If you’re confused about the differences between Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and Armed Forces Day here in America, you’re not alone. Decades of government meddling and mixed messages have blurred the lines between honoring those who once served their country, those still on active or reserve duty, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom’s cause. Admiral James Ellis, the Hoover Institution’s Annenberg Distinguished Visiting Fellow, reflects on his nearly forty years of service on land and at sea (naval aviator, aircraft carrier "skipper" and head of the United State Strategic Command), the challenges facing veterans as they re-enter civilian life, plus ways to properly honor and improve the lives of America’s sizable veterans community.

After a lopsided victory earlier this month, can California’s redistricting Proposition 50 survive a legal challenge? And why do last January’s devastating fires in Los Angeles continue to raise unsettling questions?

Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, join Hoover senior product manager Jonathan Movroydis to discuss the latest in the Golden State including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s pending retirement, what the indictment of a former Newsom chief of staff says about Sacramento’s political culture, plus a tech-rich Northern California county’s search for more tax revenue – and, speaking of wealth, the politics and sensibility of a 5% wealth tax on California billionaires possibly headed for next year’s ballot.

Recorded on November 18, 2025.

As California enters the final phase leading up to its Nov. 4 special election and a vote on Proposition 50, plenty of unknowns surround the fate of the controversial ballot measure that would redraw California’s congressional districts to offset a Republican-led gerrymander in Texas.

Hoover senior fellow Lee Ohanian and distinguished policy fellow Bill Whalen, both contributors to Hoover’s California on Your Mind web channel, discuss the tactics and messaging behind Prop 50 (does a pair of governors playing starring roles mean too much Gavin Newsom, too little Arnold Schwarzenegger?), why the upscale town of Calabasas ended up as a toxic waste site for Los Angeles fire debris, the failure of a prominent former legislator to gain traction in next year’s governor’s race despite her compelling life story, plus the travails of UCLA’s football program – what the Bruins’ struggles on and off the field say about the state of college football in the Golden State.

Recorded on September 30, 2025.