Talk Policy To Me

Two recent college grads trying to address contaminated water in an isolated town. But what can two young people really do to help solve a 20-year-old problem embedded deep in the ground — and in local politics? We’re exploring water justice and public policy in California’s Central Valley and roadblocks on the state’s path to achieving the Human Right to Water. This episode is hosted by Sunny Singhal and tells the stories of Mateo Fernandez and Destiny Montes. 

This is the origin story of a teen climate activist who made it to the White House. Host Ava Kargosha shares the journey of former youth climate activist Rose Strauss, who made headlines for confronting a state senator about the oil money lurking behind his climate change denial. Listen in to learn how Rose went from student activist to full-time climate policy-maker by the age of 24.

This episode takes us to India, where fake news on Whatsapp spreads like wildfire. Is addressing it a hopeless cause?  Learn about solutions with Abhishek Anand, a Gen Z journalist who joined a Deli-based fact-checking team. Listen to discover the team’s techniques for battling an endless flow of falsehoods and how their efforts protect someone from becoming a “webqoof”. Hosted by Anjali Nambiar.

A bare plot of land. An innovative farming technique. And seemingly insurmountable challenges. This is the story of a 22-year-old farmer who crosses the country to help a small community facing food insecurity. Shamik Chandrachood moves from Kentucky to California to bring a technique called intercropping to a traditional farming town — and encounters unexpected roadblocks along the way. Hosted by Sunny Singhal.

Hear more from Shamik – read his blog post:

https://www.grizzlycorps.org/post/growing-solutions-food-waste-regenerative-agriculture-in-allensworth

Emily Nguyen started working in the government as a teenager. Can teenagers get taken seriously in San Francisco City Hall? And why does it matter that youth like Emily participate in civics? Welcome to the first episode of Season 6, a story about the joys, surprises, and struggles of being young in local government. This episode hosted by Avalon Bauman features a conversation with Berkeley Institute for Young Americans policy director Dr. Erin Heys.

• Youth Commission ‘23 Budget and Priorities Report
• Lowering the Voting Age Policy Brief

A new season of Talk Policy to Me is launching soon.

Professor Robert B. Reich was voted by the graduating students of UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy to be their faculty speaker. Always a beloved teacher, this occasion was especially meaningful because it marked Professor Reich's retirement from teaching. 

Robert Reich was introduced by Master of Public Policy student speaker Abraham Eli Bedoy.

See show notes and full transcript here: https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/news/podcast/professor-robert-reich-speaks-at-goldman-school-commencement

Tennessee Representative Justin Jones addressed the graduates at the Goldman School of Public Policy's commencement on May 14, 2023.

Representative Jones came into the national spotlight when he was expelled from the Tennessee legislature for taking to the assembly floor to protest gun violence and the refusal of the legislature to take up this issue.  

See show notes and full transcript here: https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/news/podcast/bonus-episode-tennessee-representative-justin-jones-speaks-at-gspp-commencement

This year, researchers found that the last 22 years were the driest consecutive years in the North American southwest in over a millennium. The pace and scale of climate change is forcing states and counties to adapt rapidly. In California, one of the industries at the forefront of the adaptation predicament is agriculture. In today’s episode, reporter Elena Neale-Sacks speaks with resilience researcher Amélie Gaudin, Sacramento Valley farmer Scott Park, and water policy research fellow Caity Peterson to understand how farmers and growers are, and aren’t, building resilience to drought.

See show notes and full transcript here: https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/news/podcast/episode-512-talking-agriculture-drought-and-resilience

The annual number of anti-LGBTQ bills filed has skyrocketed over the past several years, from 41 in 2018 to 240 and counting in the first three months of this year. Half of these bills are targeting transgender people specifically. At the same time, surveys of the general public show over 70% say they support same-sex marriage and laws preventing discrimination across the LGBTQ community. And Gen Z are proudly and loudly identifying with both gender and sexual fluidity. How do we square these two realities? In this episode, Talk Policy to Me reporter Amy Benziger dives into how the rise in representation of people from across the gender and sexual spectrum in media, business, and government has caused a policy backlash by the old guard to solidify their conservative base. 

Our guests include Fran Dunway, Founder of TomboyX; Corey Rose, a student at UC Berkeley Journalism School and former reporter for South Florida Gay News; and Pau Crego, Executive Director of the SF Office of Transgender Initiatives.

See show notes and full transcript here: https://gspp.berkeley.edu/research-and-impact/news/podcast/episode-511-talking-the-rise-of-anti-lgbtq-legislation