California confounds. The state produces some of the world’s best wine, and deadliest weapons. And its fertile political soil has sprouted movements as diverse as the conservatism of Ronald Reagan and the radicalism of the Black Panthers. California’s history runs like a San Andreas fault of booms and busts.
First there were the Gold and Silver rushes. Then came the military expansions of WW II and the Cold War which brought millions of people running to the coast and tripled the state’s population. Then there was high tech burp in Silicon Valley. California is famed for drawing brave souls, in search of freedom and riches, and like the new crop of would-be governors blooming like wildflowers, people hungry to be seen as well as heard.
Guests:
Charlie LeDuff, Los Angeles-based reporter for the New York Times
Willie Brown, Mayor of San Francisco
Harry Shearer, LA-based author, actor, and humorist
James Rawls, historian and author of “California: an Interpretive History”