He's only 24, but already, Sullivan Israel is one of Santa Barbara's most influential people. He founded the local Strong Towns SB and has been advocated for safer streets for all types of transportation. Sullivan wants Santa Barbara to move away from planning with a car as the main focus and instead make all ways of transportation an equal option. He wants to bring more housing to the downtown Santa Barbara area because housing downtown, he says, will help revitalize retail on State Street. Sullivan isn't just a guy with ideas. He has degrees in civil engineering and urban planning and is a graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and UCLA. He attended Laguna Blanca school and guess what? He wants to run for Santa Barbara City Council, possibly even mayor. Check out this dynamic podcast with one of Santa Barbara's brightest stars.

Award-winning journalist Josh Molina creates dynamic and compelling conversations with the region's leaders on the issues of housing, transportation, education, business and culture. He formally worked at the San Jose Mercury News and now is a local journalist and teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College. Consider a contribution to support his podcast by visiting www.santabarbaratalks.com and please subscribe on YouTube.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors want to increase their pay by $58,000 annually. They are set to vote on the matter Tuesday, Feb. 25. Conservative Andy Caldwell has been vocal about the proposed raise, calling it "obscene." In this podcast he talks with Josh Molina about the pay raise, why he objects to it, and why he believes it is a part-time job. Caldwell also discusses the controversial Santa Barbara County AMR contract, something he calls the worst moment he has scene in his more than three decades of following county government. The two also talk about Roy Lee, Bob Nelson, Steve Lavagnino and why Das Williams lose. Caldwell says he grew to like Williams, at a time when his early supporters left him.

Joshua Molina is an award-winning journalist who creates compelling conversations with dynamic individuals on the topics of housing, education, culture, art, politics and so much more. Please consider a contribution at www.santabarbaratalks.com to support these podcasts and following him on instagram at @motownjoshnews.com

Storyteller Leslie Zemeckis talks with Josh Molina about her award-winning, women-centered films that tell the lost stories of powerful women in history.

Her most recent documentary Grandes Horizontales tells the story of mid-1805s courtesans who accumulated wealth, power and property by breaking the rules, when women could now marry or work outside of their class.

From her website lesliezemeckis.com: "It isn’t for us to judge their choices but to reveal the answers behind the why and the what about these free-spirited, determined women that inspired decades of artists who tried to capture their likeness, their essence, their appeal."

She also talks about her body of work, including "Bound by Flesh" about conjoined twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, and the award-winning "Mabel, Mabel, Tiger Trainer" about the first female tiger trainer, Mabel Stark,

Zemeckis explains why she was called to tell the stories of women and the lessons we can learn from powerful women in the past. She also teaches writing and storytelling and recently returned to a full-time schedule at Santa Barbara City College.

Joshua Molina is an award-winning journalist who creates compelling conversations with dynamic individuals on the topics of housing, education, culture, art, politics and so much more. Please consider a contribution at www.santabarbaratalks.com to support these podcasts and following him on instagram at @motownjoshnews.com

Find Leslie Zemeckis at @lesliezemeckis

Developer Peter Lewis pulls back the curtain and talks about the blockbuster deal to sell the 81-unit Soltara Apartments in downtown Santa Barbara to UCSB. Lewis explains how the deal went down and why it was necessary to do so. He also talks about State Street housing, downtown, commercial conversions, and the Cost Plus World Market.

Joshua Molina is a journalist, college professor and podcaster who creates dynamic conversations on housing, education, transportation, business, culture and the issues of the day with community leaders and personalities. Visit www.santabarbaratalks.com to make a financial contribution to support this independently owned podcast. Also subscribe to IG @motownjoshnews

Newsmakers with JR editor Jerry Roberts talks about his switch to Substack as a distribution platform in the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina. Roberts explains what the change means, and his vision for the site, created in 2014 with Hap Freund, which provides analysis, commentary and enterprise journalism about Santa Barbara public affairs. Roberts also discusses the broader media landscape and his disgust with Donald Trump.

Molina and Roberts also talk about Roy Lee, Das Williams, Wendy Santamaria and what Sheila Lodge no longer on the Santa Barbara Planning Commission means for the city.

Check out the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina and consider a financial contribution to support these podcasts at www.santabarbaratalks.com. Also, please hit subscribe on YouTube.

