LA Podcast

Smoke and Smearers


Listen Later

Alissa and Mike sit down for a full assessment of recovery efforts six months after the January fires — and discuss why a key rebuilding effort went off the rails. Plus, we check in on the accomplishments of the fire-recovery billionaires, and try to figure out why one of those billionaires, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, announced he’s taking the paper public.

Cleanup was astonishingly fast, but as this LA Times summary of progress notes, only 800 rebuilding permits have been filed so far across both burn zones 

One reason: there are a lot of concerns about what people are returning to, both when it comes to the toxicity of their homes and the future of their communities

The UCLA Blue Ribbon Commission Climate Action and Fire-Safe Recovery that was convened by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath released its six-month fire recovery report with one topline recommendation: create a special Resilient Rebuilding Authority at the state level. Here are some extremely good explainers from UCLA’s Emmett School of Law on what a rebuilding authority could do and how it would have aided Woolsey Fire recovery

That effort, SB 549, has now stalled, in part due to conspiracy theories amplified by reality star Spencer Pratt, and State Senator Ben Allen talked to KCRW’s Madeleine Brand about what’s next

Meanwhile, Altadena’s land is being gobbled up by outside developers and lots are losing value for those who want to sell and efforts to rebuild smarter and to have families collaborate and source materials more sustainably are largely left up to homeowners

And while there haven’t been any significant charges for rent gougers, LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto is going after Airbnb for price gouging

Listen to Kate Cagle’s podcast, “Rebuilding LA

Six months after the fires, the LA Times reached out to nearly a dozen city, county and state agencies involved with evacuation planning. “All either did not respond to requests for comment, could not point to an evacuation analysis in line with the state’s guidelines for AB 747 or indicated the responsibility for doing the work lies with other agencies”

Many big name philanthropists have gone missing but Department of Angels, Evan Spiegel’s partnership with California Community Foundation, seems to be carrying out important work

The block captain model is powerful and Altatogether is coordinating it in Altadena

Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong went on The Daily Show to announce that he’s taking the LA Times public

Status: “Jon Stewart torched media executives for bowing to Trump — then handed Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, one of the worst offenders, an unchallenging interview minutes later”

This week’s episode is produced by Sophie Bridges and Olive Greenspan

Support for LA Podcast is provided by LA Forward and by listeners like you. The reporting and analysis you hear in the show is put together by our rotating cast of producers and co-hosts every week. If you want to help us bring more independent voices to California media, you can subscribe at thinkforward.la

All opinions expressed on the show are solely those of co-hosts and may not represent the views of LA Forward

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

LA PodcastBy LA Podcast

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

409 ratings


More shows like LA Podcast

View all
Democracy Now! Audio by Democracy Now!

Democracy Now! Audio

5,643 Listeners

The Dig by Daniel Denvir

The Dig

1,551 Listeners

Chapo Trap House by Chapo Trap House

Chapo Trap House

8,804 Listeners

Michael and Us by Luke Savage and Will Sloan

Michael and Us

598 Listeners

Pod Save America by Crooked Media

Pod Save America

86,508 Listeners

Citations Needed by Nima Shirazi and Adam Johnson

Citations Needed

3,881 Listeners

The War on Cars by The War on Cars, LLC

The War on Cars

902 Listeners

Know Your Enemy by Matthew Sitman

Know Your Enemy

1,962 Listeners

5-4 by Prologue Projects

5-4

3,407 Listeners

Double Threat with Julie Klausner & Tom Scharpling by Forever Dog

Double Threat with Julie Klausner & Tom Scharpling

1,452 Listeners

Time To Say Goodbye by Time To Say Goodbye

Time To Say Goodbye

407 Listeners

The LA Report by LAist Studios

The LA Report

85 Listeners

What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin by Mike Bonin

What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin

56 Listeners

On the Nose by Jewish Currents

On the Nose

233 Listeners

Read Max by Max Read

Read Max

18 Listeners