NewsPoliticsBusiness NewsGovernment

California Insider

The Epoch Times

California, as the wealthiest and most populated state in the nation, carries many leading roles in policy making, economic growth, cultural influences and technology development. California Insider, hosted by Siyamak Khorrami with The Epoch Times Southern California, showcases leaders and professionals across the state with inside information about trending topics and critical issues. Our mission is to inform California residents through the experiences and knowledge of our guests.

Play

Open in

24 episodes
a few times a week
Avg 40 min
English

Episodes 24

Newest Oldest Longest

All20 Unplayed20 In progress0 Played0

Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

Friday · 40 min
Why Tech Startups Still Choose Silicon Valley | Aman Verjee
In the Bay Area, AI is bringing renewed attention and investment to Silicon Valley at the same time that many technology companies are expanding outside California. The region can remain important to a company even when more of its growth happens somewhere else. The movement out of California is only part of the story. Companies can remain closely connected to Silicon Valley as they grow their hiring and operations elsewhere. Aman Verjee, founder and general partner at Practical Venture Capital, explains what continues to draw AI companies to Silicon Valley and why that relationship can change as they grow. His view suggests California’s place in the AI economy is more complicated than either a comeback or a continuing exodus. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
August 24 · 41 min
Why Some Crimes Go Unreported in California | Panel
Crime statistics say things are improving in California, yet for some residents, that reading does not square with what they notice in their own communities. When the official numbers and what people experience seem to point in different directions, it becomes harder to know what each is telling us. Part of the difficulty is what never enters the official record. Some victims choose not to report crimes to police, so what the statistics can capture, and what may remain outside them, is an open question. Patricia Wenskunas, founder and CEO of Crime Survivors, Inc., and Michael Gates, former Huntington Beach City attorney and candidate for California Attorney General, bring two different perspectives to that question. Their conversation examines what happens before an incident is included in the official crime data and what may be missed along the way. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
August 20 · 1 hr
California Has 14 Ballot Measures. What Would They Change? | Will Swaim
California voters can read a ballot title and still be left wondering what a measure would mean in practice. This November, 14 statewide propositions put some consequential policy choices into just a few lines of ballot language. A title can do more than summarize a measure. A name that sounds reassuring can influence a voter’s first impression before they read what the proposal would change, giving those few words more weight than they may seem to carry. Will Swaim, CEO of the California Policy Center, joins us to go through the propositions one by one and examine what each would change beyond its title. The conversation offers voters a way to read the ballot more closely, whether or not they agree with his conclusions. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
August 17 · 45 min
Why Some New Affordable Housing Sits Empty in California | Tia Boatman
For families struggling to find a home they can afford, an available affordable unit can mean stability after months or even years of waiting. Yet in parts of California’s affordable housing system, some units are sitting empty while the need remains high. That gap affects more than housing statistics. It reaches the families still waiting and focuses on a harder issue: what happens after affordable housing is built, when some of those homes remain vacant? In this episode, Tia Boatman Patterson, president and CEO of the California Community Reinvestment Corporation, and Jim Righeimer, chief executive officer at Arbor Capital Partners, examine what they are seeing in California’s affordable housing system and what may be happening between an open unit and the person waiting for a home. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
August 13 · 31 min
What California Chemical Fires Leave Behind | Michael Hogan
When a major industrial fire burns near a community, the danger is visible at first. Once the flames are put out and the smoke begins to clear, residents can still be left wondering what was in the air and whether the risk has passed. That can become harder to judge when the effects reach beyond the immediate fire site, and residents do not always have clear information about their level of risk. Physicist C. Michael Hogan joins us to explain what determines the area of concern around these fires and what that can mean for nearby residents after the visible emergency is over. Kim Bright, Founder of Brightcore, then looks at another concern tied to the aftermath of major fires. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
August 10 · 47 min
California Wants Higher Standards for Security Guards. What Would It Take? | David Chandler
Security guards have become a more visible part of daily life in California, and the job itself has grown more demanding. Most people pass them at hospitals and businesses without thinking about what it takes to put someone there. Now something is being decided about what that protection costs and how it gets provided. For an industry this large, a change meant to help can carry consequences that are difficult to judge before it takes effect. David Chandler, president of the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associates (CALSAGA), joins us from the security industry. Enrique Lopezlira, director of the Low-Wage Work Program at the UC Berkeley Labor Center, brings research expertise. Christopher Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics, looks at what California’s recent labor rules can tell us about the questions surrounding this proposal. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
August 8 · 21 min
Why Are Rare Forms of Cancer Proliferating in This California Community? | John Gresko
Families often choose communities like Ladera Ranch because they want a safe place to raise their children. In this Orange County community, several families have reported normally rare cancers affecting young people, with some only learning later that other families nearby had faced similar cases. As more families came forward, the community was left with a question that remains unanswered: are these cases connected, and if so, what connects them? Residents are seeking a formal investigation while the cause remains unknown, and there are still questions about whether what they are seeing is limited to Ladera Ranch. John Gresko, a Ladera Ranch resident, joins us to explain how the community is responding while it waits for answers, and what that process looks like in an unincorporated community with no city government of its own. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
