Four months after voters recalled her, the former Alameda County district attorney is talking Trump, criminal justice reform, and other hot-button topics on her new podcast.
Former Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price can now add a new job title to her resume: podcaster.
Running on a platform of fighting mass incarceration, holding law enforcement accountable, and reforming the criminal justice system from the inside, Price surprised many in 2022 when she was elected DA, beating Terry Wiley, a former assistant district attorney who had been endorsed by former DA Nancy O’Malley. But from Day 1, Price faced unrelenting criticism from inside the DA’s office and by activists.
Throughout her term, critics accused Price of being “too lenient” on people suspected and convicted of crimes and mishandling several high-profile cases. Committees backing Price’s ouster raised over $1 million, much of which came from wealthy individuals.
On Nov. 5, those efforts succeeded: Of the nearly 600,000 votes cast by Alameda County residents, 63% — more than 375,000 voters — supported Price’s recall.
Last month, Price launched “Pamela Price Unfiltered,” an audio and visual podcast featuring her candid takes on local and national politics, police accountability, and criminal justice reform.
The Oaklandside sat down with Price to ask her what she aims to accomplish with her new podcast, her reflections on the recall election, and her hopes for the new DA. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What is your job title now?
I’m a lawyer. I’m a resident of Alameda County. I’m a political activist. I’m an elected member of the Democratic Party. I’m the former district attorney of Alameda County, and I’m the host of “Pamela Price Unfiltered.”
It seems like podcasting is a medium many people are gravitating toward nowadays. Why did you decide to start a podcast?
There’s so much information that people are bombarded with. What a podcast does is it allows you to get more in-depth information. It’s not just based on the headline.
My goal is to help people navigate the complexities of all the challenges that we’re facing and the world that we’re living in, which is moving so fast. I want to focus on issues that impact us, our families, our communities, and try to help folks understand or get a perspective on it, which I think is important.
How did you come up with the idea of starting a podcast?
It wasn’t actually my idea. Multiple people were telling me, “You should do this or this,” “You should write a book,” “You should do a podcast,” “You should write.”
I’ve been at the top of the criminal justice system as a top law enforcement official in the county, and I’ve been at the top of the civil litigation system, having to argue cases in the United States Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court, so I’ve seen the law from both sides, whether it’s civil or criminal, from the highest perches.
I’ve also been involved in politics and have done something that no one else did in about 100 years, which is run a campaign and win the election for district attorney of Alameda County. So there’s value in those efforts and lessons learned from that perspective, and I’ll be able to share a lot of that on “Pamela Price Unfiltered.” We need diverse voices in our conversations, and unfortunately, we don’t have that, particularly in the Bay Area.
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