Policy Chats

In this episode, Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce Chairman of the Board Bob Mendez talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about policies that impact middle income families, and how we can alter existing policies to create a better environment for them to thrive.   About Bob Mendez:A former member of the US Navy, Bob Mendez has had a decorated career in finance, having worked at Merrill Lynch Smith Barney, and Morgan Stanley. He also is actively involved in his community as Chairman of the Board for the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, Chairperson on Budget Engagement Commission for the City of Riverside, and a member of the Honorary Commanders - a civilian organization that supports the March Air Reserve Base.Learn more about Bob Mendez via https://www.raymondjames.com/rlmwealthgroup/about-us/bio?_=bob.mendez  Podcast Highlights:  “When we look at middle-income families as a whole in our society, they provide us with a source of economic stability in that they generally make up the largest portion of the workforce. They can provide a steady stream of local income and taxes as well. And it's critical, especially for any local economy like here in Riverside, which [needs to be able to demonstrate they have a stable workforce] in order to be able to effectively borrow. Plus, they provide consumer spending, which is critical for our local businesses…” -       Bob Mendez on the topic of the value middle income families bring to local families.  “The California Environmental Quality Act, is designed to protect our environment. So, I understand the need for CEQA and I like some aspects of it, but there are certain things that could easily be tweaked in order to help, especially suffering middle income families. It's my understanding that, when a developer is looking to build a housing unit, there is approximately $40,000 to $50,000 of cost associated with just regulations that go into the building of just one unit. And we could make simple, I think, adjustments there [so that middle income families can have access to housing they can afford].“ -       Bob Mendez on the unintended consequences policies such as CEQA bring forth, despite good intentions. “I always say it comes down to three things, and it's jobs, jobs, and jobs. You know, we really need to come together, you know, in terms of being able to all move in the right direction to produce good paying jobs for individuals. You know, we just really have to break down all these silos between the city, the county, even our institutions of higher education, and the chamber, you know, where we all work collectively together for the betterment of our community." -      Bob Mendez on the importance of collaboration between sectors to create jobs and effective change.  Guest: Bob Mendez (Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce Chairman of the Board )  Interviewers: Rachel Strausman (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Vice Chief Ambassador) Pia Prashanth (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)  Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/AoX6HO_K8AY?si=aH7l4IouhnzmuSkt Music by: C Codainehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/PhaseCommercial Links:https://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpphttps://spp.ucr.edu/mpp  This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/  Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast. 

In this episode, Dr. Johannes Moenius, Peggi Hazlett, Sheheryar Kaoosji, and Dr. Juan De Lara talk with the University of California, Riverside Inland Center for Sustainable Development about the impacts of logistics and warehousing on employment and quality of jobs in the Inland Region.   About the Inland Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD): Established in 2003, the ICSD conducts and disseminates research and reports on issues of suburban growth and its impact on social, environmental, and transport systems. At our center, we focus on our region's interconnections between social well-being, the economy, and environmental sustainability.  Learn more about ICSD via icsd.ucr.edu  Podcast Highlights:   “It's really hard to overestimate the importance of the logistics sector for the Inland Empire at this point in the economic development of the Inland Empire and actually also for the Southern California region. It’s by now the largest employer - about 16.4% of all employment in the Inland Empire actually is in the logistics sector." -        Dr. Johannes Moenius on the topic of the impact of the logistics sector within the Inland Empire.  “This sector in particular has designed its workflows and its work systems in a way to really take advantage of temporary work to really keep a permanent underclass of workers who are always desperate to get a permanent job. It also destabilizes the sector because those people who do have permanent jobs know there's always somebody looking over their shoulder for the next person who's trying to get their job, doing that same job sometimes for half the wage.” -       Sheheryar Kaoosji on the topic of the detrimental hiring practices that are standard within the warehousing industry.  “I'd like to see a shift in the narrative when we start to talk about these things. I'd like to see some change in the way that the industry is upskilling its employees to make sure that they are the next generation of workers that we need to have to move with the technology changes that are happening in the industry.” -       Peggi Hazlett on the topic of the future of warehousing industry jobs as technology only continues to advance.  Guests: Dr. Johannes Moenius (William R. and S. Sue Johnson Endowed Chair of Spatial Economic Analysis and Regional Planning at University of Redlands)Peggi Hazlett (Chief Executive Officer, Greater Ontario Business Council)Sheheryar Kaoosji (Executive Director, Warehouse Worker Resource Center)Dr. Juan De Lara (Director, Center for Latinx and Latin American Studies at University of Southern California)  Interviewer: Rick Bishop (External Director, Inland Center for Sustainable Development) Music by: C Codainehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase Commercial Link:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/winning-big-for-workers-through-politics-and-policy-registration-799346445737  This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/  Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast. 

