- 19
- Episodes
- Monthly
- Cadence
- 2026
- First episode
About KPFA - The Stakes
The Stakes is KPFA’s essential guide to the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this weekly program cuts through the static to break down what’s happening nationally, statewide, and in your own backyard. With control of Congress up for grabs and fundamental questions about democratic institutions in play, The Stakes brings you sharp analysis and on-the-ground reporting from the KPFA news team. From legislative battles to local races, we cover the political landscape without the spin.
- Publisher
- KPFA
- Category
- news
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- Yes
- First episode
- 14 May 2026
- Latest episode
- 15 Oct 2026
Latest episodes
19 episodes in the feed.
15 Oct 2026
Pete Rates the Propositions with Pete Stalhl, CA-11 Candidates Face off; SF Sup. Race
On today’s show we’ll take a very deep dive into the California ballot propositions with Pete Stahl who has been putting together the non-partisan voter guide Pete Rates for decades now. He will give us some recommendations, but mostly, just help us come to our own conclusions on how to vote for the ballot measures. See his website here https://peterates.com/ Also, in San Francisco, District 11 congressional candidates State Senator Scott Wiener and Superintendent Connie Chan faced off this week in their final debate before the election. We’ll see what transpired. Also, Christina Aanestad reports on the district 4 supervisor’s race in The City. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post Pete Rates the Propositions with Pete Stalhl, CA-11 Candidates Face off; SF Sup. Race appeared first on KPFA.
9 Oct 2026
Elections Defense Scenarios w/ Jane Martin from Bay Resistance
On today’s show, organizers are saying Americans should prepare for the possibility that the Trump administration could try to overturn or obstruct certified election results, and that ordinary legal and institutional safeguards might not be enough to make sure our votes count. Jane Martin from Bay Resistance joins us to talk about Election Defense Scenarios –and what YOU Can do to prepare for Election day. Read Elections Defense Scenarios here https://freedomtrainers.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Election-Defense-Scenarios.pdf Get involved with Bay Resistance https://www.bayresistance.org/ The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post Elections Defense Scenarios w/ Jane Martin from Bay Resistance appeared first on KPFA.
1 Oct 2026
California Gubernatorial Candidates Face Off; Oakland’s “Strong Mayor” Initiative
On today’s show… California gubernatorial candidates — Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton — take to the debate stage. Oakland voters will decide whether to take The Town into the league of cities with “Strong Mayor” governance structures. Measure EE would give the Mayor greater accountability and authority over city departments and budgets. We’ll speak with Gail Wallace from the League of Women Voters of Oakland. Also, this month, a DHS whistleblower alleged federal employees were ordered to misrepresent themselves to access state voter-registration systems, prompting California Senator Alex Padilla and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to call for an investigation and an immediate halt to the program. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post California Gubernatorial Candidates Face Off; Oakland’s “Strong Mayor” Initiative appeared first on KPFA.
17 Sept 2026
Golden State Spotlight: Billionaire Tax Roadblocks on the CA Ballot; CA House District 1 and SF Prop D and More!
Today on the show we’ll put California under the spotlight. Most people have heard about Prop 40, the so-called Billionaire tax… but there are two other measures on the California ballot that, if passed, would essentially nullify Prop 40 if that measure were to succeed on election day. Props 41 and 42 are conflicting measures backed by opponents to the Billionaire Tax. Brian Galle, law professor at UC Berkeley, joins us to help us get some clarity. Also, congressional district 1 spanning parts of Northern California, could be an important pick up opportunity for Dems to regain control of the House. Maya Miller from CalMatters joins us to discuss her reporting on that race. Check out the CalMatters Proposition Guide here https://calmatters.org/california-voter-guide-2026/propositions/. If you would like to learn more about how to join a Voting Matters event, look here https://calmatters.org/inside-the-newsroom/2026/09/votingmatters-california-elections/ Also, in San Francisco, there is a ballot measure that some say would make it harder for ballot measures to become ballot measures. Prop D seeks to raise the signature threshold for ballot access in The City. Daniel Anderson from the No on D campaign joins us to discuss how the measure could affect grassroots organizing among other things. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post Golden State Spotlight: Billionaire Tax Roadblocks on the CA Ballot; CA House District 1 and SF Prop D and More! appeared first on KPFA.
