California Groundbreakers

We're doing a specific group of podcasts in July -- conversations focused on what systemic change looks like, particularly here in California, in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Each conversation has two people: a young leader who has galvanized others by speaking out and leading demonstration and campaigns, and a "veteran" activist/ decision makers who has been working on race equity and justice issues for decades. For this podcast, we're looking at some proposed laws on racial justice and equality that the state legislature will be voting on, and also that California residents will be voting on in 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 and is getting them in front of the state legislature and on the election ballot for votes. SPEAKERS * Xavier Brown, Oakland native and UCLA student (in photo above) * Kevin

** This conversation was recorded on July 13 ** We're doing a specific group of podcasts in July -- 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. This conversation is focused on police reform, so we put together two people who may 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. This conversation 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. SPEAKERS * Stevante Clark, a human rights activ

** This podcast was recorded on May 18 ** NOTE: Forgive us for the spots of glitchy audio in this one -- they're worst in the first 4-5 minutes, and then it gets better. Such is podcasting during Pandemic Time! After nearly two months in lockdown, restaurant owners got their first concrete guidelines for opening up again when the state of California issued a 12-page document with 99 new regulations covering everything from physical partitions and closed bars to dishwasher goggles and table wait times. How will these guidelines change the way restaurants look and operate? Will they guarantee safety of staff and customers? How much will the new regulations raise restaurants’ costs of business, and how much of those costs will be passed on to customers? And will those customers even be eating out again when they’re allowed to? Listen to our conversation with Brad Cecci, chef of the Sacramento restaurant Canon, and Jot Condy, CEO of the California Restaurant Association, about what eating out will look lik

In this episode, we’re talking about how to keep our mental health and our sanity intact during Pandemic Time. Dr. Peter Yellowlees, Chief Wellness Officer at UC Davis Health System, has been writing a newsletter called “Good Stuff” about how to keep one’s mental health in good shape. He started writing it when the pandemic began, specifically for essential workers on the frontlines at UC Davis Medical Centers. But because his advice is applicable to other people stressed out by the current situation, we got him to sit down and offer mental health tips and strategies for the rest of us. PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 4:45 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and why we're doing this episode right now * 4:45 min - How to think about what we can control, what we can't, and how do we accept that * 7:30 min - How to approach day-to-day living in "the bubble," and how to handle relationships * 10 min - How people, both living solo and living with kids and significant others, can maintain their sanity * 13 m

If you’re running out of things to watch on streaming TV or favorite podcasts to listen to, have we got suggestions for you. We talked with a few people who read books, watch TV and produce podcasts for a living, and they gave us great suggestions for what to tune into during this “Pandemic Time." Listen to their picks for current news, "comfort food" selections, for kids, learning new skills and hobbies, and episodes that will make us escape from reality, connect with others, and celebrate life. PART ONE: STREAMING TV Michele Foss-Snowden (pictured in photo), a professor of communication at Sacramento State University also hosts her own podcast, The TV Doctor, in which she offers Television "prescriptions" to help cure whatever is ailing you. Her picks range from "Nailed It" and "Making It" to "Schitt's Creek" and "Star Trek Discovery" PART TWO: PODCASTS (at the 36:50-minute mark) Rockwell Felder, co-founder of Squadcast, a startup that makes podcast-creation software startup, and Sacramento podcas

** This Q&A was recorded on May 8, 2020** We’re taking a look at California’s grocery stores -- how they’ve handled becoming the “public square” that everyone is still allowed to go to, and all the stressful issues that go along with it, from ensuring the health and safety of their front-line employees, to making sure there’s enough toilet paper, flour and beef cuts on the shelves. And now, with more people using e-commerce to get their groceries delivered, and cooking more meals at home than ever before, what’s the New Normal for grocery stores and how people will shop for their food? We’re talking with Chelsea Minor, a top executive at Raley’s, the California grocery store chain headquartered in West Sacramento, about how grocery stores are handling the coronavirus crisis, and how the lessons they’re learning today will shape the way we all get our groceries in the future. PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 4 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and why we're doing this episode * 4 min - When Raley's

In this episode, we’re taking a look at California’s food supply chain – how it’s under stress, and even breaking, because of the coronavirus crisis. We’re talking with a couple of people who are literally “in the field” and seeing how pandemic-induced glitches in the food supply chain are playing out. First is Evan Wiig, communications director for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, which is helping California’s small farms get through the pandemic by matchmaking them with food banks, school districts and other food hubs that need supplies. In the second half, we talk with Dave Daley, chair of California Cattle Council, a fifth-generation cattle rancher, and a just-retired professor of animal sciences at Chico State, about the meatpacking-plants shutdown, why he supports President Trump ordering them to stay open, and how this will play out in the butcher shop and the supermarket. PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY Part One: Evan Wiig * 0 to 5:30 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and why we're doi