In this episode, President and CEO of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce Nicholas Adcock talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about the importance of local economies and their relevance in an increasingly globalized world.   About Nicholas Adcock: Nicholas Adcock currently serves on the Board of Directors for Habitat for Humanity, Riverside and previously served as president of the Pick Group of Young Professionals. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Government from the University of California, Riverside. Nicholas Adcock joined the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce in 2009 as the Community Development Coordinator and rose through positions of Communications & Marketing Manager and Governmental Affairs Manager before becoming the organization's Vice President in 2013. During that time, he focused on projects like securing state funding and accreditation for the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside, advocating for reform and relief for businesses against predatory litigation, and securing local control of Ontario International Airport. More recently, Nicholas led the effort to transition several of the Chamber’s value and membership programs to virtual settings and provide the latest news, resources, and information to local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about Nicholas Adcock via https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-adcock-b5b77b75.  Podcast Highlights:   “We naturally tend to think that with the internet and e-commerce and all the wonderful sort of tools and realms in which people communicate or engage with each other, we tend to think that everything is on a global economy. And there are parts of it where it certainly is. But if you think for the average person so much of their lives is impacted and influenced by local decisions… In a globalized world that we live in, being hyper-local is more important than ever.” -       Nicholas Adcock on the topic of the importance of local economies amid an increasingly globalized world.  “And when you have strong economies, strong communities, it's because usually everybody understands where they bring the most strengths and not trying to be one thing for all people. I'm not trying to replicate government because that's their job. I'm not trying to replicate a corporation because that's their job. I'm trying to replicate what a Chamber of Commerce is set to do. I'm kind of bridging the gaps of what the other entity in a way can't fulfill.” -       Nicholas Adcock on the topic of how a strong local economy is built by different organizations focusing on their specialties.   “The trick of it all is you've got to think about a problem we experience today, can we fix it so that it's not a problem still 10 years from now...  To some degree I try to feel like if we can figure out whatever that root problem is then usually it helps us both both in both contexts, both today and tomorrow.” -       Nicholas Adcock on the topic of the necessity of solving local problems so they don’t persist and remain future issues.  Guest: Nicholas Adcock (President and CEO of the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce)  Interviewers: Rachel Strausman (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Vice Chief Ambassador) Naia Pizarro (UCR Public Policy Major, UCR School of Public Policy Student Senator)  LINK YOUTUBE-ANCHORMusic by: C Codainehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/PhaseCommercial Links:https://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpphttps://spp.ucr.edu/mpp  This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/  Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast. 

