Olaf Groth explores California’s high-stakes dance amid trade and tech turmoil
Release Date: 04/10/2025
Sharona Nazarian on leading Beverly Hills' Iranian diaspora through crisis
California Sun Podcast
Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian fled Iran with her family during the revolution to escape religious persecution, learning English as her third language before building a career in clinical psychology. Now the first Iranian American woman to lead the city, she governs a diverse community where roughly 20% of the population trace its roots to Iran. As war unfolds in the Middle East, she's tells us how she's become the de facto voice of a diaspora caught between American dreams and a longing for peace in their homeland.
info_outline
Josh Jackson discovers California's BLM lands
California Sun Podcast
Josh Jackson, author of the new book "" found a hidden refuge in the mountains and prairies of California's 15 million acres of Bureau of Land Management lands. In times of crisis and uncertainty, we often turn to nature for solace and perspective. These overlooked "commons," dismissed as leftover lands too harsh for homesteaders and too ordinary for national parks, offer free camping, wildlife corridors, and democratic access to wilderness. They now face threats from proposed selloffs and budget cuts.
info_outline
Gustavo Arellano on demonstrations, deportations, and downtown L.A.
California Sun Podcast
Gustavo Arellano, the longtime Los Angeles Times columnist and chronicler of the Latino community, brings his deeply personal perspective to the immigration crackdown unfolding in Los Angeles. He shares observations from the epicenter of protests that have drawn President Trump's National Guard deployment. Born to a Mexican father who as a teenager, Arellano's voice carries both the weight of historical context and the urgency of someone who sees his community under siege.
info_outline
Michael Hiltzik deconstructs the California dream
California Sun Podcast
Michael Hiltzik, the author of "," examines five centuries from the Spanish conquistadors to Silicon Valley, challenging the enduring mythology that has shaped both California and America. Rather than offer another celebration of the California dream, Hiltzik reveals how the state has served as America's testing ground — where national ideals about opportunity, innovation, and reinvention were both realized and betrayed. The state's true history, he argues, provides essential insights into America's character and future.
info_outline
Eleni Gastis and the ghost students stealing millions from California community colleges
California Sun Podcast
Eleni Gastis, the journalism department chair at Oakland's Laney College, was shocked to discover that half her students weren't human. California's community colleges are under siege by sophisticated "ghost students" — bots designed to steal financial aid money. What started as a $3 million-a-year problem exploded to $13 million over the last 12 months, with fraudsters exploiting system vulnerabilities. Gastis is now leading the fight for transparency while teaching the next generation of journalists to navigate truth in an age of digital deception.
info_outline
Matthew Specktor's Hollywood: when art, commerce, and family danced together
California Sun Podcast
Matthew Specktor, in his new memoir "," offers a unique perspective on Hollywood's transformation — as both the son of legendary talent agent Fred Specktor and a thoughtful cultural observer. He explores how the movie industry shifted from a close-knit "family business," where art and commerce balanced, to today's corporate-dominated landscape. Specktor reflects on how this mirrors broader American cultural changes, the diminishing role of movies in our collective imagination, and what's lost when filmmaking becomes primarily about algorithms and franchises rather than human stories.
info_outline
Adam Nagourney on the endangered California Dream
California Sun Podcast
Adam Nagourney, a veteran New York Times reporter based in Los Angeles, about whether the California Dream had become a mirage. Even as the state has grown into the world's fourth-largest economy, the promise of reinvention that defined the Golden State feels increasingly elusive. As young people flee, wildfires destroy neighborhoods, and a hostile White House turns its back, Nagourney believes California is still resilient and capable of that dream.
info_outline
Joe Kloc explores Sausalito's vanishing 'anchor-out' community
California Sun Podcast
Joe Kloc spent nine years immersed with Richardson Bay's "anchor-outs," a community living on abandoned vessels just offshore from multimillion-dollar Sausalito homes. In his book "" Kloc chronicles their struggles against the authorities and residents who ultimately dismantled the century-old floating community. Kloc captures the anchor-outs' resilience amid displacement, exploring what happens when society pushes its most vulnerable members to the margins.
info_outline
Laurie Kirby looks behind the music festival curtain
California Sun Podcast
Laurie Kirby, the founder of FestForums, brings insider expertise on what makes music festivals succeed. She explores California's vibrant festival scene from Coachella and Stagecoach to BottleRock and Outside Lands, examining how these events reflect the state's economic trends and cultural influence. She discusses how California's festivals function as economic indicators of changing consumer habits and whether the state's market has reached saturation.
info_outline
Ben Fritz weighs Hollywood's Next Act
California Sun Podcast
Ben Fritz, who covers the entertainment industry for The Wall Street Journal, explores Hollywood's perfect storm of existential threats — empty theaters, streaming wars, production flight, artificial intelligence. If that wasn't enough, as Fritz : audiences today seem to be rejecting both franchise tentpoles and original films. He discusses whether Hollywood can reinvent itself as it has done in the past and adapt to technological change while maintaining its global cultural influence and economic importance to California.
info_outlineOlaf Groth, a futurist and professor at the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, examines how global trade tensions, artificial intelligence advancements, and economic shifts are reshaping California's position in the world economy. He analyzes how intensifying tariff wars threaten the state's tech sector while driving up consumer prices. Groth explores AI's transformative effects on employment, the emerging defense-tech ecosystem, and California's strategic challenges as it navigates global trade pressures and growing climate vulnerabilities.