break down the legislative drag on California’s employers. As the only state in the nation that has refused to pay back its federal COVID unemployment insurance (UI) debt, California is forcing businesses to pay up to $450 per employee—nearly ten times the base rate—just to service the interest on the debt. From the regulatory chokehold on agriculture that bans autonomous vehicles on private farmland to systemic failures in wildfire prevention and the K-12 educational neglect of Black and brown students, this episode is an unfiltered masterclass in fiscal realism.
00:22 The Budget Sham: Exposing the structural deficit behind the state's spending plan. Connect with Roger Niello
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| How Far Trump Can Actually Push California | Marisa Lagos | 14 Jul 2026 | 00:23:37 | |
Marisa Lagos, KQED California Politics and Gov't Desk Marisa Lagos is an award-winning political correspondent for KQED’s California Politics and Government Desk and the co-host of the weekly podcast, Political Breakdown. Throughout her distinguished career, Lagos has conducted deep-dive reporting, analysis, and investigations into state, local, and national politics for radio, TV, online, and live stages—including moderating California's sole gubernatorial debate in 2022. Named one of the top political journalists in California by the Washington Post in 2020, she was nominated for a Peabody Award and won several other accolades for her investigative work on the 2017 California wildfires. Prior to joining KQED, Lagos built a strong foundation in print journalism covering City Hall and the state legislature for the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and Los Angeles Times. She is a UC Santa Barbara graduate and lives in San Francisco. Show Summary A high-stakes clash is escalating between federal authorities and California over immigration, sanctuary policies, and public spending. Following the Supreme Court's 6-3 conservative majority ruling giving the President sole authority to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for hundreds of thousands of people, California is bracing for localized fallout. While progressive lawmakers scramble, KQED political correspondent Marisa Lagos joins host Jon Slavet for a bracing reality check on what the state can—and cannot—do to push back against federal immigration mandates. Lagos traces the roots of California's deep-seated pro-immigrant policies, explaining how the backlash to Proposition 187 in the 1990s sparked a political revolution that systematically eroded Republican power in the state. However, as California grapples with massive budget deficits, the moral hazard of expanding full-scope Medi-Cal and other taxpayer-funded benefits to undocumented residents has become a lightning rod. Lagos breaks down how Governor Gavin Newsom has been forced to scale back these policies, mandating a $30 monthly premium starting in 2027 to manage an unsustainable $11 billion annual program cost. The conversation gets tactical as they analyze the House Judiciary Committee's formal investigation into sanctuary policies in San Francisco and San Diego. Lagos demystifies the on-the-ground reality of SB 54, explaining that state prisons already turn thousands of undocumented criminals over to ICE annually, while conservative law enforcement leaders like Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco reject the idea of local deputies participating directly in federal immigration raids. From the silence of agricultural operators under aggressive ICE workplace audits to Xavier Becerra’s controversial HHS record, this episode is a masterclass in California's legal and political battles. Chapters 01:18 The Feds vs. California Immigration Battle: Parsing the SCOTUS 6-3 ruling granting the President sole authority to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS). 02:57 The Medi-Cal and Benefits Debate: Discussing the moral hazard and fiscal reality of expanding state healthcare and public benefits to undocumented residents in California. 07:12 The $11 Billion Budget Reality Check: Analyzing Governor Newsom's walkback of full-scope Medi-Cal policy and the introduction of a monthly premium starting in 2027. 07:39 Sanctuary Policy Investigation: Assessing the House Judiciary Committee's formal investigation into San Francisco and San Diego's sanctuary policies. 12:40 Incarceration vs. Deportation Paradox: Evaluating the fiscal and safety questions of housing undocumented convicts in state prisons versus immediate deportation. 13:43 Workplace Audits and Farm Bureau Silence: Looking at how Central Valley agricultural operators are navigating the aggressive federal workplace crackdowns quietly behind the scenes. 16:38 Handcuffs on Federal Agents?: Breaking down the explosive story of California prosecutors warning of potential prosecutions against ICE agents. 19:16 Auditing the Becerra Record: Investigating candidate Xavier Becerra's controversial track record on child migrants as HHS Secretary and its impact on the gubernatorial race vs. Steve Hilton. 22:45 Rapid Fire & A Scepter for Sacramento: Marisa's "queen for a day" plan for tax reform, eliminating political egos, and why she remains an ultimate California booster. Connect with Marisa Lagos
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| Did Trump Just Outmaneuver the Iranian Regime? | Chuck DeVore | 07 Jul 2026 | 00:25:31 | |
Guest: Chuck DeVore, Chief National Initiatives Officer - Texas Public Policy Foundation Guest Bio: Chuck DeVore is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, a former California State Assemblyman representing Orange County, and a leading authority on national security, state-level fiscal policy, and competitive federalism. He currently serves as the Chief National Initiatives Officer and Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. DeVore's distinguished career in public service includes serving as a special assistant for foreign affairs in the Reagan administration—where he assisted in planning historic Cold War-era naval operations—and decades of analytical writing on state government structure. His deep expertise in both Middle Eastern geopolitics and the economic rivalry between the nation's two largest states offers a unique, dual-lens perspective on contemporary America. Show Summary A major geopolitical pivot has occurred, with the United States signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Islamic Republic of Iran. While critics from the MAGA base to traditional hawk circles raise alarm over sanction relief, blockades being lifted, and a $300 billion reconstruction fund, military veteran and policy analyst Chuck DeVore argues we cannot analyze this agreement in a vacuum. Underneath the diplomatic off-ramp lies a story of devastating, highly calculated kinetic action that has fundamentally crippled Tehran's regional leverage before the diplomatic ink was even dry. Sitting down with State of Gold host Jon Slavet, DeVore brings historical chops to the table. He reflects on his own experience planning Reagan-era naval operations to explain why Trump's military strikes have dismantled Iran's command structure, isolated proxies like Hezbollah and Hamas, and destroyed the metallurgy factories essential for ballistic missile production. He breaks down the technological realities of nuclear weapons, reminding us that building a warhead is only half the battle—the highly complex delivery systems required are actually far more difficult and expensive to construct. The conversation then pivots from Middle Eastern skirmishes to the domestic battlefront, tackling the fiscal rivalry between California and Texas. Drawing on his tenure in the California Assembly and his current leadership perch in Austin, DeVore pulls back the curtain on the spending math. California spends an astronomical $350 billion annually for 39 million residents, while Texas operates on a more decentralized model and annual budget of $100 billion per year for 30 million people. DeVore details how California’s centralized administrative state, combined with regulatory monsters like CEQA, has manufactured artificial inflation, offering a bracing reality check on why the Golden State continues to hemorrhage its middle class.