In this episode, Associate Professor Katie Attwell talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about vaccine hesitancy, mandates, and public health policy.   About Katie Attwell: Associate Professor Katie Attwell is a political science and public policy scholar at the University of Western Australia, where she leads VaxPolLab. She is an Honorary Fellow of the Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at Telethon Kids Institute, Perth and is the Chair of the Collaboration on Social Science and Immunisation (COSSI), Australia’s national network of vaccination social science researchers. A/Prof Attwell is a global expert in vaccine hesitancy and vaccination policies for childhood and COVID-19 vaccines. Her recent Discovery Early Career Researcher Award fellowship (DECRA 2019-2022) funded by the Australian Research Council explored mandatory childhood vaccination policies in Australia, Italy, France, and California. Arising from this project is her book, co-authored with Mark Navin, entitled America’s New Vaccine Wars: California and the Politics of Mandates (OUP, 2023). Associate Professor Attwell led the interdisciplinary West Australian project “Coronavax: Preparing Community and Government”, which engaged in community and government research for the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, funded by Wesfarmers and the Health Department of Western Australia. From 2023, Associate Professor Attwell leads MandEval, a mixed methods and multi-country study of the implementation and impact of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Australia, Italy, France and California, a $4.7 million dollar project funded by the Medical Research Future Fund of the Australian Government.  Learn more about Katie Attwell via https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/katie-attwell  Podcast Highlights:   “How we navigate [vaccine policies is] always contextual and  informed by the political community that we're talking about. What you might get away with in California, you would not get away with in a red state and what you get away with in Australia, you might not get away with in California. You have to look at the people, you have to look at the political ideology, the history.” -       Katie Attwell on the importance of understanding the context in which a policy is being implemented.  “The activists and the technical experts and civil society actors and elected officials who changed California's vaccination policy, they were so successful in mobilizing a discourse that gets you thinking about vulnerable people.” -       Katie Attwell on the success of California policy actors in informing the public about the risks of nonvaccination on vulnerable populations. “It's crucial that you understand [policy] receptiveness, not just because the policy might backfire, but because if you bring in a policy that you can't then implement and enforce, you're actually bringing people's attention to government's weaknesses and that could be potentially quite damaging as well.”  -       Katie Attwell on why it is crucial to ensure policy survives implementation.   Guest: Katie Attwell (Associate Professor, University of Western Australia)  Interviewers: Rachel Strausman (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Vice Chief Ambassador) Andrew Shannon (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)  Music by: C Codainehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/PhaseCommercial Links:https://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpphttps://spp.ucr.edu/mpp  This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/  Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast. 

In this episode, Mayor of Palm Springs Grace Garner talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about housing affordability, income disparities, and gentrification in the context of Palm Springs.   About Grace Garner: Grace Garner earned her Bachelor of Arts from the Pitzer College in Political Studies and Gender/Feminist Studies before receiving her Juris Doctorate from California Western School of Law. Previously, she has served as a board member of the Unitarian Universalist Legislative Ministry, was the Chief Operating Officer at Americans for Financial Reform, and was an Attorney Case Manager at White & Case LLP. Since serving on the Palm Springs City Council, Grace Garner has become a board member for the Desert Regional Medical Center as well as California State University-San Bernardino.  Learn more about Grace Garner via https://www.linkedin.com/in/gracegarner/  Podcast Highlights:   “We need people to do maintenance work, we need people to do landscaping, we need people to wash dishes at restaurants and to cook in our kitchens. And to decide that they're not worthy of living somewhere because the rent would be lower is just really disrespectful to all of the people that literally make Palm Springs what it is.” -       Grace Garner on the topic of the importance of the workforce population in Palm Springs and why they deserve access to housing.  “There's one condo complex for instance that half of the units are vacant, and these are one bedroom units and so they're perfect for somebody who's kind of just entering college or someone who is just a single person or maybe a couple for them to move in. So how do we connect with this private condo association to then encourage their owners to rent out the home long term for workforce housing?” -       Grace Garner on the topic of how the unused vacant housing in Palm Springs can be rented to provide income for homeowners and housing for the workforce. “So if we can get that down to a more reasonable rent based on a person's income, then that would help a lot. They're still going to pay more than they would for a low income unit because they have the means to, but instead of paying 50% of their monthly income they'll pay the 30% which is supposed to be the standard rate that we should all be paying but almost none of us are." -       Grace Garner on the topic of how rent rates need to be structured for people who don't qualify for low-income housing, but also can't afford to use half of their salary on rent alone.  Guest: Grace Garner (Mayor of Palm Springs)  Interviewers: Rachel Strausman (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Vice Chief Ambassador) Matthew De Haro (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)  Watch the video version here: https://youtu.be/WV9q-jAhm4A Music by: C Codaine https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625 https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase Commercial Links: https://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpphttps://spp.ucr.edu/mpp  This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/  Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, Executive Director of the California Storage and Solar Association Bernadette Del Chiaro talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about the importance of solar energy and storage, as well as how they are essential to a sustainable future.   