The Response

The Response revisits a disaster that has its roots in inequality, austerity, and institutional racism. On June 14, 2017, a fire started in a 24-story public housing apartment building in West London called Grenfell Tower. The fire raged all night and reduced the building to a shell. Seventy-two people lost their lives, making the Grenfell Fire the United Kingdom's deadliest disaster since World War II.

Through the voices of survivors, their families, and others who were impacted, the episode examines the events that led up to the Grenfell Tower fire and explores how the community has responded. What has the healing process looked like for survivors and the bereaved? How has the community come together to increase its resilience while simultaneously fighting for justice and accountability? And what is being done to ensure that something like this never, ever happens again?

When discussing climate change these days, it's no longer suitable to simply imagine its impacts on "future generations." It's also not exactly appropriate to imagine the result of climate change as being some kind of apocalyptic, end-of-the-world scenario. Climate change is happening right now, and its impacts are going to absolutely devastate some communities while leaving others relatively intact.

In this extended interview, Series Producer Robert Raymond spoke with Dr. Samantha Montano, an Assistant Professor of Emergency Management & Disaster Science at the University of Nebraska Omaha. Dr. Montano's research focuses on a wide scope of topics within the field of emergency management, including community organizing, emergent groups (particularly during recovery), preparedness for recovery, and disaster volunteerism.

An in depth interview with Paris's Chief Resilience Officer, Sebastian Maire, about what that city has been doing in order to build resilience in the face of the climate crisis.

The conversation covers the six main resilience challenges in Paris, their three-tiered approach to meeting those challenges, and how they are empowering the residents to directly participate — and in many cases, lead the process.

Along the way, we discuss the 100 Resilient Cities program, community fridges, the role of social cohesion, and his views on the inextricable link between climate change and economic inequality.

In the first episode of our second season, The Response travels to Mexico City and puts the focus on the 2017 Puebla Earthquake — a magnitude 7.1 quake that toppled over forty buildings, caused over 350 deaths, and injured thousands. Specifically, we explore the significance of information flows by telling the story of a very unique initiative that arose in the wake of the earthquake.

In the aftermath of a disaster, information can mean the difference between life and death. After the earthquake hit in Mexico City, it wasn't just buildings that collapsed, the normal lines of communication that connect the city did as well. It was in this dangerous state of confusion and chaos that a group of friends using WhatsApp to share information ended up creating what later became known as Verificado19s, a spontaneous, grassroots initiative that consisted of a vast network of volunteers that traveled throughout the city to gather and verify information.

Last month, Shareable writer Aaron Fernando spoke at length with Dr. Gordon, about his innovative approach to working with trauma caused by social, political, and environmental disasters.

From the ongoing occupation in Gaza to wildfire survivors in Sonoma County, students and teachers in Parkland after the school shooting, military veterans returning home with PTSD, and the systemic marginalization of the Lakota people on the Pine Ridge reservation, Dr. Gordon and his team have seen and supported the many faces of Trauma happening around the world.

Going beyond simply analyzing the dynamics of the 2017 Tubbs Fire and Undocufund, the interview explores the broader issues faced by the undocumented community in California, as well as the importance of organizing and community empowerment when it comes to minimizing the effects of not just environmental disasters—but economic, social, and racial injustices as well.

On August 5th The Response is back for Season 2!

The Response is a podcast and documentary series exploring the remarkable communities that arise in the aftermath of disasters. Spanning the globe, each episode takes a deep dive into a unique location to uncover the under-reported stories that are hidden just beneath the surface of extraordinary events.

The third episode of The Response travels to Northern California to provide a unique perspective on the topics of climate change and immigration. We put the focus on last year's Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa, California — the state's most destructive fire to date — and how it impacted the undocumented community. We explore how, in the face of ICE raids, labor violations, a housing crisis, and climate-fueled wildfires, the broader community is coming together to stand in solidarity with those who are being forced into the shadows.

California's climate-fueled drought has left the state in an extremely precarious condition and has led to an unprecedented number of wildfires that are burning hotter, faster, and ever more acreage. The largest wildfire in the state's recorded history was the Mendocino Complex Fire, which scorched well over four-hundred thousand acres during the Summer of 2018. And the second largest fire in California burned just a year before that. As California Governor Jerry Brown says, "Since civilization emerged 10,000 years ago, we haven't had this kind of heat condition, and it's going to continue getting worse."

We've already reached a one degree celsius increase in average global temperatures, and we may be on track for four by the end of the century. As the reality of an increasingly chaotic climate begins to settle in, it must be viewed through a lens of social, economic, and political circumstances as well. What does the growing threat of climate-fueled disasters mean for the most vulnerable among us?

For more visit TheResponsePodcast.org

Executive Producer/Host: Tom Llewellyn

Producer/Writer: Robert Raymond

Field Producers: Ninna Gaensler-Debbs and Robert Raymond

Music: Chris Zabriskie and Lanterns

Voice Over Narration: Luisa Cardoza

In this second episode of our new radio documentary series The Response, we shine a spotlight on Puerto Rico. When Hurricane Maria slammed into the island about a year ago, it resulted in thousands of deaths and knocked out power for almost an entire year. The result was what many consider to be the worst disaster in the United States.

Further, the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria exacerbated the ongoing debt crisis that has been crippling the country's public services for years — a crisis that has forced many communities on the island abandon hope that the government will ever come to their assistance. And so when Hurricane Maria hit, it wasn't a surprise to many of these already-abandoned communities when the official response was often nowhere to be seen.

This conversation has been told before by many mainstream news outlets. What you might not have heard, however, is the story of the grassroots response that arose after Maria. In the midst of all the austerity and hurricane-driven chaos, a quiet revolution has been slowly taking place on the island. What began as an impromptu community kitchen meant to help feed survivors in the town of Caguas has since grown into an island-wide network of mutual aid centers with the ultimate aim of restoring power — both electric and civic — to the people. We'll hear from many of those involved in these centers and find out why they are growing so quickly and what they are doing to begin addressing both the acute and chronic disasters that Puerto Ricans are facing today.

For more visit TheResponsePodcast.org

Executive Producer/Host: Tom Llewellyn

Producer/Writer: Robert Raymond

Field Producer: Juan Carlos Dávila

Music: Vladi (feat. Skew.One) and Papel Machete

How do we respond to natural disasters? What comes to mind? Large relief organizations like the American Red Cross? Or perhaps the Federal Emergency and Management Agency? Well, those images are certainly part of the story—but they're not the whole story. In our new podcast series, The Response, we aim to share a perspective that isn't extensively covered in the mainstream media. Specifically, we ask the question: how do communities come together in the aftermath of disasters—often in the face of inadequate official response—to take care of each other?

In the first episode of this series, we answer that question by taking a deep dive into the Rockaway Peninsula in New York City, to explore how, in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, a grassroots network of activists and volunteers emerged to coordinate one of the most effective relief efforts in the city. The group became known as Occupy Sandy, and in this episode, we hear the personal narratives of three New Yorkers who were thrown into this spontaneous relief effort. We'll explore how, in the midst of the unfolding catastrophe, unlikely friendships were formed, deep bonds were cultivated, and a perhaps dormant side of New York City was awakened — one based on collectivity, mutual aid, and solidarity.

For more visit TheResponsePodcast.org

Host/Executive Producer: Tom Llewellyn

Producer/Writer: Robert Raymond

Field Producer: Paige Ruane

Music: Chris Zabriskie, Pele, and Lanterns