National Review's Radio Free California Podcast

Episode 463: Return of the Living Debt

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen) — Tue, 1 Sep 2026 21:05:57 +0000

In 1999, the last time California boosted the benefits it pays government employees – earlier retirements, richer retirements – financial disaster followed quickly. Now, state lawmakers want Newsom to try it again. We fact-check Newsom’s claims on housing starts (terrible) and jobs (worse). Iowa’s AG sues California for blocking the Paramount-Warner merger. Now that he’s successful, Mark Zuckerberg says social media companies must be regulated. David and Will break down the Nick Shirley Act. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com
will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes:
David Bahnsen’s “Profit from the profit”
Ishi discovered in California
Meta to Pay Up to $17.1 Billion in Landmark Settlement Over Social Media Addiction Claims
“Hardly any” AI regulations? Becerra should know better
Iowa Attorney General Says She’s Taking California to the Supreme Court Over Paramount-Warner Bros. Lawsuit
Gavin Newsom still doesn’t understand the limits of his power
California set to force big companies to disclose historic links to slavery
Kenneth Schrupp on Newsom’s jobs report
Newsom’s big housing claim is built on bad data
Lawmakers vote to let first responders retire earlier and with more money. Will Newsom sign on?
AB 1383 is a costly pension mistake in the making
AB 2624 signed into law, California rejects hated-filled (sic) misinformation campaign
Will’s work here would likely be illegal under the Act

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Episode 462: California Ballot Boxing

studio@nationalreview.com (David Bahnsen, Will Swaim) — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 20:48:32 +0000

Since 1911, Californians have been allowed a direct role in legislation via the initiative and referendum process. This year’s November ballot features 14 measures, including the Billionaire Wealth Tax, two “affordability” programs that will make housing more expensive, and a bid to make the nation’s highest marginal income-tax rate a permanent impediment to prosperity.

Bonus! David discusses the birth today of his fifth book, “Profit from the Profit.” Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com
will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes:
David Bahnsen’s “Profit from the profit”

This episode's advertising sponsor: California Center for Nonprofit Law

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Episode 461: Bahnsen's Iron Law of Politics

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 23:23:08 +0000

Discussing this week’s news -- taxpayer-funded political campaigns, students learning about social justice from a rabid anti-Israel activist, DEI in college admissions, and Newsom’s enthusiasm for new automobile tire regulations -- David concludes with a general principle: “In public policy, every reductio ad absurdum eventually becomes an absurdum.” Bonus: Hoover Institute economist Benjamin Jaros offers his latest battlefield assessment of California’s wealth tax. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com
will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes:

Hoover Institution’s Ben Jaros on the Billionaire Wealth Tax

This week’s advertising sponsor: California Center for Nonprofit Law

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Episode 460: Kamala Is Stuck on Long Division

studio@nationalreview.com (National Review) — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 20:04:39 +0000

Los Angeles resident Kamala Harris visited New Orleans to celebrate the charter schools she condemns at home -- and to encourage schoolkids to fight Republicans. Gavin Newsom swerves out of his “moderate” lane and endorses Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race. This week in California history: Richard Nixon resigns, Buck Owens is born, and a San Francisco trans activist who sought political asylum in the Netherlands discovers there’s no place like home. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com
will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes:

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Episode 459: California’s Reparations Sideshow

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen, Mark Moses) — Wed, 5 Aug 2026 17:04:23 +0000

In a state where slavery was always illegal, California lawmakers continue their push for reparations, whitewashing the critical role of such black Californians as William Alexander Leidesdorff in the state’s founding. Bonus! What is Participatory Budgeting and why does California Policy Center senior fellow Mark Moses hate it so much? Music by Metalachi.

Email Us

dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com

will@calpolicycenter.org

@DavidBahnsen

@WillSwaim

@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes

Mark Moses on “participatory budgeting”

This week’s advertising sponsor: California Center for Nonprofit Law

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Episode 458: Gavin Newsom’s Ruby Rippey Problem Won’t Go Away

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen, Lance Christensen) — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 14:12:54 +0000

Vanity Fair revisits Gavin Newsom's two-decade-old affair. SEIU president Dave Regan says he did not illegally bargain over his union's proposed wealth tax. California undermines national defense. We remember the California connections of U2 pilot Gary Francis Power. Bonus! In the wake of the Facuci diary’s release, CPC’s Lance Christensen joins Will to remember what it was like inside the state capitol during Covid. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com
will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes

Lance Christensen on the Fauci diary and Newsom’s failure

Fauci, in Private Diary, Reflected on Covid’s Origins and His Own Fame

National Review Institute Comes to San Francisco

Regional Seminar: American Innovation

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Episode 457: The General Sherman of Los Angeles

studio@nationalreview.com (David L. Bahnsen, Will Swaim) — Tue, 21 Jul 2026 20:08:12 +0000

She oversaw the burning of L.A.’s Westside last year. In April, Mayor Karen Bass turned to the city’s schools, backing the teacher union’s demand for the budget-busting pay hike that led to the announcement this week that the district is nearing bankruptcy. Bonus! We remember the 1973 premiere of American Graffiti, George Lucas’s love letter to California’s Central Valley. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com
will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes:

This week’s advertising sponsor: California Center for Nonprofit Law

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Episode 456: Ro’d to Nowhere

Wed, 15 Jul 2026 14:52:11 +0000

Representative Ro Khanna (D., Silicon Valley) traveled to Israel, drove into a military conflict zone — and claims the Israeli government threatened him. AG Rob Bonta leads a 12-state effort to block Paramount’s proposed merger with Warner; Paramount considers joining the California exodus. Newsom signs off on a historic tax hike. California transfers coastal land to tribes. Even the wealthy can’t afford San Francisco, but don’t blame the government. Bonus tracks! CPC’s Andrew Davenport reviews the California Teachers Association’s 30-year war on charter schools and his colleague Sheridan Karras wonders why California ended standardized tests that measure student understanding of American and California history. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com
will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes

This week’s advertising sponsor: California Center for Nonprofit Law

Bonus track! CPC manager of strategic initiative Andrew Davenport

Waging war on charter schools: A history of teacher unions’ anti-charter school campaign in California

Bonus track! CPC research director Sheridan Karras

The forgotten subject: California’s failure to assess history education

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455: Rozo the Clown

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen, Jeff Schwab, Emily Rae) — Thu, 9 Jul 2026 15:40:53 +0000

Like Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris, Rep. Ro Khanna is eyeing the White House. But this week was a rough one for the SIlicon Valley progressive: he finally abandoned his defense of alleged serial rapist and Nazi sympathizer Graham Platner, beclowned himself during a House Intelligence Committee hearing, and faced fresh reporting that he lives more like the oligarchs he denounces than the working class he champions. Will and David also discuss the Hollywood bombshell whose wartime invention helped change the modern world, and California's surprising connection to the Scopes "Monkey Trial," which began 101 years ago. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:

dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com

will@calpolicycenter.org

@DavidBahnsen

@WillSwaim

@TheRadioFreeCA

Show Notes:

Bonus track: Fighting for liberty in the 9th Circuit

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Episode 454: Gavin Newsom’s Declaration of Dependence

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen) — Wed, 1 Jul 2026 23:57:31 +0000

Preparing for a White House run, Newsom calls for “a new social compact” -- a national wealth tax that confiscates wealth for a menu of failed California-style social programs. Bonus! Our homage to California cowboy actor Slim Pickens. Music by Metalachi.

Email Us:
dbahnsen@thebahnsengroup.com
will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes:

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