00:00 The Iran MOU: Decompressing the geopolitics behind Trump's diplomatic off-ramp. Connect with Chuck DeVore
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| California Just Needs Better Leadership | Tony Strickland | 03 Jul 2026 | 00:08:45 | |
Guest: Tony Strickland, California State Senator Guest Bio: Tony Strickland is a veteran California legislator, policy advocate, and prominent campaign strategist who has spent decades building grassroots conservative coalitions across the Golden State. He has served multiple terms in both the California State Assembly and the State Senate, heavily prioritizing public safety infrastructure, tax reform, and middle-class economic relief. A high-profile fundraiser and political leader, Strickland is widely recognized for his unyielding advocacy on ballot initiatives and structural budget accountability. He currently serves as a leading champion for restoring fiscal discipline and functional constitutional governance to California. Show Summary: "For the first time in modern history, more people are leaving the Golden State than coming in—we have catch up to do, and we are exactly one leader away from prosperity," says Senator Tony Strickland. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with the legislative veteran to break down the high-stakes political realignment shifting the baseline for California voters. Strickland pulls back the curtain on the gubernatorial race, outlining why he has thrown his full backing behind Steve Hilton. He draws direct historical parallels to Ronald Reagan’s trademark optimistic conservatism as a template for outmaneuvering progressive hypermajorities, emphasizing how over two-thirds of Californians already believe the state is on the wrong track. The conversation gets specific on the funding crisis behind Proposition 36. Despite the safety measure sweeping all 58 counties with an overwhelming, near-70% landslide, Strickland exposes how the current administration created an unfunded mandate—allocating a meager $100 million over three years against a $400 million annual structural requirement, while leaving the probation system starved for cash. From tracking the systemic collapse of a budget where just 200 citizens shoulder 10% of the state’s revenue, to a blistering warning about the trillion-dollar loss triggered by the Billionaire Tax, this episode is a blueprint for restoring sanity and opportunity for the next generation of Californians.
00:00 – The Gold Rush in Reverse: California’s Unprecedented U-Haul Exodus Connect with Tony Strickland
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| California Is Solving Wildfires the Wrong Way | Edward Ring | 30 Jun 2026 | 00:18:11 | |
Guest: Edward Ring, Fellow - California Policy Center Guest Bio: Edward Ring is a prominent author, researcher, and leading voice on California's political economy, public infrastructure, and environmental policy. He is the co-founder of the California Policy Center, where he has spent decades publishing detailed analyses on state water policy, energy grid reliability, and forest management. Ring is the author of The Abundance Choice: Our Fight for More Water in California and numerous white papers that challenge Sacramento’s regulatory status quo. Known for championing free-market, solution-oriented alternatives to California's affordability and infrastructure crises, his work frequently provides a practical roadmap for restoring long-term sanity to the Golden State. Show Summary California spends over $4 billion a year on Cal Fire's wildfire prevention and response, yet the state’s wildlands continue to break into unprecedented catastrophes every single year. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with policy expert Edward Ring for a bracing reality check on how well-intentioned environmental regulations unintentionally transformed our forests into massive tinderboxes. Ring pulls no punches as he targets the state's narrative surrounding climate change, explaining that while Sacramento politicians use it as a catch-all excuse to mandate electric vehicles, the underlying culprit is a staggering fuel load crisis. Decades of hyper-efficient fire suppression—not supported by responsible forest thinning, grazing, or prescribed burns—have driven tree densities in the Sierra foothills to anywhere from three to ten times their historic baselines. Overcrowded and competing for identical pools of light, nutrients, and water, these stressed forest systems are structurally dried out and ripe for ignition. The conversation pivots to a strategic masterclass on economic turnarounds. Ring details how California’s commercial logging has been systematically slashed by 75% over the last forty years, starving local economies and leaving millions of board feet of overgrown timber to rot. He breaks down the deep insurance crisis crippling homeowners, explaining how aggressive over-regulation from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) blocks controlled burns while leaving property owners exposed. From an unfiltered call to completely scrap the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to a roadmap for utilizing logged resources to build middle-class housing, this episode is a blueprint for letting common sense trend upward in California. Chapters 00:00 – The $4 Billion Cal Fire Paradox: Spending More, Burning Worse Connect with Edward Ring
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| Building America’s Next Great City in CA - Jan Sramek | 26 Jun 2026 | 00:44:23 | |
Guest: Jan Sramek, Founder & CEO - California Forever Guest Bio: Jan Sramek is an urban visionary, entrepreneur, and the Founder and CEO of California Forever, the city of the future soon breaking ground in Solano County. Born and raised in Eastern Europe, Sramek moved to the United States with a deep fascination for America's historic capacity to execute monumental public works. After a successful early career in finance and technology, he relocated to California, where the structural failure of housing supply and the local infrastructure gap inspired him to pioneer a multi-generational model for community building. A champion of skilled labor, walkable urbanism, and advanced manufacturing infrastructure, Sramek has brought together elite capital partners, public policy experts, and historic labor coalitions to anchor a city of the future in the heart of Northern California. Show Summary "We’ve gotten into this habit in California where everything takes twenty years. We came in with a distinct point of view: We have to find a way to do things faster," says Jan Sramek, the entrepreneur driving the most ambitious master-planned city development in modern American history. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with Sramek for an exclusive look at the vision, mechanics, and economic framework backing California Forever. Sramek walks through his initial shock upon landing in California, detailing how the visible homelessness of San Francisco's Market Street and the sterile office parks of Silicon Valley exposed a huge deficit. He shares the grueling timeline of moving a project from a raw, "batshit insane" concept to reality, explaining how he wagered his own personal solvency to complete initial feasibility studies before securing marquee capital backing from silicon valley tech titans. The conversation pivots to a masterclass in large-scale logistics and planning. Sramek details the strategic layout of the Solano Foundry’s advanced manufacturing zone and the logic behind the multi-thousand-acre Solano Shipyard complex, designed to aggressively close the widening gap between American and Chinese naval shipbuilding. Sramek outlines his strategy for outmaneuvering traditional real estate speculation through a minimum-density "missing middle" housing plan, and how a European philosophy of public space over private isolation can solve the modern epidemic of social disconnection.