About Bernadette Del Chiaro: After completing her Bachelor of Science in Conservation and Resource Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, Bernadette Del Chiaro went on to work as an organizer for Green Corps. She later worked at the Toxics Action Center and Environment California and Environment America as a director, before joining the California Solar and Storage Association in 2013. Since joining, Bernadette has built the organization into the largest clean energy business group in the state. She's authored several clean energy reports and has been quoted widely in the media including MSNBC, NPR, BBC, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and dozens of local and trade outlets.   Learn more about Bernadette Del Chiaro via https://www.linkedin.com/in/bernadette-del-chiaro-7598706/  Podcast Highlights:   “There's really nothing as abundant as solar energy and the sun's energy. It is just the single most abundant natural carbon free resource on the planet... So we've already figured it out. The question is just how do we deploy it as quickly as possible and get it in the hands of everybody so that we can solve climate change sooner than later. So to really put it more bluntly, we can't solve climate change without solar energy. It is that important and it's that foundational to our clean energy future.” -       Bernadette Del Chiaro on the importance and abundance of solar energy, and how we have the resources we need to create a sustainable future.  “And if you boil down climate change, which sometimes can seem like a pretty complex issue, it really comes down to one simple thing, which won't be easy, but is moving off of fossil fuels and to do that as quickly and with as little disruption to our society as possible.” -       Bernadette Del Chiaro on the simplicity of the approach we need to take on climate change.  “There's a lot of things that local governments can do to make [the change to solar] faster. There's a software that the Department of Energy has developed where every single building  in America can tap into that software for free and provide instantaneous permitting. So, you don't have to literally drive down to the permitting office with a piece of paper anymore. You can just use your computer, you enter in some information and out spits the permit, the permission to go build your solar system. That kind of thing is really groundbreaking, but we need all of our California cities and counties to actually adopt it” -       Bernadette Del Chiaro on the statewide developments that increase accessibility to solar panel permitting.  Guest: Bernadette Del Chiaro (Executive Director, California Solar and Storage Association)  Interviewers: Rachel Strausman (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Vice Chief Ambassador)  Watch to the video version here: https://youtu.be/zDUQdgemXPk Music by: C Codainehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/PhaseCommercial Links: Considering a Career in International Public Service with Mayor General Barrye Price Wednesday, November 29th, 2023 - 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. In-Person Watch Party at HUB 355 (free pizza, boba, and a book for in-person attendees) or via Zoom Webinar To attend the in-person watch party, please RSVP via: spp-price.eventbrite.com  To attend the online webinar, please RSVP via:bit.ly/spp-pricehttps://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpphttps://spp.ucr.edu/mpp  This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/  Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast. 

In this episode, Associate Professor of Climate Change and Sustainability Dr. Francesca Hopkins talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about comprehensive solutions to climate change, as well as the importance of local change amid global warming.   About Francesca Hopkins: Francesca Hopkins earned her B.A. in Environmental Studies and Spanish from the University of California, Berkeley. She also completed her M.S. and Ph.D. in Earth System Science from the University of California, Irvine. Before joining the University of California, Riverside Department of Environmental Studies as an Assistant Professor of Climate Change and Sustainability, Francesca was a NASA Postdoctoral Fellow at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Currently, Francesca runs the UCR Greenhouse Gas Emissions Lab, which studies emissions that affect the climate and air quality with the goal of developing the science to reduce these emissions.  Learn more about Francesca Hopkins via https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-hopkins-a904822/  Podcast Highlights:   “There's so many other ways we contribute to climate change... So I think we always need to think about what are these solutions that are going to give us a ’win-win’. Not just reduce emissions, but increase our joy and help us feel good. I think those are the best ones.” -       Francesca Hopkins on the topic of how solutions to climate change can better other aspects of our lives, such as mental health and well-being.  “Cities have a really unique power and role in reducing transportation emissions, because they're often in control of what gets built, how it gets built. And really, we need to think about changing the form of our cities in California, so they're not so spread out [to promote reduced emissions by walking more]. And that's going to solve other problems, hopefully, including housing affordability issues that we have, and building houses in wildfire prone areas.” -       Francesca Hopkins on the topic of the power of city planning to reduce emissions.  “Because right now, we have a chance to redesign our future. We can actually create the world we want. And we definitely need to think about how the climate is impacting that. But we can do that without knowing how tropical storm tracks might change slightly in the next decades, I would argue.” -       Francesca Hopkins on the topic of how slight uncertainties as to the exact effects of climate change don’t need to be resolved to take effective action.   Guest: Francesca Hopkins (Associate Professor of Climate Change and Sustainability)  Interviewer: Rachel Strausman (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Vice Chief Ambassador)  Episode image designed by Freepik (www.freepik.co) Commercial Links:https://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpphttps://spp.ucr.edu/mpp  This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/  Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast. 