10 Sept 2026
Trumpapalooza, Islamophobia and Neo-Nazis with CAIR’s Zahra Billoo and Reverend Keyanna Jones Moore
This week, the country commemorates 25 years since the 9/11 attacks. Since that time, Muslim communities have seen increasing discrimination. And Election 2026 is yet another venue for anti-muslim attacks. Despite this, Muslim candidates continue to rack up wins around the country. We speak with Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Council on Arab-Islamic Relations’ San Francisco Bay Area office to discuss increasing Islamophobia in American discourse. Also, racism in GA. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff calls out opponent Republican Mike Collins for the second time this week to testify in response to alleged misuse of taxpayer funds and ties to racist and antisemitic propaganda. We’ll speak with organizer and activist, Reverend Keyanna Jones Moore (Kee- Ahna) for reactions from that state. Also, Trumpapalooza, the president’s midterm convention, is in effect in Dallas in an effort to drum up support for MAGA candidates. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post Trumpapalooza, Islamophobia and Neo-Nazis with CAIR’s Zahra Billoo and Reverend Keyanna Jones Moore appeared first on KPFA.
3 Sept 2026
El-Sayed Builds his Base Brick by Brick w LA Times’ Andy Furillo
We are in the homestretch, heading into the midterm elections on November 3. We have just 61 days to go until we head to the polls or submit our mail-in ballots if that’s how we roll. Speaking of mail-in ballots, on today’s show, more malarkey by the Trump administration comes out as a whistleblower discloses major violations at the US Postal Service. That agency has developed an online portal in violation of a court order blocking key parts of Trump’s efforts to suppress votes by mail. Also, later in the show, we take a deep dive into Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s efforts to connect with the Michigan Black community following his senate primary. El-Sayed’s task now is to show opponent Hayley Steven’s supporters that he hears their concerns and can represent the state as a whole in the senate, should he win in November. I also chat with a Steven’s supporter, veteran newspaperman and new Michigican resident Andy Furillo about what he thinks El-Sayed needs to do to win the trust of general election voters. And later, later in the hour, the Project Censored team returns to The Stakes with media literacy news you can use. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post El-Sayed Builds his Base Brick by Brick w LA Times’ Andy Furillo appeared first on KPFA.
27 Aug 2026
We Have Always Fought for Voting Access in USA– w/ Alexander Keyssar and Elizabeth Rose Halligan
On today’s show … The Supreme Court lifted a lower-court injunction blocking parts of President Trump’s executive order restricting mail-in voting, allowing the administration to move forward for now. We will also take a look down America’s memory lane on the real history of the expanding and contracting rights granted to voters since this country’s founding to this present day. We’ll speak with Harvard historian Alexander Keyssar, author of The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States. Also, fun-fact. Voters are really just human beings, often times stuck in rigid paradigms-of-thought that affect how we engage in civic desicion-making and build up our collective structures including democracy itself. We’ll speak with systems analyst Elizabeth Rose Halligan on voter behavior from a neurological perspective. You can read her work here https://medium.com/@elizabethrosehalligan The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post We Have Always Fought for Voting Access in USA– w/ Alexander Keyssar and Elizabeth Rose Halligan appeared first on KPFA.
20 Aug 2026
State Senator Aisha Wahab Vies for Congress; Hawaii Politics
On today’s show, we go to Hawaii, a state that just had its primary last week. We speak with Chad Blair of the Honolulu Civil Beat about the political landscape in the Aloha State and what Hawaiian voters are looking forward to in November. Also, what do the Wisconsin primaries and the narrow defeat of Francsca Hong for governor tell us about the state of the Democratic party? We’ll hear from the Nation’s John Nichols. And in the Bay Area. Representative Eric Swalwell left his seat in disgrace earlier this year, prompting a special election to fill seat for the 14th congressional district of California. Lauren Schmitt speaks with candidate Democratic state senator Aisha Wahab. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post State Senator Aisha Wahab Vies for Congress; Hawaii Politics appeared first on KPFA.
