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Podcasts
The Big Burn: How To Survive the Age of Wildfires
Graphic of a Southern California mountain range at dusk; a mountain road is seen with emergency vehicles and evacuating cars, far in the distance are lights from a city and a view of an observatory perched on a mountain summit, the fading sunlight setting behind the mountains
(
Ruolin Tu for LAist
)
The Big Burn: How To Survive the Age of Wildfires
As the world enters a new age of wildfires, science reporter Jacob Margolis dives deep into personal stories that illuminate the history of how we got here, why we keep screwing things up, and what we can do to survive and maybe even thrive while the world around us burns.

About the Show

It’s easy to feel like we’re in a dark timeline. Waking up to smoke and flames, staring down a future of burned homes, lost forests, and orange skies. Over the past decade, California has been hit by nine out of ten of its largest fires on record. And even if you don't live in the state, you’re likely impacted by the fire crisis. A combination of climate change and poor policy decisions got us here.

So, is there anything we can do about this new age of devastating wildfires? Science reporter Jacob Margolis goes on a journey to figure out how we got here, why we keep screwing things up, and what we can do to survive and even thrive while the world around us burns. From LAist Studios, the creators of The Big One, this next installment of The Big Disaster series will provide you with a wildfire survival guide that includes not just tangible safety tips — but hope for our future.

Released September 21, 2022

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live, the Strelow Family, and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Funding provided by:

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Episodes
  • The Big Burn text above hills with homes on fire, four palm trees in the middle ground, and a person watching from afar in the foreground
    Listen • 4:11
    Listen • 4:11
    Introducing: The Big Burn Podcast
    As the world enters a new age of wildfires, science reporter Jacob Margolis dives deep into personal stories that illuminate the history of how we got here, why we keep screwing things up, and what we can do to survive and maybe even thrive while the world around us burns.
  • The Big Burn text above hills with homes on fire, four palm trees in the middle ground, and a person watching from afar in the foreground
    Listen • 39:42
    Transcript
    Episode 1
    Listen • 39:42
    The Big Burn: The New Normal
    We examine one particularly pivotal wildfire - the Tubbs fire of 2017.
    Transcript
The Big Burn only exists with your help
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  • Support for LAist comes from
    Become a sponsor
  • The Big Burn text above hills with homes on fire, four palm trees in the middle ground, and a person watching from afar in the foreground
    Listen • 23:30
    Transcript
    Episode 10
    Listen • 23:30
    The Big Burn: What Comes Next?
    We get into our feelings. 

    Transcript
  • The Big Burn text above hills with homes on fire, four palm trees in the middle ground, and a person watching from afar in the foreground
    Listen • 52:54
    Listen • 52:54
    Special Feature: The 2018 Woolsey Fire
    Loss, hope and resilience in the face of one of nature's most terrifying forces: wildfire. We meet a group of surfers called the Point Dume Bombers who stayed in Malibu during the 2018 Woolsey Fire and find out how they survived the most destructive fire in Los Angeles County history.


    This is an episode from Sandcastles, a podcast about home, how we create it, and why we fight so hard for it. Sandcastles is hosted and created by Adriana Cargill. To listen to the full season, visit https://www.wavemakermedia.org/ or find Sandcastles wherever you get your podcasts. 

  • The Big Burn text above hills with homes on fire, four palm trees in the middle ground, and a person watching from afar in the foreground
    Listen • 54:27
    Listen • 54:27
    Special Feature: The 2018 Woolsey Fire
    Why do people stay during wildfires and how did the Wild West culture shape the people who live on this hilly, chaparral-covered coastline? A history of Malibu, the evolution of surf localism, and the genesis of the Point Dume Bombers. We meet the obstinate Queen of Malibu whose determination and love of this land shaped the culture of one of the best surf spots in the world.


    This is an episode from Sandcastles, a podcast about home, how we create it, and why we fight so hard for it. Sandcastles is hosted and created by Adriana Cargill. To listen to the full season, visit https://www.wavemakermedia.org/ or find Sandcastles wherever you get your podcasts. 

  • The Big Burn text above hills with homes on fire, four palm trees in the middle ground, and a person watching from afar in the foreground
    Listen • 43:47
    Listen • 43:47
    LA Wildfires Special Coverage with Jacob Margolis
    LAist Science Reporter Jacob Margolis puts the wildfires and the devastation throughout Southern California into context and explains the science of the fires. In this hour, Margolis speaks with several experts about what we know about current wildfires burning across region, their resulting air quality questions, how to make sense of fire updates, and hears from former firefighters.

    Visit www.preppi.com/LAist to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency!

    Guests:

    Derek Bart, retired LA County Fire Captain

    Clare Frank, former Cal Fire chief of fire protection and author of the book Burnt: A Memoir of fighting fire

    Mary Johnson, principal research scientist and manager of the Allergy, Climate, and Exposomics Lab at Harvard

    Scott Stephens, professor of fire science at UC Berkeley

    Jill Replogle, LAist Correspondent

  • The Big Burn text above hills with homes on fire, four palm trees in the middle ground, and a person watching from afar in the foreground
    Listen • 43:19
    Listen • 43:19
    LA Wildfires Special Coverage with Jacob Margolis: What to expect when recovering fire losses and rebuilding
    LAist Science Reporter Jacob Margolis looks at what Angelenos affected by the LA wildfires can expect as they try to rebuild their lives. In this hour, Margolis turns to experts about what to know about housing options, recouping losses, and making homes and neighborhoods more fire resistant. And he also gets insights from a 2017 Tubbs Fire wildfire survivor about the recovery and healing process after losing everything.

    Visit www.preppi.com/LAist to receive a FREE Preppi Emergency Kit (with any purchase over $100) and be prepared for the next wildfire, earthquake or emergency!

    Guests:

    David Wagner, LAist Housing Reporter

    Alex Robertson, lawyer with Robertson & Associates, LLP

    David Shew, former Cal Fire chief, Napa County Fire Administrator

    Stephanie Pincetl, Professor at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and Director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities

    Melissa Geissinger, a survivor of the 2017 Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa. https://melissageissinger.com/

Credits
STAFF-HEADSHOT
Jacob Margolis
Science Reporter
Natalie Chudnovsky
Senior Producer
Minju-Park
Minju Park
Associate Producer
Meg Cramer
Editor
E. Scott Kelly
Audio Production Engineer
Antonia Cereijido
Host, Imperfect Paradise
ANJULI-SASTRY-KRBECHEK
Anjuli Sastry Krbechek
Senior Producer
Photograph of Shana Naomi Krochmal
Shana Naomi Krochmal
Vice President, LAist Studios - Podcasting