Joshua Molina is a journalist and college instructor who creates dynamic conversations on the topics of housing, politics, education, culture and business. Please hit subscribe on YouTube.

This is part 2 of a 3-part series with Das Williams, outing Santa Barbara County First District Supervisor. Williams is the longest-serving elected official in the county. He was first elected to the Santa Barbara City Council in 2003. After an unsuccessful bid at re-election in 2024, Williams is looking at his next move, which likely will involve working in an environmental field, to focus on climate change and renewable energy. In this podcast, Williams talks about his final Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting, his years in the California State Assembly, his legislation involving oil, education, gun laws, environmental sustainability. He also talks about cannabis and his views on the those who turned on him over cannabis policy and cannabis contributions. Check out this compelling podcast and don't miss Part 1, also on ‪@santabarbaratalkswithJosh‬ . Expect Part 3 in January.

John Davies is Santa Barbara's premiere conservative political mind. He sits down with Josh Molina for an in-depth discussion on conservative politics across the nation and locally and discusses why he believes Trump defeated Kamala Harris in November. Davies, the founder and CEO of Davies Public Affairs and Blaze PR, also has deep knowledge of Santa Barbara County politics. Davies talks about what may have been behind Das Williams' stunning re-election defeat, thoughts on his legacy and what he will miss about Williams. He also shares his views on Alejandra Gutierrez, who lost her bid for re-election to Wendy Santa Maria. Davies calls her a friend and said he spoke with her during the campaign. We also hear his views on the local Republican Party, and the reasons why Republicans can't seem to win seats locally. We also get his surprising views on Santa Barbara City Councilwoman and California Coastal Commissioner Meagan Harmon, and many other topics.

Check out this podcast as well 200 others by visiting and subscribing to Santa Barbara Talks on YouTube. Josh Molina is a journalist and college instructor who creates community conversation on topics such as housing, education, politics, business, culture and more. Also visit www.santabarbaratalks.com for more content.

Das Williams joins Josh Molina to talk about the early part of his life and career in the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks. Williams explains how his early work for CAUSE, field representative for Hannah-Beth Jackson and campaign manager for the No on Recall campaign against Gail Marshall led to a successful run for Santa Barbara City Council. He shares about his "troubled" childhood, growing up with divorced parents, and little supervision helped shape his survival instincts. He credits four Santa Barbara City College professors, David Lawyer, John Kay, Manou Eskandari, and Peter Haslund for helping to reset him turn him in the correct direction.

Williams also talks about how he won a seat on the City Council, his campaign strategy of talking to voters outside of the Golden Triangle, and his focus on water, housing and neighborhoods. Williams also talks about lessons he learned from an ill-advised run for Santa Barbara County Supervisor in 2005, two years into his City Council term. Williams also reflects on his mistakes, successes, lessons learned, and his political enemies. This is Part 1. In Part 2 we will discuss his years in the California State Assembly and Santa Barbara County Supervisors, and what went wrong in his bid for re-election.

Rev. David Moore sits down with Josh Molina to talk about Trump's victory in the presidential contest, why and how it happened, and what it means for the country. He also shares his thoughts on Democrats, whether they turned their backs on working people, and how the situation in Gaza affected the presidential outcome. Moore also shares his views on local political issues, including rent control and affordable housing. Then he discusses his background and upbringing and how he became a human rights advocate.

Check out this podcast conversation as well as more than 150 others by visiting and subscribing to Santa Barbara Talks on YouTube. Josh Molina is a journalist who creates community conversation on topics such as housing, education, politics, business, culture and more. Also visit www.santabarbaratalks.com for more content.

Dr. Eliot Jacobson, professor of mathematics and computer science returns to Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina to talk about the major weather storm currently hitting California. Jacobson explains why it is happening, and why we should expect more extreme weather events. Jacobson also talks about what it means to be an environmental doomer (it's not what you think), and expresses his frustration with some environmentalists who perpetuate a green energy agenda. He says there is no quantifiable difference between green energy and fossil fuels and that the real solution is for everyone to consume less of everything. Jacobson also has some messages for young people and how they can be part of the environmental solution. Essentially, he says we need to think about making change not for people, but for the natural world.