Episodes

  • Introducing The Political Mind of Jerry Brown

    Introducing The Political Mind of Jerry Brown
    Dec 18 2019
    Jerry Brown often complains that no one comes to him for political advice. So we came knocking, and we’re glad we did. Across more than forty hours of exclusive interviews, Brown shares his lessons on politics and government gleaned from his five decades in the arena. 
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    3 mins
  • The Novice

    The Novice
    Jan 11 2020
    Before Jerry Brown was a political chessmaster, he was a political novice. He grows up in a world apart from the political rise of his father, Governor Pat Brown, and enters the Jesuit novitiate to study for the priesthood. But in 1960, he gives his father some political advice that nearly derails Pat’s career. In the process, Brown learns that the world of politics is very different from the world of ideas. 
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    24 mins
  • Ins and Outs

    Ins and Outs
    Jan 11 2020
    Jerry Brown’s political ambitions could not have come from less humble beginnings. A conversation overheard in the governor’s mansion sparks his political interest, and his father’s crushing defeat to Ronald Reagan illuminates the guiding principle for his political rise: politics is a struggle between those in and out of power. Brown’s weapon of choice against the ins? Political reform. 
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    29 mins
  • But for Me

    But for Me
    Jan 11 2020
    Brown takes office in 1975, with a guiding vision: what can I do that would not be done, but for me? That means taking on issues that had previously been unaddressed, like collective bargaining rights for California’s farmworkers, and bringing new faces and ideas into state government. And when Brown thinks he has used his gubernatorial power to the fullest, he turns his attention to the highest office in the land.  But along the way, his go-it-alone approach ruffles more than a few feathers. 
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    25 mins
  • The Eye

    The Eye
    Jan 11 2020
    When a tax revolt leads to the passage of Proposition 13, California Democrats are shell-shocked, while Jerry Brown sees a political opening. But in his second term as governor, Brown’s political eye begins to fail him; in a disastrous run for president, a bungled response to an agricultural crisis, and a losing Senate campaign that leaves him out of politics. 
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    27 mins
  • Holy Water

    Holy Water
    Jan 11 2020
    After six years in the political "wilderness," Jerry Brown returns to politics in the early 1990’s, fighting against the influence of money and swearing off big contributions. But by the end of his career, he questions demands for more transparency and the rejection of certain donations, returning to an old saying of his father’s: “you can’t sprinkle holy water on campaign money."
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    24 mins
  • Direct Action

    Direct Action
    Jan 11 2020
    Brown takes office as mayor of Oakland in 1999, with the goals of improving development, public safety, and schools. He learns that solving the city’s issues will take direct action: negotiating with neighbors, riding along with cops, and walking the hallways of the city’s schools. But critics say getting closer to the problems didn’t remove Brown’s blind spots. 
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    29 mins
  • Think for Myself

    Think for Myself
    Jan 11 2020
    In his runs for attorney general and governor, Brown ignores the conventional wisdom of political consultants; relying instead on his own political mind and small team. Back in the governor's office, Brown blocks out criticism from his own party and carries out painful budget cuts in the face of a massive deficit. 
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    23 mins