You'll never believe this, folks... we're back(sort of, kind of, not really)to introduce our friend Tony Vega and his exciting new podcast: Transmissions from Hawaii! Each episode features a new storytelling adventure, with special attention

Episode 95 - Back to Brunch

Dec 9th, 2020 1h 18m

Folks, like Boyz II Men said... it's SO hard to say goodbye. Please join us, dear listeners, for (probably) one final journey into the weird and wonderful world of The Blue Hawaii Podcast.As a preview, here's what it would sound like if some

Episode 94 - Keep On Toobin'

Oct 28th, 2020 53m 57s

Wait, we still have a podcast? Wasn't there a primary election like three months ago or something? Where am I? Who is this? How did you get this number?

Episode 93 - 2020 Primary Recommendations!

Jul 28th, 2020 59m 39s

By popular demand, we give to you, our 2020 Primary Recommendations! We've been getting inundated with DMs and texts from listeners wanting to know who they should vote for. We can't tell you who to vote for, but we can tell you who *we're* lik

Episode 92 - Colleen Hanabusa is back!

Jul 24th, 2020 47m 58s

92! Ryan and Josh hop on the phone to reunite with long-time friend of the show Colleen Hanabusa, who has decided to get back into the arena and run to be the next mayor of Honolulu! We find out about her plans for rail, homelessness, and

Episode 91 - Becky with the Good Plans

Jul 20th, 2020 50m 23s

🎶We had a call with Becky with the good plans 🎶This episode we get to know Becky Gardner! A self-described wonk who's never met a problem she couldn't tackle, Becky's running for state rep in Hawaii's 20th congressional district -- which ju

Episode 90 - A man, a plan, Mr. Adrian Tam

Jul 13th, 2020 34m 35s

90! Ryan and Josh dial-up friend of the show Adrian Tam, who has decided to throw his hat into the ring and run to represent Waikiki-Ala Moana in the Hawaii State House! Hear about Adrian's vision for the densest urban district in our island

Episode 89 - Patrick Branco, International Man of Mystery (or, "Carmen PatDiBranco")

Jul 8th, 2020 39m 32s

89 and feelin' fine! Josh and Ryan welcome Patrick Branco to the show, a Kailua boy and former US State Department diplomat who is back home and running for office for the first time. Hear about his tours of duty in Pakistan, Colombia, and (Tr

Episode 88 - Keith Amemiya, Candidate for Honolulu Mayor

Jun 28th, 2020 1h 20m

It wouldn’t be an election season unless we interviewed all the good ones! This episode we interview Keith Amemiya, a leading candidate to be the next Mayor of Honolulu. You probably know Keith as the friendly smiling face on all those banners

Episode 87 - Alan Akao and Kau'i Pratt-Aquino, First-Time Native Hawaiian Political Candidates

Jun 21st, 2020 1h 6m

Ryan and Josh have a #zoom chat with two young, inspiring Native Hawaiian community leaders and changemakers seeking political office for the first time: Kailua's Alan Akao and Kaneohe's Kau'i Pratt-Aquino. Hear their stories, what makes the W

Episode 86 - Judge Steve Alm, Candidate for Honolulu Prosecutor

May 27th, 2020 1h 19m

Hello again! Judge Steve Alm (ret.) joins us on this episode, as wrap up our interviews with the candidates to be Honolulu's next prosecutor -- at this point, we've interviewed all the good ones.Judge Alm talked with us about life, his long c

Episode 85 - Prosecutor Candidate Jacquie Esser

May 27th, 2020 38m 51s

When the world's on fire, it's important to talk with people who are trying to put it out. This episode is an interview with one of those people. Her name is Jacquie Esser and she's a candidate to be Honolulu's next prosecutor. Jacquie sat down

Episode 84 - Consul General Rana Sarkar pt. 2

May 15th, 2020 30m 3s

New episode! In Part 2 of our two-part series featuring Canadian Consul General Rana Sarkar, Ryan and CG Sarkar discuss Canada's response to COVID-19 (hint: it's much better than the United States' response), what life will look like post-COVI

Episode 83 - O Canada! (why can't we be more like you?)

May 5th, 2020 1h 8m

What's that you said? You want Blue Hawaii to go international AND you want us to interview a high-ranking diplomatic official from our great neighbor to the north AND you want us to sit on the episode for 4 months because of a global pandemic.

Episode 82 - Barty I And The Kahalagarchs

Apr 17th, 2020 41m 25s

The plagues keep coming and the next episode has risen! Ryan and Josh hopped on the phone yesterday evening to exchange Passover and Easter greetings and discuss the latest political, economic, social, and theological fallout from the ongoing c

Episode 81 - COVID-19 in the Nation of Hawaii

Apr 13th, 2020 28m 1s

This episode Ryan checks in with our friends Lindsay Kukona Pakele and Brandon Maka‘awa‘awa, two young kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian) community leaders and representatives of the Nation of Hawaii -- Hawaii's oldest independent Hawaiian sovereig

Episode 80 - Tom Lee: Epidemiologist, Strong Man, Violinist, and Lover of Good Deals

Apr 10th, 2020 47m 19s

Josh is back (from a responsible social distance)! And he brought a friend: Dr. Thomas Lee, an epidemiologist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (Go 'Bows!). Dr. Lee talks with us about the spread of COVID-19 throughout the Hawaiian Islands,

Episode 79 - Justin Kollar Talks About COVID-19's Impact on Kauai

Apr 2nd, 2020 22m 14s

In our 2nd special interview on the Coronavirus crisis, Ryan talks with Kauai Prosecutor (and friend of the show) Justin Kollar about COVID-19's impact on Kauai.

Episode 78 - Kai Kahele Talks About COVID-19's Impact on the Big Island

Mar 27th, 2020 20m 40s

Ryan talks with Senator Kai Kahele (SD-1, Hilo) about Hawai‘i's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Kahele gives an honest appraisal of what we've done well and what we've done poorly, and talks about the difficulties facing Hawaii Islan

Episode 77 - CoronaChat

Mar 25th, 2020 26m 14s

Everything is cool! Everything is totally fine! We are both quarantined, but we called each other to talk about how totally cool and fine everything is! Come listen and see how cool and fine we sound!

Episode 76 (Season 3 Premier) - Ranked Choice Voting with FairVote's Maria Perez

Mar 17th, 2020 1h 5m

*Recorded before COVID-19 completely upended every aspect of daily life*Third time's the charm, better late than never, we're back! To kick off season three, we sit down with FairVote's Maria Perez (17:15) to learn about Ranked Choice Voting

Season 3 Pre-chat

Jan 31st, 2020 12m 17s

Hey, let's talk about Season 3. We missed y'all.

Episode 75 - OK Bloomer

Nov 13th, 2019 38m 28s

In our season 2 finale, we're talking baseball, billionaires, booing, braddahs, bluster, and a whole bunch of other BS. What's in store for Season 3? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned to find out!

Episode 74 - Eye of the Kai-ger (State Senator Kai Kahele)

Nov 6th, 2019 1h 6m

We're bringing out the heavy hitters! Our BFF @HawaiiDelilah joins us for a special interview with Senator Kai Kahele, who is running to be our next District 2 Congressman (representing rural Oahu and the neighbor islands). Hear his story and

Episode 73 - RJ "Righteous Justice" Brown for Prosecutor

Oct 30th, 2019 45m 45s

73! We're back from a very long hiatus and kicking off the 2020 election season by interviewing RJ Brown, who's running to be Honolulu's next prosecutor. (In case you haven't been watching the news, things over there are ....not great!) We t