What is California?

Episode 1: Gov. Jerry Brown

Episode Summary

The podcast premiere of "What is California?" welcomes very special guest Gov. Jerry Brown to talk about legacies, recalls, and life in retirement.

Episode Notes

Edmund Gerald "Jerry" Brown Jr. is the 34th and 39th governor of California.

"We’re dealing with news. We’re dealing with the Texas abortion statute, a recall, polarization, Obama, Biden, McConnell… This is all the hurlyburly of politics. Government as I experienced it is more mundane. You show up—first of all, you’ve got to hire a staff. The Legislature puts in 4,000 bills. They’ll probably land 1,200 on your desk. You sign 90% of them, but then you’ll have an issue, and reporters will be hounding you about this or that. At the end—and I’ve had the end, twice—of eight years, if you say to yourself, 'Well, what the hell really happened?', it takes a certain amount of humor and insight to formulate a worthwhile answer, in my opinion."

Notes and references from this episode

California State of Mind, CalMatters / Capital Public Radio

California Sun Podcast, The California Sun

The California Report, KQED

Leading Lady, by Stu VanAirsdale, Sactown magazine

California: The Great Exception, by Carey McWilliams

“Demonym” definition, Merriam-Webster.com

The Browns of California: The Family Dynasty that Transformed a State and Shaped a Nation, by Miriam Pawel

The Crusades of Cesar Chavez: A Biography, by Miriam Pawel

Gregory Bateson at The California Museum

Steps to an Ecology of Mind, by Gregory Bateson

“An Introduction to the Life and Spirituality of Dorothy Day,” by James Allaire and Rosemary Broughton, The Catholic Worker Movement

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Theme music by Sounds Supreme

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