In this special year-end episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King sits down with a panel of industry leaders: Todd De Voe, Matt Green, Anastasia Maynich, Laura James, and Ralph Bloemers. They dissect the chaotic landscape of 2025 and the evolving role of the emergency manager.

What it reveals: the dangerous lag between the velocity of modern crises and our traditional response systems. It also exposes the "capacity illusion" which is the belief that government agencies alone can handle the scale of today's disasters.

Between the LA wildfires and the cascading infrastructure failures of 2025, the profession learned a hard lesson. Operational confidence can no longer mask the fragility of our communities.

The panel tracks how "governance from 30,000 feet" often disconnects resources from the people who need them most. This creates a dangerous gap where policy meets reality.

This conversation offers not a celebration of resilience, but a call to action. It reflects on the need to embrace "complex adaptive systems" rather than rigid command structures.

It challenges the sector's hesitation to truly engage the public. It forces us to ask a hard question. Are we building systems that protect the status quo? Or are we ready to let communities lead their own recovery?

Show Highlights

[03:06] Introducing the Panel of Experts

[07:02] The impact of speed and complexity in crisis response

[09:33] The reality of under-resourced local emergency managers

[29:37] Engaging community voices over official messaging

[39:25] Understanding Fire Risks

[40:02] The Role of Emergency Managers

[41:12] How top-down governance fails neighborhood reality

[42:43] Complex Adaptive Systems

[44:35] Emergency Management Challenges

[47:52] Learning from indigenous wisdom and fire stewardship

[53:25] Why every home needs its own emergency manager

[54:37] Recovery and Long-Term Challenges

[01:03:17] Predictions for 2026: The context-switching trap

[01:17:46] Closing Thoughts and Resources

Connect with the Guests

Anastasia Maynich

Matt Green

Todd De Voe

Laura James

Ralph Bloemers

In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King speaks with Tom Sivak, Chief Emergency Manager at Emergency Management One, about the fundamental shift in the crisis management profession from a knowledge economy to an allocation economy.

What it reveals: the unsustainable nature of manual information processing in an era of polycrisis and velocity.

With emergency management agencies facing chronic understaffing and budgets that demand "more with less," the traditional model of the "Rolodex leader" who holds the entire plan in their head is failing. Sivak argues that trying to manually process the astronomical amount of data in modern crises is no longer a badge of honor, it is a strategic vulnerability.

This conversation offers a pragmatic roadmap for operationalizing AI not as a tech trend, but as a survival mechanism. It reflects what modern leadership demands: moving from being the "writer" of every brief to the "editor" of intelligence, building "blue sky" muscle memory so tools work when the pressure mounts, and reclaiming the "gut intuition" that only a human can provide.

Show Highlights

[04:00] Why AI is the only scalable solution for the "do more with less" mandate

[06:00] The "Forethought" Principle: Why using AI only during disasters guarantees failure

[08:00] Parallels to 1994: How the industry feared the internet before it became essential

[13:00] The maturity model shift: Moving leaders from "writers" to "editors"

[17:00] Using efficiency to focus on community resilience and mental health

[21:00] The Human Lever: Why algorithms can process data but cannot replace gut intuition

[23:00] Why value now comes from directing resources, not retaining facts

[25:00] Validating the Emergency Manager's role as the original "Allocation" leader

In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King sits down with Brenden Winder (Christchurch City Council). They dissect the fourteen year recovery journey following the Christchurch earthquakes.

What it reveals: the dangerous illusion of short term success in emergency management. It also exposes the silent erosion of institutional memory.

Between the 2010 earthquake (where systems appeared to hold) and the devastating 2011 event that claimed 185 lives, Christchurch learned a hard lesson. Operational confidence can mask systemic fragility.

Winder tracks how the rush to add governance layers actually reduced transparency. This created barriers between resources and the community they were meant to serve.

This retrospective offers not a celebration of resilience, but a warning. It reflects on the "asymmetry of recovery." Infrastructure is rebuilt while deep pockets of community trauma remain.

It challenges the sector's reliance on international templates. It forces us to ask a hard question. Are we building systems that actually fit the local 80%? Or are we just applying the international 20%?

Show Highlights

[00:00] The limits of international frameworks in the face of neighborhood reality

[03:00] The dangerous gap between perceived success (2010) and catastrophic reality (2011)

[06:00] When adding more governance structure reduces community transparency

[08:00] How election cycles and staff turnover erase the "intellectual property" of disaster response

[17:00] Why "returning to normal" is a myth when infrastructure rebounds faster than people

[21:00] Why international best practice is only a fraction of the solution

[24:00] Contrasting the US emergency management "struggle session" with New Zealand's depoliticized approach

In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King examines Sweden's transformation from traditional emergency management to integrated security governance.

What it reveals: the gray zone reality facing emergency management professionals across Europe.

