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This episode is a very insightful and relevant conversation with Adam Sieff covering the importance of the First Amendment, the influence of special interests on our governance system and what we can do to mitigate it, and the role of third parties in our political system. Adam is a media and constitutional litigator with Davis Wright Tremaine where he focuses on emerging issues involving online speech regulation. He also represents internet, media, and technology clients in First Amendment, Section 230, copyright, trademark, antitrust, and related constitutional litigation and appeals, including challenges to state and federal laws. He is also the Chair of the Hollywood chapter of Govern for California, a nonprofit advocating for the public’s interest in the California State Legislature. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 01:17 Reasons for staying in California 02:32 How to fix California housing crisis 07:53 Govern for California work 13:24 Reaching compromise and coalition building 19:59 The role of ballot initiatives in our democracy 24:03 Why republicans don’t have any voice in California 26:20 Forbearance and mutual tolerance 29:10 Parliamentary democracy and unwritten political norms 33:53 Culture of civic virtue and mandatory national service 37:35 Obtaining funding for Govern for California and political philanthropy 40:20 Campaign finance rulings and reforms 56:04 First Amendment and online speech 01:04:21 Online safety laws 01:05:55 Role of AI in our governance system Guest links: Adam's profile: https://www.dwt.com/people/s/sieff-adam Adam's Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamssieff?lang=en Govern for California: https://www.governforcalifornia.org Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

Episode 73 is a conversation with Andrew Linares, Volunteer Manager at the Midnight Mission, a non-profit organization which helps homeless individuals in Southern California. With only five executive managers throughout its 100-year history, it is known to be the most efficient direct service operation in the country. Chapters: 0:00 Meals for the homeless 01:57 What differentiates Midnight Mission 04:24 How does the shelter operate 06:02 Housing-first approach and SRO (single room occupancy) 07:26 Nonprofit resource allocation - how do they spend money? 09:35 Midnight mission services 12:40 Program for drug addicts-12-steps and personal autonomy 18:22 What to do about street camping 20:17 How to deal with homelessness on a policy level 26:50 Harm reduction policies 28:45 Nonsensical government funding programs 33:39 Jobs for homeless people 36:04 What is the government doing wrong and how they can improve 38:46 Prop47 and AB109 40:46 History of Midnight Mission and homelessness 44:03 Hiring previously homeless people 45:45 Collaboration with rehabs and evaluation of results 50:00 Advice to the government Guest links: Andrew's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreslinares2015 Midnight Mission website: https://www.midnightmission.org Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

I drove down to San Diego to speak with my Twitter friend Ashley Luna. She is a separated mom of two who wishes political leaders would listen more to women’s voices and parental concerns. Her top legislative issues are education reform/school choice, defending women’s female spaces, family court reform, domestic abuse awareness, late term elective abortion, affordable access to childcare and homeownership, and the 32 hour work week. We had a super insightful conversation about the above topics that I'm sure all of you will find interesting. 0:00 Why live in San Diego 0:50 How to choose a school for your kids 03:28 Kids are not being taught how to read and write 09:30 Common Core Math Standards 14:21 Parents as full-time teachers 18:18 Critical race theory 21:56 School choice 30:37 Grade inflation and school accountability 31:50 Schools ban playing for safety reasons 37:51 Homeschooling and where to live with kids 40:43 Domestic abuse, divorce, co-parenting 47:43 Child support 51:29 Family courts, child support hearing, custody 01:01:39 Marital separation agreement, mortgage, foreclosure 01:11:21 The power of speaking up Guest links: Ashley's Twitter: https://twitter.com/RealAshleyLuna Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

This episode is a conversation with a California farmer and small business owner, who wished to remain anonymous, about his grievances and ways to improve California. Chapters: 0:00 The value of fresh produce 02:47 California laws against businesses (mental health leave) 05:35 How overtime law harms workers and small businesses 08:33 How trucking policy aimed to curb climate change does more harm than good 20:04 Tyrannical government 22:53 How to fix California (farmer’s perspective) 28:30 COVID policies 31:48 Silicon Valley supporting grifters, difference between democrats and republicans 34:10 Immigration and border control 41:06 Solution to homelessness 57:47 Moving to Austin, Texas 01:00:02 Argument against increasing minimum wage 01:05:32 Water issues in California 01:10:14 Population increase and urbanisation Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

