Joel Engardio built his political profile by backing the successful recalls of members of San Francisco's Board of Education and its progressive district attorney. Now he may be facing a recall of his own. Engardio, who represents the city's Sunset District on the Board of Supervisors, is being targeted for backing a voter-approved ballot measure that permanently closed most of the Great Highway to car traffic. In its place: Sunset Dunes, a newly opened park that's drawn both praise and protest....
Apr 25, 2025•32 min
President Donald Trump faces lawsuits over his actions on immigration, mass firings, funding threats and tariffs. But are his administration’s showdowns with the courts are heading to a constitutional crisis? Scott and Marisa are joined by Ilya Somin, who teaches law at George Mason University and is the chair of constitutional studies at the Libertarian Cato think tank in Washington. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 22, 2025•31 min
After weeks of trying to make nice with the president, Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta head to court, saying Trump’s unilateral tariffs are messing up California’s trade-dependent economy. Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss California’s latest federal lawsuit against the Trump administration. Plus, KQED's Alex Hall joins to discuss the results so far in the Oakland mayoral election, which is still too close to call. The first batch of votes favor former City Councilmember Loren T...
Apr 18, 2025•23 min
President Donald Trump is targeting higher education. Colleges and universities in California are feeling the heat as the administration threatens funding, cancels student visas, pressures schools to end diversity programs and cracks down on pro-Palestinian campus protests. Scott and Marisa are joined by the Los Angeles Times reporter Jaweed Kaleem to discuss how California schools are responding to the latest federal policies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 17, 2025•32 min
Cal Calamia is a nonbinary transmasculine runner and an activist who has successfully pushed to create nonbinary running categories in some of the world’s largest marathons. Calamia joins Marisa in studio to dig into the debate over transgender participation in sports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 15, 2025•34 min
With Tuesday's Oakland mayoral special election just days away, Marisa and Guy are joined by Oakland resident and KQED Forum co-host Alexis Madrigal. Madrigal is the author of a new book, “The Pacific Circuit: A Globalized Account of the Battle for the Soul of an American City," about how the port of Oakland and global commerce shaped the city and its residents. They discuss the city's history and upcoming election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 11, 2025•25 min
Barbara Lee is running for mayor of Oakland in next week’s special election. If she wins, it would be the capstone of a long and storied political career that took her from the East Bay to Sacramento and Washington D.C., where she spent nearly three decades in Congress. Lee joins Marisa and Guy in studio to discuss why she wants to lead Oakland now, as the city faces a significant budget deficit and ongoing challenges related to public safety, homelessness and more. Learn more about your ad choi...
Apr 10, 2025•33 min
President Donald Trump is going after big law, slapping sanctions and punishments on firms whose past work or lawyers he doesn’t like. Although several big firms have capitulated to Trump, others are fighting back — including San Francisco firm Keker, Van Nest & Peters. Marisa joins the firm's co-founder and partner John Keker at his San Francisco office to discuss why the law firm is willing to put its own business at risk to take on the president. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit me...
Apr 08, 2025•28 min
The debate over transgender athletes was the focus of a heated hearing in Sacramento this week. California lawmakers rejected two bills sponsored by Republicans that would have limited trans high school athletes from participating in girls' sports. The San Francisco Chronicle's politics reporter Sophia Bollag joins Scott and Guy to discuss the "Capitol showdown." Plus, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced his bid to become California's first Latino governor. B...
Apr 05, 2025•27 min
On April 15th, Oakland voters will elect a new mayor to finish out recalled mayor Sheng Thao's term. One of the leading candidates is former city councilmember Loren Taylor. Taylor narrowly lost to Thao three years ago and faces former Congresswoman Barbara Lee in the special election. Scott and Guy are joined in studio by Taylor to hear why he thinks he has what it takes to lead Oakland at a time when the city is facing some tough challenges, including serious budget problems and concerns over ...
Apr 03, 2025•33 min
President Trump is promising that tomorrow will be “Liberation Day” when he rolls out another round of tariffs. California, a major trading partner with Mexico and Canada, is right in the cross hairs of the tariff tumult. Scott is joined by Christopher Thornberg, an economist and founding partner of Beacon Economics, to unpack the impact on California industries. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 02, 2025•29 min
As Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency guts the federal workforce, Tesla’s electric cars have a major brand problem, triggering protests at Tesla dealerships and reports of vandalism of Tesla cars. Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss the fallout and the Trump administration's response. Plus, Democrats are buzzing over journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's book "Abundance," which spells out how liberals have become their own worst enemy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megapho...
Mar 28, 2025•22 min
Democrats are trying to figure out a way forward after their bruising ballot box defeat last fall. Some in the party are pushing for a new generation of leadership, saying the current gerontocracy hasn’t kept up with the political reality. One such person challenging the party establishment is Saikat Chakrabarti, who announced he's running for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi's seat in 2026. Chakrabarti made his fortune as an engineer at the payment platform Stripe, before leaving the tech industry to...
Mar 27, 2025•33 min
As Republicans avoid town hall meetings with their constituents, Democrats are happily filling the void. Silicon Valley Congressman Ro Khanna visited three Republican congressional districts this past weekend, warning that Republican cuts to Medicaid will hit them especially hard. Scott and Marisa are joined by Guy, who is in Bakersfield where he attended one of Khanna's town hall gatherings on Sunday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 25, 2025•29 min
Silicon Valley Congressman Ro Khanna has emerged as a leading voice in the Democratic party. Khanna was elected to Congress in 2016 and his district covers parts of Silicon Valley including the headquarters for companies like Elon Musk's Tesla factory. Khanna has emerged as a different kind of Democrat: an economic populist who criticizes his party for losing touch with its core principles while offering a path forward after last year's election. As he prepares to hold town hall meetings in thre...
