California’s Decline: A Warning to America

What Happened to the University of California?

Peter G. Klein — Thu, 07 May 2026 12:02:26 -0500

Peter Klein traces the ideological transformation of the UC system from a world-class research institution to a cautionary tale of government-subsidized capture, arguing that the real culprit isn't California's culture but the funding, ownership, and governance structure that insulates universities from market accountability and rewards ideological conformity.

Recorded in San Diego, California, on April 25, 2026.

How Democratic Socialism Created California’s Housing Crisis

Chris Calton — Thu, 07 May 2026 14:02:17 -0500

Chris Calton links California's housing crisis to three books published in the 1960s that spawned three ideological movements — the democratization of urban planning, the politicization of environmentalism, and the no-growth movement — each of which handed activists and bureaucrats new tools to block development and destroy private property rights one permit hearing at a time.

Recorded in San Diego, California, on April 25, 2026.

Where California Went Wrong

William L. Anderson — Fri, 08 May 2026 12:15:17 -0500

Bill Anderson offers a ground-level view of California's decline, arguing that the state's deep entanglement of government with water, energy, housing, and transportation has created a self-reinforcing system where every new crisis produces more regulation, more spending, and fewer productive citizens.

Recorded in San Diego, California, on April 25, 2026.

Unnatural Disasters: How the State Makes Wildfires Bigger and Deadlier

Connor O'Keeffe — Fri, 08 May 2026 09:02:25 -0500

Connor O'Keeffe argues that California's wildfire crisis is not simply a climate story but a government failure story. The state has monopolized nearly all wilderness land, refused to manage it adequately, and then distorted insurance markets to push more people into high-risk fire zones, making fires both larger and more deadly than they would be under a private property regime with real liability.

Recorded in San Diego, California, on April 25, 2026.

America’s States Are Too Big and Too Centralized

Ryan McMaken — Mon, 11 May 2026 15:30:25 -0500

Ryan McMaken argues that the American constitutional structure has become a suicide pact: states cannot secede, cannot protect themselves from neighboring states' policies, cannot adopt genuinely federal internal governance, and cannot redraw their own borders. It's a system that guarantees growing conflict and provides only one approved solution: more centralized power in Washington.

Recorded in San Diego, California, on April 25, 2026.