Political Breakdown

KQED

4.5 (173)
POLITICS
UPDATED WEEKLY

Join hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos as they unpack the day in politics with a California perspective. Featuring interviews with reporters and other insiders involved in the craft of politics—including elected officials, candidates, pollsters, campaign managers, fundraisers, and other political players—Political Breakdown pulls back the curtain to offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics works today.

15H AGO

California Responds to Trump’s Attacks on Higher Education

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

32 min
2D AGO

With Trans Athletes Under Attack, What Does Fairness Look Like?

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

34 min
6D AGO

The Port, the Panthers and Oakland Politics

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

25 min
APR 10

Barbara Lee Says She’ll Set Oakland On a Path to Success

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 choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

32 min
APR 8

Why This SF Law Firm is Taking on the President

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 megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 min
APR 5

Democrats Stand Firm Against Bills Targeting Trans Athletes

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. Becerra sued the Trump administration 120 times as attorney general of California and enters an already crowded field of Democratic candidates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 min
APR 3

Mayoral Candidate Loren Taylor on Why He’s the Best Choice to Lead Oakland

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 public safety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

33 min
APR 2

Trump's April 2nd "Liberation Day"

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

29 min

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4.5

out of 5

173 Ratings

Love this pod. Thanks, KQED

11/02/2024

SeraphinaS100

Fantastic podcast. Keep up the good work!
Extremely Uneven interviews

Jan 6

strawberry1969

I listened to the Laurie and Schiff interviews so different... Good questions for Laurie and softball sycophantic questions for Schiff. This is typical for this podcast.
More California please

09/07/2024

NY1235at

The interview about identity groups for Harris was deeply un-illuminating. Love when you keep it focused on state politics. Please, give us more smart guests talking about California. There are other podcasts that do national political news.
Need more diverse opinions

10/28/2024

minimouser

The guests are all agreeing with each other. This doesn’t help anyone and convince no one.

Join hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos as they unpack the day in politics with a California perspective. Featuring interviews with reporters and other insiders involved in the craft of politics—including elected officials, candidates, pollsters, campaign managers, fundraisers, and other political players—Political Breakdown pulls back the curtain to offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics works today.