What Does Systemic Change in California Look Like?

We're doing a specific group of podcasts this summer-- conversations focused on what systemic change looks like, particularly here in California, in the wake of George Floyd’s death.

Each conversation features two people: a young leader who has galvanized others by speaking out and leading demonstration and campaigns, and a "veteran" activist/ decision maker who has been working on race equity and justice issues for decades.

First up: Activist Stevante Clark and Chief Bon Harrison
These are two people who often look at law enforcement from opposing sides: a former police chief, and an activist whose brother's death at the hands of police officers made national headlines and led to California's groundbreaking police-use-of-force law.

The second conversation: Student Xavier Clark and Assemblyman Kevin McCarty
We look at some proposed laws on racial justice and equality that are being put for a vote by the state legislature, followed by California residents on the November ballot. Talking about them are a 19-year-old college student who helped to get 15,000 people protesting on the streets of Oakland last month about police brutality, and a state politician who proposed some of these new laws.

These conversations could have gone in any direction -- listen to find out how the two men agree on some things, disagree on others, and decide where to take this conversation next.

Listen to Our "New Normal in California" Podcasts

Doing live, in-person events is off the table for a while, but we’re still interviewing Californians doing groundbreaking things during “Pandemic Time.”

So here is our podcast series “The New Normal in California.” We started it in April, and over the summer – or however long it takes before we get the all-clear to leave our houses and enter other places again – we’ll be looking at the ways our coronavirus-affected lives are changing over the short- and long-term, and talking with Californians who are making significant change in this New Normal.

Episode 1: How DId This Thing Get Started? We talk with a top UC Davis epidemiologist about animals, humans, how they mix, how that leads to deadly pandemics, and how we can reduce them.

Episode 2: How Will This Thing (Hopefully) End? A conversation with two UC Davis medical researchers who are part of the global team working round-the-clock on the race to create an effective vaccine.

Episode 3: Ordinary People Doing Amazing Things We talk with a couple of guys who stepped up to make protective gear for essential workers, and got their local communities to volunteer time, skills and financial support.

Episode 4: One Chef’s Plan to Feed California and Save Its Restaurants Patrick Mulvaney started cooking up his biggest project yet: serving thousands of meals to Sacramento’s most vulnerable people. And now his project is scaling statewide.

Episode 5: Fixing California’s Broken Food Supply Chain A conversation with a cattle rancher and a farming advocate who are literally “in the field” and seeing how pandemic-induced glitches in the food supply chain are playing out.

Episode 6: Grocery Stores and Their Post-Pandemic Future A top executive at Raley’s Supermarkets tells us how the lessons grocery stores are learning today will shape the way we all get our groceries in the future.

Episode 7: TV and Podcast Picks to Pass the Pandemic Time A few people who read books, watch TV and produce podcasts for a living, give us their picks for current news, "comfort food" selections, learning new skills and hobbies, connecting better with others, and celebrating life.

Episode 8: Strategies for Keeping Your Mental Health Strong and Sound The Chief Wellness Officer at UC Davis Health System gives tips and advice for being less stressed and more upbeat.

Episode 9: The Future of Restaurants A Michelin-starred chef and the CEO of the California Restaurant Association tell us what dining out will look like in the New Normal.

Hear How These Two People Are Shaping Sacramento's Skyline

We were so impressed with the things these two people said at our "Groundbreakers Q&A,” and how they represent the "old" and the "new" of Sacramento architecture, design and urban planning.

Kris Barkley, design director of Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture (sitting on the right in this photo), is taking great care of his firm's 70-year-old history and reputation, leading projects like renovating the Modernist gem of SMUD's Headquarters Building (originally designed and built by Dreyfuss and Blackford back in 1959), and building the new Powerhouse Science Center on the Sacramento River.

