National Review's Radio Free California Podcast

David’s corrupt proposal to buy Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles of Anaheim and pay absolutely nothing. Will’s dive into the secret history of Weed, Calif. Kamala Harris’s mythical origins as told by The Nation magazine. What’s wrong with the United Farm Workers union? The truth about teacher pay. Music by Metalachi.

A bill that would force fast-food workers into a single government-run union hits Newsom’s desk. California’s climate board will outlaw the sale of new gas-powered vehicles in 2035, producing a cascade of copycat regulations in other states. California school district adopts health texts that propose ten gender identities. New data: California schools are among the nation’s worst in teaching reading. A very brief history of climate, football, and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Music by Metalachi.

Prepping for a 2024 president run is moderating Governor Gavin Newsom’s behavior in California — with huge benefits for Californians. Music by Metalachi.

Investment firm Andreessen Horowitz announces it’s moving from its Menlo Park HQ to live in the cloud. California’s state lawmakers reach their annual ride-or-die moment in Sacramento, voting on scores of bills in advance of the Friday deadline. Music by Metalachi.

Guest Rick Reiff sits in for David to talk with Will about why Los Angeles DA George Gascon may avoid the fate of San Francisco’s Chesa Boudin. A Sacramento teacher who said his job is turning students into leftists collects $160,000 to resign. CPAC attendees say Gavin Newsom is No. 1. San Francisco’s housing market is so awful that Mayor London Breed welcomes an unprecedented state investigation. Los Angeles bans homeless camps near schools and day cares, but may force hotels to surrender vacant rooms for the homeless. Progressives rage as Starbucks closes stores in dangerous L.A. neighborhoods. State schools chief Tony Thurmond likely regrets his Mercury News endorsement. Music by Metalachi.

Federal attorneys say California’s 2018 secession movement was backed by Russia’s intelligence agency. Three Southern California counties are thinking about the ultimate California exodus — a 51st U.S. state. Governor Gavin Newsom declares a monkeypox state of emergency. Conservatives may hate Hollywood, but Assemblyman Ash Kalra has a new bill that will kill it dead. Music by Metalachi.

Will talks with three California Policy Center colleagues. Education policy director Lance Christensen will face incumbent Tony Thurmond in November’s race for state Superintendent of Public Instruction. Senior fellow Mark Moses answers the question, “If cities are in financial crisis, why aren’t they panicking?” Senior fellow Edward Ring has a solution to the state’s ongoing water crisis. Music by Metalachi.

State senator Scott Wiener knows whom to blame for San Francisco’s monkeypox outbreak (the federal government). A UC professor imagines oceangoing abortion clinics to serve red state clients. Gavin Newsom signs a gun-control bill he admits is unconstitutional. National Dems are working hard to keep Kamala Harris out of the 2024 presidential race. How LA County’s First Family of Covid created the CDC’s policy on school closures followed by almost no one. AG Rob Bonta has overseen massive data failures by state agencies including his own, but wants the federal government to adopt California’s policies on “data privacy.” Bonus: Remembering the August 1, 1939, Battle of Santa Monica Bay. Music by Metalachi.

Senator Tom Cotton takes on Berkeley law professor Khiara Bridges on transgenderism, and David and Will consider Nancy Pelosi’s affection for Harry Bridges, the Bay Area radical who led the longshoreman’s union while serving Stalin. Kamala Harris is back in the news with more pig’s-breakfast speechifying, this time comparing the recent SCOTUS decision in Roe with slavery. Independent truckers don’t want to be rescued by Sacramento. Gavin Newsom collects an award for excellence in education. Representative Tom McClintock votes against NATO membership for Sweden and Finland. More news from RFC’s Department of Unintended but Utterly Predictable Consequences of California Environmental Regulations. Music by Metalachi.

Before he was recalled by San Francisco voters, DA Chesa Boudin joined Los Angeles DA George Gascon to sue the San Diego law firm behind thousands of complaints that have destroyed small businesses. Gavin Newsom rediscovers the beauty of nuclear power. SCOTUS allows California’s AB 5 to ravage California’s independent truckers in the midst of the supply-chain crisis. Leaked Uber documents reveal — shock! — the company lobbied powerful politicians. Lyft pours cash into union-backed ballot measure to tax millionaires. Can UCLA athletes hurdle California’s ban on travel to competitions in red states? Do you have to be a Christian to support free markets? Music by Metalachi.