Show In Progress with Matt Strabone

Show In Progress with Matt Strabone convenes a panel of current and former chairs of the San Diego County Democratic Party to review the most impactful results of Super Tuesday, from the presidential primary contests to local races. Current chair Will Rodriguez-Kennedy and former chairs Jessica Hayes and Jess Durfee join Matt to give the inside scoop on how primary delegates work, what happens in the important elections close to home, and much more. Matt kicks things off with a joke that gets roasted.

Show In Progress with Matt Strabone presents its highly anticipated predictions episode for the 2020 primary election. Matt begins the episode by forgetting where he is, but recovers quickly and is then joined by award-winning Voice of San Diego journalist Andy Keatts. The pair discuss some of the region’s most interesting races: the presidential primary, U.S. Congressional Districts 50 & 53, County Board of Supervisors Districts 1 & 3, Mayor of San Diego, San Diego Council Districts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9, and ballot measures A & C. Matt ends the proceedings with a joke about sneaky elephants.

This episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone sees the host chatting with two elected officials—San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher and California Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath—about their first years in their respective offices. After some brief words about the need for serious reform to our system of checks and balances, Matt hears from Supervisor Fletcher about the county’s ability to deal with regional challenges. He then speaks with Assemblymember Boerner Horvath and learns about how a notable equal-pay-for-athletes law came together. The episode ends with a pointless joke.

It’s the Bike Lane Episode on Show In Progress with Matt Strabone. Matt begins the show with a fun idea for getting more people to take the bus—spoiler: think frequent flyer miles on a smaller scale. Matt then interviews two people on opposite sides of the bike lane debate: Andy Hanshaw, the executive director of the San Diego County Bike Coalition, and Pat Sexton, spokesperson for Save Our 30th Street Parking. Matt concludes the proceedings with a rather literal cost-of-living joke.

Show In Progress with Matt Strabone returns after an unexpected hiatus, and Matt kicks things off with the story behind what happened. Matt also shares five commonsense proposals for ethics reform in San Diego before getting to the meat of the episode: San Diego County Measure A, a land-use initiative also known as “SOS.” He speaks first with Cody Petterson (05:12), who is the president of San Diego County Democrats for Environmental Action and a supporter of Measure A, and then chats with Tanya Castaneda (24:04) of the public relations firm MNM, which has been hired to oppose Measure A. Matt ends the episode with a joke that has to come in from the cold.

Another good candidate forum on Show In Progress with Matt Strabone this week as Matt speaks with two candidates hoping to replace termed-out Republican San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox and represent County District 1, which encompasses the South Bay. Matt interviews Port of San Diego Commissioner Rafael Castellanos (01:20) and Southwestern Community College Trustee Nora Vargas (33:31) about their experience and the most pressing issues facing the South Bay’s communities, providing important insight into how they would represent their constituents on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. Matt finishes the episode with a joke that never grows up.

It’s a candidate forum on Show In Progress with Matt Strabone this week as Matt speaks with the two Democrats vying to unseat incumbent Republican San Diego County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar. Matt chats separately with Escondido City Councilmember Olga Diaz and UCSD professor Terra Lawson-Remer, asking each to share their origin stories, their top legislative priorities, and their thoughts on homelessness, transit, land use, and more. Both candidates provide a deep dive on their way of thinking and how they would approach serving on the County Board of Supervisors. Matt ends the episode with a joke that is criminally bad.

To be, or not to Airbnb? That is the question posed by this episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone. To answer it, Matt solicits two very different opinions—first he speaks with Brian Curry of Save San Diego Neighborhoods who pulls no punches with his contention that short-term vacation rentals, and whole-home rentals in particular, are illegal and should be treated that way. Matt also speaks with Matt Kiessling of the Travel Technology Association, a trade group that represents companies like Airbnb and others in this industry, who argues that short-term rentals provide important benefits for the community and allow unprecedented options for travelers. The host ends the episode with a joke that Bill Gates—and maybe nobody else—might enjoy.

Show In Progress with Matt Strabone starts this week with Matt quickly looking in on how the interest groups that have long dominated San Diego might respond to changing political realities. Matt then interviews two recipients of the mythical Strabone Bump: Councilmember Monica Montgomery and Trustee Sean Elo. Councilmember Montgomery discusses how she’s been able to make City Hall more accessible to the residents of her district, and also points out the need for balance when thinking about the housing issue and particularly how important it is to build more than just housing. Trustee Elo explains the sorts of issues taken up by the San Diego Community College Board and the biggest challenges the board currently faces, and he talks briefly about the work he does in his day job as the executive director of Youth Will. You’ll want to lighten up before listening to Matt’s joke at the end.