Nikky Mohanna is definitely one to watch as she builds innovative new residences in Sacramento, like the just-opened 19J Midtown and the about-to-break-ground 10K. She has forward-thinking ideas about urban planning and the uses of buildings for live/work/play, and she's bringing a "let's think outside the box" mindset to her discussions with Sacramento's city planners, construction firms and architects.

These two were so much fun to interview. And you can listen for yourself in our podcast of this great conversation.

"San Francisco Politics Is Like a Knife Fight in a Phone Booth" - A Groundbreakers Q&A with Scott Wiener

San Francisco politics is like “a knife fight in a phone booth.” And that's why State Senator Scott Wiener says getting his start in that city has made him sharp enough to handle politics in Sacramento and NIMBYers around the state.

Our "Groundbreakers Q&A" with the buzzed-about State Senator from June 26 is up -- listen in to the conversation about housing, homelessness, education and LGBTQ legislation.

The podcast is currently up on Soundcloud, iTunes, Spotify, Sticher, Google Play and other podcast hubs -- just type "California Groundbreakers" into the search box.

Hear about the “Future of Transportation in Sacramento”

California’s Capital City is getting attention nationwide for its alt-transportation methods, from red Jump bikes and scooters to shared electric cars and an entirely-revamped bus network.

But it’s not always a smooth ride. There are multiple complaints about how Jump bikes are blocking sidewalks, and Jump scooters are not that safe for their drivers or the people they run into. There’s talk of the City planning to impose a fee-per-ride ordinance that Jump says is expensive and prohibitive to expanding its services. The streetcar project is in jeopardy, with project bids for construction way higher than expected, and far beyond the project budget. And can SacRT ever get anyone to ride its light rail?

The future of transportation in Sacramento is off to a great start, but how will these bumps in the road affect it? And how will we — as users, taxpayers and voters — affect and be affected by these new transit methods?

Listen to the podcast of the discussion we held this with the people who are in charge of taking us where we want to go, but differently — on Soundcloud, iTunes and the other major podcast-gathering websites.

A "Groundbreakers Q&A" with Sacramento's Art Mavens Liz Moe and Estella Sanchez

Liv Moe, founding director of Verge Center for the Arts, and Estella Sanchez, founder and executive director of Sol Collective, play big roles in shaping Sacramento’s arts scene, supporting and promoting local artists, and getting their efforts talked about in cultural circles around California and nationwide. They’re two major reasons why the Capitol City’s cultural scene is on fire, and why it has such a passionate community rooting it on.

Listen to this great conversation with Moe and Sanchez about the state of the arts in Sacramento, what they’re working on now, and what they want to happen so that the city’s artists get the support they need and the recognition they deserve.

How You Gonna Vote on . . . .? Listen to our "Policy and a Pint: Midterm 2018" Podcasts to Figure it out!

Election 2018 is in full swing -- and now is the time to figure out how you're going to vote!

We’ve been holding discussions with panelists who, whether they are "for, " against" or "neutral," give us the straight talk on local/statewide propositions and races, and what it means if you vote yay or nay on each.

Listen to these “Policy and a Pint” podcasts before you mark your ballot. We’ve covered:

• Proposition 1 - Bonds for affordable housing and veterans’ housing loans

• Proposition 2 - Using the “millionaire’s tax” to create bonds that build housing for the homeless who need mental health services

• Proposition 3 - The water bond

• Proposition 5 - Changing property-tax assessments for certain homeowners who want to sell

• Proposition 6 - Repealing of the 2017 gas tax

• Proposition 10 - Making rent control laws easier to establish in California

• Proposition 12 - Banning sales of meat and eggs from farm animals that live in cages smaller than a specific size

• City of Sacramento’s Measure U - increasing the city’s sales tax, and making it permanent, in order to pay for city services and invest in other big-ticket items

And then, of course, be a good voter and submit your ballot!