13 Aug 2026
Adam Mockler on Islamophobia Following El-Sayed’s Senate Nomination
On today’s show, we speak with Adam Mockler of the Meidas Touch Network about Islamophobia following Dr. Abdul El-Sayed’s victory in the Michigan Senate primary…and we’ll ask: what’s the deal with Mitch McConnell? We’ll also look at new polling showing gains for Democrats in Texas as we head toward November, with Texas A&M’s Dr. Kirby Goidel. Voter ID is headed to the California ballot, and Jenny Farrell of the League of Women Voters of California returns to break down the facts. We’ll also take a look at the latest primary results from around the country. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post Adam Mockler on Islamophobia Following El-Sayed’s Senate Nomination appeared first on KPFA.
30 Jul 2026
Trump Presses On with New Attacks on Mail-In Voting
The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. On today’s show, Trump is not backing down on restricting mail-in voting. This week The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to let it move forward with a presidential order that would add new restrictions on mail-in voting.The order would give the Postal Service a new role in the mail voting process. It directs USPS to develop rules for sending out absentee and mail-in ballots, while requiring the Department of Homeland Security to create lists of every U.S. citizen over the age of 18 in each state. Under the plan, voters would only receive mail ballots if their names appear on those government-created citizenship lists. Also, why are mailing facilities around the country beefing up their armed security? We want to know! We speak with investigative journalist Alexandria Jacobson from Raw Story who has been following that. We also go to Michigan to break down the Democratic senate primary between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens. We speak with Matthew Grossmann, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research and a professor of political science at Michigan State University. Later in the hour, we go to Alameda county to speak with President of the 30 dollar minimum wage campaign One Fair Wage, Saru Jayaraman. The post Trump Presses On with New Attacks on Mail-In Voting appeared first on KPFA.
23 Jul 2026
Trump’s Prime Time Complaints; SAVE Act Sneak-In
This past week, President Donald Trump addressed the nation, revisiting his claims about the 2020 election while outlining what he says should be done to protect election integrity ahead of the 2026 midterms. His remarks have renewed questions for many voters: How can we safeguard the right to vote? What should voters know before casting a ballot this November? And how can we ensure every vote is counted in what promises to be a high-stakes election? Later this hour, we’ll speak with Rick Hasen, election law expert at UCLA, where he directs the Safeguarding Democracy Project. He’ll help us separate fact from fiction on voting rights, election administration, and the legal battles shaping this year’s elections. Then we’ll hear from Lilli McGregor, Executive Director of Communications and Operations for the Election Truth Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for election audits and analyzes election data. The post Trump’s Prime Time Complaints; SAVE Act Sneak-In appeared first on KPFA.
16 Jul 2026
Trump’s Election Integrity Announcement… ICE Shooting in Maine… Lindsay Graham’s Sudden Death
Turn off your television, it’s time for The Stakes. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. On today’s show, we go back to Maine, where just a week after Democratic senate candidate Graham Platner suddenly departed the race amid sexual assault allegations, voters are now calling for Republican senator Susan Collins to exit stage left after a second person was killed by ICE over the past week, this time in the small community of Biddeford, Maine. We’ll talk with longtime activist and former Maine DSA co-chair Todd Chretien about what Mainers on the ground are saying as they continue protesting outside Collins’ office and the ICE detention center in that state. Republican senator Lindsay Graham from South Carolina also suddenly departed the senate race… Graham was declared dead after a brief illness over the weekend. Will this sudden shakeup throw energy to his Democratic opponent Dr. Annie Andrews? Also, Trump is pulling out all the stops now to invalidate opponents and continue to complain about te results of the 2020 elections. This time, he’s charging Georgia senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock with fraud after the two won their respective senate seats that year. We will hear from The Nation’s John Nichols about Trump’s so-called Election Integrity plan. The post Trump’s Election Integrity Announcement… ICE Shooting in Maine… Lindsay Graham’s Sudden Death appeared first on KPFA.