In this episode, Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Coachella, Neftali Galarza talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about education as a means to break opportunity barriers and how education can adapt amid an ever-changing world. About Neftali Galarza: In addition to being Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Coachella, Neftali Galarza is also the Director of the Community Engagement and Partnerships Team within the Riverside County Office of Education. Previously, he served as the Director of Community Outreach for the California Alliance for Renewable Energy Solutions and was a Board Trustee for the Coachella Valley Unified School District. Neftali completed his B.A. in Political Science with a minor in Labor Studies at the University of California, Riverside. Neftali also holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from California Baptist University. Learn more about Neftali Galarza via https://www.linkedin.com/in/neftali-galarza-1810a999/ Podcast Highlights: “The party politics, that doesn't matter when you're a three year old trying to get into preschool or you're a ten year old in elementary school or twelve year old in middle school or fifteen year old in high school. These party politics that are so divisive - they don't matter to these kids. And we need to bring back the conversation centered around the children, not about party politics that we're bringing into our school districts.” - Neftali Galarza on the topic of how divisive politics can delay necessary reforms to education. “I grew up in a mobile home park in Oasis, which is in Riverside County. There are to this day, a lot of communities don't have access to potable water... The idea that those students can go to college or go to a workforce, a CT program, and then join the labor union. Through education, you create these opportunities. Now you could jump a few economic ladders. Now you're in a different tax bracket. And that's through education that we have these opportunities to be able to create a community that moves forward, progresses and that we bring everyone together.” - Neftali Galarza on the topic of the power of education to help communities break socioeconomic barriers. “And I mentioned it's very important to have paid internships too... I had to take loans to do these internships and I'm paying them off now. I'm grateful that things have worked out for me, but it was a gamble on myself and the organizations that I wanted to intern in for. When we have a paid internship program, we can ensure that a college student isn't working at a fast food restaurant, going to school full time, and then looking for unpaid internship program.” - Neftali Galarza on the topic of the necessity of paid internships for college students, so they don't have to sacrifice their education for work experience or an income. Guest: Neftali Galarza (Mayor Pro Tem of the City of Coachella) Interviewers: Rachel Strausman (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Vice Chief Ambassador) Raiyan Kalam (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Chief Ambassador) Watch the video version of this episode here: https://youtu.be/CGb_oBVTGCE Music by: C Codaine https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625 https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase Commercial Links: https://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpp https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/ Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, California Chief Service Officer Josh Fryday talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about volunteerism and uniting individuals through service. About Josh Fryday: Appointed by California Governor Gavin Newsom, Josh Fryday leads California Volunteers, which works to establish and maintain a statewide volunteer corps to help with the state’s response to emergencies and disasters. Josh Fryday was previously Mayor of Novato, Novato City Councilmember, Chief Operating Officer for NextGen Climate and Past President of Golden State Opportunity. In addition to obtaining his B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy as well as his J.D. in law from UC Berkley, Josh Fryday also served in the military as an Officer in the United States Navy and as a member of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG). Learn more about Josh Fryday via: https://www.californiavolunteers.ca.gov/about-us/cso/ Podcast Highlights: "We have really big issues facing California, facing our country, facing the planet... But I feel very strongly that if we're going to actually tackle some of these big issues, we have to figure out how to bring everyone to the table. How do we make everyone part of the solution? How do we engage everyone? How do we bring people together so that they can solve problems in communities together?” - Josh Fryday on the topic of unity through volunteerism. "With this [Job Corps] program, we're providing real economic opportunity. But what we're also