Meghan Daum: After the Fires, What's Left of L.A.?

Just Asking Questions

What have the wildfires done to southern California and the people who live there? And could any of this destruction have been prevented? Just asking questions.

The wildfires breaking out across Greater Los Angeles have so far killed at least 25 people and damaged or destroyed over 12,000 structures, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Today's guest lost her home in a fire that started in the Eaton Valley of the San Gabriel Mountains. "This is what's left of my house," she wrote on X. "Every house on the block is burned to the ground."

Meghan Daum is a writer and author of five books including The Problem With Everything: My Journey Through The New Culture Wars and The Unspeakable: And Other Subjects of Discussion, a PEN Center USA Award winner for creative nonfiction. She also hosts the podcast The Unspeakable with Meghan Daum.

Sources referenced:

• Daum's X post about her destroyed home
• National Association of State Foresters' 2021 National Prescribed Fire Use Survey Report
• The Breakthrough Institute's Cost-Effectiveness Of Large-Scale Fuel Reduction for Wildfire Mitigation in California
• "Infographic: How red tape makes wildfires worse," by the Property and Environment Research Center
• "With Extreme Fires Burning, Forest Service Stops 'Good Fires' Too," by Lauren Sommer for NPR
• Governor Newsom, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Vilsack and Forest Service Chief Moore Discuss State-Federal Efforts to Build Wildfire Resilience
• California Department of Insurance: Data on Insurance Non-Renewals, FAIR Plan and Surplus Lines (2015-2019)
• Governor Newsom signs executive order to help Los Angeles rebuild faster and stronger

• Goodbye, red tape. Through an executive order, we are making it easier for victims of the SoCal fires to quickly rebuild their homes and lives.

  We're also extending key price gouging protections to help make rebuilding more affordable. pic.twitter.com/BMrVcFSlHL

  — Governor Newsom (@CAgovernor) January 12, 2025

• California Governor's Office of Emergency Services page on price gouging
• "State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded," by Matt Hamilton

Chapters:

• 00:00 Podcast theme
  00:27 Opening monologue
  1:44 how are you holding up?
  2:37 what is Altadena like?
  07:28 a first-person perspective on the fires starting
  12:53 Meghan's experience in Altadena post-fire
  14:06 Arson?
  17:27 Trump attacks Newsom
  21:28 Woke politics doesn't really explain California's issues.
  22:42 The various policy failures here
  26:42 How do locals feel about the state government?
  34:52 California's economic inequality is going to get worse
  43:28 Are there local shortages?
  46:04 Newsom is banning "price gouging"
  56:42 Will California see a political shift?
  01:01:04 Final question of the show

• Producer: John Osterhoudt

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