National Review's Radio Free California Podcast

In this episode, David and Will discuss discuss Gavin Newsom’s “Marshall Plan” for California; a state court decision to allow assisted suicide; a November proposition to split California into three states; Berkeley’s declaration that climate change is worse than World War II; and a new state law that will leave you feeling so dirty.

David and Will discuss the latest moves by California’s government union leaders to clown Wall Street and to eliminate news of the outside world. As a digestif, we’ll sip Victor Davis Hanson’s delightful National Review essay on the future – and the past – of California conservatism.

David and Will discuss Stockton’s proposal to pay potential shooters not to shoot people; Iowa congressman Steve King’s bill that would put people like Oakland’s mayor in prison; and a California court orders the state to count ballots that have been locked in a safe in Sacramento for five years. Secret bonus track: Art Laffer’s prediction that the Trump tax plan will send Californians packing for low-tax states. 

David and Will take notice of a recent declaration from the IRS that the state of California is not a reliable tax adviser. Governor Jerry Brown tells cities the state can’t help them survive the coming pension crisis, and the California Teachers Association doubles down on its worst impulses. Special bonus: reader comments!

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris bows to her union backers, bails on UC Berkeley commencement. In other news, hosts David and Will contemplate the weirdness of a bill that will add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home – in what’s already the nation’s most expensive housing market. Bonus tracks: the choices California’s non-Democrat voters face in statewide races, and a June ballot initiative that promises to clean up the toxic waste dump better known as the Salton Sea.

David and Will discuss Kanye West on Donald Trump; David French’s defense of the Fresno State professor who danced on Barbara Bush’s grave; the LA cop who can’t be fired despite his alleged role in a drug-running operation; and Los Angeles’s decision to go Robert Rauschenberg on the city’s streets: the city will paint ’em white.

David and Will discuss a state bill that would ban the sale of books that may be offensive to the LGBTQ community; a Depression-era program that kills California jobs and illustrates the dangers of Trumpian protectionism; and the growing protest against California’s sanctuary state laws.

On this anniversary episode, David and Will consider Free College for All, the 2018 ballot initiative that would raise taxes on California’s wealthiest -- ostensibly to fund universal college education.

Host Will Swaim talks with guest Jim Palmer, president of Rescue Mission, about the causes of California’s seemingly intractable homeless problem. (David Bahnsen returns next week.)

David and Will discuss the grisly death in police custody of a mentally ill San Luis Obispo man; one city’s attempt to shut down the illegal use of taxpayer dollars to support political campaigns; and a secret weapon in limiting the global reach of that very California company, Facebook.

On the day of President Trump’s first California visit, David and Will discuss what it’ll take to transform California politics, the impact of the Supreme Court’s impending decision in Janus, and the meaning of property rights when it comes to that symbol of all things California: the beach.

David and Will discuss Jeff Sessions’s announcement that he’s taking California to court over illegal immigration. Will New York state will adopt California’s misguided plastic bag ban? And what about those reports that Gov. Jerry Brown will leave office with a budget surplus?

David and Will watch as California’s liberal supermajority wrestle over a single-payer healthcare system—in a state that can’t pay off its current obligations. They also bust the myth that government unions are good for poor people and take a quick look at the symbolism of the latest announcement from state pension regulators. Special bonus: The return of the Stooge of the Week.

David and Will discuss whether recent stock-market volatility means anything for California’s precarious finances. Also: Columbus statue sails out of San Jose City Hall, the meaning for California politics of Donald Trump’s latest DACA proposal, and state treasurer (and gubernatorial candidate) John Chiang’s plan to create an government-run bank for the state’s burgeoning weed industry.

David and Will take a trip with gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa—back to a time when America’s anxiety about urban blight coincided with nearly boundless faith in government planners. All that, plus plastic straws, and a wrestling match with one of the nation’s largest investors, the California Public Employees Retirement System.