00:00 – Preview: The 50-Year Economic Opportunity vs. Strategic Flaw Hunting 00:28 – Welcoming California Forever Founder & CEO Jan Šramek 00:48 – First 48 Hours: Bypassing Europe's Standards for California's Reality 01:44 – Fallow Expanses: Spotting Solano County’s Commuter Pain Points 02:23 – The Startup Leap: Pitching a City After a 70-Year US Drought 03:49 – Skin in the Game: Risking Personal Solvency After Back-to-Back Rejections 06:21 – The Elevator Pitch: Advanced Manufacturing and $500,000 Starter Homes 07:38 – Proving Demand: The 174,000 upfront Entitlement Volume Strategy 08:13 – Affordable by Design: Cutting Out the $1,200 Monthly Multi-Car Squeeze 11:01 – Bolting Community to Urban Form: Reinvesting in Shared Public Plazas 14:14 – Land Asset Realities: Why California Forever Is Not a Public Robinhood Vehicle 15:21 – Outmaneuvering the 20-Year Trap: Consolidating Plan Changes, Financing, and Zoning 17:34 – Sourcing the West Coast Base: Inside the Solano Foundry Complex 18:26 – Closing the Naval Shipbuilding Gap: The Strategic Bipartisan Shipyard 19:49 – Newport News Scale vs. Solano’s 7,500-Acre Coastal Blueprint 20:22 – Public-Private Frameworks: Re-Establishing Government Repair Hubs 22:07 – The Travis Protection Buffer: Adjusting Grids with Air Mobility Partners 23:11 – Sidewalk Footprints: The Dream of Naming Streets After Construction Laborers 24:46 – Permissive Design Over Star Subdivisions: Crafting Organic Neighborhoods 27:02 – Washington to Sacramento: A 70,000-Acre Matrix of Proximity 28:35 – Sourcing the Blue-Collar Belt: Organizing the Historical 40-Year PLA 31:20 – Replacing Closed Industries: Bringing 50,000 Jobs in 5 Years to Solano 37:43 – Speculation Guardrails: Setting Solano Resident First Dips on Waiting Lists 38:57 – Iron Curtain to Golden State: Reclaiming the 1990s Aesthetic of Optimism 39:24 – Rebuilding the Quarry Base: Skilled Plumber Compensation vs. Starbucks Management 40:52 – Private Wealth vs. Public Poverty: Maximizing the ROI of Public Playgrounds Connect with Jan Sramek
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| Will Traditional Media Companies Survive? | Seema Mehta | 23 Jun 2026 | 00:05:51 | |
Guest: Seema Mehta, LA Times Senior Political Reporter Guest Bio: Seema Mehta is a legendary political journalist who has covered California and national politics for the Los Angeles Times since 1998. For a generation, she has reported extensively on state houses, gubernatorial races, and presidential campaigns across the nation. Mehta is currently a fellow at the University of Southern California (USC) Center for the Political Future, where she teaches and mentors the next generation of journalists and political scientists. Show Summary How does a democracy function when the institutional referees covering state government begin to vanish? In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with veteran Los Angeles Times reporter Seema Mehta to analyze the profound structural transformations sweeping through modern media and California's fiscal architecture. Mehta traces the multi-generational contraction of legacy print journalism, detailing the transition of the Los Angeles Times from over a century of Chandler family ownership, through corporate consolidation, to a billionaire owner whose initial newsroom investments have given way to deep cuts. The conversation explores how the loss of reporting bodies in state houses has coincided with a generational shift toward social media platforms like TikTok, eroding the era of shared, "trusted referees" in favor of partisan echo chambers like MSNBC and Fox. Turning her focus to fiscal policy, Mehta breaks down the hidden complexities of the proposed Billionaire Tax. While signature gatherers outside grocery stores like Trader Joe’s and Ralph’s find easy success with simple "tax the rich" slogans, she notes the underlying hazard to a state budget with 8,000 families footing 25% of the state budget and less than 1% of taxpayers generating 40% of the total revenue. Finally, the two share a lighthearted yet resonant look at avoiding professional cynicism, with Mehta deploying a striking historical analogy to explain why mentoring next-generation students is the ultimate tool for renewing political idealism. Chapters 00:28 – From the Chandlers to Billionaire Cuts: The Shrinking of State House Reporting 01:22 – Ad Side vs. Edit Side: Navigating Advertorial Pressures in For-Profit Media 02:14 – The TikTok Shift: Fragmented News Demographics and the Loss of Trusted Referees 03:32 – The Monopoly Man Slogan: The Complicated Reality of the Billionaire Tax 04:28 – Volatile Math: Why Less Than 1% of Electorate Funding 40% of the Budget Is a Risk 05:00 – The Lady Bathory Analogy: Renewing Idealism via Next-Gen USC Fellowships Connect with Seema Mehta
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| The Report Arguing for a Nuclear Comeback | Paige Lambermont | 19 Jun 2026 | 00:21:41 | |
Guest Paige Lambermont - Research Fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute Guest Bio Paige Lambermont is a prominent energy policy analyst and researcher whose work focuses on grid reliability, optimal power resource allocation, and the technical integration of emerging technologies. A leading voice in nuclear power development and electricity infrastructure, Lambermont has authored definitive reports analyzing the structural intersection between massive artificial intelligence data demands and the national electricity infrastructure. Known for advocating a freedom-minded, private-capital approach to utility development, Lambermont works closely with research groups across the United States to examine state-level regulatory reform, renewable portfolio standards, and the economic feasibility of next-generation power systems. Show Summary By 2030, the oncoming wave of artificial intelligence and high-tech data centers could consume as much electricity as 95 million American homes. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet is joined by energy policy analyst Paige Lambermont to break down a looming infrastructure crisis and explain why California must reverse its decades-long ban on nuclear power plant development. Lambermont exposes the stunning irony of California energy policy: The state relies heavily on importing power from neighboring grids, and overseas oil, while intentionally excluding stable base-load power sources like nuclear and large hydro from its net-zero energy goals. The discussion dives deep into real-world economics and safety, with Lambermont dismantling historical PR panics surrounding Three Mile Island and Fukushima, and showing how France successfully secures and recycles its closed-cycle nuclear waste. From evaluating Germany’s catastrophic "energy transition" failure to outlining how consumer-regulated, off-grid utilities can protect small businesses from soaring $7 gas prices, this episode is a clear-eyed look at why a booming economy cannot survive on a low-energy diet.
