Past the headlines, into the decisions.

California Dreamshot is a podcast from California Forward (CA FWD) — a multi-partisan, nonprofit organization working to build a new California economy that’s resilient, sustainable, and inclusive. Our hosts and their guests go past the headlines to the decisions that actually shape the state.

With a focus on industrial and energy policy, and climate and economic resilience, California Dreamshot is made for the people who move California forward. New episodes every other week.

One Show, Two Beats, Four Expert Voices

New episodes every other week, alternating beats.

Meet the Hosts

Why a Podcast, and Why Now?

California is the world’s fourth-largest economy and its most ambitious climate laboratory—the decisions that shape both are usually made far from public view. California Dreamshot brings those decisions into the open: real stories, real data, and the people actually doing the work, talking honestly about what it takes to build an economy that works for every region of the state.

Episodes

Every now and then, the full crew sits down together for a Roundtable. The rest of the time, the show alternates every other week between our two beats: Resilience Policy and Industrial & Energy Policy.

Episode 2: Rewiring California’s Transmission System — and Its Economy

Industrial & Energy Policy with Kate Gordon and Priyanka Mohanty

We don’t always think about the poles and the wires—we just flip the switch. But California’s transmission system was designed for an era with flat demand, no data centers, and no wildfire liability — and every one of those assumptions has broken at once.

In this episode, Kate and Priyanka dig into why transmission has become a central story in California politics, and what it would take to fix it. They’re joined by Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, Chair of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Energy, whose AB 2516 would pool the state’s purchasing power to bring down the cost of transmission equipment — and build it here at home.

Petrie-Norris makes a case that cuts against the current political grain: the more you care about the clean energy future, the more you have to care about what Californians pay today. “We need to be an inspiration, not a cautionary tale.”

Then, By the Numbers takes on the average price of a new car — and what it says about the gap between the cost of a thing and the ability to afford it.

Stay Connected

California Dreamshot is a production of CA FWD, in partnership with:

California Dreamshot is produced in partnership with Pretty Good Productions.