This podcast episode is a conversation with Bianca Blomquist, California Policy Director & Northern California Outreach Director at Small Business Majority, a national small business organisation that empowers America's diverse entrepreneurs to build a thriving and equitable economy. We discussed the grievances of small businesses in California and what we can do to fix it. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 01:27 What is causing the outflow of small businesses from California? 05:09 Types of small business 07:00 Reasons for business closure during the pandemic 10:39 Business organisations working with small business owners 12:54 Are business owners scared to speak up? 15:21 Predatory lending practices 21:20 Worker benefits - paid family leave, mental health leave, CFRA 29:05 How to deal with increased bureaucracy? What are small business development centers? 33:57 Are climate policies more harmful than helpful? 36:36 How does increased minimum wage hurt small businesses? 40:57 The problem of rising health insurance costs for small businesses 44:05 Corporate tax rate cuts 47:03 The FAST Act 51:48 Regulation and anti-trust laws Guest links: Bianca's profile: https://smallbusinessmajority.org/team/bianca-blomquist Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

This is the full Interview with Lucian Tudor, a California-based restaurant owner who's had enough of the unresponsiveness of the elected officials to his concerns. His restaurant in Hollywood is in the red because of increased minimum wage ($19.08) coupled with paid time off for his part-time employees. Additionally, his restaurants have been broken into and vandalised many times. Instead of helping him, the City Council started bullying him. He's now looking to sell and move to a different state. Hear his grievances below. Please go to La Boheme in WEHO or 1212 in Santa Monica to support his business. Chapters: 0:00 Legalised corruption 05:11 How is crime and homelessness affecting restaurants 07:17 Increased minimum wage drives business out of California 09:08 Defunding the police 10:45 Senate Bill 553 prohibiting employees from fighting against criminals 17:06 How the middle class became poor 18:22 Are city council town halls useful? 21:10 Moving to business-friendly states 22:57 City council bullying 24:25 Does the American Dream still exist? 26:06 Value of free speech 27:51 Importance of voting and buying votes Guest links: Lucian's profile: https://globaldiningca.com/santa-monica-global-dining-inc-of-california-meet-team Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

Episode 67 is part of “Problems in California” series featuring David Nahai. David is an Iranian-American environmental attorney, political activist, and former head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. David is also former Chairman of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (“Regional Water Board”), and former Senior Advisor to the Clinton Climate Initiative. In January 2021, David was reappointed to the Regional Board by Governor Gavin Newsom. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 01:01 What brought David into public service 05:16 Why should California be the leader in tackling climate change 07:57 How should California tackle climate change effectively 10:34 Message to people working in the oil and gas industry 12:28 Universal Basic Income 17:27 Government retraining programs 18:25 Subsidies to companies in the renewable energy industry 21:10 LA Department of Water and Power and Energy Prices 28:07 Recycling waste water 33:01 Capturing rainfall water and cleaning up aquifers 38:56 City ordinances to prevent people from excessively watering their lawn 44:19 Climate policies harming farmers and truckers 48:33 Nuclear energy 51:38 Public-private partnerships and investments in clean tech 53:03 Wildfires and water usage 54:21 Political activism Guest links: David's website: https://www.davidnahai.com LA Incubator: https://laincubator.org/team/david-nahai/ Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

The following conversation is part of my media campaign whose goal is to shine light on the problems and policy failures that plague California. I want to know what's working, what's not working, and what needs to change. The government doesn’t seem to be taking the voices of Californians into consideration, so I’m starting this campaign to amplify them. This episode features Peggy and Stu Wolf. Peggy is a nurse and Stu is a doctor. They have worked in the healthcare industry their whole life and know inside out what works and what doesn’t and what can the government improve. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 01:07 Vaccines/Treating COVID 10:41 Fauci, Gain of Function Research and Pharma Industry 17:09 Link between heart attack and vaccine 24:00 Mask mandates, effectiveness of masks 33:16 How to handle a pandemic 38:40 WHO, UN and world care and child labor 42:07 Long COVID and another virus 48:18 Decoupling from China 50:57 HMOs 57:18 Who controls physicians? And how? 01:05:08 What prevents doctors from treating their patients? 01:13:36 Black market 01:15:40 The harms of private equity in healthcare 01:24:46 The reality of nursing homes 01:28:14 Policy solutions 01:35:32 Illegal immigrants on MediCal 01:38:34 Advice to people Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