00:00 – The 95 Million Homes Stat: Sizing up the AI Data Center Power Surge 00:58 – Silicon Valley Irony: Categorically Banning Nuclear in Tech’s Capital 01:43 – The Accounting Game: Why California Imports 15% of its Nuclear Power 02:22 – Private Industry vs. Poured Concrete: Lowering the Regulatory Barriers 04:43 – Intentionally Breaking the Grid: The Distortion of Energy Subsidies 06:49 – Defining Work: Why There Are No Wealthy, Low-Energy Societies 08:35 – Exposing the Hypocrisy: Tanker Emissions and the Reality of Energy Imports 10:06 – $7 Gas Insanity: The Hidden Squeeze of California’s Fuel Taxes 11:43 – Recalibrating Safety: The Real Science of Meltdowns and Passive Measures 13:00 – The Ethics vs. Safety Panics: Germany’s Energy Transition Warning 14:38 – The French Model: Closed-Cycle Uptime and 80% Nuclear Base-Loads 15:46 – 18-Month Straight Runs: Explaining the 93% Capacity Factor 16:31 – NRC Standards: National Security, Sleepers, and Airplane-Strike Scrutiny 18:42 – Freedom-Minded Utilities: Tracking Best and Worst State Spectrums 19:47 – Rapid Fire: Prizing European Scarcity over Economic Productivity View the report here: Connect with Paige Lambermont
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| The Hidden Voting Bloc That Decides SF Elections | Jay Donde | 16 Jun 2026 | 00:15:58 | |
Guest: Jay Donde, Co-Founder of the Briones Society Guest Bio: Jay Donde is an attorney for a leading enterprise software company headquartered in San Francisco, and was previously an associate at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, LLP. He is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School, and is a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces. He serves as the political affairs Vice Chair of the San Francisco Republican Party and as a delegate to the California Republican Party, and is Co-Founder and President of the Briones Society. His columns have been published in Bloomberg, City Journal, Wired, SFGate, and the Marina Times. Show Summary San Francisco is often portrayed as an electric-blue monolith—but underneath the surface lies a growing block of "closeted" conservative thinkers and independent voters who are deciding high-stakes local elections. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with attorney and Briones Society Co-Founder Jay Donde to explore the changing ideological ground of California’s most famous progressive laboratory. Donde dives straight into the "dirty little secrets" of San Francisco politics, mapping out how a modest block of 40,000 registered Republicans and tens of thousands of No Party Preference (NPP) independents have positioned themselves as a crucial swing constituency. Slavet and Donde evaluate Mayor Daniel Lurie's historic approval numbers and look ahead to the major fiscal battles he will face when standing up to the public sector unions. The heat turns up as the team tackles the Billionaire Tax, breaking down why wealth taxes run completely counter to optimal tax theory by encouraging wealth migration. With startup founders and venture capitalists viewing the ballot measure as an "existential threat" that treats the state as a purely extractive mechanism, Donde details the looming threat of an innovation exodus. From calculating the technical math of a statewide Republican turnaround to a sensible framework for regulating artificial intelligence without fracturing the market into a patchwork quilt of fifty competing laws, this episode is an essential guide to restoring balance and sanity to California. Chapters 00:00 – Preview: Deciding Swing Seats and Tech’s Breaking Point Connect with Jay Donde
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| The 2028 Race Is Already Over for Kamala Harris | Tom Del Beccaro | 12 Jun 2026 | 00:21:02 | |
Guest Tom Del Beccaro, Former California GOP Chair Guest Bio Tom Del Beccaro is an acclaimed author, speaker, and the former Chair of the California Republican Party. A veteran political strategist and attorney, he has spent decades navigating the unique landscape of West Coast politics. Del Beccaro is the author of The Divided States of America and a frequent national commentator on fiscal policy, regulatory reform, and constitutional law. Known for his tactical acumen, he was the last Republican chair to successfully qualify a citizens’ initiative on the California state ballot. He currently publishes extensively on economic policy, focusing on structural solutions to California’s affordability crisis and middle-class tax burdens. Show Summary Del Beccaro pulls no punches regarding his 2016 Senate opponent, Kamala Harris, detailing what he calls a long-standing history of being unprepared and relying on political "kingmakers" like Willie Brown rather than executive acumen and hard work. Turning his sights to Gavin Newsom, Del Beccaro exposes a stunning vacuum of real-world management experience, noting that the Governor routinely fails to convene crucial legislative and private sector meetings to address massive structural catastrophes like the supply chain crisis, the Palisades, or the statewide insurance collapse. The conversation pivots to a strategic masterclass on political turnarounds. Del Beccaro explains why trying to out-conservative opponents fails in California, arguing instead that Republicans must bypass the legislature entirely by placing discrete, solution-oriented initiatives directly into voters' hands. From a blunt financial reality check on BART’s $14 billion taxpayer bailout to a chilling forecast on how the proposed wealth tax will permanently drive away the state's core tax base, this episode offers a roadmap for restoring a competitive political marketplace in the Golden State. Chapters 00:00 – Confronting Kamala: Lessons from the 2016 Senate Trail Connect with Tom Del Beccaro
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| CA Cities & Counties are Robbing Homeowners Blind | Jon Coupal | 09 Jun 2026 | 00:20:07 | |
