Ordinarily, summertime in Sacramento in an election year coinciding with a governor’s last year in office makes for plenty of intrigue (what bills are forwarded to the governor; how does it affect his legacy)? But in 2026, the leadup to the August 31 deadline for passing legislation seems humdrum. Are a docile legislature and an oftentimes absentee Gavin Newsom (mostly recently stumping in early-primary Michigan) to blame? Meanwhile, the annual batch of legislative remedies for California’s chronic homeless problem begs the question of why the plight continues. Also discussed: is the campaign to defeat the Proposition 40 wealth tax making the same tactical error as did then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in California’s 2005 special election (too many measures on the same ballot); will Paramount CEO David Ellison call California’s bluff and make good on his threat to move operations to a friendlier red state (Austin, Texas, reportedly in the mix). Finally, what does Team Sussex’s surprise decision to quit the Golden State and return to the UK say about Harry and Megan’s success (or a lack thereof) in achieving “the California Dream”?

Fifty years ago, three young men working out of a modest ranch-style home in Los Altos, California, changed the world by creating Apple Inc. But is Apple’s success (at one point this year, a $5 trillion market cap) a one-off or yet another example of how innovation has flourished in the 250 years of the American republic? Stephen Haber, the Hoover’s Institution’s Park L. Loughlin senior fellow and co-author of an upcoming book on innovation, explains why Apple has flourished and how the tech giant’s operation reflects the uniqueness of America’s ecosystem as an incubator of emerging technologies. Also discussed: battery development as an innovative “sleeper”, the promise and peril of artificial intelligence, and why Haber, in his capacity as a Stanford University professor, plans to keep screens and electronic devices (sorry, Apple and its competitors) out of his undergraduate classroom.

To the notion of a vast and empty outer space, imagine instead the lower orbit of planet Earth cluttered by thousands of aging tracked objects losing their functionality and far too much debris – some of it moving at speeds of kilometers per second, posing a threat to satellites and mankind’s ability to communicate and make scientific, economic and climate forecasts, not to mention great powers’ national security. Simone D’Amico, a Hoover Institution science fellow and founder of Stanford’s Space Rendezvous Laboratory, discusses his recent report on space safety and offers ways to make the heavenly objects safer, securer, and more sustainable. Among his suggestions for easing a stressed space domain: harnessing emerging technologies, improving communications between satellite operators, and seeking greater consensus among the world’s space powers in terms of traffic coordination.

In a year full of talk about revolutions past (1776) and present (AI), there’s yet another upheaval to ponder: an emerging “quantum revolution” that will change the boundaries of science and industry as it deeply impacts global commerce and geopolitics -- the US, China, and European nations are all making advancements in the field. Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann and three co-authors discuss their recent Hoover Institution paper detailing how America and its global friends and allies can win the “quantum race”. Among the topics visited: quantum’s promise in terms of improving current living conditions (for example, studying climate change) and its myriad challenges (most notably, data privacy and international espionage). Also discussed: the need for considerable investments in research, an emphasis on diplomacy and greater international cooperation, plus lessons learned from the semiconductor industry regarding supply chains, intellectual property, and geopolitical vulnerability.

Recorded on July 14, 2026.

California is one of 24 states that allow voters to decide whether initiatives and referenda can become law – i.e., direct democracy. But what does California’s slate of 14 initiatives on the November ballot –  including a “wealth tax” on billionaires, new voter-ID requirements, plus proposed changes to the recall of elected officials – say about the Golden State’s priorities, special interests’ influence, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s presidential ambitions? In the first of a series of conversations about the practice of politics and policies in America’s most populous state, Hoover fellow Lanhee Chen, a keen observer of California’s policy landscape and a past candidate for statewide office, offers a snapshot of this year’s ballot slate, how California’s wealth-tax fight factors into national politics (not to mention the near-term future of California’s tech sector), and suggests a few reforms that would re-instill the public’s confidence in the initiative process.

Recorded on June 26, 2026.

