California Sun Podcast

Dr. Jennifer Brokaw, daughter of the news anchor and author Tom Brokaw, is an emergency care physician and patient advocate. In February, she was appointed as the physician for San Francisco’s first responders. She explains how her job overseeing the health of firefighters and paramedics has taken on dimensions she never could have imagined before the pandemic.

Anthony Rendon, a Democrat from Lakewood, became California’s 70th Assembly speaker in 2016. He talks about his work with two very different governors and how the legislative focus has changed from budget surpluses, housing, wildfires, affirmative action, and the gig economy to deficits, eviction, unemployment, health care, and a no-frills future. He also shares the personal journey that prepared him for his role.

Alia Volz reminisces about growing up in the family business in the 1970s and ‘80s, where her mom baked and sold 10,000 “magic” brownies per month in San Francisco. It was a time when growing a single marijuana plant was a felony offense. The business that started selling to hippie craftspeople in Aquatic Park became a cultural icon.

David Randall, author of "Black Death at the Golden Gate," tells a story that reminds us that history may not repeat itself, but it often rhymes. He details how the bubonic plague overran San Francisco and the West Coast in 1900, fueling denial of emerging science, quarantines, anti-Chinese racism, and fears of a second wave.

Dr. Robert M. Wachter is a professor and chair of UC San Francisco Department of Medicine. The author of more than 300 articles and six books, he’s been ranked as one of the most influential physician-executives in the U.S. He discusses California’s original success in dodging the Covid-19 bullet, and why it now may be catching up with us. He discusses how much smarter we’ve become in four months, how much longer Covid-19 may be with us, and how medicine will be transformed forever.

Connie Rice, the long-time Los Angeles civil rights lawyer and activist, has played an important role in the transformation of the LAPD. Yet she looks at our current moment and reminds us that the police rank-and-file still have a long way to go. In minority communities, she says, police are the preeminent symbol of systemic oppression and racism further fueled by a lack of economic justice.

Lt. Ben Kelso, a 30-year veteran of the San Diego police force and the president of the Black Officers Association of San Diego, gives us an inside view of policing and race in Southern California. Sitting astride two worlds, he details the pain, anger, and opportunity of the moment. It’s a view of law enforcement from inside the squad room.

Peiley Lau a researcher at the UC Berkeley Global Lab explains a new study showing that nearly 1.7 million coronavirus infections may have been avoided in California — and many more throughout the world — thanks to policies that kept people at home. It was a collective action unlike anything that has ever happened.

Eloy Ortiz Oakley, the chancellor of California’s community college system oversees the largest education system in the country with more than 2.1 million students and 115 colleges. That puts Oakley on the front line of many of the social and policy problems we now face. At a time of growing enrollment and shrinking budgets, the college system is confronting the challenges of moving education online, training our next generation of police and first responders, anticipating the employment needs of the future, and navigating a system that is awash with diversity and racial tension.

California's chief election officer, Secretary of State Alex Padilla brings the background of a long-time politician and his training as an engineer to the challenge of ensuring safe and secure voting. From mail-in ballots to recruiting a whole new generation of poll workers, it's going to be a tough year to oversee California's next election.