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Gavin Newsom was San Francisco’s mayor and wants to be California’s governor — but he’s the first person to admit that government can’t fix everything.
On the latest episode of “Re/code Decode,” Newsom told Re/code Executive Editor Kara Swisher that he wants tech companies to take an active role in fixing the socioeconomic problems caused by their success. At the same time, he decried the slowness with which lawmakers and regulators have applied “technological thinking” to governance.
“Businesses have a responsibility — if nothing else, to themselves — to address this issue,” Newsom said of income inequality. “Tech has to take charge of this issue.”
Newsom also discussed how he’s working with Napster co-founder and former Facebook president Sean Parker to legalize marijuana in California; the impact that emerging technologies such as virtual reality and self-driving cars will have on the world; and the Internet-driven rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential race.
“There was a lot of hype about social media in President Obama’s first campaign,” Newsom said. “It was important, but it wasn’t as important as I think people let on. But this race, Bernie’s, it’s changed everything.”
Listen to or download the episode in the player above, or click here to subscribe to “Re/code Decode” on iTunes; you can also find “Re/code Decode” on TuneIn, Stitcher and Clammr.
Kara will be back in this space next Monday to talk to HotelTonight CEO Sam Shank. On Thursday, don’t miss “Re/code Media with Peter Kafka,” our newest podcast. This week, Peter talks to Yahoo’s star sports writer Adrian Wojnarowski. Click here to subscribe to “Re/code Media” on iTunes.
You can also hear Kara this Friday on “Too Embarrassed to Ask,” her podcast with Lauren Goode from The Verge. Click here to subscribe to “Too Embarrassed to Ask” on iTunes right now. And you should also check out Re/code Replay, an archive of audio content from our events and interviews by Kara Swisher, Walt Mossberg, Peter Kafka, Ina Fried and more. To subscribe to that, click right here.
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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
