If we’ve come to understand anything while reporting out this podcast, it’s that California burns. It always has. It always will. The question is whether we can build communities better to withstand the risk? There’s been a lot of talk and ideas proposed about building safer, more fire resilient neighborhoods — and not just individual houses, but community infrastructure, too. But there’s yet to be a solid plan for implementing any of these things, or for figuring out how to pay for them. In the Palisades, there’s a lot of people – mostly residents – who are trying to move things along. Today we are talking with one of them.

GUEST: Robert Lempert, Palisades Fire survivor and Director/ Policy Researcher at RAND

The next Community Recovery Lab is coming up on April 25: https://palirecovery.org/2026/03/19/taking-the-next-step/.                                   The Palisades Recovery Coalition: https://palirecovery.org/                                 

His computer simulations help communities survive disasters. Can they design a Palisades that never burns? https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-12-17/can-palisades-residents-design-a-city-that-never-burns