Throughout 2025, coordinated Russian operations across Baltic civilian infrastructure exposed fundamental flaws in crisis management systems built for discrete events.

Sweden's response offers not a blueprint to copy, but a mirror. It reflects what sustained multi-domain pressure demands: rethinking where emergency management sits in governance, how capability distributes across society, and what "prepared" means when crises don't end.

Show Highlights

[0:40] Russia's systemic campaigns across European civilian infrastructure in 2025

[01:44] Gray zone operations overwhelm traditional emergency management coordination

[03:00] Denmark's reality check: Copenhagen Airport shutdowns connect to shadow fleets and cyber intrusions

[03:50] Sweden's systematic rebuild treats gray zone reality as permanent operating condition

[05:07] Total Defence integration model eliminates separation between military and civilian crisis management

[09:36] Why surge capacity models collapse under continuous multi-domain pressure

[12:00] The fundamental question: governance change or improved emergency response?

[13:00] Missing piece: institutional recognition that informal coordination networks are the foundation of evolution

Connect with Kyle King

In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King examines how gray zone operations are fundamentally reshaping civilian crisis management across Europe. Kyle walks through Russian drone incursions over Poland, GPS jamming affecting hundreds of thousands of flights, and shadow fleet operations cutting undersea cables to demonstrate why traditional emergency management frameworks can't handle sustained, multi-domain pressure designed to exhaust coordination capacity.

Through real-world examples like Poland's border closure disrupting €25 billion in trade and Denmark's coordination trap, the episode reveals how practitioners are already building informal networks out of necessity because official structures move too slowly. NATO members are invoking Article 4 consultations over civilian incidents. Emergency managers are operating at sustained alert levels for weeks without recovery phases.

Tune in to understand why the transformation from emergency management to security governance isn't optional anymore, and how Crisis Lab's Forum provides the strategic infrastructure for professionals navigating this shift in real time.

Show Highlights

[00:25] Defining the gray zone and why it matters for civilian crisis management

[01:30] September 2025 Russian drone incursions and NATO's first intercept over member territory

[02:15] GPS jamming surge: 700 incidents in 2025 vs 55 in all of 2023

[03:00] Why traditional emergency management assumptions no longer hold

[04:15] How gray zone operations target civilian coordination capacity, not military assets

[05:00] Poland's 12-day border closure and the €25 billion trade route disruption

[06:15] Cascading effects: pharmaceutical supply chains and continental public health coordination

[07:00] The coordination trap: when organizational charts become obstacles

[08:00] Sweden's bureaucratic response to shadow fleet operations

[09:00] What sustained operational capability actually requires

[10:15] Intelligence integration as a civilian function

[10:45] Training for multi-domain pressure and information fog

[11:15] How informal networks are holding when formal structures fail

[12:00] The Forum at Crisis Lab: strategic infrastructure for the security governance transformation

In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King takes a hard look at the internal fractures forming within the emergency management community. Kyle reflects on how recent disasters and public criticism have brought long-standing issues to the surface. This episode challenges the profession to face uncomfortable truths about authority, messaging, and its evolving role in the face of growing demands.

With examples drawn from major events like Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and reactions from both public officials and emergency professionals, Kyle unpacks how misinformation, internal conflict, and a crisis of credibility are reshaping what it means to serve communities during emergencies. He explores how the field's reliance on heroic language has masked a quiet shift toward managing scarcity rather than delivering aid and why the time for honest self-examination is now.

Tune in to hear why emergency management stands at a crossroads and what it must do to rebuild public trust and professional unity in an age of constant crisis.

Show Highlights

[00:25] Why this conversation is difficult but necessary
[01:05] Recent disasters and growing scrutiny
[01:45] Internal divide in emergency management
[02:30] Social media and professional conflict
[03:34] Criticism from within the field
[04:00] Misinformation and coordination challenges
[04:47] Constant disaster demand
[05:40] Overlooked internal tensions
[05:59] Who really represents the profession
[06:47] Impact of influencers vs. traditional roles
[07:34] Messaging clash with public expectations
[08:29] FEMA's response during Hurricane Helene
[09:32] From aid delivery to resource management
[10:51] Institutional honesty and public trust
[11:24] Two directions for the profession
[12:00] Rebuilding credibility through alignment

In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King sits down with emergency preparedness leader Toni Hauser to examine how the future of emergency management is being shaped by shifting influence, community leadership, and professional development. With debates underway about decentralizing FEMA, the discussion highlights why local voices matter and how change in the field often starts from the ground up.

Drawing from her role as co-vice chair of the IAEM 2025 Conference Committee and her experience in public health preparedness, Toni explains how the upcoming IAEM Annual Conference in Louisville is designed as more than a traditional event. She shares how planning adapts to constant change, why flexibility is essential, and how the conference builds resilience through networking, training, and immersive experiences.

