Podcast
Straight to It
Hosted by Charlie Zeitlin · EN
The Straight to It podcast hosts conversations with leaders in government, journalism, business, the arts, and beyond.
Each episode shares the story of a new guest and provides listeners with an understanding of fascinating people and the work that animates them.
Tune in every two weeks for conversations with guests that have included a member of the U.S. Congress, the Editor of Foreign Affairs, and an Emmy-winning film producer.
17episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Ep. 90: San Francisco, "A more extreme version of America," with City on the Edge author Jonathan Weber - LIVE @ KALW!
3d ago00:33:27Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I interview Jonathan Weber at KALW's studio in San Francisco. Straight to It was recently featured on Bay Made, KALW's series highlighting local podcasts. I was lucky to be joined by such an incredible guest, Jonathan Weber. Jonathan Weber is the author of City on the Edge: Technology, Politics, and the Fight for the Soul of San Francisco. In 1990, Jonathan was named the first-ever Silicon Valley reporter for the Los Angeles Times. During the height of the dot-com boom, Jonathan ran one of the seminal publications of the time, The Industry Standard. Later, he oversaw West Coast news and global technology coverage for Reuters. Weber co-founded The San Francisco Standard and served as its Editor-in-Chief.Listen for a exciting episode, recorded live -- covering over three decades of San Francisco history, many fascinating stories, and much more.
Transcribe →Promo for an in-person Straight to It episode with Jonathan Weber -- August 13th in San Francisco!
1w ago00:00:52Tap to summarizeTo purchase tickets and see details, look here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/city-on-the-edge-book-talk-with-jonathan-weber-charlie-zeitlin-tickets-1995878050978?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Transcribe →Ep. 89: ProPublica Reporter Alex Cuadros on a secretive oil billionaire, the easiest climate change fix, and a phone call with the President
2w ago00:28:29Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I interview ProPublica Climate Reporter Alex Cuadros. Alex recently published a major investigation into Hilcorp, a company owned by oil billionaire Jeffrey Hildebrand, and its relationship with the U.S. government. Alex has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Harper's, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post. Alex is also the author of Brazillionaires and When We Sold God's Eye. We discuss making progress on climate change in the Trump era, his long career as a journalist, and calling the president.
Transcribe →Ep.88: Collecting, Selling, and Loving Books with Andy Nettell of Stellar Books & Ephemera
Jul 1200:33:03Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I interview Andy Nettell. Andy, with his wife Marcee, founded Stellar Books & Ephemera in 2022. Based out of Sequim, Washington, Andy and his wife focus on selling rare Americana. This past February, I visited their wonderful booth at the International Antiquarian Book Fair, which came to San Francisco. I met Andy and purchased a collection of presidential campaign pins. I really enjoyed learning about how Andy finds these amazing items, his journey, and his book recommendations for all of us.
Transcribe →Ep.87: Fixing our Democracy through Deliberation with Dr. Alice Siu, Associate Director of Stanford’s Deliberative Democracy Lab
Jun 3000:26:56Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I interview Dr. Alice Siu of Stanford University’s deliberative democracy lab. The lab is devoted to research on democracy and public opinion using Deliberative Polling. It is a process that includes convening a representative sample of the group, educating the group on the issue, hearing from experts, and debating it. Consistently, the lab has found that this process makes participants' viewpoints less extreme and more likely to empathize with others' perspectives. Dr. Siu earned her Ph.D. from Stanford's Department of Communication, specializing in political communication, deliberative democracy, and public opinion. Dr. Siu also holds bachelor's degrees in economics and Public Policy, as well as a master's degree in political science, all from Stanford University.We discuss the surprising statistic that nearly one in five Americans prefer authoritarianism to democracy, and what a survey on a made-up issue reveals to Dr. Siu about democracy.
Transcribe →Ep. 86: Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library Curator Lara Hall discusses LBJ and his Legacy
Jun 1500:30:29Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I interview Lara Hall. Lara is the Museum Curator of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library. Lara worked as an archivist, organizing the over 45 million documents housed at the library, for about a decade before becoming the curator. She creates exhibits predominantly focused on the life, times, and legacy of President Johnson. We discuss the challenge of communicating LBJ’s complicated legacy (with his civil rights and social triumphs, juxtaposed with the disastrous Vietnam War). Lara also tells us about how she curates the museum. Finally, Lara shares with us some of the more colorful stories from LBJ’s Presidency.
Transcribe →Ep. 85: Dan Kurtz-Phelan, Editor-in-Chief of Foreign Affairs on Trump’s Foreign Policy, Stewarding a Legendary Institution and Creating Its Future
Jun 400:25:57Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I interview Dan Kurtz-Phelan. Since 2021, Dan has served as the Editor-in-Chief of Foreign Affairs, which for the past 100 years has been one of the leading publications covering foreign policy. Before his tenure as editor, Dan worked in the State Department during the Obama Administration. He went on to work for then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a speechwriter and for the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff—focusing on long-term strategy. Given the rapid and chaotic state of U.S. Foreign Policy, I ask Dan about whether he thinks the Trump administration has a coherent long-term strategy for global affairs. We also discuss Dan’s time in the State Department, what Dan thinks politicians miss about foreign policy, and how history enables Dan to make better sense of the current state of global affairs.
Transcribe →Ep. 84: The Past, Present, and Future of the U.S. Tax Code with Professor Ray Madoff
May 2200:21:23Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I interview Professor Ray Madoff of Boston College. Ray focuses on philanthropic policy, the rights of the dead (including the dead's ability to control their bodies, reputation, and property), estate taxes, comparative inheritance law, and wealth inequality and taxes.Recently, I became acquainted with Ray’s work through her award-winning book, The Second Estate. The book reveals the inadequacies of the U.S. tax code and its fascinating history. The book was selected as a The New Yorker’s Best Book of 2025. We discuss the Gilded Age origins of the tax code, how the wealthy exploit the system today, and what we ought to do to fix it in the future.
Transcribe →Ep. 83: Ethics, the Philosophy of Alasdair MacIntyre, and a Wide-Ranging Conversation with Scholar and Yale Lecturer Peter Wicks
May 400:33:54Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I interview Peter Wicks. Peter is a scholar-in-residence at the Elm Institute whose research focuses on the contemporary applications of Aristotle’s ethical and political thought, the history and philosophy of higher education, and the psychology and ethics of argument and persuasion. Recently, Peter co-edited Alasdair MacIntyre on Practical Philosophy: Essential Works, which was published by the University of Notre Dame Press in 2026. Peter is a faculty affiliate of the Yale Program for Biomedical Ethics and a fellow of Davenport College. We discuss his course at Yale on the psychology and ethics of persuasion, the philosophy of one of the century's most important thinkers (Alasdair MacIntyre), and more!Enjoy the interview!
Transcribe →Ep. 82: Risk, Complexity, and Adventure with Tony Haile
Apr 1800:30:06Tap to summarizeIn this episode, I interview Tony Haile. Currently, Tony is the CEO of Filament, a company that aims to revolutionize professional networking through smaller, private spaces for connection. Previously, Tony was on Twitter's Global Leadership Team, the Founding CEO of Scroll (which Twitter acquired), and the Founding CEO of Chartbeat. Tony got his education at St. Andrews and spent a semester studying at a Palestinian university in the West Bank. He is also an accomplished adventurer; Tony has done Arctic expeditions and a sailing race around the world. We discuss his experience living in the West Bank, his adventures, and what eventually led him to technology entrepreneurship. Finally, he shares his vision for Filament with us. Enjoy the interview!
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