9 Jul 2026
Maine, Money and Marx in 2026
On today’s show, what’s next for the Maine senate race after Democratic candidate Graham Platner’s career-ending sexual assault allegations? Maine Morning Star reporter Eesha Pendharkar chimes from ground in Maine. The Supreme Court has ruled on campaign finance changes. Open Secret’s Brenden Glavin joins later in the hour. Michael Tomasky from the New Republic on Trump’s anti-communist rhetoric. You can check out Michael’s article here https://newrepublic.com/article/212707/donald-trump-democrats-communism-stupid-favorite-word The post Maine, Money and Marx in 2026 appeared first on KPFA.
2 Jul 2026
Courts Protect Mail-In Voting; Progressives Sweep Dem Primaries
The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. On today’s show, we are going to take a deep dive into this week’s court decisions surrounding mail-in voting. The Supreme Court ruled that states CAN still count mail-in ballots after election day, if they were postmarked in time. Also, last week, a federal judge blocked a presidential executive order that would create limits around absentee voting. While the Trump administration has been arguing these measures are essential to preventing supposed voter fraud, it looks like efforts to suppress mail-in votes keep hitting judicial roadblocks. We’ll speak with Jenny Farrell from the League of Women’s Voters. Later, we’ll hear what the Nation’s John Nichols has to say about the progressive slash socialist wave hitting the democrats during the primaries, which is now begging the question, are the establishment Dems headed for the rocks? The post Courts Protect Mail-In Voting; Progressives Sweep Dem Primaries appeared first on KPFA.
25 Jun 2026
California’s Billionaire Tax Makes the Ballot, plus Courts Rule in Favor of Voter Privacy
The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. On today’s show, we’ll speak with John Davisson, Deputy Director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, about a federal court ruling blocking the Trump administration from using an expanded federal database of Americans’ personal information for voter verification.Then we turn to California’s fight over the so-called billionaire tax. Economist Emmanuel Saez of UC Berkeley joins us to break it down. — Share your opinion about the 2026 Midterm Elections! Leave us a message (one minute or less) and we’ll maybe put it on the air. 510-848-6767 ex. 785 or email us at thestakes@kpfa.org The post California’s Billionaire Tax Makes the Ballot, plus Courts Rule in Favor of Voter Privacy appeared first on KPFA.
4 Jun 2026
The Stakes – June 4, 2026
The June Primary results are in, and The Stakes breaks down what they mean for California and the country. Host Scott Baba is joined by Gustavo Arellano of the Los Angeles Times on the California races, Tim Redmond of 48 Hills on the national picture, and John Nichols of The Nation with broader election analysis. Plus a Project Censored media literacy segment. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post The Stakes – June 4, 2026 appeared first on KPFA.
28 May 2026
The Stakes: The Race Before the Race: Get-Out-the-Vote Organizing
With the California June 2nd primary election just days away, it’s GO time for local get-out-the-vote activists hoping to affect change this year. On this episode, we speak with Chaney Turner from Oakland Rising, Jason Negron-Gonzales from Seed the Vote and finally with Aditya Bhumbla, co-chair of the San Francisco chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. The Stakes breaks down the 2026 political landscape. Hosted by Teresa Wierzbianska and Scott Baba, this KPFA News show delivers analysis of national, state, and local races and policy battles. Thursdays at 10 a.m. The post The Stakes: The Race Before the Race: Get-Out-the-Vote Organizing appeared first on KPFA.
21 May 2026
California’s Statewide Ballot Guide, plus the States Challenging Citizens United
On today’s show, we’ll do a California statewide ballot rundown with voter specialist and political analyst Paul Mitchell from Political Data Inc. Later we’ll hear from Tom Moore from the Center for American Progress. Moore is the legal strategist behind Hawaii and Montana’s Citizens United legislation. The post California’s Statewide Ballot Guide, plus the States Challenging Citizens United appeared first on KPFA.
14 May 2026
The Stakes – EP.1 Introduction
Inaugural episode of The Stakes. The post The Stakes – EP.1 Introduction appeared first on KPFA.
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