In this episode, we’re taking a look at California’s restaurant industry – the efforts happening now to keep it going, and what it will look like after the pandemic is over. Our guest to explain all that today is Patrick Mulvaney, chef and owner of Mulvaney’s B&L in Sacramento. Like many other restaurants, Mulvaney’s B&L closed its doors once the shutdown started, but that’s when 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. Join us as Mulvaney talks about his new project, how it can help both California restaurants and residents stay afloat, and what he predicts the dining scene will look like after the pandemic ends. PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * O to 4:20 min - Intro to this podcast, and to Patrick Mulvaney * 4:20 min - When Mulvaney realized he had to shut down his restaurant for the first time in its 14-year history * 8:05 min - How he came up with the plan for "Family Meal" * 14:0

In this episode (taped April 19), we’re talking with a couple of everyday people who are doing amazing things in this New Normal -- and got their local communities to step up by offering volunteer time, skills and financial support. First up: Cris Stellar, owner of Dry Diggins Distillery, who pivoted from brewing spirits for cocktails to making hand sanitizers and disinfectant sprays for California medical and law-enforcement workers. In the second half, Alan Puccinelli talks about his Operation Shields Up, an organization entirely run and funded by volunteers to make protective face shields for hospital workers, first for Sacramento-area hospitals and now nationwide. Listen to Stellar and Puccinelli explain how and why they’re doing these altruistic efforts, what they’ve learned along the way, and how you can help out, too. NOTES: * Cris Stellar says ramped-up production of his sanitizing products means he can now start providing them to workers in elder-care facilities and nursing homes. If you're one

Over the next few weeks – or however long it takes before we are allowed to leave our houses again – we’ll be looking at the ways our coronavirus-affected lives are changing over the short- and long-term, and talking with Californians making significant change in this New Normal. In episode #1 of this series, we talked with a UC Davis epidemiologist about how COVID-19 got its start. In this episode, we‘re asking the question: How will it meet its end? How close are we to a vaccine? Will it kill it, or will it mutate and come back? In the meantime, should we start giving out "immunity passports?" Telling us what they know so far about all this are two UC Davis medical researchers who are part of the global team working round-the-clock on the race to create an effective vaccine. Listen to our talk with: * Chris Miller, core scientist in the Infectious Diseases Unit at UC Davis National Primate Research Center * Nam Tran, professor of clinical chemistry in the UC Davis Department of Pathology and Laboratory

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.” Over the next few weeks – or however long it takes before we get the all-clear to leave our houses again – we’ll be looking at the ways our coronavirus-affected lives are changing over the short- and long-term, and talking with Californians making significant change in this New Normal. In this first episode, we’re taking a look at the coronavirus that sparked a global pandemic, where it started and why, and what can we do as humans to stop this kind of thing from happening again? To help us understand all that, we interviewed Dr. Christine Kreuder Johnson, a professor of epidemiology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine who studies animal-to-human transmission of viruses. Her new study about that type of viral transmission was published early April in a prestigious research journal, a

2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, so we’re running a Q&A series this year called “The Women in Charge,” focusing on California women who are doing groundbreaking things in policy and politics, both here in the Golden State and around the nation. Because it’s also an Election Year, we’re going to talk with the women in charge of getting other women inspired to run for political office, funding them so they can go the distance, and training them so they’ll succeed. California is home to innovative organizations that are getting more women elected and appointed to top spots on local, state and national levels. * California Women Lead is the state's first, and still only, nonpartisan organization that encourages and mentors women to run for office or apply for an appointment at the state or local level. * Emerge California is a top training program for Democratic women who want to run for office (graduates include Eleni Kounalakis, California’s fi

Mom knows best . . . especially when she’s the Speaker of the House. So Christine Pelosi decided to write a book about her mom, Nancy, the homemaker and mother of five who became a Congresswoman from San Francisco and is now the most powerful woman in U.S. politics. 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, so we've started a new Q&A series called “The Women in Charge,” focusing on California women who are doing groundbreaking things in policy and politics, both here in the Golden State and around the nation. We kicked things off by having a conversation with Christine Pelosi, a political mover and shaker herself (she’s currently Chair of the California Democratic Party Women’s Caucus), an attorney, an author and the second-oldest of Nancy Pelosi’s five children. Her latest book is "The Nancy Pelosi Way: Advice on Success, leadership and Politics from America’s Most Powerful Woman. " The recent iconic images of her mother interacting with President Donald

A new food economy is taking root in places like the dairy section of grocery stores and the drive-thrus of Burger King. Plant-based and lab-made meat, cheese, ice cream and even sushi are appearing more regularly on menus, and many of the companies creating them are based here in the Golden State. The Age of Animal Protein — with its environmental, ethical and health baggage — seems to be giving way to the Age of Alternative Protein. But are these newfangled proteins all they’re supposed to be? Critics say they’re heavily processed, contain lots of non-natural ingredients, and aren’t that great for our health. And will they shut down the industry of cattle ranching and poultry farms, or is there a more eco-friendly way for us to have our animal proteins without the guilt? Listen to this fabulous food-focused discussion with chefs, scientists and food developers about the latest efforts to reimagine and redesign animal- and animal-free proteins. PANELISTS * Jamie Cavanaugh, owner of soon-to-open Pure So

