California Groundbreakers

This pandemic has created a major upheaval in Los Angeles, the global hub of entertainment. We’re now used to streaming movies and TV shows whenever we want, and we’re finding new types of entertainment in places like YouTube, Twitch and TikTok. So what does the future hold for movie theaters, streaming services, film and TV studios, and the people who work for all of them, when this pandemic ends? Listen to two experts in entertainment and pop culture who tell us what types of things we’ll be watching in the future, how we’ll be watching then, and what that all means for one of California’s biggest economic forces, the entertainment industry. GUESTS * Gene Del Vecchio, adjunct professor of marketing at USC's Marshall School of Business, marketing consultant for the entertainment industry, and author of business books like "Creating Blockbusters" - https://www.marshall.usc.edu/personnel/gene-del-vecchio * Henry Jenkins, Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts and Education at USC,

Silicon Valley has always been the global hub of technology, and in the past 18 months, it has made the tools that allowed Americans -- and the American economy -- to survive the pandemic. Right now, California’s tech industry is triumphant, and flush with profits. What will it do with all that money and power? And who, if anyone, can restrain tech, and its potential to dominate the way we live our lives? We talk with Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, about what Big Tech and Silicon Valley are doing – and should be doing – when it comes to misinformation, consumer data, cyberattacks, dealing with Congress and the FBI, and more (https://www.eff.org/about/staff/cindy-cohn). PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to 4:40 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and to this episode * 4:40 min - How Cohn has personally experienced the boons and the banes of pandemic-time technology * 7:40 min - With the Delta variant of the coronavirus on the rise, should tech be used to create vaccine

California's arts institutions are dealing with budget cuts and revenue shortfalls due to the pandemic, and a reckoning with systemic racism in the art world. So what progress have they made in diversifying their staffs, their artwork, and their audiences over the past year? And will any of us ever look at art, and the meaning of it, in the same way again? We talk with two people who present great works of art to the public, but do it in very different ways. GUESTS * Thomas Campbell, CEO and director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and former CEO/director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (https://deyoung.famsf.org/Becoming-an-Anti-Racist-Institution) * Andre Jones, a.k.a. Natty Rebel, designer, muralist and founder/director of the Bay Area Mural Program (https://bamp.netlify.app) PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * O to 4 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and to this episode PART ONE: Thomas Campbell * 4 min - Why Campbell, an Englishman who had a prestigious career in London

Few business sectors in California were more battered by the pandemic than the dining industry -- nearly a third of the state’s restaurants permanently closed in the past year, and two-thirds of workers temporarily lost their jobs. Now as California opens back up, how many restaurants will reopen, and will they bounce back? We talk with two people who write about California’s dining scene about how restaurants are adapting post-pandemic, and what we should expect now when we go out to eat. GUESTS * Janelle Bitker, food enterprise reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle (https://www.sfchronicle.com/author/janelle-bitker) * Javier Cabral, editor of LA Taco (https://www.lataco.com/author/javiercabral) PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and this episode * 4:20 min - Janelle and Javier share their "This Changes Everything" moment covering the food scene in the past 15 months * 10:25 min - Do people still want to pay $300 for a fine-dining meal? * 13:30 min - How "ghost ki

The pandemic has changed the concept of physical stores – do we still need them, what’s their purpose now, and how should they change to stay relevant? And what about the stuff we buy – do we need to have the same things we bought before the pandemic, and do we still need to shop for so much of it? We talk with two retail experts about how the coronavirus has shaken up the industry, how our consumer spending habits are shifting, and what shopping will look like in the future. GUESTS * David Fishbein, co-founder of the Runyon Group, a real-estate development firm in Los Angeles that owns, creates and manages new types of shopping hubs (https://www.voguebusiness.com/consumers/is-la-platform-the-future-of-retail) * Rachel Michelin, president of the California Retailers Association (https://calretailers.com) PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to 4:55 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and this episode * 4;55 min - Notable turns, twists and trends in shopping and retail since the pandemic shutdowns began * 11

Travel is bouncing back, but there’s still plenty we don’t know about how the pandemic -- and new variants of the coronavirus -- will play out, either here in California or overseas. And those big unknowns are still dramatically shaping the future of travel. We talk with two California-based travel experts who have been on the road this year about what to expect for local, domestic and international travel, what’s quickly going back to normal, what may be changing permanently, and what’s still to be determined. GUESTS * Julia Cosgrove, vice president and editor in chief of Afar Media (https://www.afar.com) * Hugh Garvey, editor in chief of Sunset Publishing (https://www.sunset.com) PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and this episode * 5:25 min - How the pandemic has changed travel trends and people's preferences since shutdown started * 11:10 min - What travel in California looks like now * 16:50 min - How shortages (i.e., rental cars, restaurant employees) are going to