California Isn't So Cutting-Edge When It Comes to Electing Women

"I get calls from Washington DC and back East, saying to me, 'California must be so great for women to run for office,' because we have two great strong women US senators and the first woman Speaker of the House. But when you peel back the layers, you don’t see that," Rachel Michelin of  California Women Lead said last Wednesday at our latest "Policy and a Pint" event.

" I try to caution women to think that, while we’re so progressive, so cutting-edge, there’s still a lot of work to do in order to get equality and parity in elected offices across California."

Our podcast about "Women Running for Office" is up.

Listen to great discussion from Michelin, gubernatorial candidate Amanda Renteria (pictured here with one of our event attendees) Congressional candidate Regina Bateson, and Kula Koenig of BWOPA Sacramento as they talk about the challenges of women running in California, and what needs to be done to break the still-pretty-thick glass ceiling of gender parity in state politics.

There's not a dull moment in this 80-minute-long conversation, but you can refer to the "Podcast Play-by-Play" to go to specific parts of it.

Listen to "The Future of Downtown Sacramento"

John Dangberg, assistant city manager for Sacramento, had this to say about the Golden 1 Center, which opened a little over a year ago: "We've gone from a valuation of $22.5 million to well over $1 billion in value. " And with the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel, Punch Bowl Social, TheBank_629J, and a bunch of new eateries on the 700 K block opening up, Dangberg only expects that valuation to rise.

Listen to Dangberg and our other panelists in the podcast recording of our "Future of Downtown Sacramento " discussion at the Crocker Art Museum talk about housing, parking, restoring historic buildings, revitalizing the riverfront, new modes of transportation, bringing in new jobs, and putting more arts and culture into downtown.

We broke the podcast down into specific parts (refer to our "Podcast Timeframe" to go to certain sections), but the whole discussion is a great way to learn more -- and get excited about -- the future of Downtown Sacramento. There's a lot in the works.

A Knight of the Hops - and Five Other Groundbreakers of California Beer to Listen To

At our "Brewmasters talk," we asked Steve Dresler, recently retired from 34 years as brewmaster of Sierra Nevada, what was pinned to his shirt collar.

It's the medal of the International Order of the Hop. The Order was instituted more than 600 years ago by John the Fearless who was born in 1371 in Dijon, France, son of Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy and King of Brabant. The order is a mark of distinction awarded to those who contribute to the cultivation of the “noble hop” and the “agreeable drink,” beer.

Dresler is the first U.S. brewmaster ever to receive this.

In his speech when he received it two months ago, he said he started his career at Sierra Nevada as chief taster, where he packed four and drank every fifth bottle of beer. There was no automated equipment and he scooped hops from a kettle by hand. “The uniqueness of my career was that it spanned the history of craft breweries as we know them today."

He drove down from Chico to talk to us, alongside Mike Mraz of Mraz Brewing Company, a multiple Gold Medal winner at the California State Fair and another craft beer demi-god in the making.

It's Groundbreakers like these who are shaping Califorrnia beer -- they live in and around Sacramento, and they have lots of amazing stories.

Listen to the podcast of our "Brewmasters" talk with Dresler and Mraz.

Listen also to our brand-new "Icebreakers," mini-podcasts that we upload in advance of our live Groundbreaker events. In advance of the "Brewmasters" talk, we sat down in the recording studio with a few other people who also do groundbreaking stuff in the beer industry, including:

* Charlie Bamforth, Professor of Malting and Brewing Sciences at UC Davis, also known asthe "Pope of Foam," discusses how his department and its research has shaped the production of California's craft beer.
* J-E Paino of Ruhstaller Beer explains why his is the only brewery in California, besides the mega-big Sierra Nevada Brewing, to grow its own hops.
*  Glynn Phillips, owner of Rubicon Brewing Company, talks about the rise and fall of Sacramento's oldest craft brewery, and why he closed Rubicon 1.5 months before it marked its 30th anniversary.
* Kate Whelan, director of Sacramento Beer Week, talks about how women are shaking up the beer industry.