{"podcast":{"title":"Political Breakdown","slug":"political-breakdown-683875","podcast_index_feed_id":683875,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9796326111","website_url":"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/politicalbreakdown","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/3684f0fc-a1ec-11ea-a4d4-c3a2c1e05d46/image/cc7063c12f3b91030d4dc7da579b5d49.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"KQED","episode_count":792,"summary":"Join hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos as they unpack the day in politics with a California perspective. Featuring interviews with reporters and other insiders involved in the craft of politics—including elected officials, candidates, pollsters, campaign managers, fundraisers, and other political players—Political Breakdown pulls back the curtain to offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics works today.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-18T22:21:15.189762+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-breakdown-683875"},"episode":{"title":"Threats to California’s Vote-By-Mail Mount Before June Primary","slug":"threats-to-california-s-vote-by-mail-mount-before-june-primary","published_at":"2026-03-27T23:14:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-breakdown-683875/threats-to-california-s-vote-by-mail-mount-before-june-primary","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-breakdown-683875","url":"https://next.kqed.org/news/12077846","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC8383072835.mp3?updated=1774653664","summary":"California’s vote-by-mail system is facing a two-pronged attack. In Riverside County, the sheriff has seized hundreds of thousands of ballots from the November election, making highly questionable allegations of fraud. Plus, the U.S. Supreme Court is scrutinizing the practice of counting mail-in ballots that arrive after election day. Scott, Marisa and Guy discuss the threats to California’s voting laws and what they could mean for the June primary. Then, they break down a debate debacle in Los Angeles, where the University of Southern California abruptly cancelled a scheduled gubernatorial debate after four candidates of color who were not invited protested that the criteria used to determine who to include was biased. Check out ⁠⁠⁠Political Breakdown’s weekly newsletter⁠⁠⁠, delivered straight to your inbox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"California’s vote-by-mail system is facing a two-pronged attack. In Riverside County, the sheriff has seized hundreds of thousands of ballots from the Nov…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1644,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/political-breakdown-683875/episodes/threats-to-california-s-vote-by-mail-mount-before-june-primary/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/political-breakdown-683875/threats-to-california-s-vote-by-mail-mount-before-june-primary.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}