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Newsom goes full podcaster
Since everyone and their mother has a podcast these days, it's not too surprising that California Gov. Gavin Newsom dove into the space with the recent launch of "This Is Gavin Newsom."
"It's time to have honest discussions with people who agree AND disagree with us," the show description states. "It's time to answer the hard questions and be open to criticism, and debate without demeaning or dehumanizing one other."
Just a few episodes in, Newsom's venture has quickly garnered both criticism and kudos. Some on the left feel betrayed by the prominent liberal leader's willingness to sit down with major MAGA personalities and break from Democratic talking points on some polarizing issues. Other political thinkers view his approach as a much-needed attempt to soften the nation's stark polarization — and\or the latest vehicle for Newsom's own political ambitions.
"A common takeaway from the podcast is that Newsom is attempting to shape-shift into a moderate as he gears up to run for president in the aftermath of the Democratic Party's disastrous 2024 election," Times reporter Taryn Luna explained this week.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center right, applauds as Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 2024. (Paul Sancya / Associated Press)
What does Newsom talk about on his podcast?
Newsom takes his party to task as he shares space with some of MAGA's biggest names.
In the inaugural episode, the governor hosted MAGA activist Charlie Kirk and quickly found himself in a political firestorm after saying transgender women's participation in sports is "deeply unfair."
In subsequent episodes Newsom sat down with conservative commentator Michael Savage, and later with former Trump advisor Steve Bannon.
From left, Charlie Kirk, Gavin Newsom and Steve Bannon. (Associated Press)
Newsom defends his show as critiques fly
Critics accused him of platforming right-wing voices in a misguided attempt at centrism.
"He has always been more or less a tech bro from Northern California with the same kind of politics as we thought," Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, told Taryn. "He's done playing liberal and now he's just going to be himself."
While his conservative guests made reliable jabs at Democrats and their policies, Newsom has also been critical of his party — both on his show and in other media.
In an interview with Taryn, Newsom said Democrats had "lost our way" and are suffering the consequences of their "toxic" brand.
"Our party's getting our ass kicked … people don't think we make any damn sense," he said. "They don't think we have their values. They think we're elite. We talk down to people. We talk past people. They think we just think we're smarter than other people, that we're so judgmental and full of ourselves."
President Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom walk to speak to reporters after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport. (Mark Schiefelbein / Associated Press)
It's not as if Newsom is the only liberal popping the hood to diagnose Democrats' problems and try to get them back on the road to victory for 2026's midterm and 2028's general elections.
New York Times opinion columnist Ezra Klein has been on a media tour dissecting liberalism's governing failures, with a special focus on the Golden State. He was the guest on Newsom's show last week, where the two talked bureaucracy, CEQA and California's grand plan for high-speed rail that's running at least a decade behind schedule.
"There is something wrong in a [political] culture that so often fails to deliver what it promises," Klein said during their conversation.
A 'Joe Rogan of the left'?
Times columnist Anita Chabria wrote recently that the early episodes of Newsom's podcast were "cringe" and "appalling," but added that the governor's effort was "undeniably smart."
"He understands there is a new political order, and it's not about rising through the ranks of the party or appeasing a base," she argued. "It's about audience, politics aside, and Newsom is savvy enough to chase it."
Fellow columnist Mark Z. Barabak was less impressed.
"If Newsom really hopes to be president someday, the best thing he could do is a bang-up job in his final 22 months as governor. Not waste time on glib and self-flattering diversions," he wrote last month. "People have told Newsom as much. But the only voice he seems to care about [is] his own."
Kambiz Akhavan, managing director for the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, views Newsom's foray into podcasting as an effort to "[position] himself as the Joe Rogan of the left."
He doesn't view that as a bad thing.
"Podcasts are a powerful way to get inside people's heads with long-form substantive content that is largely absent from our TikTok, 30-second, dopamine-hit, doom-scrolling media diets," Akhavan wrote in an emailed comment. "Reaching across the aisle to explore issues and talk respectfully across differences is a welcome treat in our polarized society."