Guest: Jon Coupal, President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association Guest Bio: Jon Coupal is one of California's most prominent taxpayer advocates and an expert on public finance and election law. He serves as the President of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, a grassroots citizens organization dedicated to protecting the landmark property tax limitations established under 1978's Proposition 13. A seasoned constitutional attorney, Coupal has spent decades defending taxpayer rights in both state and federal courts, and challenging tax hikes and regulatory loopholes engineered by municipal governments. He has been a pivotal structural force behind multiple successful statewide ballot measures, continuing a legacy of fiscal discipline, accountability, and constitutional guardrails against over-taxation. Show Summary "Nobody has ever been hired by a poor person," says Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal. In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with Coupal to unpack the heavy economic toll of California's record-setting tax rates and the growing grassroots effort to put power back in the hands of voters.Coupal breaks down the structural importance of the newly qualified Local Taxpayer Protection Act slated for California’s November ballot. He reveals how the California State Supreme Court has steadily degraded Proposition 13 over the decades, using judicial loopholes to let local municipalities sidestep the state's traditional two-thirds voter threshold for special taxes. He shares how the act seeks to halt "equity theft" by capping aggressive real estate transfer taxes—such as Los Angeles's controversial Measure ULA—and ensure that special interest tax hikes are subject to the original intent of the law. The discussion shifts to a strategic war-room map, where Coupal explains the power of their 200,000-member grassroots network and their success at defeating tax-expansion measures despite being outspent 10-to-1. Turning his focus to the Governor's race, he evaluates Steve Hilton’s proposal to eliminate income taxes for those earning under $100,000, pointing out how pervasive state agency fraud provides more than enough "juice in the squeeze" to offset the loss. From tracking the "Trojan Horse" mechanics of the Billionaire Tax to detailing why a CA zero-income-tax roadmap can prevent a middle-class exodus, this episode is a blueprint for how a "sick" state can recover.
Connect with Jon Coupal
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| CA Governor Primary Roundtable with Steve Maviglio & Jennifer Horn | 05 Jun 2026 | 00:24:14 | |
Guests: Jennifer Horn: Conservative political commentator and host on AM590 The Answer Steve Maviglio: Democratic strategist and former press secretary to CA Governor Gray Davis Show Summary Days after California's high-stakes June 2nd jungle primary, the dust is still settling—and millions of ballots have yet to be certified. In the inaugural State of Gold post-election roundtable, host Jon Slavet sits down with top-tier political commentators Jennifer Horn and Steve Maviglio for an unfiltered, bipartisan autopsy of a wild election cycle. The panel dives straight into the frontrunners for Governor, breaking down how Xavier Becerra staged a "Lazarus-style" comeback from the dead to secure a presumptive general election matchup against frontrunning Republican Steve Hilton. Maviglio exposes how the sudden structural collapse of Eric Swalwell's congressional career upended the field, driving anxious progressive voters toward a calm establishment alternative. Meanwhile, Horn outlines the roadmap Hilton must use to target Becerra's thin record of legislative achievements and federal HHS baggage. The debate gets heated as the team investigates California's notoriously sluggish mail-in vote counts and the growing crisis of voter confidence. From analyzing intra-party squabbles inside gerrymander-tweaked congressional districts to tracking reality TV icon Spencer Pratt's viral, AI-driven mayoral campaign against an embattled Karen Bass in Los Angeles, this episode is a definitive breakdown of what happens when performance art meets real-world math on the California ballot.
00:00 – Launching the Post-Primary Roundtable Connect with Jennifer Horn
Connect with Steve Maviglio
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| Meet the Man Who Drew the California Prop50 Maps | Paul Mitchell | 02 Jun 2026 | 00:22:09 | |
Guest: Paul Mitchell, Democratic Political Strategist Guest Bio: Paul Mitchell is one of the nation's premier experts on nonpartisan redistricting, political demography, and voter data analytics. He has directed decennial line-drawing for more than 100 cities, school boards, and community college districts, and served as a data consultant for independent commissions in New York and New Mexico. Long recognized as a staunch advocate for independent, nonpartisan commission criteria, Mitchell frequently collaborates with civic organizations like Common Cause and the ACLU to protect communities of interest from partisan overreach. He stepped into intense statewide debate as the lead cartographer behind California's Proposition 50 congressional maps. Show Summary Can a partisan gerrymander ever be justified—even if it's meant to correct a wrong? In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with political data expert Paul Mitchell, the architect behind California’s highly controversial Proposition 50 gerrymander. Mitchell pulls back the curtain on the behind-the-scenes dynamics that birthed the measure, revealing his initial opposition to bypassing California's Independent Redistricting Commission. He details how he urged Democratic congressional leadership and the Governor's office to use the maps as a political "bluff" to deter Texas from aggressively redrawing its own lines. Mitchell defends the analytical integrity of his final map, explaining how he preserved key commission criteria and limited city splits while delivering the targeted five-seat shift demanded to balance the national scales. The conversation pivots to a mathematical dive into proportional representation, with Mitchell unpacking why geographical sorting makes drawing "perfectly balanced" rural and urban districts a technical impossibility. Finally, he offers a provocative reality check on how a looming, AI-driven automation wave could transform the landscape for American workers, framing wealth taxes not just as an ideology, but as a future survival mechanism for the state's economy.
