Today we dig into a form of American political expression that dates way back in U.S. history, applies to any type of view or opinion, and leaves behind artifacts of campaigns that helped shape who we are: political campaign buttons and memorabilia, powered by the people, events and aspirations the items represented. My guests are Bob Warren—son of Earl Warren, former governor of California and onetime chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court—and Adam Gottlieb. Both live in Davis, and both are active in American Political Items Collectors, which has its next national convention in Reno July 22-23.

And if you happen to find a certain button from the 1920 Cox/Roosevelt campaign in a box you inherited from your grandparents, your ship has just come in.

Today we have a summer show. It’s an appreciation of pop music as created by my guest Bob Cowsill (on right in photo) and by his siblings—together, known as the Cowsills. They had top 10 songs in the 1960s, but there’s more to their story than their hits “Hair,” or “The Rain, The Park, and Other Things.” The Cowsills perform in Sacramento on July 11 at the Crest Theatre as part of the Happy Together tour, and they have a new record due out this fall.

And, dear listener, if the songs we talk about today aren’t ones you heard as a kid or young adult, well, then as you listen, I invite you to think about the songs that helped alert you to the fun and the feeling of music. Because that’s the larger story here: the power of music. And maybe the power of a family.

My first question for Amanda Portier (pictured), this year’s top graduating senior at UC Davis, was how she managed to achieve straight A’s in her classes while chairing Picnic Day for 2022 and doing everything else she did as a student here. As you might imagine, she’s been asked this question more than once the last few weeks. Insights she gained from synchronized swimming are part of the answer. On today’s Davisville we also talk about community and regional development (her degree), using statistics to influence people (she minored in statistics) in a culture that seems to pay more attention to individual expression and personal experience, and what she’ll take from Davis as she leaves.