August 6 · 45 min
What It Takes to Get People Off California’s Streets | Panel
Los Angeles has committed large sums to homelessness, yet residents continue to see people living on sidewalks and under overpasses. The distance between the public effort and what remains visible on the street has become difficult to ignore. The total amount spent tells only part of the story. A second question is what happens once those resources enter the system and whether the approach being funded is built to move people toward the outcome residents expect. Kenneth Schrupp, an investigative reporter at City Journal, interviewed more than 200 homeless people across Los Angeles and entered the Skid Row Care Campus. Zach Southall, director and founder of Charity on Wheels, has spent 15 years working directly with people on the street in Orange County. They join California Insider to explain what they have seen on the ground—and what a workable approach to helping people leave the street would actually require. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
August 2 · 43 min
What a Single Pipe Break Says About California’s Water Systems | Brett Barbre
Most people never think about the pipes running beneath their street until one breaks. In Los Angeles, a 110-year-old water line ruptured, lifting the pavement and flooding businesses and cars before crews could isolate it. While everyone sees the flooding part of the problem, the condition underneath, or how prepared a water system is before something goes wrong, remains largely out of sight. Brett Barbre, director at Yorba Linda Water District, joins us to explain what happens before crews reach a major break, and what residents can look for when judging whether their own district is keeping up. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
July 30 · 1 hr 1 min
California’s Aging Population Is Testing Its Care Systems | Dayan Goodenowe
Across California, an increasing number of families are reaching the point where an aging parent needs more care than relatives can safely provide at home. The next step can bring costs and decisions that many families have had little time to prepare for. The pressure begins well before someone enters a long-term care facility. By the time dementia has changed daily life at home, families may already be confronting a system with few options. Dr. Dayan Goodenowe, a dementia and longevity researcher and founder of Prodrome Science, joins us to explain why so many families reach this point and what he believes should happen before the decline becomes a crisis. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
July 27 · 41 min
Why California's Rat Problem Keeps Getting Harder to Control | Panel
Rats are showing up where Californians live, eat, and park. They’re in restaurants and grocery stores, in the walls of single-family homes, and under the hoods of parked cars, chewing through wiring that costs thousands to repair. It’s happening in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and it’s reaching smaller cities like Auburn that never expected to deal with it. For years, this looked like a story about weather, or growth, or the number of people on the street. Those are part of it. But the people who deal with rodents for a living say something else changed, too, and it narrowed what they can do about the rats. We sit down with Travis Mickel, president of the California Pest Management Association and a manager at Clark Pest Control, along with Jake Plevelich of CAPMA and pest control business owner Simon McKeown. They walk through why the problem has gotten harder and more expensive to control, and who ends up paying for it. What they take away from it isn’t the lesson most people would expect. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
July 24 · 38 min
Why California Cities Are Turning to New Fees | John Moorlach
Parking that was once free now comes with a meter. Trash pickup costs more, and local ballots continue to carry proposals for new taxes and fees. Across California, people are being asked to pay more as cities, counties, and school districts face pressure to maintain the services residents use every day. Each charge can look like a separate local decision. The financial reports behind them tell a broader story, and the same pressures do not leave every community in the same position. John Moorlach, senior fellow and director of the Center for Public Accountability at the California Policy Center, is a CPA and former state senator who warned about Orange County’s bankruptcy before it occurred. He joins us to explain how he compares the finances of California’s state and local governments, and what those rankings may show about the condition of a resident’s own community. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
July 20 · 33 min
Why Expanding Business Into California Isn’t So Simple | Laine Schoneberger
Californians have heard plenty about businesses leaving the state. The other direction gets less attention: what it takes for a new business to come in. In regulated industries, entry requires licensing, and an application can remain pending for years without a response. One lender says it entered that process more than two years ago. Similar approvals came through much faster in other states. In California, the application is still pending, and no decision has come back in either direction. Laine Schoneberger, managing partner and chief investment officer at Yrefy, LLC, is the executive leading that application. The service the company is seeking approval to offer refinances defaulted private student loans at roughly half the borrower’s current payment. He sits down with Siyamak to discuss the two years in the queue and the math that makes a cut that steep possible. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
July 17 · 39 min
Is Owning a Home in California Still Possible? | Louis DiGonzini
Across California, home prices have continued rising while incomes haven’t kept pace. In Orange County, for example, buying an average home now takes more than a six-figure income. Listings that would have sat for months a decade ago draw multiple offers and sell in about two weeks, with sellers collecting nearly their full asking price. For many young people, the math reads like a door closing on ownership altogether. The shortage behind those bidding wars never went away. Inventory sits below where it stood before 2020, and new construction is only part of the reason it remains thin. Some of the people who sold and left the state to wait out prices are discovering that the way back in is harder than the way out. Louis DiGonzini, a Southern California real estate broker and founder of the DiGonzini Group, joins us again with listings stretching from Bakersfield to San Diego and clients ranging from 24 to 85 years old. He explains who is actually buying in this market, where the openings still are, and what he tells young buyers who are convinced they were born too late to own a home in California. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