Matt pays homage to the civil service to start this episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone and then has a wide-ranging discussion with Alejandra Sotelo-Solis, the mayor of National City, California. Mayor Sotelo-Solis shares her origin story and offers her vision for the future of her city, including her thoughts on approaching the housing and economic development challenges National City faces and her efforts to improve transparency in city government. The mayor offers clear-eyed plans to lift National City up and have it play a vital role in the greater San Diego region. Matt ends it with a joke will elevate your mind.

Matt begins this episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone with the idea that voting should be an act of joy and then makes the case for choosing your preferred 2020 primary candidate with your heart rather than your head. He’s then joined by Phoebe Sweet, a political comms pro and former speechwriter to retired Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, to analyze the first two nights of Democratic presidential primary debates. The pair decides who performed well, who didn’t, and what the best debate moments were, and they share some thoughts on what might happen going forward. Matt ends the episode with some advice about staying warm.

NIMBY? YIMBY? PHIMBY? Oh my! On this episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt hosts a forum of sorts to break down the housing debate in San Diego once and for all. He’s joined first by Jim LaMattery, a realtor and the spokesperson for anti-development group Raise the Balloon, who argues that San Diego should pump the brakes on changes that would make it easier to change zoning rules and build denser housing. Next is Maya Rosas, president of the YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County, who advocates for as much new housing to be built as possible in order to alleviate San Diego’s housing shortage. Finally, Andy Kopp, a public housing advocate, takes the position that the private sector alone can’t be relied upon to solve the housing crisis. The episode ends with a joke you’ll want to avoid if you can’t handle dairy.

Show In Progress with Matt Strabone returns for a second season. In the season premiere, Matt discusses an important aspect of the ill-fated For the People Act and interviews Congressman Mike Levin about his time in Washington so far. Rep. Levin details his origin story and discusses the issues he’s focused on since taking office, including the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Rep. Levin also talks about the Green New Deal, makes the case that House Democrats have gotten a lot done since taking the majority, and explains how he pursues legislation that matches his progressive values while representing a swing congressional district. Rep. Levin hasn’t shied away from taking bold action to tackle climate change but has also sought bipartisanship where possible, particularly on veterans’ issues. Matt shapes the end of the episode with a joke that might go unappreciated in the Netherlands.

In the tenth episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt is joined by prominent political consultant Greg Scanlon (1:03) to make sense of the midterm election results and look into the crystal ball for 2020. Greg opines about some of 2018’s takeaways nationally (5:57) and the pair discuss San Diego’s city council election results and the new Democratic supermajority on the council (10:30). Nathan Fletcher’s impressive victory at the county level gets a mention (14:00) before an in-depth post mortem of what went wrong for SoccerCity’s ballot measure (15:35). Greg talks about the lessons local Republicans might need to learn (20:22) before the conversation turns to 2020. Greg offers his 2020 presidential election prediction and the duo discuss how a big, messy presidential primary might actually be good for Democrats (22:20). Matt ends the episode with a pun about population (27:26).

In the ninth episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt welcomes Voice of San Diego reporter Andy Keatts to the podcast (0:58) to talk about the upcoming elections and make predictions about some of the most-profile races in the San Diego region. With careful detail, Andy forecasts the winners in San Diego County Board of Supervisors District 4 (2:01), the 49th (4:38) and 50th (6:54) Congressional Districts, the 77th (9:14) and 76th (12:52) California Assembly Districts, and San Diego City Council Districts 2 (15:40), 4 (19:13), 6 (21:29), and 8 (23:15). Andy also speculates on the outcomes for City of San Diego Measures E (27:53) and G (29:06), and makes rapid-fire guesses about control of the U.S. House (29:48) and Senate (29:51), who the post-2020 President of the United States (30:02) and mayor of San Diego (30:07) are, and the 2018-2019 NBA Champion (30:18). The episode ends with Matt opining about life in Switzerland (30:58).

In episode eight of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt points to municipal broadband as a response to the end of net neutrality (1:02) and interviews San Diego city councilwoman and possible 2020 mayoral candidate Barbara Bry. Councilwoman Bry begins by talking about her career prior to politics (3:32), how her business background impacts her work on the city council (4:26), and the new regulations on short-term vacation rentals she recently shepherded through the city council (6:50). Bry then shares her vision for San Diego’s future by stressing the importance of the innovation economy (12:15), and gives her thoughts on homelessness (14:39), her electoral priorities for 2018 (16:41), dockless electric scooters (17:39), and her commitment to workplace equity (20:59). Matt ends the episode with some news about the Energizer Bunny (23:28).