00:00 – Prop 50: Did Two Wrongs Make a Right? Connect with Paul Mitchell
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| In an Average Year, the President’s Party Loses 28 Seats | Mark Halperin | 29 May 2026 | 00:25:35 | |
Guest: Mark Halperin - Editor-in-Chief - 2WAY Interactive Inc. Guest Bio: Mark Halperin is one of the nation's most experienced political analysts, authors, and commentators. He is the co-author of the New York Times bestsellers Game Change and Double Down, which provided definitive, behind-the-scenes accounts of the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. Over a career spanning decades, Halperin has served as the political director for ABC News, a senior political analyst for Time magazine, and a frequent contributor across major news networks. Currently offering national political reporting and analysis through his independent platforms, Halperin is widely recognized for his data-driven insights into campaign strategy, presidential polling, and the shifting dynamics of both state and federal elections. Show Summary “In a normal state, you'd say organize and get hot at the end. There is no organization in California—it's just get hot at the end". In this episode of State of Gold, host Jon Slavet sits down with legendary political journalist Mark Halperin for a masterclass in campaign math, media scrutiny, and national electoral trends. Halperin opens by revising his previous predictions for the 2026 California Governor's race, and outlining a path where either San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan or Xavier Becerra will ultimately take the mansion. The discussion dives into the sudden "open secret" implosion of Eric Swalwell, drawing historical parallels to presidential campaigns of the past to explain why certain scandals only ignite under a high-stakes media microscope. Zooming out to the federal level, Halperin drops a sobering forecast for the upcoming midterms, predicting a massive "blue wave" that could see Democrats flip over 30 seats in the House and capture a Senate majority. Finally, the conversation shifts to the 2028 presidential landscape, offering insider scouting reports on Gavin Newsom, Kamala Harris, J.D. Vance, and Josh Shapiro. From the family "veto power" on Newsom's ambitions to why a well-run Super PAC is a candidate's greatest weapon, this episode provides an unmatched look at the mechanics of modern political warfare.
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| The Candidate for City Attorney Who Will Clear LA's Streets | John McKinney | 26 May 2026 | 00:19:22 | |
Guest: John McKinney - Candidate for LA City Attorney Guest Bio: John McKinney is a seasoned prosecutor who has dedicated nearly three decades to the criminal justice system inside the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, where he specialized in prosecuting violent crimes and major gang offenses. A native of New Jersey who overcame adversity in his youth, McKinney rose to become one of the most prominent trial lawyers in the LA legal community, known for prosecuting high-profile murder cases. Running as a pragmatist for Los Angeles City Attorney, his platform centers on restoring public safety, enforcing misdemeanor laws, tackling the homelessness crisis through structured transitional environments, and serving as a strict legal defender for the municipal corporation of Los Angeles. Show Summary "California has, by and large, chosen to leave dangerous people on the street," says veteran prosecutor John McKinney. In this episode of State of Gold, Jon Slavet sits down with McKinney for a sobering look at public safety and the humanitarian breakdown in the nation's second-largest city. McKinney links the current state of disorder in Los Angeles to the legacy of 2011's "prison realignment" policies, which pushed overcrowding down to the local counties and led to inmates being pushed out onto the streets. Drawing on his thirty years of frontline experience, McKinney offers a rare, nuanced perspective on federal immigration enforcement, local sanctuary policies, and the hidden pressures applied by the LA County Board of Supervisors. The conversation pivots to McKinney’s vision for the City Attorney's office as general counsel, rather than a "public interest law firm" as proposed by opponents on his left. He outlines a clear strategy of "compassionate accountability" to address the homeless industrial complex, detailing a shift away from high-priced permanent housing toward immediate, scalable city-owned transitional spaces. From tracking Spencer Pratt’s high-tech mayoral campaign to enforcing laws that keep business open and streets safe, this is an exploration of real-world leadership in modern Los Angeles. Chapters 00:00 – The Core of Safety: Tracing Modern LA problems to 2010s Realignment 01:45 – Leaving People on the Street: The Failure of State Corrections 02:43 – Debunking the Crime Link: Legal Immigration Status vs. Local Crime 04:34 – The Budget Levers: Board Politics and Sanctuary State Dynamics 05:58 – General Counsel or Public Interest Firm? Delineating the LA City Attorney Role 07:28 – The Practical Metrics of Success: CVS Openings, Human Bodies, and RVs 09:00 – Compassionate Accountability: Ditching Hotel Voucher Strategies for $5,000 Emergency Beds 10:45 – Partnering with Law Enforcement: Aggressive Prosecution of Misdemeanors 12:31 – Defeating Career Politicians: The Angry Consensus of the Ordinary Voter 14:18 – Critiques of the Progressive Left: Leaving the City of Los Angeles Without a Defender 15:04 – Sucking the Air Out of the Room: Spencer Pratt’s Viral AI Mayoral Insurgency 17:30 – Rapid Fire: Uncivilized Encampments and Rooting for the Home Teams Connect with John McKinney
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| California Citizens Need to Wake Up and Vote for Change | Mike Netter | 22 May 2026 | 00:05:18 | |
Guest: Mike Netter, Candidate for CA State Senate District 22 Guest Bio: Mike Netter is a veteran sales executive, radio host on KABC Talk Radio 790 AM, and entrepreneur who has built and operated several small businesses, including founding Quantum Charging. A graduate of San Diego State University, Netter first stepped into the statewide political spotlight as a key leader behind the historic 2021 recall movement against Governor Gavin Newsom. Now running as a Republican challenger for State Senate District 22 in the East San Gabriel Valley, he brings decades of private-sector experience to his fight, campaigning heavily on middle-class tax relief, regulatory rollbacks for small businesses, parental rights, and robust funding for public safety. Show Summary Is California truly a deep-blue monolith, or is a massive silent majority just stuck in "zombie mode"? In this episode of State of Gold, Jon Slavet is joined by Mike Netter to discuss his campaign to flip the script on California's political representation and bring logic back to governance. Netter drops some eye-opening context about the true political makeup of the state, revealing that while Democrats command a 75% legislative supermajority, they only make up roughly 46% to 48% of total registered voters. And he lays out his legislative priorities, including a sweeping proposal to slash the state income tax by 28% for those earning $150,000, fully funding the recently passed Proposition 36, and untangling the regulatory maze that forces small business owners to take their passions and move out of state. Chapters 00:00 – Preview: The Apathy Party and Asset Tax Traps Connect with Mike Netter
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| Who the System Actually Serves | Gus Mattammal | 19 May 2026 | 00:25:53 | |
