Jerry Brown: The Disrupter

Experience the political and personal journey of Jerry Brown, the longest serving governor in California history. First elected at 36 years old and again at 72, explore Brown’s 50-year career tackling climate change and inequality.

While studying for the bar exam at the Governor's Mansion, Jerry Brown overheard his father talking politics. "There was a vitality and intensity, maybe like watching an exciting movie," recalls Brown. "But it wasn't a movie; it was a reality that was imaginable for me to be a part of."

28 years after his first term, Jerry Brown runs for governor a second time and becomes the oldest sitting governor in California's history. "One of the things that made him so effective in his second tour as governor was that he remained what he'd always been, the un-politician's politician," said journalist and author Todd Purdum.

Post-Watergate and amidst Americans' growing skepticism of the government, journalist Todd Purdum floated the idea of Jerry Brown running for governor.