The Murdoch family's power grab in the city of Little Angels

Hold onto your laptops, California, because the New York Post is opening a tabloid in Los Angeles. And we couldn't be more excited. Yes, next year the Murdoch family is launching its coup attempt against the Golden State's liberal hegemony with a new print publication, the California Post. It looks like the state's freshest rightwing rag will be on a short leash, with News Corp leadership from NYC and Australia running the show. Expect plenty of searing commentary from miserable oafs like Joel Pollak, anti-homeless missives from hacks poached from the San Francisco Standard, and cheerleading from billionaire Bay Area ghouls like Garry Tan. We're curious to see how conservative blogs like Katy Grimes's languishing California Globe will fare with the Murdochs in town. But more interesting to us is if a newspaper consumed largely by men born in the tail-end of America's lead-paint era holds any future here in our home state. We also take a moment to look at Capitol Weekly's poll last summer (conducted by political guru Paul Mitchell), which surveyed the state's 120 lawmakers and found Assemblymember Carl DeMaio to be the least palatable legislator in Sacramento. Seems like he could use some help from the Post in sessions to come. Finally, we say goodbye to Claude, the albino alligator close to the hearts of countless northern California children for the last three decades. Don't forget to like, rate and subscribe to The Drain on your favorite podcast platforms. Questions? Comments? Pitches? Email us at [email protected]. We're still hanging about on Twitter: @sweetxpalma and @youknowkempa And we're also on Bluesky: @thedrain.bsky.social, @palma.ltd, @yeshelloitskempa.bsky.social