Now that California is reopening, where do we go and how do we get there? This three-part episode focuses on the future of transportation in the state, from clean cars and electric trucks to high-speed rail and highway removals. We're talking with three people who are working on innovations in all those areas. GUESTS * Part 1: Robert Powers, general manager of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART ) * Part 2: Craig Segall, deputy executive officer of mobile sources and incentives at California's Air Resources Board * Part 3: Jeanie Ward-Waller, deputy director of planning and modal programs at Caltrans PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 2:30 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and to this episode * 2:30 min - Robert Powers of BART talks about public transit -- how it's recovering from the pandemic gut punch, who it needs to service, and how it should be funded going forward * 23:10 min - Craig Segall of the Air Resources Board explains California's Clean Cars program, how he's going to meet the 2035 goal of all

The pandemic has re-shifted our priorities, particularly where we want to live and work. For many Californians, that location may be a different one than the place they were living before the coronavirus hit. And that’s causing major changes in cities, suburbs and small towns across the state. Join us as we talk with two planning and development experts about how the pandemic is changing the urban and rural regions they live and work in, and what those changes mean for California overall. GUESTS * Alicia John-Baptiste, CEO of SPUR, a nonprofit think tank focused on regional planning and public policy in the San Francisco Bay Area (https://www.spur.org) * Shawna Purvines, deputy director of the Community Development Resource Agency in Placer County (https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/sacramento-tipping-point/article251711163.html) PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * O to 4:10 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and to this episode * 4:10 min - John-Baptiste and Purvines share what pandemic-induced changes they'v

After more than a year of closed campuses and online-only learning, California’s higher education system has been completely changed in a way that will persist when students head back to class in real life for a new school year. But there are other changes still developing, like: * what's the right mix of face-to-face, virtual and hybrid learning * how to better help students with their mental health, financial aid, and food and housing needs * how to make campuses get more flexible in the ways they operate * and how to get California’s large population of lower-income students all the way to graduation with a college degree and good job prospects We talk with two college students, and a newly-appointed university president, about which changes are needed most, and what California’s higher education system needs to do to become the best in America again. PART ONE * Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, the brand-new president of Fresno State University PART TWO * Stephen Kodur, a 2021 graduate from Reedley College and

This pandemic has been a wild ride for everyone, especially for young Millennials and Generation Z. These teens and 20-somethings are dealing with some turbulent stuff -- mental health issues, remote learning, a rocky economy and job market -- during some pivotal life stages. On the other hand, what happened in 2020 made many young people far more aware of politics and activism, and their generation is set to take over the economy in just a decade. So what are the specific ups and downs they’re going to be facing between now and then, and how are they going to handle them? We’re asking those questions to three people: a Gen Zer, a young Millennial, and a researcher who studies their generations’ cultures, habits and lives. GUESTS: * Isha Clarke, the 18-year-old co-founder of climate-change activism group Youth vs. Apocalypse - https://www.youthvsapocalypse.org/meet-the-staff * Assemblymember Alex Lee, representing Assembly District 25, and California's first Gen Z state legislator - https://www.nytim

Remember when a first date often involved dinner and a movie, a few drinks in a crowded bar, and if things went well, a goodnight kiss? 2020 changed all that with social distancing, mask-wearing and the threat of catching a deadly disease. But right now, when every adult is eligible for vaccination, what does this summer -- and the future -- hold for modern dating, romance and relationships? GUESTS * Paul Eastwick, professor of psychology at UC Davis and head of the university’s Attraction and Relationship Research Lab - http://pauleastwick.com * Julie Krafchick, producer and co-host of the podcast Date/Able, which focuses on sex, love, dating and relationships - https://www.dateablepodcast.com PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 5:20 min - Intro to episode and our guests Paul and Julie * 5:20 min - How people's views of dating and relationships have changed since the pandemic started * 9 min - Have people's views, and people's use, of online dating changed. too? * 14:20 min - Will this summer start another "Ro

What does the future hold for working parents in California? Will the childcare crisis, homeschooling debacle and issues involving remote work and essential work put us on a new path to better work-life balance? Are the federal and state governments going to make parenting easier to do going forward? And how can we use what we’ve learned during the pandemic to ensure that raising kids while working full-time fills us with happiness instead of with heartburn? We talk with two people who focus on better work-life balance issues professionally at their day job, and also personally at home as parents to young children. GUESTS * Danika Dellor, executive director of the California nonprofit Women’s Achievement Network and Development Alliance (WANDA) in Silicon Valley - https://wandasiliconvalley.org * Liz Morris, deputy director of the Center for WorkLife Law, an advocacy and research organization at the University of California’s Hastings Law - https://worklifelaw.org PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 6:50 min

COVID-19 caused the early deaths of many seniors, but even as we see the light at the end of the tunnel, the big issues of aging and senior care in California won't be easing up. The new Census data shows that California keeps getting older, and by the year 2030, nearly a quarter of our population will be over age 65. That affects nearly everything in this state, including housing, pensions, jobs and of course, healthcare. That’s why California has created a new Master Plan of Aging to address the issue of aging in the Golden State, and how we’re all going to handle it, no matter how old we are. We talk with Kim McCoy Wade, director of California’s Department of Aging, who's in charge of rolling out this Master Plan and preparing America’s most populous state for massive demographic change over the next decade. She explains what you need to know, and prepare for, as a California resident who’s getting older by the day. PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 5:15 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, and why w