Guest: Gus Mattammal, Candidate for CA Superintendent of Public Instruction Guest Bio Gus Mattammal is a lifelong educator and the director of a leading private tutoring group in Silicon Valley. With over 20 years of experience, he has worked with more than 1,000 students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Mattammal is the author of A is for Average, a book exploring the systemic failures and potential solutions for the California public school system. In addition to his work in education, he is an elected member of the Midcoast Community Council and serves on several countywide boards focused on transportation and tax oversight. He holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a bachelor's degree from Pomona College. Show Summary California currently ranks 38th in reading and 44th in math—results that Gus Mattammal argues are a direct consequence of a system that prioritizes being a "jobs program" vs. an educational provider for our kids. In this episode of State of Gold, Jon Slavet sits down with Mattammal to discuss the bold, grassroots insurgency needed to reclaim the future for California's nearly 6 million students. Mattammal critiques the current leadership and the powerful influence of the California Teachers Association (CTA), proposing a radical shift in how the state handles its record $150 billion education budget. He details his plan to redo the state’s funding formula to repurpose future budget growth—beyond the rate of inflation—into hiring more teachers and lowering class sizes in struggling districts, all without raising taxes. The conversation dives into the "science of reading" and why states like Mississippi are now outperforming California with half the per-pupil spending. From the "social justice" mission creep in math standards to the administrative bloat caused by Sacramento's mandates, Mattammal offers a provocative blueprint for an education system that values merit, competition, and parental choice. Chapters
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| Why the People Who'd Fix California Are the Ones Leaving | Pete Peterson | 12 May 2026 | 00:19:27 | |
Guest: Pete Peterson - Dean of the Pepperdine School of Public Policy Guest Bio: Pete Peterson is a leading national voice on civic engagement and state governance, currently serving as the Dean of the Pepperdine School of Public Policy. A former candidate for California Secretary of State, Peterson has dedicated his career to improving how citizens interact with their government. He is a senior fellow at the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and has been at the forefront of the "Leading Smart Communities" initiative, which trains public officials to use technology and data transparency to run more efficient municipalities. Known for his analytical approach to California’s unique political landscape, Peterson is a frequent contributor to national and state-level discussions on election reform and the future of the California dream. Show Summary "California is America on steroids," says Pete Peterson—but according to the Pepperdine Dean, being a "one-party state" for too long has left the Golden State in decay. In this episode of State of Gold, Jon Slavet sits down with Peterson to break down the high-stakes 2026 Governor’s race and why a "political earthquake" could be on the horizon. Peterson explores the "less than 25% chance" of two Republicans emerging from the jungle primary and explains why a Republican Governor might be the only "check" left to rein in a progressive legislature. The conversation pulls no punches on the state’s fiscal reality, noting that while the budget has doubled in less than a decade, public services from education to infrastructure are in a tailspin—even underperforming states like Mississippi and Alabama. From the "Trojan Horse" of the Billionaire Tax and the "moral hazard" of public sector unions to the potential for a "California DOGE" (Department of Government Efficiency), Peterson offers a masterclass in why people are "voting with their feet". This is a deep dive into whether California is at its "darkest before the dawn" and what it will take to restore the luster to the world's fifth-largest economy. Chapters Connect with Pete Peterson
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| Will Waste, Fraud and Over-Spending Drown California? | 08 May 2026 | 00:03:41 | |
In just a few years, California went from a $100 billion budget surplus to a $30 billion structural deficit. How does the world’s fourth-largest economy wipe out that much cash so quickly? In this mini-episode State of Gold takes a hard look at CA’s out of control "spending spree" as well as the rampant waste and fraud plaguing Sacramento. Noted experts break down the "regressive" nature of California’s current path, where middle-class residents are squeezed by electricity and gas prices while state government spending doubles over the past decade. Wipeout reveals the "perverse financial incentives" that allow social problems to grow, and fail, despite record spending. Chapters Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast | |||
| California Has All the Answers and All the Problems | Senator Blakespear | 05 May 2026 | 00:24:52 | |
Guest: Senator Catherine Blakespear Guest Bio: Catherine Blakespear represents the 38th District, covering northern San Diego County and southern Orange County. A lawyer and former journalist for the Los Angeles Times and Associated Press, she transitioned into public service as the Traffic Commissioner for Encinitas before serving eight years in local government, including six years as Mayor. Now in the State Senate, Blakespear chairs the Environmental Quality Committee and the Transportation Subcommittee on LOSSAN Rail Corridor Resiliency. Her legislative focus includes increasing housing affordability, preventing gun violence, and finding structural solutions to California’s homelessness humanitarian crisis. Show Summary It costs an average of $700,000 and takes seven years to build a single unit of housing in California—a reality Senator Catherine Blakespear calls "anathema to my sense of humanity". In this episode of State of Gold, Jon Slavet and Senator Blakespear tackle the "multi-billion dollar question" of why California’s housing and homelessness crises continue to spiral despite hundreds of new laws.Blakespear shares her unique perspective as a former Mayor who once fought against high-density mandates, explaining why she now believes the state must balance local control with the urgent need for a million new homes. The conversation takes a sharp turn into the "shocking" reality of the state's homelessness response. Blakespear reveals her firsthand findings after touring Care Court, describing it as a "resource-intensive group therapy" that fails to scale because it remains entirely voluntary. In a rare moment of candor from the Democratic side, Blakespear argues it is time to move the "pendulum" back toward involuntary commitment for the gravely disabled, stating that leaving people to die in the elements is a violation of human rights. From the complexities of the insurance market and the Cap-and-Invest program to a debate over Gavin Newsom’s leadership, this episode is an essential look at the policies required to reclaim the "Golden State." Chapters 00:00 – The Waiting Room: California’s Housing Math Problem Connect with Catherine Blakespear
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| Top Republican Minds Break Down CA Governor’s Race | 01 May 2026 | 00:14:58 | |
California is at a tipping point. With over two-thirds of residents believing the state is on the "wrong track," the race for the Governor’s mansion has turned into a high-stakes battle for the future of the Golden State. In this special episode, recorded live from the April 2026 CA GOP Convention, Jon Slavet sits down with the state’s brightest Republican political minds to break down the chaos of the primary season and the path to a Republican victory. The conversation centers on the "insanity" of current leadership and the rise of optimistic conservative voices like Steve Hilton. The panel dives into the sudden "implosion" of Democratic frontrunner Eric Swalwell and the reshuffling of the voter pool that follows. They also pull back the curtain on the "math problem" facing Republicans: Can they successfully navigate a top-two primary to shut out the Democrats, or will a splintered field leave the GOP on the sidelines? From "kitchen table issues" like the affordability crisis and public safety to the influence of national endorsements, this episode provides a strategic roadmap for how a Republican can win over independents and center-right Democrats in a state where they are outnumbered 2-to-1. It is a candid look at the policies, personalities, and "political earthquakes" that will define California’s next chapter.
