Candidate for LA District Attorney - George Gascón

07/02/20 • 55 min

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Today’s guest is George Gascón, a candidate running for the office of Los Angeles District Attorney. To quote an editorial from the L.A. Times from October of last year, “There is a strong case to be made that aside from the presidential race, the most important item before voters in 2020 will be the race for L.A. County D.A.” The reasoning behind such a bold prediction is centered on the relatively high incarceration rates in L.A. county. The two-term incumbent, Jackie Lacey, has made a name for herself as being tough on crime. So when George Gascón entered the race running on a platform to end mass incarceration, the death penalty, and to enact police reform, people took notice. His platform has only increased in relevance since the death of George Floyd instigated America’s racial reckoning. Gascón has since garnered the support of progressives such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as musicians John Legend and Common.

Listen in as we cover everything from how he’s running his campaign during the age of Zoom/social distancing, the difficulties of changing structural problems within policing, and how he plans to change them, and we go into the specifics of his plan to completely reform L.A.’s system of mass incarceration.

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101 Cider & Pulp Culture - Mark and Brendan

Today we’ve got a two-for-one special. Our guests are Mark McTavish and Brendan Brazier. Together the two of them are revolutionizing the American cider industry by sitting back and letting Mother Nature do its thing. While that might seem a bit simplistic, they realized that there’s no need to add any extra sugar, water, or substances to their cider. They literally juice the apples and let them sit for 3 months before canning them and selling them. That’s it! That’s their process! And let me tell you from my own taste test: I’m a big fan. Mark says that anyone can do this at home, but I’m going to keep letting them do the work so that I can enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Listen in as we cover everything from how Mark was inspired by the day-drinking culture in Northern Spain, how many apples you have to juice to get one serving of cider, and why the wine industry has lobbied to make it illegal to put ingredients on anything over 7% alcohol.

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Therabody - Dr. Jason Wersland

Today’s guest is Dr. Jason Wersland, founder of Therabody. The journey in creating Therabody has been a very personal one for Dr. J. In 2007 he was cruising around LA on his motorcycle when a car cut him off and sent him flying. The recovery from that crash was long and frustrating, prompting Dr. J to invent the first iteration of Theragun, an instrument that helped his body heal through percussive therapy. Theragun was far from an overnight success though, and Dr. J spent years trying to convince anyone who would listen about the benefits of using one. But over time, as Theragun found its way into the hands of more and more people, the feeling was undeniable. Now, with the launch of a new line of CBD products, the company formerly known as Theragun has become Therabody.

Listen in as we cover everything from how a fateful knock on his door from a famous stranger convinced him not to give up, why innovation leads science, and why Dr. J believes the three most important attributes in an entrepreneur are persistence, consistency, and delusion.