Even though coronavirus infections have sharply dropped, and the CDC is relaxing the rules around masks and mingling, what are we going to do about California’s healthcare system and our shell-shocked hospitals? How can we make sure we prevent so many unnecessary deaths among the people who cook our food, clean our houses, take care of our kids and do all the essential work we rely upon them for? Join us as we talk with Elaine Batchlor, M.D. -- or "Dr. B" for short -- the CEO of Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital in Los Angeles, which was the Ground Zero of COVID deaths in California during those dark days last winter. She’ll tell us what went wrong last year and why, and what needs to happen now so we can address California’s major healthcare challenges and do better next time. PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * O to 4:20 min - Intro to California Groundbreakers, this episode and "Dr. B" * 4:20 min - The status report for California hospitals today, where they stand in the COVID-19 battle, and getting people v

With recent headlines about scandals and snafus at Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook, tech workers in Silicon Valley are fed up with doing business as usual, and they’re fighting back. Software coders and engineers who earn six-figure salaries are joining forces with the lower-paid workers who make their tech campuses run and embracing the idea of labor unions. in this episode, we’re talking with two people who believe in the power of collective action to make Silicon Valley a more equitable place. GUESTS * Maria Noel Fernandez, director of Silicon Valley Rising (https://siliconvalleyrising.org) * Christopher Schmidt, software engineer at Google and a founding member of the Alphabet Workers Union (https://alphabetworkersunion.org) PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to 5:10 min - Intro to "This Changes Everything," this specific episode, and our guests * 5:10 min - Fernandez and Schmidt describe their organizations, the missions, and what they're focusing on now * 14:20 min - Are tech companies responsiv

Thirteen months of statewide shutdowns have meant shuttered doors and bankruptcies for businesses in all types of industries, and the exodus of companies leaving California for other states seems to have accelerated. Governor Gavin Newsom has promised that the state will be fully open for business by June 15 if all goes well, but how many businesses will make it to that date? And will they be able to recover and thrive in a post-pandemic economy? We’re talking to two CEOs in industries that were hit hardest by California’s shutdowns. GUESTS * Dustin Lancaster, founder of An Eastside Establishment, the umbrella company for a group of restaurants, bars and hotels in Los Angeles (www.establishmenteast.com) * Francesca Schuler, CEO of In-Shape Health Clubs, which operates fitness centers statewide (www.inshape.com/our-story) NOTE: There are some audio glitches between the 8:50-minute and 10:30-minute marks, and again between the 13:15-minute and 14:15-minute marks PODCAST PLAY-BY-PLAY * 0 to 4:25 min - Intr

When kids go back to in-person learning, what will that be like? How will the classroom be set up? How will school administrators handle the needs of their students, parents and teachers? And how will California’s public schools be different, for better or for worse, when the new school year begins? We’re asking these questions to David Miyashiro, superintendent of the Cajon Valley Union School District. His was one of the few in California, and the nation, to keep schools open for in-person learning during the pandemic. And unlike many other districts in the state, Cajon Valley got cooperation from its teachers, parents and school boards to allow students back to the classroom. PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 4:20 min - Intro to this episode and why we're talking with David Miyashiro * 4:20 min - Miyashiro explains his decision process when the shutdown started, and why he decided to reopen his schools when others were not * 7:25 - How Miyashiro planned in advance for remote learning and using technology

In this episode, we’re taking a look at The Future of Work in California – how we’ll be doing it, and where we’ll be doing it from. In Part One, we’re talking about the post-pandemic office, and what it will look like, with two people in the Bay Area who are designing it now - Christopher Good, creative director of One Workplace, and Melissa Pesci, a principal at HGA Architecture in San Francisco. Then it’s a conversation with Adam D’Angelo, CEO of the technology firm Quora. Last June, he announced that his company, headquartered in Silicon Valley, would now and forever be a “remote first” company. Listen in as they tell us what the last 12 months has done to the workplace, and the workforce, in California, and how office life will be totally different going forward. * * * * * PART ONE * 0 to 3:55 min - Intro to "This Changes Everything," and our workplace-creator guests, Christopher Good and Melissa Pesci * 3:55 min - Visualizing what "Workplace 2

In this first episode, we’re taking a look at The Future of News in California, and how the pandemic has added more stress to local newspapers, which are already in a downward spiral. If they keep cutting back, or close for good, how will we Californians get our news? We’re talking about that with: * Colleen McCain Nelson, the brand new editor in chief of the Sacramento Bee, and regional editor of the McClatchy company’s four other newspapers in California * Jeff VonKaenel (pictured top right), owner of the News & Review, which has published free weekly community newspapers in Sacramento and Chico for over 40 years. PODCAST PLAY BY PLAY * 0 to 8 minutes - Why we're doing this new "This Changes Everything" podcast, and intro to the Bee's new editor Colleen Nelson * 9:38 min - How can someone who never lived in California be the right pick as top editor for five California newspapers? * 12:55 - Nelson's answer to the people who say, "I don't subscribe to the Bee because there's nothing to read in it anym

We're doing a new podcast series about California's post-pandemic future. Here's a quick intro so you know what to expect. Episodes will drop weekly between March 28 and July 4.