In episode seven of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt explains why you should vote yes on San Diego County Measure D (1:20) and then interviews a pair of local reporters about San Diego-area congressional races that have garnered national attention. Jill Castellano of inewsource provides an overview of the race for the 49th Congressional District between Democrat Mike Levin and Republican Diane Harkey (3:16). Jill talks about the role the president and outside groups have played (5:51) and handicaps the outcome (10:47). Jade Hindmon of KPBS discusses the hotly contested 50th Congressional District featuring incumbent Republican Duncan Hunter and Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar (13:07). Jade analyzes how the federal indictment against Hunter has impacted the campaign (14:31), the racist and inaccurate attacks Hunter has launched against Campa-Najjar (15:46), and how the district’s demographics have influenced the race (20:04). Matt ends the episode with a sandwich joke (26:07).

In episode six of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt talks about why buses are great (1:17) and then interviews Colin Parent, a city councilman in La Mesa, California, and a leading transit advocate in the San Diego region (3:28). Colin begins by talking about the need to invest in access to high-quality transit and the Vision Zero movement to eliminate pedestrian deaths (5:40). Colin then shares his thoughts on the dockless electric scooter craze that is sweeping cities across the nation, the benefits and challenges those vehicles bring, and how cities should address them (9:12). The councilman also provides an analysis of traffic jams (13:33) and gives his opinion on California’s infamous bullet train project (18:11). Matt ends the episode with a joke that gets tense (22:01).

In the fifth episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt discusses the underappreciated crisis of student loan debt in our country (0:55) and then interviews Sean Elo, a candidate for San Diego Community College Board. Sean shares his origin story (5:30) and talks about why community colleges should matter to everyone (10:18). Sean also shares his own experience with student loan debt (13:30), explains why it’s important to support community college professors and meet the essential needs to students (14:50), and divulges how he’s able to connect with voters who might otherwise not think the community college is their business (17:47). Matt closes the episode with his thoughts on Columbus Day (25:19) and a nutty joke (26:07).

In the fourth episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt offers his thoughts on fixing the housing crisis (1:00) — spoiler: we should build public housing and also encourage dense private home development where it makes sense and won’t worsen gentrification — and then interviews homeless advocate and businessman Michael McConnell about homelessness. Michael discusses the scope of the crisis and measures it against the public’s limited understanding of the complexity of the issue (5:26), and then explains where local and regional political leaders have fallen short in resolving the crisis (12:57) and how much of the blame should be placed with San Diego’s mayor (14:43). Michael’s attention then turns to describing how the public can help (21:03), and finishes the interview by sharing what he believes is, and isn’t, the solution to homelessness (23:59). Matt ends the episode with a joke that will stick with you (29:44).

In the third episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt begins with a harsh analysis of the ballot initiative system in California (1:02) and then interviews Amy Dacey, the former CEO of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Amy talks about her start in politics and her career arc through being asked by President Obama to serve as the DNC’s CEO (4:57), and then discusses the hacking of the DNC’s email servers by the Russian government during her tenure, the hack’s role in her departure from the DNC, and how difficult the episode was for her professionally and personally (8:13). Amy also discusses the midterm elections and the Democrats’ chances of re-taking the House, and shares her thoughts on how the Democratic Party should share its message with voters both in 2018 and 2020 (15:09). Matt ends the episode with a joke about a Spaniard (23:12).

Matt Strabone discusses the importance of local elections (2:20) and breaks down each of the four San Diego city council races on the ballot in November (3:10). Matt then interviews San Diego city council candidate Monica Montgomery, who is coming off a historic finish in the June primary election, about her campaign’s priorities and how she differs from her incumbent opponent (7:53). Monica also discusses how the local Democratic establishment was surprised by her primary result, how she can win in November, and how the people in her district view her opponent (18:00). Matt goes on to blast a specific instance of subtle racism in San Diego’s local politics (27:46) and finishes the episode with a joke about a little boy who enjoys toy horses (29:41).

In the first episode of Show In Progress with Matt Strabone, Matt talks about money in politics, why it’s bad, why it isn’t the same as speech, how we can get rid of it, and what society could look like without it (2:28). Matt then interviews former Obama press secretary Ben LaBolt, who talks about his consequential career in politics, how the work of communications under Obama differed from what we’ve seen with Trump, how the press can adjust its coverage of the Trump presidency, and what Obama really thinks of Trump (6:40). Ben also shares his thoughts about the 2018 electoral landscape (nationally and in California) and what the 2020 election might look like (25:44). Matt closes the inaugural episode with a joke about Winnie the Pooh (32:50).