Mar 21, 2025•32 min
Former Orange County Congresswoman Katie Porter is running for governor in 2026. The populist consumer advocate and law professor made a name for herself in Congress, grilling CEOs with her famous "Whiteboard of Justice." However, Porter lost last year's U.S. Senate race. Porter joins Marisa and Scott to share her pitch for governor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 20, 2025•32 min
President Donald Trump has threatened longtime allies north and south of the border and thrown into question trans-Atlantic relations with Europe. This is the fraught diplomatic environment that the United Kingdom’s new ambassador to the U.S. Lord Peter Mandelson has just stepped into. Scott and Marisa are joined by Ambassador Mandelson to discuss the U.K.’s emerging role in Europe and dealing with President Trump. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 18, 2025•32 min
A much anticipated entry into the 2026 governor’s race is making waves in California. Feisty Orange County Democrat and former congress member Katie Porter jumped into an already-crowded field this week, shaking up a race where President Trump looms large. And there’s a big unknown out there … will Kamala Harris also decide to run? Scott and Marisa talk it through with Politico senior politics reporter Melanie Mason. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 15, 2025•30 min
San José Mayor Matt Mahan has made an aggressive push to tackle homelessness in his city, including a new proposal to let police arrest people who repeatedly refuse offers of housing. Scott and Marisa sit down with the Mayor to dig into his new plan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 14, 2025•33 min
Some of the closest House races in recent elections have been in the Central Valley. Many of those congressional districts are truly purple – including the one near Bakersfield where incumbent Republican David Valadao held on to win reelection in November. Scott and Marisa are joined by Valadao’s former chief of staff Tal Eslick, now a consultant in the Central Valley. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 12, 2025•33 min
A new podcast by Gov. Gavin Newsom made national headlines this week when Newsom, a longtime supporter of LGBTQ rights, told his guest, right wing talk show host and social media influencer Charlie Kirk, that he thinks it’s unfair for transgender athletes to participate in girls' sports. Scott, Marisa and Guy analyze the comment, the fallout and what it says about the Democratic party’s thoughts on rebranding. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 08, 2025•30 min
During his campaign for president last year, Donald Trump consistently disavowed Project 2025, the right wing blueprint to remake the U.S. government. But since taking office, he’s been aggressively implementing many tenets of the controversial plan. Scott and Marisa discuss Trump's embracing of the plan and what it means for democracy with Ben Raderstorf, policy advocate at the nonpartisan organization Protect Democracy, which is dedicated to pushing back against authoritarianism. Learn more ab...
Mar 07, 2025•32 min
KQED's newest podcast, Close All Tabs, is out now! Tech journalist Morgan Sung spends most of her day online—so you don’t have to. Each week, Morgan tackles a new topic that might seem niche on the surface but is destined to impact our lives—both online and off. She pulls from experts, creators, and history to add context to the trends and depth to the memes. And she’ll wrestle with as many browser tabs as it takes to explain the cultural moment we’re all collectively living. Find Close All Tabs...
Mar 05, 2025•5 min
Emergency shelters are often the first stop for unhoused people living on the streets. But a new investigation by CalMatters found shelters are unsafe and unsuccessful at getting residents into permanent housing. Their comprehensive review of shelter performance found a system often mired in chaos and scandals. Lead reporter Lauren Hepler joins Scott and Marisa to talk about what they found. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mar 05, 2025•29 min
Voters in Oakland will face a big decision in April. A special election will determine who will be the city’s mayor following the recall of Sheng Thao last year. The candidates include former Congressmember Barbara Lee and former City Councilmember Loren Taylor, who almost beat Sheng Thao three years ago. They participated alongside several other candidates in a forum Wednesday night. Scott, Marisa, Guy and KQED's Alex Hall discuss the issues facing the next mayor and what's at stake for Oakland...
Mar 01, 2025•27 min
On the eve of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the White House, Marisa and Scott check in on how a shift in U.S. policy is impacting the Ukraine-Russia War as well as Europe and America's allies more broadly. They're joined by Eric Bazail-Eimil, a national security reporter and co-author of Politico's "National Security Daily" newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 28, 2025•33 min
Democrats have been struggling to respond to President Trump and Elon Musk’s rampage through the federal government. But California Representative Robert Garcia has become a leading critic of Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency and an example of one strategy to push back. Scott talks to Garcia about his approach. Then, Scott is joined by Vox senior politics reporter Christian Paz to discuss the most effective messaging strategies. Should Democrats make a populist appeal aimed at middle cl...
Feb 26, 2025•35 min
As the Trump Administration continues to slash federal funding, one of San Francisco’s crown jewels is in the crosshairs. Decades ago, the Presidio National Park was converted from an Army base to public open space, housing, restaurants and non-profit organizations. Scott and Marisa discuss why Trump is trying to dissolve the Presidio Trust, which oversees the park. Then, they're joined by Guy to talk about the bill introduced by Republican lawmakers to weaken California's sanctuary laws, making...
Feb 22, 2025•26 min
One month into the new Trump administration, research funds have been frozen, data has been taken down and scientific discourse censored. Now, with vaccine skeptics in positions of incredible power, including Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the future of scientific research and healthcare access appears uncertain. Marisa and Scott discuss the state of American science with The Atlantic staff writer Katherine Wu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adch...
Feb 21, 2025•32 min
House Republicans have laid out a blueprint for the first federal budget under President Trump’s second administration. It calls for massive tax cuts, lifting the debt ceiling and deep cuts to programs like Medicaid. Scott and Marisa talk with New York Times congressional correspondent Catie Edmondson about the politics of cutting programs for low-income Americans to pay for tax cuts for the richest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Feb 19, 2025•27 min
