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A majority of young people look at the US political system and they do not see a true democratic process. A new Harvard Youth Poll found that many Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 believe the system is “in trouble” or has failed entirely. The poll, from the Harvard University Kennedy School's Institute of Politics (IOP), found that only 7% of young adults believe the US has a “healthy democracy,” including 5% of independent and unaffiliated voters in this age group. Further, young peo

Reformers in California face a monumental challenge: Can a large coalition of diverse and sometimes opposing perspectives on the most important way to improve elections put their differences aside and bring ranked choice voting to San Diego? A new campaign is about to launch to show voters it's more than possible. Arguably the biggest struggle that has weighed down the pro-voter reform movement over the last several years is engaging in and mending the disputes over reform preferences and goal

Bryan is joined by Jon Switalski, Executive Director of Rebuild SoCal to talk infrastructure improvement and the problems that affect the supply chain delays in California. (Originally aired 22Oct21) ‍

The mood among Democrats these days seems to oscillate between panic and despair. The Biden administration, which billed itself as restoring competence and order to the political process, not only grievously botched the Afghanistan withdrawal and the removal of Haitian immigrants in Texas, but cannot even attain a semblance of order within its own party. Whether it be the filibuster, government spending, or tax policy, Democrats seem afflicted with an auto-immune disease that requires them to at

California is now the largest state to permanently adopt universal mail-in ballot distribution. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the measure into law Monday. While it goes a long way to increase voter participation in the Golden State, public officials are still not doing everything they can to give all voters a level playing field in elections. California, like many of the other states that expanded access to mail-in ballots as an emergency change in 2020, saw record turnout in November. The state

Janell Smiley, author of As Long As They Don't Turn into Weirdos,  joins Bryan to explore the educational opportunities in California. Her book recounts her family's journey through the process of starting public school plus the how and why she decided to take her kids out and find a different way to do education. (Originally aired 27Sept21) ‍

Could ranked choice voting soon come to the nation’s most populous state? That is the goal of a new coalition that officially launched on Tuesday, September 21. The California RCV Coalition introduced itself to the public during a public Zoom event at a point when ranked choice voting (RCV) is having a moment. RCV is the fastest spreading voting reform in the country, and coalition members hope California will build on both the popularity and success of reform efforts. “There has been a lot of

The best argument for voting ‘no’ in Tuesday’s California gubernatorial recall election is that voters are denied real choice in who would replace the governor. Clearly the ‘replacement candidate’ field — despite having 46 candidates - is not broadly representative of the electorate for a variety of reasons.   This could be rectified by holding the replacement election on a later date, only if the recall succeeded. That would remove the current disincentive for strong candidates to run from th

Meghan Butler, VP/Chief of Staff at Recology, sits down with Bryan to talk about their efforts to make California a leader in plastic recycling. The Recology mission represents a fundamental shift from traditional waste management to resource recovery. They seek to eliminate waste by developing and discovering sustainable resource recovery practices that can be implemented globally. (Originally aired 10Sept21) ‍

Toppling the Duopoly host Shawn Griffiths is joined by Tom Charron, who is representing a new group called the California RCV Coalition (Cal RCV). At a time when ranked choice voting is having a moment, the group is set to officially launch on September 21 during an online Zoom event that is open to the public. Charron explains why more California cities and the state as a whole need ranked choice voting for their elections and the benefits it would bring to bolstering representation across soci