History of California Podcast

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180 - Kevin Ferguson, The Gemello Winery and A History of California Wine

May 22, 2026

California had 1,000 wineries in 1910. By 1965, it had 225. The story of how the industry collapsed, came back, and quadrupled past 4,800 wineries today runs straight through one Piedmontese immigrant family — and Kevin Ferguson's. In this episode, Jordan sits down with Kevin — writer, former brand marketer, and great-grandson of John Gemello, founder of the Gemello Winery in Mountain View — to trace California wine from Prohibition's lost expertise through the 1976 Judgment of Paris and the ...

179 - Dr. Peter Richardson, Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine

April 24, 2026

Historian Peter Richardson joins Jordan Mattox to discuss his new book, Brand New Beat: The Wild Rise of Rolling Stone Magazine, and to situate the magazine within the broader cultural and political history of the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Richardson — whose previous work includes a biography of Carey McWilliams and studies of Ramparts Magazine and the Grateful Dead — argues that Rolling Stone's founding in November 1967 cannot be understood apart from the counterculture it both chronicled ...

178 - Dr. Julia Ornelas-Higdon, The Grapes of Conquest: Race, Labor, and the Industrialization of California Wine

April 16, 2026

California wine is often wrapped in romance—rolling vineyards, pioneering families, and world-class vintages. But beneath that familiar story lies a far more complex history of conquest, labor, race, and power. In this episode of the History of California Podcast, Jordan Mattox sits down with historian Dr. Julia Ornelas-Higdon, author of The Grapes of Conquest, to uncover the hidden foundations of one of the state’s most iconic industries. Together, they trace the evolution of California agri...