saying is that you don't have to decide between pursuing your passion, something you're passionate about, or a paycheck - that you can actually do both. That you don't have to decide between whether you want to launch a career and be able to feed your family or help your community, that you can actually do both.” - Josh Fryday on the topic of creating programs that allow for financial need to no longer be a barrier to service. "But I think the reason California is viewed as a leader, not just of the country, but of the planet, is because a lot of the values that we hold dear are universal. The value of making sure that people are included. The value of embracing diversity. The value of taking care of our environment. These are things that are not unique just to California. I think… because of our culture's willingness to innovate and try new things and invent new things, [our volunteer programs] are very compelling and become scalable across the rest of the world.” - Josh Fryday on the topic of the universal values California shares with the rest of the world. Guest: Josh Fryday (California Chief Service Officer) Interviewers: Rachel Strausman (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Vice Chief Ambassador) Dinara Godage (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador) View the video version here: https://youtu.be/I0jjDm4EyO0 Music by: C Codaine https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625 https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Phase Commercial Links: https://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpp https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/ Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.

In this episode, Rachel Strausman takes over the reins as host of Policy Chats from our previous host, Kevin Karami. AllSides Co-Founder and CEO John Gable talks with students from the UC Riverside School of Public Policy about how understanding media bias and filter bubbles can help better bridge gaps amongst political polarization.   About John Gable: John Gable received his B.A. in Philosophy, with an emphasis in Mathematics, from Vanderbilt University as well as Masters of Business Administration from Duke University. He has worked in a variety of fields, having previously been an Executive Director for various political campaigns, a Product Manager at Microsoft, the President of Stearns Ventures, and now the Co-Founder and CEO of AllSides. Overall, John Gable is a high technology executive focused on building, marketing and monetizing products, online services and teams that have a positive social impact.  Learn more about John Gable via https://www.allsides.com/news-source/john-gable  Podcast Highlights:  "The medium, the content, and the way we interact is driven a little bit by the medium itself. And what I thought about the internet was that it was mostly by metaphor: this is similar to that, and therefore you're a friend of a friend or I'm searching for something similar to what I'm trying to solve. I thought it would encourage us to think by metaphor or if you will, [in the extreme sense] stereotype." -       John Gable on the topic of how the internet is structured to make connections, which can initially be beneficial, but can also lead to dangerous steryotypes. "[With the way the internet works] we see an issue, and we only hear or get information that we already agree with, which might only be 10% of what we need to know about an issue. But we hear that 10,000 times, and so we're really absolutely confident with no doubt that we're correct. But we know less about the issue than we did before the Internet.” -       John Gable on the topic of how filter bubbles can limit our access to necessary information, despite the increased access to information the internet seems to provide. “[What we need to do is] get people out of the information filter bubble. Get them out of the relationship filter bubble, and provide people the skills and confidence to disagree, to have a conversation and not agree with each other and recognize the differences and appreciate the differences that each of us bring to the table. With that, that's how it would get to a better place.” -       John Gable on the topic of how teaching people to understand the value in disagreement can help people be more aware of filter bubbles.  Guest: John Gable (Co-Founder and CEO of AllSides)  Interviewers: Rachel Strausman (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Vice Chief Ambassador) Divya Bharadwaj (UCR Public Policy Major, Dean’s Ambassador)  Music by: C Codainehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/Minimal_1625https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Xylo-Ziko/PhaseCommercial Links:https://spp.ucr.edu/ba-mpp https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp  This is a production of the UCR School of Public Policy: https://spp.ucr.edu/  Subscribe to this podcast so you don’t miss an episode. Learn more about the series and other episodes via https://spp.ucr.edu/podcast.