Today's top stories
Immigrant families line up outside U.S. Immigration Court in downtown Los Angeles in January 2019. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
As children are pulled into immigration court, many must fend for themselves
- Most children who arrive in the courtroom don't speak English, don't know how to fill out forms or present a case as they go up against government lawyers.
- "These kids often have no idea what's going on, and without a lawyer, they're doomed," said Holly S. Cooper, who was part of the first federal pilot program to represent children in immigration court more than two decades ago.
The world's oldest trees are threatened by the Silver fire in Inyo County
The box office is bleak. Here's how local theaters are surviving the downturn
- To make up for gaps in the film schedule, a theater in Temecula hosts special events, such as its screening of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, or the 2004 romance "The Notebook," complete with photo backgrounds, trivia, prizes, and a themed gift and menu.
- Others diversified — adding restaurants and other activities — as well as sprucing up their theaters to attract new patrons.
What else is going on
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This morning's must reads
Actor Alden Ehrenreich is on a mission to "reenvision L.A. as a theater city" after buying a historic substation and converting it into a playhouse. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
'Star Wars' actor Alden Ehrenreich's mission to make L.A. a 'theater city' involves a 119-year-old trolley station. After more than a decade in the industry, the actor longed to find a space to play. He yearned for the uninhibited artistic exploration of his late teens and early 20s when he was a part of theater groups with friends. So he bought a historic substation in Cypress Park, determined to make it an artistic hub where he and others could get back to youthful creativity that's often "quelled" by industry expectations. Huron Station Playhouse, which celebrated its soft opening last fall, has become his "pride and joy."
Other must reads
How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@latimes.com.
For your downtime
Fred Fitness, an AI gym in Santa Monica. (Chiara Alexa / For The Times)
Going out
Staying in
A question for you: What's your favorite April Fools' Day joke?
We asked you to share your favorite April Fools' jokes and y'all delivered! Here are a few:
Mark Rhomberg wrote: "In the early 1980s a Chicago radio station told listeners early on April 1 that President Reagan had declared an emergency Daylight Savings Time change [the DST change was later then], and that the time was one hour later than their clocks at home. When callers asked if it was a joke, the station called the time number [one used to be able to call a number for the correct time] to prove it, but they called the time number in New York City, which was on Eastern Standard Time, so the recorded voice stated the time one hour later than Chicago's Central Standard Time.
Supposedly hordes rushed to work and school under-dressed and overly-stressed. Radio station staff heads rolled, but not enough to appease the many unamused Chicagoans."
Martha Singer wrote: "The April 1 when Taco Bell put a full-page ad in the paper claiming it was buying the Liberty Bell. Everyone in my department went to Taco Bell for lunch that day (which we never did ordinarily) because we loved the ad."
Kelsey Wittles wrote: "One year, I changed my boyfriend's birthday to April 1 on Facebook early in the morning of April Fool's Day. It seems benign but this was back in the day when everyone used Facebook and it notified you of friend's birthdays. So for the rest of the day I didn't need to do anything but sit back and watch as his friends sent him messages, distant relatives gave him calls, and someone in his office even brought in a cake! At first he politely explained to everyone that he was the subject of the joke but by the end of the day he just accepted it and beared it while everyone sang him Happy Birthday."
Sara Siegal wrote: "Mine was an NPR interview Yo Yo Ma gave, stating that he was abandoning the cello for the accordion. I was DESPONDENT. What an enormous loss to the classical music world! It was later that evening when my partner (now husband) came home and pointedly asked me what the date was. Oh, the relief!"
And finally ... your photo of the day
Show us your favorite place in California! Send us photos you have taken of spots in California that are special — natural or human-made — and tell us why they're important to you.
JJ Redick walks through the skeletal remains of his rental home that was destroyed in the Palisades fire. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Today's great photo is from Times photographer Genaro Molina. Lakers coach JJ Redick stands at the site of his rental home that burned down during the Palisades fire.
Have a great day, from the Essential California team
Ryan Fonseca, reporter
Defne Karabatur, fellow
Andrew Campa, Sunday reporter
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Hunter Clauss, multiplatform editor
Christian Orozco, assistant editor
Stephanie Chavez, deputy metro editor
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters
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