** This podcast was recorded on November 18, 2019** Our final “Policy and a Pint” of 2019 is with a former farm boy from the Central Valley who is now Gavin Newsom’s go-to guy for advice on California ‘s economy and business affairs, and also chair of the state’s High Speed Rail project. Lenny Mendonca grew up milking cows on his family’s farm in Turlock, but he was the first one in his family to go to college -- Harvard University -- where he became student body president. A Stanford MBA, a partnership at management consulting mega-firm McKinsey, and advising roles at California startups and nonprofits gave him such an impressive resume that Governor Newsom tapped Mendonca to be his Chief Economic and Business Advisor, the director of the state’s Office of Business and Economic Development (also known as GO-Biz), and, last but not least, the chair of California’s High Speed Rail Commission. Those are a lot of responsibilities, but Mendonca is taking them on — his mission now is to make Inland Califor

Is the jig up for the “Gig Economy” in California? Governor Gavin Newsom just signed California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) legislation into law — and it’s one of the most contentious bills this year that we’ll probably still be talking about (and voting on) during Election Year 2020. AB5, which kicks in on January 1, changes the test used to determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor. The legislation will affect at least one million workers, ranging from ride-hailing drivers and food-delivery couriers to construction workers and franchise owners, who could now all be reclassified as employees. Proponents of AB5 say the new bill gives gig economy workers more access to basic workplace protections, like a minimum wage and unemployment insurance. Those against it say it will prevent contract workers from having flexibility and control over their schedules, and it will make running businesses in California even more expensive. Besides knowing how this may affect your job, you'll

With fires blazing yet again in Wine Country and the hills of Los Angeles, PG&E power outages, and historic, triple-digit-m.p.h. windstorms blowing through the state, we thought it would be a good time to talk with someone who could help us make some sense of all this Wildfire Season craziness, someone with 30-plus years of experience dealing with it on a daily basis. So we sat down with California's top firefighter Ken Pimlott, the just-retired head of Cal Fire, who was in charge over the past 8 years of putting out (in)famous blazes like the Wine Country, Woolsey, Mendocino Complex, Carr and Camp Fires. Listen to Pimlott's take on the latest round of fires blazing; last year's historic Wildfire Season and the 103 people it killed; PG&E and its power shutoffs; what he was thinking while briefing Jerry, Gavin and Donald about the Camp Fire (see photo above); and more. PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to 5:50 minutes - What it's like to be a firefighter in the middle of a raging wildfire * 5:50 min - Lessons

Kristopher Barkley and Nikky Mohanna are two people who are literally changing the shape of Sacramento’s skyline. They’re designing and constructing buildings that aim to show off the Capitol City at its best, and they’re striving to innovate the places in which we live, work and play. Barkley, who has just hit the 30-year mark at Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture (which is about to celebrate its 70th birthday), has designed or contributed to nearly all of the firm’s projects, including remodeling of the CalPERS headquarters, renovation of SMUD’s headquarters, and the new Powerhouse Science Center on the riverfront. At age 29, Mohanna has quickly gained the reputation as one of Sacramento’s most innovative homebuilders, with her about-to-open Midtown “microunits” apartment building, 19J, and her about-to-break-ground 10K, a mixed-use building in Downtown that combines a hotel with studios and co-living spaces. Listen to this great conversation with a “young whippersnapper” and a “seasoned veteran” a

Eating local, sustainable and seasonal is something we hear a lot in the “Farm-to-Fork” capital city of Sacramento. Is that message making its its way to school lunchrooms here as well? Many school districts are trying to get local ingredients on the menu. And other organizations, from Bay Area startups to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, are helping them out with a big push to promote healthy eating and local agriculture. But three questions: How will school districts pay for it? How can parents, farmers and other food promoters help out? And will California kids eat it if it’s not fried or chocolate? Join us for a food-focused conversation about how schools, parents, the public and private sectors, and foodies in general can work together to bring the fresh high-end cuisine California is known for into the cafeteria. PANELISTS * Nick Anicich, Farm to School Program lead at the California Department of Food and Agriculture * Diana Flores, director of Nutrition Services, and the future

We took a road trip to hold this conversation (our 50th event!) at the lovely Gold Rush town of Auburn because, according to Cal Fire maps, it sits in the “high” risk zone of wildfire hazards, and it’s right next to the “very high” risk zone that includes much of the Sierra Nevadas, including Paradise, Grass Valley and Nevada City, and all of Lake Tahoe. In fact, one in four Californians live in a high- or very-high risk wildfire zone. So a lot of people are at risk of being hit when the next wildfire burns. For our second event focusing on “Wildfire Season,” we’re talking with a great group of panelists whose jobs involved making a lot of big decisions about the wildfires that hit California in the past few years. They explain those decisions and what it means to live in a risk zone for wildfires, and give advice on what you need to know, how you need to prepare; how things are changing, from forest management and firefighting to utility usage and homeowners’ insurance policies; and how all that will