00:00 – Live from the GOP Convention: Is it Darkest Before the Dawn? Enjoyed the episode? Subscribe to our podcast, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and join the conversation on Instagram and LinkedIn with the hashtag #stateofgoldpodcast | |||
| The Real Reason California Gas Costs More Than Anywhere | Jodie Muller | 28 Apr 2026 | 00:24:01 | |
Guest Jodie Muller, CEO - Western States Petroleum Association Guest Bio Jodie Muller serves as the President and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), representing the companies that explore, produce, refine, and transport petroleum products in the West. Muller took the helm as CEO during one of the most volatile periods for energy in California’s history. Under her leadership, WSPA has focused on educating policymakers and the public on the "all-of-the-above" energy strategy, advocating for the preservation of high-paying local jobs, and addressing the regulatory "layers" that contribute to California's nation-leading gas prices. Muller is a prominent voice for balancing environmental goals with economic reality, emphasizing the importance of domestic production to maintain strict environmental and labor standards. Show Summary Why does California consistently have the highest gas prices in the nation? According to WSPA CEO Jodie Muller, it isn’t one person or one event—it’s the result of decades of policies layered on top of one another. In this episode, Jon Slavet talks with Muller about the complex reality of California’s energy market. From the impact of the Iran war and global spot markets to the "Truman Show" bubble of California’s environmental regulations, Muller explains how the state has hamstrung its own supply chain. She shares startling data on why California now imports over 75% of its crude and what the idling of major refineries means for the families who rely on those six-figure jobs. The conversation also tackles the controversial Cap-and-Invest program, the "baby steps" of recent permitting in Kern County, and why the smartest energy innovations of the future will likely come from within the oil and gas industry. Muller offers a candid look at the upcoming Governor’s race and her "Queen for a Day" wish. Chapters 00:00 – Who is Responsible for $6 Gas?
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| Non-Profits Are Getting Rich Off Homelessness! | Alex Villanueva | 21 Apr 2026 | 00:14:31 | |
Guest: Alex Villanueva, Former Sheriff of Los Angeles County Guest Bio: Alex Villanueva served as the 33rd Sheriff of Los Angeles County from 2018 to 2022, making history as the first challenger to unseat an incumbent sheriff in over a century. A veteran of the United States Air Force and the California Air National Guard, Villanueva spent over three decades within the LASD before reaching its highest office. During his tenure, he was known for his fiercely independent and often combative relationship with the LA County Board of Supervisors, frequently clashing over department funding, deputy oversight, and homelessness protocols. A former lifelong Democrat who recently broke with the party to register as a Republican, Villanueva continues to be a prominent voice in California politics, advocating for stricter public safety measures, voter ID laws, and a rejection of what he terms "radical" progressive ideologies. Show Summary Is California facing the "beginning of the end"? In this episode, Jon Slavet sits down with former LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva for an unfiltered look at the systemic failures plaguing the Golden State. Villanueva pulls no punches as he describes what he calls a "multi-year war against law enforcement" and the emergence of a "homeless industrial complex" that he claims has a perverse financial incentive to grow the crisis rather than solve it. He shares first-hand accounts of cleaning up notorious encampments in Venice and Brentwood and explains why he believes the current political apparatus is more interested in "virtue signaling" than public safety. The conversation dives deep into Villanueva’s personal political evolution—from a JFK Democrat to a Republican—and his critiques of career politicians who he says prioritize their own advancement over the public interest. From the complexities of ICE cooperation and sanctuary status to a rapid-fire session on the future of California leadership, this episode offers a candid perspective from a man who has spent his career on the front lines of California's most contentious battles. Chapters 00:40 – The Multi-Year War Against Law Enforcement 01:38 – Cleaning Up Venice: A Proven Five-Step Process 02:57 – Exposing the Homeless Industrial Complex 04:02 – Career Politicians vs. The "Part-Time" Solution 05:14 – Lessons Learned: Betrayal and Bureaucratic Interests 06:16 – Why the Democratic Party Left Me 07:45 – Public Safety Transcends Party Lines 09:34 – The Truth About ICE and Sanctuary State Policies 13:07 – Local Coordination and Board Politics 13:40 – Rapid Fire: Voter ID and Reclaiming the Promise Connect with Alex Villanueva
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