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday, it’s not so much “taxation without representation” at issue as it is the question of what modern taxation represents – For some, a chance to strike a blow against wealth disparity while pursuing a socialist dream of expansive government. Nowhere is that more evident than in California and a ballot initiative which, if approved by voters in November, would impose a 5% “wealth tax” on the Golden State’s resident billionaires – 90% of the proceeds going to state healthcare programs. Joshua Rauh, the Hoover Institution’s George P. Shultz Senior Fellow in Economics and an expert on California-style taxation, discusses America’s current fascination with socialism and economic class warfare as well as all that’s at stake in the Golden State. Will a voter-approved wealth tax prompt billionaires to flee California for the likes of Austin and Nashville, taking with them needed tax revenue? Would the one-time tax lay waste to Silicon Valley as an incubator of innovation (and revenue stream)? Moreover, if the promised revenue doesn’t materialize, is California likely to apply the tax to millionaires as well (and perhaps expand it beyond a five-year period, as happened a decade ago when the Golden State extended a “temporary tax” on California’s upper earners)?

Recorded on June 29, 2026.

This week’s bombshell news in Sacramento: California Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing that he and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom are under federal investigation reportedly for tax and financial improprieties – Newsom claiming he’s the victim of a political vendetta as a critic of President Trump, but the story also a window into the unseemly practice of “behested payments” that special interests use to curry favor with elected officials, especially sitting governors. As the June primary results are closer to being finalized, why did former reality-tv “villain” Spencer Pratt, billionaire Tom Steyer, AOC-clone Saikat Chakrabarti, and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan all fail to advance to the general election? Finally, as legislators race to finish a new state budget before its July 1 deadline, will Gov. Newsom, his political allies, and a powerful California labor union cut a deal to keep a billionaire wealth tax off the November ballot?          

Recorded on June 18, 2026.

On the eve of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding, how has the nation’s Declaration of Independence – drafted, debated and signed in a world shaped more by royalty than republicanism – managed to stand the test of time?

They quibbled over the language and the provisions, but in the end America’s Founding Fathers produced a 1,320-word document establishing a newborn republic’s belief in natural rights and self-governance. Were the founders who debated and ultimately signed the Declaration of Independence true visionaries or merely smart and realpolitik enough to find a new way to express the colonists’ longstanding desires for self-governance and liberty? Michael Auslin, a historian and the Hoover Institution’s Payson J. Treat Distinguished Research Fellow, discusses his acclaimed new book National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America. Among the topics discussed: the interplay between Thomas Jefferson and the committee tasked with producing what the author calls “a big bang of declaration”; the document’s various compromises required to attain unanimous consent; how the Declaration survived future wars; plus why other nations (revolutionary France in particular) drafting their own declarations fell short of the American standard.

Recorded on June 1, 2026.

California’s revised state budget for the new fiscal year beginning in July comes with a plot twist – a deficit that’s no more, courtesy of an unexpected capital-gains tax windfall. But is the same entity that showered Sacramento with billions in tax revenue – California’s vibrant AI sector – also a source of long-term economic and policy concerns (tech-related job losses; competing with farmers for water and electricity)? And how does AI and the jittery state of California’s finances factor into Gov. Gavin Newsom’s presidential ambitions? Meanwhile, as the Golden State’s June 2 primary approaches, is it time to take reality-TV “villain” and Palisades Fire victim Spencer Pratt seriously as he gains ground in Los Angeles’ contentious mayoral race?

Recorded on May 20, 2026.

America is a land dotted with so-called “company towns” – population centers where a single business or industry dominates not only the local economy, but government and community ethos as well. But what happens when a town and an industry in decline part ways, leaving it to local government and leadership to take up the slack? Hoover fellow Elizabeth Mitchell Edler discusses what transpired in those portions of America (Appalachia and the Midwest) once dominated by a since-diminished coal industry and the lack of institutional confidence that followed – her interviews, polling and data research chronicled in her new book, Company Towns: Industry Power and the Historical Foundations of Public Mistrust.

Recorded on May 4, 2026.