National Review's Radio Free California Podcast

Episode 447: What Xavier Becerra Knew

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen, Lance Christensen) — Wed, 20 May 2026 15:22:53 +0000

The Democrats’ leading candidate for governor, Xavier Becerra, claims he was the victim of a financial fraud directed by his own chief of staff in the Biden administration. Now, he’s dealing with claims that he greenlit the crime. Bonus track! Lance Christensen takes us deep into the state capitol. Music by Metalachi.

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will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes:

Pre-roll:
Duke Energy

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Episode 446: Life Is Like a Box of Diapers

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen) — Thu, 14 May 2026 14:40:30 +0000

Governor Gavin Newsom says his delivery of free diapers is another win for affordability -- “a first-in-the-nation program” to deliver the things new parents need most. Music by Metalachi.

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will@calpolicycenter.org

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Episode 445: Heroes and Neros

Mon, 11 May 2026 15:46:55 +0000

In this special episode, Will talks with Sheila Bowen, whose Central Valley family is at the center of Remnants, a new documentary about the challenges of ranching in the era of Gavin Newsom-created wildfires. In other news, we hear from Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Jeremy Talcott about his crushing win over the California Coastal Commission, and we return to our friends at the Hoover Institution for a dramatic update in their assessment of the billionaire wealth tax coming up on the November ballot. Music by Metalachi.

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will@calpolicycenter.org

Jeremy Talcott, Pacific Legal v Coastal Commission

Remnants

Remnants trailer
Moving Picture Institute
Paul Olivett, Moving Picture Institute, paul@thempi.org

Hoover Institution’s Benjamin Jaros & Joshua Rauh on the Billionaire Wealth Tax

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Episode 444: Rorschachian Xavier Becerra

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen) — Wed, 6 May 2026 19:01:24 +0000

In the simmering race for governor, Democratic Party insiders are coalescing around Xavier Becerra, a lifetime placeholder who is neither left nor right but who can be counted on to do absolutely nothing. Also: Ritchie Valens, Elon Musk, Kamala Harris, heroic El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, and the guy who burned down Pacific Palisades. Music by Metalachi.

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will@calpolicycenter.org

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Episode 443: SoCal’s Solipsistic Shooter

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen) — Fri, 1 May 2026 13:27:07 +0000

We discuss the bizarre manifesto of Cole Tomas Allen of Torrance, Calif. Music by Metalachi.

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will@calpolicycenter.org

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Episode 442: The Wizard of Oz Wrap Party

studio@nationalreview.com (National Review) — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 12:41:43 +0000

Just six weeks from the California gubernatorial primary, Democrats are still auditioning for a lead — and risk watching Republicans steal the show. Can someone please introduce candidate Tom Steyer to the U.S. Constitution? State Senator Scott Wiener’s attempt to muzzle ICE melts in the Ninth Circuit. A fake bear wreaks fake terror on luxury vehicles in Lake Arrowhead. Bonus! A brief history of California’s Modoc War. Music by Metalachi.

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will@calpolicycenter.org

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Episode 441: Making a Federal Case of It (Emergency Episode)

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, Emily Rae, Lance Christensen) — Thu, 16 Apr 2026 21:41:42 +0000

United Teachers of Los Angeles activists are celebrating the massive salary hike they won on Tuesday, but Lance Christensen says all Californians will pay the price. That same day, attorneys for Rocklin Unified School District asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision of a little-known California administrative court that California Justice Center attorney Emily Rae says violates the federal rights of parents of schoolchildren. Music by Metalachi.

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Emily Rae:

Follow @EmilyRaeCJC

Rocklin Unified Takes Parental Notification Fight to U.S. Supreme Court

Lance Christensen:

Follow @lancelands

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Episode 440: Swalwell Hits Cesar Chavez Speed

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen, Kenneth Schrupp) — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 20:04:03 +0000

As his career prospects evaporate, disgraced former Representative Eric Swalwell now begs exemption from the “believe women” standard he applied to his conservative political opponents. An Easter Egg hunt in Long Beach leads to a human skull, Mayor Karen Bass celebrates the return of Baywatch but says nothing about the return of typhus to L.A., Kamala Korner is back, and the Wiener Watch never left! David offers an explainer on a clash of the tech titans in Musk vs. Altman. Bonus: Kenneth Schrupp discusses Manhattan Institute’s investigation into allegations of fraud in the state’s $30 billion annual In-Home Supportive Services Program. Music by Metalachi.

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Show Notes:

Kenneth Shrupp, Manhattan Institute

Gavin Newsom’s $30 Billion Fraud Magnet

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Episode 439: Newsom’s House of Card Sharks

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen, Emily Rae, Paul Jonna) — Wed, 8 Apr 2026 15:40:44 +0000

Angling for a White House run, Governor Gavin Newsom talks up his plan to bring white men back to the Democratic Party while his wife warns women that Republicans are working to push women “back into the straitjacket of femininity that is only in service of men.” In other news: Newsom will spend $19 million to persuade Americans that California is awesome and Trump endorses gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton. In the history department, Will and David discuss the 1972 state Supreme Court decision that ended the death-penalty convictions of 107 California killers including Sirhan Sirhan, Charles Manson, and one Robert Page Anderson. Music by Metalachi.

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will@calpolicycenter.org

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Episode 438: Maybe We Call This ‘Jaime Escalante Day’?

Wed, 1 Apr 2026 15:09:36 +0000

Governor Gavin Newsom signed an emergency bill to rename the Cesar Chavez holiday “Farmworkers Day.” Will and David suggest we commemorate instead the East Los Angeles teacher who was the subject of the 1988 movie Stand and Deliver -- and was then driven from teaching by his own union. Representative Eric Swalwell earned a key campaign endorsement from the California Teachers Association -- a kind of Surgeon General’s Warning for voters in the state’s June primary. In other news: Tech’s very bad week in court, and it’s time for San Francisco to defund its corrupt “Defund the Police” campaign. Bonus tracks! Red State reporter Jen Van Laar on LAUSD’s all-in-the-family negotiations with the state’s largest teacher’s union, and former Los Angeles Times religion reporter Bill Lobdell on the Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal, televangelists, Cesar Chavez, and California’s public schools. Music by Metalachi.

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will@calpolicycenter.org

Show Notes

Jen Van Laar

Literal bedfellows among teacher union activists and the district negotiating their pay package

Bill Lobdell

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Episode 437: The Labor Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

studio@nationalreview.com (Will Swaim, David L. Bahnsen, Lance Christensen) — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 19:28:58 +0000

The union behind the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act says it will generate $110 billion for public health programs, but Hoover Institution researchers calculate that it will actually cost California $25 billion. In the “Why Now Department,” Will and David consider multiple hypotheses about the timing of claims that United Farm Workers founder Cesar Chavez raped young women half a century ago. The legal case against Meta and YouTube asks us to believe that social media companies bear absolute responsibility for addictive use of social media. Will tells the true story of Ah Louis, a California Gold Rush-era immigrant who became the unofficial mayor of San Luis Obispo’s Chinatown. Bonus! Lance Christensen provides a first look at the year’s legislative Race to Absurdity. Music by Metalachi.

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

Show Notes:

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