Shows
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 22: "Hanging Out and Leaning In with Former Assemblymember Cristina Garcia"Susan and Josh are joined by their former colleague Cristina Garcia, who represented the Long Beach area in the Assembly from 2021 to 2022. While in office, she was a fierce and fearless champion for women, local communities, and the environment, and has continued to fight for and support similar causes in her post-elective life as well.2025-07-2447 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 22: "Hanging Out and Leaning In with Former Assemblymember Cristina Garcia"Susan and Josh are joined by their former colleague Cristina Garcia, who represented the Long Beach area in the Assembly from 2021 to 2022. While in office, she was a fierce and fearless champion for women, local communities, and the environment, and has continued to fight for and support similar causes in her post-elective life as well.2025-07-2447 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 21: "The Gen Z Stare and Other Reflections During the Dog Days of Summer"Susan and Josh mull over some recent items in the news, along with revisiting four of their favorite conversations from earlier episodes of The Sacralegis Podcast, with a particular eye on legislative progress and other developments since then.2025-07-1753 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep 20: "El Pulso de California: A Conversation with Mike Madrid"Susan and Josh welcome Mike Madrid, a recognized authority on Latino politics, the principal of California-based public affairs firm Grassroots Lab, and author of a critically acclaimed book, "The Latino Century: How America's Largest Minority Is Transforming Democracy," which was published last June, for a spirited conversation on the impact of changing Latino attitudes toward politics in California and beyond.2025-07-1056 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 19: "All the Easy Stuff, with Sen. Catherine Blakespear: Solving Homelessness, Protecting Nature, and Confronting Mortality"Susan and Josh welcome former colleague State Senator Catherine Blakespear for an in-depth discussion on some of her current legislation in the critical areas of dignity-in-dying and making progress on California’s ongoing homelessness crisis, as well as her thoughts on the legislation providing for exemptions from the California Environmental Quality Act, which were tied to the recent passage of the state’s annual budget.2025-07-0452 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 18: "What's the Deal with Young People These Days?"Susan and Josh welcome Bode Gower, the Founder and Chair of the Northern California Youth Policy Coalition, which aims to amplify rural youth voices on state-level issues, as well as the host of his own podcast, “The Gower Hour,” which offers a youth perspective on politics by interviewing local elected officials, for a discussion of how young people are thinking about and participate in politics these days.2025-06-2647 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 17: "California at the Barricades: a Conversation with State Senator Tom Umberg"Susan and Josh are joined by their former colleague State Senator Tom Umberg, a decorated Army veteran, former prosecutor and assistant drug czar and current Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee for a conversation about recent events around immigration enforcement and the use of federal military assets in its conduct.2025-06-2045 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 17: "California to the Barricades: A Conversation with State Senator Tom Umberg"Susan and Josh are joined by their former colleague State Senator Tom Umberg, a decorated Army veteran, former prosecutor and assistant drug czar and current Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee for a conversation about recent events around immigration enforcement and the use of federal military assets in its conduct.2025-06-2046 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 17: "California at the Barricades. A Conversation with State Sen. Tom Umberg"Susan and Josh are joined by their former colleague State Senator Tom Umberg, a decorated Army veteran, former prosecutor and assistant drug czar and current Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee for a conversation about recent events around immigration enforcement and the use of federal military assets in its conduct.2025-06-191h 29
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 16: "Who's Fueling Whom?, with Catherine Reheis-Boyd of the Western States Petroleum Association"Susan and Josh are joined by Catherine Reheis-Boyd, President and CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, the trade association representing companies involved in petroleum exploration, production, refining, transportation, and marketing in the five western states of the US: Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, for a wide-ranging discussion on the state of the transportation energy economy in California and the politics around it.2025-06-1250 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 15: "Recall Reform, Term Limits, and the Trajectory of State Governance. A Conversation with UCSD Political Scientist Professor Thad Kousser"Susan and Josh are joined by Professor Thad Kousser of UC San Diego, a nationally renowned political scientist and authority on legislative politics and governance, for a conversation about past and proposed changes to California's state constitution and electoral processes in the pursuit of responsive governance and political reforms.2025-06-0551 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 14: "If It Matters, It's in CalMatters. A Conversation with Ryan Sabalow"Susan and Josh are joined by CalMatters reporter Ryan Sabalow, who in addition to covering the Capitol is part of the team behind CalMatters's innovative “digital democracy” project, an initiative deploying technology and data to increase transparency, accountability and understanding about California state legislators and the policy decisions they are making.2025-05-2957 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 13: "Laying Down the Law with Sacramento Sheriff Jim Cooper"Susan and Josh are joined by Jim Cooper, current Sacramento County Sheriff and former member of the California State Assembly, for a wide-ranging conversation on crime, mental health, legal marijuana, and other topics, while exploring his insights as someone with a fairly