Total Recall: California’s Political Circus

When a Russian-born American citizen named Ilya Beloozerov is gunned down by the FBI in 2024, the authorities refuse to say why they’d killed him. CNN’s Isabelle Chapman embarks on a sprawling investigation that takes her from the Mississippi parking lot where he died to Washington, D.C. to unravel the mystery: Why did Ilya abruptly leave his family and his job and head for the border with laptops and cash? Why is there still no official explanation of his death? And maybe most importantly: Was Ilya a spy?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

And just like that, we’ve arrived at the final chapter of our story: The 2021 California Recall. There are plenty of echoes of the 2003 recall in the latest effort to oust Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. It was a complete circus... but with a completely different result. In this episode, we’ll take you through Newsom’s recall win, the lessons learned from 2003, and what the results can tell us about future elections.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After months of learning about the 2003 recall —talking to candidates, reporters, and experts —we finally get to speak with the man himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger. And as you might imagine, he wasn’t exactly shy. In this episode, we take you inside his Los Angeles mansion, meet his eclectic pets, and let the Governator himself tell you all about his historic victory in 2003.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Less than a week before the recall election, it seemed as though Arnold Schwarzenegger was sailing toward a smooth and definitive victory – but of course, what’s an election without an October Surprise? And in this case, more than one. It was five days of bombshells -- reported allegations of groping, sexual harassment, and comments about Hitler sent the Schwarzenegger campaign into damage control. In this episode, we’ll walk you through the wild final days of the election and how Schwarzenegger managed to come out on the other end unscathed and victorious.  To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger was arguably the most famous person in the world, which made him an unstoppable political force. And though it felt like a unique moment in history, celebrity and politics have a rich and complicated history. In this episode, we dig into the origins of the “celebrity candidate”, the challenges fame brings to a campaign, and how Schwarzenegger used his larger-than-life persona to find political success. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices