On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom delivered his final State of the State address laying out his vision for California – in contrast to what he calls a chaotic federal government under President Trump. He highlighted California’s work on homelessness, education and healthcare. And framed the state as taking a leadership role in these issues across the country. We take a closer look at what Governor Newsom is proposing for California in the new year, and how he aims to close a state budget shortfall of nearly $18 billion.

Guests:

Marisa Lagos, politics correspondent, KQED; co-host of KQED's Political Breakdown

Lindsey Holden, California politics reporter, Politico

Patrick Ahrens, state Assemblymember representing California's 26th district, including Santa Clara county

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From convenience store pork chops to a distinct take on Peking duck, KQED food editor Luke Tsai discovered a lot of great dishes over the year. He joins us to dish on the best things he ate in 2025 and recommend places you might want to try in the new year. Despite continued restaurant closures, the Bay Area continues to offer amazing culinary options from all over the world, so how do you decide? We’ll hear from Tsai and other local food writers, Lauren Saria of The SF Standard and freelancer Octavio Peña, on their picks for what  you should nosh on in 2026.

Guests:

Luke Tsai, food editor, KQED Arts and Culture

Lauren Saria, food editor, The SF Standard

Octavio Peña, food writer and contributor, KQED

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Get out your crystal ball, trust your spidey-senses and look back at 2025’s major takeaways, because it’s time to help us predict 2026. Whether you think Democrats will win big in the midterms, that an entirely AI-generated song will top the Billboard charts or that we’ll finally stop Venmo charging our friends for dinner, we want to hear your predictions. We speak with three journalists about what they expect — and what we’ve learned from 2025. And we hear from you: Whether it’s good, bad or neutral, what do you think will happen this year?

Guests:

Izzie Ramirez, deputy editor of Future Perfect, a section focused on the myriad challenges and efforts in making the world a better place, Vox Media

Emma Goldberg, reporter covering political subcultures and the way we live now for the Styles section, The New York Times

Michelle Singletary, personal finance columnist, The Washington Post; she writes the nationally syndicated personal finance column "The Color of Money"

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When writer Anna Holmes began to get forgetful, she wondered if it was middle age, menopause or dementia-inflected memory loss. The brain fog made her reflect on not just her health, but her mortality. Having watched her mother slip away from dementia, she wondered if it was now happening to her. We talk to a neurologist and Holmes about her recent piece in the New Yorker, “My Mother’s Memory Loss, and Mine.”

Guests:

Anna Holmes, writer and editor; her latest piece in the New Yorker is titled "My Mother's Memory Loss, and Mine"

Dr. Niyatee Samudra, clinical assistant professor of adult neurology, Stanford University Medical School

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Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin has been sounding the alarm about creeping authoritarianism, warning of military forces on U.S. streets and extrajudicial killings on the high seas. Now, following a military raid that captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, those warnings feel newly urgent. Slotkin joins us to discuss what the Maduro operation reveals about presidential power, and what Congressional oversight mechanisms are available. Furthermore, President Trump says the U.S. will now control Venezuela’s massive oil reserves — over 300 billion barrels of crude oil. Later in the hour, we talk about why the U.S. might keep Venezuela’s existing government in place, the real challenges of extracting Venezuela’s oil resources and how Trump’s use of the Monroe Doctrine is reshaping global politics.

Guests:

Elissa Slotkin, U.S. Senator representing Michigan; member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services

Antonia Juhasz, investigative journalist covering energy and the environment for Rolling Stone and other outlets. She is the author of several books on the industry, including "The Tyranny of Oil."

Kevin Whitaker, former U.S. ambassador to Colombia and deputy chief of mission in Venezuela. He is senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, a non-partisan think tank.

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A blackout that left one-third of San Francisco customers without power – some up to three days – was one of six outages that plagued PG&E throughout the holidays. Disabled Waymos blocked streets. The Nutcracker was cancelled. Restaurants and businesses were closed. Customers and politicians are demanding answers and calling for the end of PG&E’s monopoly. We’ll talk about the blackout and what it can tell us about the reliability of  our power sources and Waymo’s vulnerabilities, and we’ll  hear how it affected you.

Guests:

Joe Eskenazi, managing editor and columnist, Mission Local

Jeffrey Tumlin, former Director of Transportation, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA)

Brad Templeton, entrepreneur, writer; Templeton is the chairman emeritus of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and previously worked at Waymo

Bilal Mahmood, supervisor, District 5, Board of Supervisors San Francisco

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January 7 marks one year since the Palisades and Eaton fires ignited in Los Angeles County. MS NOW senior political reporter Jacob Soboroff reported on the fires, an assignment he pursued because he grew up in Pacific Palisades, despite the emotional challenges of the task. As he writes in his new book, “Firestorm,” “What are you supposed to say when the entire community you were born and raised in is wiped off the map, literally burning to the ground before your eyes?” Soboroff joins us to share how he found the words, where recovery stands in LA and why we’re now in “America’s New Age of Disaster.”

Guests:

Jacob Soboroff, senior political and national reporter, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC); author, "Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster" and "Separated: Inside An American Tragedy"

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In today’s world, it seems there’s a remedy for every modern ailment. Anxiety. Diabetes. Heart disease. There’s a pill for that! But what do the drugs we take to make us better really do? And where do they fit in the big picture of the disease business? In the new podcast, Drug Story, journalist Thomas Goetz digs into modern medicine, examining some of the most prescribed drugs one diagnosis and side effect at a time.  

Guests:

Thomas Goetz, journalist, author and entrepreneur. Host of the podcast 'Drug Story'

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“Plastic is everywhere” writes former EPA official Judith Enck, “wrapped around our food, stitched into our clothes, even coursing through our veins.” Enck says we need to drastically reduce our dependency on plastic to save our oceans, our air and ourselves. We talk to her about why it’s so hard to regulate plastic – and the individual ways we can free ourselves from its “synthetic embrace.” Each American uses about five hundred pounds of plastic a year. Enck’s new book is “The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late.” Have you tried to cut plastic out of your life?

Guests:

Judith Enck, president, Beyond Plastics; served as a regional administrator with the EPA during the Obama Administration

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In a press conference on Saturday after Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was captured, President Trump said the U.S. would “run” Venezuela until a proper transition was in place. Trump said “he’s not afraid of boots on the ground,” and that the U.S. will sell seized Venezuelan oil, but the U.S. plan and next steps are far from clear. We’ll talk about Maduro’s capture and what it means for the U.S. and Venezuela.

Guests:

David Sanger, White House and National Security Correspondent, New York Times - His most recent book is "New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion and America’s Struggle to Save the West"

Elizabeth Dickinson, Deputy Director of Latin America, International Crisis Group

John Garamendi, U.S. Representative for California's 8th congressional district, former California Lt Governor

Lateefah Simon, U.S. representative for California's 12th congressional district

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