unique perspective, having previously made laws and now being charged to enforce them.2025-05-2244 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 12: "Speaking with 'the Sage of Sacramento', Chris Micheli"Susan and Josh welcome Chris Micheli, longtime Sacramento lobbyist, as well as attorney, author, professor, and recognized authority on Sacramento arcana and minutiae, for a deep dive and discussion on why things work the way they do in the State Capitol, and some of the ways they might be improved.2025-05-1555 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 11: "California and Cars: Kicking the Tires with Curt Augustine"Susan and Josh are joined by Curt Augustine, Senior Director of State Affairs for the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, the industry trade association which represents the interests of automobile manufacturers, for a conversation about issues, policies, and plans involving cars, which play such a central role in California's economy and culture.2025-05-0755 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 10: "Making it in Cali with Lance Hastings"Susan and Josh welcome to the podcast Lance Hastings, President and CEO of the California Manufacturers and Technology Association for a conversation about manufacturing and its place in California's economy, especially in light of recent developments around trade and tariffs in Washington, DC2025-05-0151 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 9: "A Chat with Ashley Zavala: Interviewing the Interviewer"Susan and Josh welcome to the podcast Ashley Zavala, Capitol Correspondent for television station KCRA, and past president of the Capitol Correspondents Association, to talk about the current state of media coverage in Sacramento, the state of media today, and the relationship between a healthy democracy and a free and active press.2025-04-2452 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 9: "Ashley Zavala: Interviewing the Interviewer"Susan and Josh welcome to the podcast Ashley Zavala, Capitol Correspondent for television station KCRA, and past president of the Capitol Correspondents Association, to talk about the current state of media coverage in Sacramento, the state of media today, and the relationship between a healthy democracy and a free and active press.2025-04-2352 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 8: "California's Clean Energy Economy: High Hopes for Hydrogen?"In this week's episode, Susan and Josh welcome Dr. Jack Brouwer, Director of the Clean Energy Institute at the University of California Irvine, for a discussion on the role of hydrogen as part of California's ambitious plans to transition to a clean energy economy. Dr. Brouwer is also an ordained minister, and the latter portion of the podcast includes a discussion of the relationship between his work and his faith and how it has informed his experience as a scientist and environmentalist.2025-04-1650 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 7: "Social Media: Who's Looking After the Kids?"This week's topic is social media and its impacts, especially on young people. Susan and Josh are joined by Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, who has been a leader within the Legislature on advancing policies that seek to hold social media platforms responsible for the potential harm that their applications can cause to the young people who have so thoroughly incorporated social media into their lives.2025-04-0953 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 6: "Our Woman in Washington: Rep Sydney Kamlager-Dove Reporting In from DC"In this week's episode of The Sacralegis Podcast, Susan and Josh welcome former California State Senator and current US Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove, to get her typically unvarnished take on what it's like to be in DC in these days of partisan tribalism and political uncertainty.2025-04-0345 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 5: "Talking Trash (Recycling) with Senator Ben Allen"Susan and Josh are joined by California State Senator Ben Allen to talk about the benefits and challenges associated with recycling in California, to include his groundbreaking work on SB-54, a first-in-the-nation framework for recycling and reducing plastic waste, in the news recently as the result of changes to its implementation plan.2025-04-0146 min
The Sacralegis PodcastTSP Ep. 5: "Talking Trash (Recycling) with Senator Ben Allen"Susan and Josh are joined by California State Senator Ben Allen to talk about the benefits and challenges associated with recycling in California, to include his groundbreaking work on SB-54, a first-in-the-nation framework for recycling and reducing plastic waste, in the news recently as the result of changes to its implementation plan.2025-03-271h 09
The Sacralegis PodcastThe Sacralegis Podcast: "Let's Get Physical (Education)"In this week's episode, Susan and Josh welcome Dr. Hannah Thompson a public health researcher and noted authority on the role of physical education and play as part of a quality educational experience for children in school. Dr. Thompson discusses the importance and benefits of PE and recess, as well as some of the recent challenges associated with the discontinuation of the collection of fitness-related data by schools across the state, making it even harder, in a post-pandemic world, to ensure that school kids are getting the activity, instruction, and support to assure their physical mental health as they progress...2025-03-2051 min
The Sacralegis PodcastThe Sacralegis Podcast: "The High Costs of A Golden State"Susan and Josh discuss an issue that has been in the news and at the top of the Legislature's to-do list: California's affordability crisis. Joining the discussion is Ben Golombek, Executive Vice President and Chief of Staff for Policy. for the California Chamber of Commerce.2025-03-1350 min
The Sacralegis Podcast"New Kid on the Block"Recently elected Assemblymember Anamarie Avila-Farias joins Susan and Josh to share her experience and perspective as a new member of the Legislature...2025-03-0651 min
The Sacralegis PodcastThe More Things Change...On this, the inaugural episode of The Sacralegis Podcast, Susan and Josh welcome veteran Capitol lobbyist Paula Treat for a wide-ranging discussion on the impact of changes in California's politics and processes, such as term limits, the top two primary, the residual impacts of the pandemic, changes in news coverage and, of course, Elon Musk.2025-02-2746 min