July 15 · 42 min
Inside California’s $20 Billion Water Tunnel Decision | Graham Bradner
California is advancing one of the biggest projects the state has ever planned: a $20 billion tunnel running 45 miles beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The tunnel would join the State Water Project, which delivers water to 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland. Californians have watched big public projects run long and cost more than promised, and this one arrives with the question already attached: can the state still build something this big? The concerns are familiar. The project has already spent more than six years in planning and permitting, and construction would run well over a decade. Yet the organization responsible for building the tunnel says this project is set up differently from the ones Californians remember, beginning with who pays for it and who answers for the money. Graham Bradner is the executive director of the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority, the agency responsible for designing and building the project. He explains what his team decided to change before the environmental review ever began, and the one risk he says engineering cannot remove. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
July 10 · 32 min
A Farming Takeover Happened in California; Most Residents Never Noticed | Tom Coleman & Stephen Vasquez
The pistachios on supermarket shelves around the world most likely came from California’s Central Valley, where roughly two-thirds of the global supply now grows. The crop has no native history in the state, and most Californians drive past these orchards every day without knowing what they are or how they got there. The industry’s current chapter is stranger than its rise. Even with worldwide demand increasing, the growers who helped build the industry have nearly stopped planting new trees, and the pause traces back to what’s happening with California’s water. Whether food is grown locally is a question that follows residents on every grocery run, and the people who work this ground are assessing things season by season. Tom Coleman, chair of the Administrative Committee for Pistachios and owner of Coleman Farming Co., has been growing pistachios since 1982, when the industry barely existed. Alongside Stephen Vasquez, the committee’s executive director, he explains how a crop nobody expected to take hold became a world leader, and what now decides whether it keeps growing. Coleman traces the industry’s rise back to his own worst harvest, and to something that had nothing to do with farming technology. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
July 5 · 34 min
This California Winemaker Says Forced Membership Fees Could Reach Any Industry | Kate Griffith
California’s wine industry is already under pressure, and in Santa Barbara County, wineries now face another cost. Since April 2025, businesses that sell wine directly to customers have been required to pay a 1 percent fee on those sales. The fee funds a private trade association that wineries are also required to join, with no option under the current county rule to opt out of either the payment or the membership. Similar requirements have already taken hold in other California wine regions, and for some businesses, that has raised a bigger question about how far this kind of arrangement could reach. Flying Goat Cellars owners Kate Griffith and Norman Yost, along with Goldwater Institute attorney Adam Shelton, explain why their small Lompoc winery is now the plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against Santa Barbara County. Griffith says the outcome could matter well beyond wine, and Shelton lays out the legal argument behind the case. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
July 2 · 33 min
Could California’s Wealth Tax Reach Beyond Billionaires? | Josh Rauh
California voters will decide this November whether to impose a one-time wealth tax on the state’s roughly 200 billionaires, a measure pitched by supporters as narrow and temporary. But some high-net-worth Californians are not waiting to see whether it passes. Several prominent founders and investors have already moved, reduced California ties, or shifted assets ahead of the proposal’s Jan. 1 residency date. Supporters say the tax would directly apply only to the wealthiest sliver of residents. Not everyone in its path is convinced the one-time label will hold. Joshua Rauh, professor of Finance at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and senior fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution, argued the exodus carries costs well beyond the billionaires themselves. He sat down with “California Insider” to explain what is written into the measure that has some of the state’s wealthiest residents preparing for it as if it will not stop at one time. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
June 29 · 37 min
Why the CCP Is Targeting an American Performing Arts Company | Steve Lance
Shen Yun is an American performing arts company that sells out venues worldwide. Before shows, bomb threats come in. Theaters get swept. Tour buses need overnight security to prevent sabotage. Incidents have been reported across the United States, including California. The question is why what investigators describe as a foreign government campaign keeps reaching an American company on American soil. A separate but related track runs through federal court. A California-based Chinese agent was caught by the FBI attempting to bribe IRS officials into revoking Shen Yun’s nonprofit status. Investigators say that the case is one documented node in a campaign our guests describe as escalating. Steve Lance, executive producer at Sincere Pictures, and Levi Browde, executive director of the Falun Info Center, join Levi’s son Lucas, a principal dancer with Shen Yun, and musician Rachel Chen to walk through what the investigation found and what the documentary “Unbroken” documents in full. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.
June 25 · 38 min
Why California Election Results Keep Shifting After Election Night | Mike Gatto
California residents watched election night results flip over the days that followed. Why does that keep happening? The shift doesn’t happen the same way everywhere. It happens in California in ways that are specific, legal, and largely invisible to the people watching the results come in. Mike Gatto is a former California state assemblymember who voted against ballot harvesting when the law was first proposed. He joins the show to explain what’s actually driving California’s post-election shifts, and why the trust problem may be harder to fix than the fraud question. *Views expressed in this video/article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of California Insider.

Showing 1–20 of 24 episodes