Tune in to hear how emergency management professionals can navigate policy shifts, balance a wide range of responsibilities, and find new ways to lead in an environment where adaptability is the key to influence.

Show Highlights

[02:55] Overview of the IAEM 2025 Annual Conference in Louisville

[03:16] Debate on FEMA decentralization and shifting influence

[06:08] Planning, logistics, and adapting to change

[09:20] Gathering feedback and creating meaningful experiences

[11:16 ] Inside the IAEM Expo and networking opportunities

[14:02] Trends in conference submissions and session topics

[15:51] The role of virtual conferences and accessibility

[18:50] Speaker liaison roles and supporting presenters

[20:40] Challenges of breadth and context switching in emergency management

[24:18] Advice for first-time attendees and volunteer opportunities

[26:15] Registration details and final thoughts

Connect with Toni Hauser 
- LinkedIn

Check out the IAEM 2025 Annual Conference in Louisville, November 14–20, for the latest trends, tools, and networking opportunities in emergency management: https://www.iaem.org/Events/Event-Info/sessionaltcd/AC25

In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King breaks down the professional development paradox in emergency management.

As challenges grow more complex and interdependent, senior leaders are often stuck between outdated training models and increasing demands. Many find that after 15 years, professional growth slows, leaving them intellectually stranded.

Kyle highlights the false choice between tactical training and generic leadership courses, and argues for a third path: intellectual infrastructure that connects seasoned professionals across fields. Drawing from research and real-world conversations, he challenges listeners to rethink how expertise evolves and why staying curious is essential.

Show Highlights

[00:53] Training cycles vs fast-moving demands
[01:40] Fundamentals and cross-sector challenges
[02:05] After-action reviews and slow adaptation
[03:14] Climate, cyber, and supply chain risks
[03:40] Generalist or tactical: a false choice
[04:09] Two categories of development, and the gap
[05:11] Burnout, low pay, and lack of strategy
[06:20] The silo trap of deep expertise
[07:33] Routine vs adaptive expertise
[09:42] Why leadership programs fall short
[11:06] The convergence of complexity and missing support
[12:02] What intellectual infrastructure should provide
[14:23] The Forum as a new model
[16:00] When were you last curious about your field?

If that question made you pause, you are not alone. Many experienced professionals are facing complex challenges with training models that no longer fit the realities they work in.

The Forum at Crisis Lab was created to give senior leaders a space to learn with peers, test new ideas, and stay sharp in a changing environment.

🔗 Apply now at crisislab.io/theforum

In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King sits down with maritime operations expert James Merten to explore how global trade depends on a fragile and often invisible system: ocean shipping. From cargo delays and cyberattacks to major port shutdowns, disruptions in this sector have far-reaching effects—touching everything from factory supply chains to your local grocery store.

James draws from his experience with the U.S. Coast Guard and academic research in port resilience to unpack the real challenges of keeping maritime systems running. They discuss why maritime coordination is so complex, how ports prepare for storms and peak shipping seasons, and what new risks are emerging as the industry goes digital and adopts clean energy.

Tune in to learn what really happens behind the scenes when maritime systems break down—and what it takes to build them back stronger.

Show Highlights
[02:28] How everyday goods depend on global shipping routes
[04:31] What actually counts as a major maritime disruption
[06:48] Inside the tangled web of port governance and response
[10:05] The real-world gap between plans and emergencies
[11:56] Balancing global supply chains with local recovery needs
[13:52] How ports plan for hurricanes, holidays, and heavy cargo flows
[16:34] Why digitized ports are vulnerable to cyberattacks
[18:38] What port recovery looks like beyond reopening
[20:06] A new training course for maritime professionals
[21:55] What’s ahead: wind farms, automation, and changing risks

Connect with James:

In this episode of the Crisis Lab Podcast, host Kyle King introduces the “velocity of crisis”—a powerful yet overlooked concept in emergency management. As disasters escalate faster and ripple through interconnected systems, our current response models are falling behind.

Kyle explores how predictive analytics, anticipatory positioning, and automation can help us stay ahead. Featuring real-world examples like the 2021 European floods and innovations like California’s Alert program, this episode unpacks how we can shift from reactive to proactive crisis management—and build systems ready for the speed of modern emergencies.

Tune in to discover how understanding crisis velocity could reshape how we protect our communities.

Show Highlights
[00:00] What is the “velocity of crisis” and why it matters
[01:23] The dangerous speed gap in emergency response
[02:09] How modern disasters cascade through systems
[03:00] Spain & Portugal blackout: a case of systemic failure
[05:03] Why warnings failed during the 2021 European floods
[06:02] Tech solutions that anticipate crises, not chase them
[07:06] Three principles to interrupt crisis escalation
[09:19] Matching crisis velocity with automation and AI
[10:20] Rethinking emergency management for today’s risks