Welcome to Bay Area Innovators. I am your host Steve Ispas. We will be talking to some of the most influential people, the ones who had and have a part in shaping what the San Francisco Bay Area is today.
Some of them you may know, as they are well known celebrities, and some you may not know. Our conversations will help you to get to know them better as they share their views and insights as well as valuable life lessons. We also hope to get something they have not shared before, their secret of success, right here on this program.
Steve Hilton on His Family’s Escape From Hungary, His Path to Silicon Valley, and Why He’s Running for Governor
What does it mean to be the son of refugees who fled communism, and how does that shape the way you see California? Steve Hilton grew up in London, the son of Hungarian refugees who left after the Soviet crackdown on the 1956 anti-communist revolution. He went on to advise a British prime minister, then moved to Silicon Valley, studied at Stanford, and later joined Fox News. Today he is running for governor of California.In this episode of Bay Area Innovators, host Steve Ispas sits down with Hilton to talk about his family’s history, including the story of his stepfather, who he says ran for the Austrian border as a young man and climbed barbed-wire fences before ending up in a refugee camp. They also discuss his move to the United States, his views on COVID-19, the issue of homelessness, and the experiences that shaped the perspective he is bringing to his campaign.We also reached out to Hilton’s opponent, Xavier Becerra, for an interview. As of publication, we have not received a response. The invitation remains open.
16 Oct 2026
Bay Area Innovators on the State of Journalism and Beyond at Epoch Times Insider Forum
What is the state of journalism today, and where is it headed?
At the Epoch Times Insider Forum, Bay Area Innovators host Steve Ispas caught up with past guests from the show, gathered under one roof like a small reunion, and asked each of them the same three questions.
How do they see the state of journalism in the United States right now? What are they working on? And what do they think of The Epoch Times?
Guests talked about political polarization, the shift from advertising and subscriptions to clicks, and the rise of podcasts and independent voices.
They also shared their latest projects, from books and investments to community work, and heard from an Epoch Times leader on how the organization began in a basement in Atlanta in 2000.
Bay Area Innovators was built on one idea: Find the people shaping our society and let them tell their stories in their own words. This special edition looks back at some of those voices, and at what they think about the news today.
Where do you get your news, and what would you want from journalism in the years ahead? Let us know in the comments.
9 Oct 2026
The Feed Was Never Meant to Stop: Natalie Boll on Addictive Design and Why Banning Isn’t the Answer
A teenager spent 26 hours straight on TikTok during summer break. Natalie Boll said that isn’t an accident. It’s the design.
In this episode of Bay Area Innovators, host Steve Ispas sits down with Boll, founder and CEO of Tribela, to unpack what’s really behind social media addiction in kids, and why most current fixes fall short.
Natalie breaks down Meta’s $18 billion settlement, the shift in litigation from content moderation to product design, and why she’s skeptical the new guardrails will work. She also explains the push for digital ID verification and the free speech risks it creates.
She shares how her daughter’s experience with cyberbullying led her to research the problem for over a year, the rise of sextortion targeting minors, and why she built Tribela instead, a platform without autoplay, infinite scroll, or public metrics, such as likes and comments.
She also explains why banning kids from social media outright could backfire, and why she believes the real fix has to come from companies building safety in from the start.
Watch the full episode for a close look at the design choices behind the apps kids use every day.
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