Jerry Brown, former California governor: America then and now

BBC special correspondent James Naughtie speaks to former Governor of California, Jerry Brown.

He was first elected governor in 1974, succeeding Ronald Reagan, and went on to serve two eight-year terms in office, separated by nearly three decades.

Over the course of his public life, he met every US president from John F. Kennedy to Donald Trump.

Now retired on the California land where his ancestors settled in the nineteenth century, Brown reflects on a political career spanning five decades.

He discusses the growing influence of technology and AI, the spiritual beliefs that shaped how he governed, and the profound changes he has witnessed in American politics since he first entered public life.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, including episodes with Hunter Biden, the journalist Maggie Haberman, and former US Secretary of State John Kerry.

You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Jim Naughtie
Producers: Cordelia Hemming, Ben Cooper and Osman Iqbal
Editor: Damon Rose and Farhana Haider

(Image: Jerry Brown. Credit: Getty)