National Review's Radio Free California Podcast
A show about the perilous state of the Golden State—and what that means for you, wherever you live. California is the hothouse lab of the Left, the nation-state creating the statist policies, art, and lifestyles of the future – and generating the political dollars to make them a reality in a community near you. Hosts Will Swaim (California Policy Center) and David Bahnsen (The Bahnsen Group, Fox Business News commentator, conservative activist) beam this weekly show internationally, from mostly undisclosed pirate-radio platforms west of the Sierra Nevada. [Intro music graciously provided by Los Angeles-based Metalachi, the metal/mariachi soundtrack of the...
Episode 474: California Steps Back from the Brink
Despite the November 3 electoral debacle, California voters proved considerably more moderate than headlines in the state's major newspapers would suggest. Bonus: We mark the arrest on November 12, 1883, of Black Bart, the Northern California gentleman robber and poet. Music by Metalachi.
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Show Notes:
David, “Midterm Mayhem for the Free a...Episode 473: Electoral Dysfunction
Political analyst Jon Fleischman joins the show to run through Tuesday’s results, with cameo appearances by Xavier Becerra, Scott Wiener, Karen Bass, Nithya Raman. Where does California’s brand-damaged Republican party go from here? David takes a break from travel to send us a 90-second message about the virtues of USC football and celebrates the team’s smashing win over The Ohio State University Buckeyes at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Halloween night. Music by Metalachi.
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Episode 472: Alex Padilla Can’t Get Arrested
Handcuffed and released after he blasted into a 2025 DHS press conference in Los Angeles, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla is still fighting ICE... but nobody cares. The L.A. Times makes it through an entire story about flooding without once referencing “climate change.” Bonus Track: Will talks with wealth manager Bill Exeter about La Mesa’s decision to appoint a 20-year-old UCLA undergrad as the city’s treasurer. Music by Metalachi.
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Episode 471: Suicide of the West Coast
Will sees similarities between the violence in France and California’s war on common sense; David offers hope. In other news: Gavin Newsom’s conspiracy to ban fracking collides with a state judge in Bakersfield, California takes Tesla to court over workers’ use of the N-word, and a federal investigation discovers that antisemitism begins in Berkeley’s elementary schools. In our bonus track, attorney John Manly says California’s teacher unions have become “the predator protection lobby.” Music by Metalachi.
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Episode 470: Why the California Left Loves Donald Trump
Governor Gavin Newsom spins Trump’s “threat” to allow Iran to nuke California, alarming almost no one. Bonus conversation with attorney Scott Davison about an infamous memo calling for the FBI to investigate parents who showed up to school council meetings during the Covid-19 pandemic. Music by Metalachi.
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A Modest Proposal for the Purification of California HistoryPro-Hamas Scholar Addresses Claremont Students Virtually on Oct. 7On...Episode 469: A Wealth Tax That Makes You Poorer
Will talks with Hoover Institution economist Ben Jaros and legal scholar Aharon Friedman about likely post-election challenges to Proposition 40, the Billionaire Wealth Tax. Music by Metalachi.
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Hoover Institution’s latest revision reveals more bad news about Prop. 40 Friedman, Jaros and Rauh, “The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act and the Constitution: Retroactivity, Residency, and the Limits of CaliforEpisode 468: What Would California Dems Do in the Absence of ‘Trump’?
In his first and only gubernatorial debate with Xavier Becerra, Republican Steve Hilton brought actual policy to counter Becerra’s incantatory use of the word ‘Trump.’ We look at the unintended — but utterly predictable — consequences of L.A.’s Mansion Tax. Vanity Fair’s deep profile reveals Gavin Newsom’s remarkable shallowness. Companies doing business in California are now required to document their ties to slavery.
Bonus! Gene Autry was more than just Hollywood’s ‘Singing Cowboy’ — he was a real American hero. Music by Metalachi.
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Episode 467: Bari Weiss Beats Bonta
California AG Rob Bonta has sued for peace in his fight with Paramount’s David Ellison, making Bari Weiss this week’s biggest winner. David says Republicans are poorly positioned to counter the Democrats’ affection for socialism. Will says California Dems finally have former Union general and abolitionist John C. Fremont right where they want him. Harry and Meghan join the California exodus.
Bonus: Cal Policy’s Lance Christensen says Gavin Newsom got it right — four times! Music by Metalachi.
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Episode 466: Newsom's 'Zen Diagram'
Guest Jon Fleischman helps Will break down the news of the week, including Gavin Newsom’s remarkably weird interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, his AI alarmism, and his surprise legislative vetoes. Yet another major battery fire has climate activists wondering who to blame when “clean” energy goes awry. The city of Long Beach responds to the Soviet submarine in its harbor. And we remember the Siege of Los Angeles, September 22, 1846. Music by Metalachi.
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Episode 465: Bring In the Fembots!
In Gavin Newsom’s California, artificial intelligence is apparently dangerous enough to require an expanding apparatus of government regulation, but, in the hands of the state, trustworthy enough to answer your questions about government itself. In other news, Inglewood bails on its SoFi Stadium debt, Ro Khanna embraces race hustling, and David learns about Star Trek's cultural ties to SoCal’s scientific community. Music by Metalachi.
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‘Star Trek’ premieresThe New Generation of Defens...Episode 464: The Revolution Will Be Livestreamed
California’s state employees swear an oath to protect the United States Constitution — so what’s up with the university professors calling for armed revolution and the liquidation of Democrats? Newsom visits with South Carolina Democrats but can’t outrun his failures back home, including high unemployment and a new audit showing that the tiniest high-speed rail system in the world has run off the tracks. Bonus: If you missed David and Will’s discussion of November’s 14 ballot measures, listen to Will’s conversation here with political analyst Jon Fleischman. Music by Metalachi.
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Episode 463: Return of the Living Debt
In 1999, the last time California boosted the benefits it pays government employees – earlier retirements, richer retirements – financial disaster followed quickly. Now, state lawmakers want Newsom to try it again. We fact-check Newsom’s claims on housing starts (terrible) and jobs (worse). Iowa’s AG sues California for blocking the Paramount-Warner merger. Now that he’s successful, Mark Zuckerberg says social media companies must be regulated. David and Will break down the Nick Shirley Act. Music by Metalachi.
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Episode 462: California Ballot Boxing
Since 1911, Californians have been allowed a direct role in legislation via the initiative and referendum process. This year’s November ballot features 14 measures, including the Billionaire Wealth Tax, two “affordability” programs that will make housing more expensive, and a bid to make the nation’s highest marginal income-tax rate a permanent impediment to prosperity.
Bonus! David discusses the birth today of his fifth book, “Profit from the Profit.” Music by Metalachi.
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Davi...
Episode 461: Bahnsen's Iron Law of Politics
Discussing this week’s news -- taxpayer-funded political campaigns, students learning about social justice from a rabid anti-Israel activist, DEI in college admissions, and Newsom’s enthusiasm for new automobile tire regulations -- David concludes with a general principle: “In public policy, every reductio ad absurdum eventually becomes an absurdum.” Bonus: Hoover Institute economist Benjamin Jaros offers his latest battlefield assessment of California’s wealth tax. Music by Metalachi.
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Show Notes:
Karen Bass ripped after vira...