Episode 65 is part of new series called “Common Sense in California” featuring Jared Klickstein, a former homeless man and drug addict who lived on LA’s notorious Skid Row. Jared is an amazing writer and his book "Crooked Smile" will be out in 2024. You can follow him on Twitter and Substack (links below). In this episode, we discussed Jared’s background, the root causes of homelessness, drug addiction and crime, and what we can do on the local and state level to solve these problems. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 02:28 Jared’s story 06:43 Al Gore movie and the “hopelessness” propaganda 10:15 Getting addicted to heroin 16:39 How heroin deletes your identity 19:24 Why private rehabs don’t work and what living there is like 27:31 Why nonprofit rehabs are the real deal 30:37 How California incentivises homelessness 33:32 We need politicians with common sense 34:17 What is it like living on Skid Row in LA 37:06 Meth versus heroin 42:44 Shoplifting and getting arrested 46:39 How Proposition 47 changed sentencing guidelines 48:47 Current state of police 50:37 Why are DAs so lenient and is George Soros involved? 55:57 Should we decriminalise or legalise drugs? 57:00 Is China feeding us fentanyl? 01:02:19 What drugs do to your body 01:07:32 Arrest and 6 month jail sentence experience 01:17:21 Getting into non-profit rehab 01:20:31 Sober living 01:27:02 Corruption in nonprofits 01:29:55 Job training in rehab 01:32:13 Does mental health illness precede drug addiction and homelessness? 01:33:57 Message to an 18 year old 01:38:46 God, religion and hope 01:43:27 Jared for City Council 01:44:24 Gift cards for sober homeless people 01:45:31 California homelessness budget and harm reduction nonprofits 01:50:19 Helping sober homeless people 01:54:02 Supervised consumption sites 1:57:02 Bill AB109 changing sentencing guidelines and drug court 02:01:51 Can Elon Musk save California? Jared's links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaredKlickstein Substack: https://t.co/4zAEaP3oVd Book: Crooked Smile (Out in 2024) Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie Common Sense Party: https://act.cacommonsense.org Update your voter registration: https://act.cacommonsense.org/register

Episode 64 is a conversation with Salar Shahini, the founder of SweatPals, a platform for fitness and wellness events, communities and friends. Salar grew up in Iran, started a successful deep tech company in the US at age 23, lived in Istanbul for a while, and currently lives in Austin while leading an amazing team of SweatPals. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:40 Background (From Iran to the US) 5:21 What is SweatPals 11:19 Monetisation 15:40 Brand partnerships 21:17 Pickleball 23:54 Creator program 28:00 Is Austin good for startups 30:36 Competition 33:11 Marketing 38:32 Biggest failures and cold start problem 44:22 Idea validation 45:44 Hiring and social media strategy 54:08 Pitching and fundraising and KPIs 01:01:29 Team roles, leadership and hiring 01:08:58 Advice for startup founders 01:13:22 Where to find Salar and Sweatpals Guest Links: Website: https://sweatpalscommunities.com Salar's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salarshahini/ Insta: https://www.instagram.com/sweatpalsapp/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SweatPals Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

Episode 63 is a conversation with Mason Lynaugh, cofounder of ATX DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation) working to unite Austin's crypto communities, enable local artists and businesses to participate in the crypto ecosystem, and educate the government about the benefits of Web3. Mason was born and raised in Austin and worked in music and tech before entering the crypto community. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:38 How Mason got into the crypto community 03:15 Why is crypto appealing? 04:24 What is a DAO and why is it useful 10:01 Revenue and resource allocation in a DAO 14:12 Voting, tokenization and making decisions 18:56 How can DAO help local businesses 24:02 Members 25:29 Web3 29:50 Collaboration with the government 33:51 Voting through blockchain 37:57 NFT project and REP tokens 46:07 Public policy advocacy 54:10 Why did VCs abandon Web3? 59:00 Membership model and applications 01:03:18 How to find Mason and ATX DAO Guest Links: Website: https://www.atxdao.com Mason's Twitter: https://twitter.com/512mace Mason's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/masonlynaugh/ Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie

Episode 62 is a conversation with Adir Oren, the founder of Gigaroo, a financial stability provider for Gen Z. Adir has over 20 years of experience as business & technology leader, having founded 2 companies before Gigaroo, and his passion is to harness technology for the development of business solutions in B2B and B2C. Chapters: 0:00 Introduction 0:33 From Israel to Austin 02:05 What is Gigaroo 09:03 Competition 10:25 Creating partnerships 14:30 Building matching algorithm 19:36 Sales process 21:08 Outreach to Gen Z 25:10 Failures and lessons learned 29:57 How to find a cofounder and validate an idea 42:14 How to choose the right technology 43:51 Hiring 52:38 Fundraising - how to pitch and pick the right investor 01:00:34 Monetization and how to get to Series A 01:02:09 Advice for startup founders 01:05:32 How to find Adir and Gigaroo Guest Links: Gigaroo's website: https://gigarooapp.com Adir's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adir-oren/ Think with Lucie links: https://www.youtube.com/@thinkwithlucie https://twitter.com/thinkwithlucie https://www.instagram.com/thinkwithlucie