#L.A.Rising

What does art have to do with disaster?In this episode of LA Rising, host Kim Marshall explores creative recovery with Shiloh Strong, Founder of Ashes to Films, and Alyssa Dudek, its CEO. After losing his own home to a wildfire in Santa Barbara, Shiloh built a nonprofit that gives fire-affected storytellers small grants, a network of support, and a festival for their short films.Alyssa explains why art, rebuilding, and mental health are all interconnected, and how the Greenlight Gala on November 15 and the festival on January 7 to 10 offer green lights to people who have hit too many red ones.Then Kim talks with four grant-winning filmmakers: Lauren Alexandra on Worth It, her documentary about Altadena businesses building back; costume pattern maker Sharon McGunigle on East of Eaton, her ride across the country after losing her home and her studio in Altadena that explores climate migration and rebirth; Susan Sullivan on Constructing a Teen, inspired by her son's job helping rebuild neighbor’s homes in the Palisades; and EB George and Brian George on All the Way Home, which follows the Palisades High baseball team’s post fire camaraderie and resilience .This is a story of grief, grit, and the community that helps creatives start creating again.Listen, share this episode with someone who is rebuilding, and use the resources below to get tickets, volunteer, or donate.Resources:Ashes to FilmsThe Los Angeles Trust for Children's HealthDonate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA

VOTE FOR EPISODE 20 by October 15, 2026!#L.A. Rising's "Writing to Surprise Ourselves" has been named a Finalist in the Mental Health category of the Signal Awards, a major podcast award judged by industry leaders including Jay Shetty and content executives from YouTube, LinkedIn, iHeart, NPR and TED. We're also up for the Listener's Choice Award, and we need your votes.How to vote (about five minutes):Click here or go to the home page of larisingstories.org.Enter your email and click the verification link Signal sends, just to prove you're not a robot.Vote for Episode 20, "Writing to Surprise Ourselves."Every vote helps bring attention to these stories, and to communities around the world preparing for climate disasters that are increasing every month. Winners will be announced October 20.About the episodeWhat if the thing that saves us isn’t rebuilding a house, but rebuilding our story? In this deeply human episode of LA Rising, host Kim Marshall sits down with Kathleen Katims, founder of Saved by a Story, a nonprofit offering free writing workshops to wildfire survivors, foster youth, seniors, and others navigating life’s hardest seasons. After losing her own Pacific Palisades home in the 2025 fires, Kathleen began guiding fellow survivors to write their way through grief, humor, shock, and resilience—often in just ten minutes. You’ll hear unforgettable stories from the workshops, including “My House is a Poem,” a love letter from a burned-down home to its owner, and a surprisingly hilarious treasure unearthed from the ashes. If you believe storytelling heals, this episode will show you why. Share it with someone who needs connection—and consider attending a workshop or supporting LA Rising’s mission to preserve these living histories of hope.Resources:Saved by a StorySBAS Wildfire Survivor WorkshopsWende MuseumDonate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA

What happens when wildfire survivors stop waiting for a recovery system to save them and start working to change the system themselves? Kim Marshall joins Eaton Fire survivors, advocates and community organizers on a bus trip to Sacramento, where residents bring their stories directly to California lawmakers. Eaton Fire Residents United's Jane explains how neighbors turned hundreds of independent contamination tests into data that helped shape AB 1642 and AB 1795, two bills aimed at establishing scientific standards for testing and remediation of smoke-damaged homes and connecting those standards to insurance recovery. Along the way, young survivors, renters, underinsured homeowners and first-time activists share what it means to lose not only a house, but a school, a business, a neighborhood and generations of memories. Their journey offers a firsthand look at grassroots advocacy and the determination to make recovery safer and more equitable for the communities facing the next disaster. Learn more about EFRU's contamination research and recovery resources, follow the legislation, and find out how their work could help make recovery safer when — not if — you are affected by a climate disaster. .Resources:Eaton Fire Residents United (EFRU)AB 1642, Wildfire Environmental Safety and Testing ActAB 1795, Smoke Damage Recovery ActAltadena Brick by BrickBust a Move Home Relocation InitiativeDonate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA

Wildfire knows no borders — and neither does the instinct to help. In this episode of LA Rising, Kim Marshall looks north to British Columbia, where another brutal fire season is testing communities, farms, tourism, and thousands of evacuees.where another brutal fire season is testing communities, farms, tourism, and thousands of evacuees.Wellness Coach and spa industry veteran, Kathryn Stolle, a 40-year B.C.resident, reflects on how the last four years of climate change compare to decades prior. Lisa Jaager, General Manager of Summerland Waterfront Resort & Spa in the Okanagan Valley — ground zero for one of this year's 100 regional fires — describes evacuating a hotel that had become a refuge for people who'd already lost their homes. And Ellen Walker-Matthews, CEO of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association and herself a fire evacuee, shares stories of extraordinary generosity, the economic stakes for small businesses, and why recovery takes both preparation and hope.Together, these three stories show what neighbors helping neighbors looks like in a crisis — and why the choices we make today matter for generations to come.Share this with anyone navigating wildfire recovery, or anyone who thinks Canada's forests are the only thing burning. And when the time is right, consider returning to this beautiful wine and lake region to support the local businesses that make it so special.Resources:FireSmoke Canada: Interactive wildfire smoke and air-quality forecasting mentioned by Catherine Stolle https://firesmoke.ca/Canadian Red Cross: A resource Catherine recommended for supporting communities affected by wildfire https://www.redcross.ca/Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association: Led by guest Ellen Walker-Matthews, with information on the region, local businesses, and responsible travel https://www.totabc.org/Summerland Waterfront Resort & Spa: Led by guest Lisa Jager and featured prominently in the episode https://www.summerlandresorthotel.com/Donate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA

When the Guadalupe River rose with almost no warning on July 4, 2025, the Texas Hill Country was changed forever. In this episode of LA Rising, host Kim Marshall looks beyond the headlines to ask what true recovery looks like one year later. First, Kim speaks with Austin Dickson, CEO of the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, about launching the Kerr County Flood Relief Fund, building a survivor-centered recovery system through RebuildKerr.org, funding temporary housing, supporting mental health care, and learning how philanthropy can move quickly while still planning for years of recovery. Then, Kim sits down with Mary Campana, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity Kerr County, to hear how Habitat helped rebuild homes, move families to safer ground, and restore the dignity and stability that come with having a place to call home. This is a story of grief, grit, generosity, and the relationships that hold a community together after the unthinkable. Listen, share this episode with someone who cares about disaster recovery, and visit the resources below to support families still rebuilding in Kerr County and beyond.Resources:Rebuild KerrThe Hill Country's Community FoundationHabitat for Humanity Kerr CountyFamily Mental Health Care Fund: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)Rebuild Kerr Down Payment Assistance - Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation (TSAHC)Kerr County Small Business Recovery Program | LiftFundDonate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA

A year and a half after the Eaton and Palisades fires, host Kim Marshall takes listeners on a ground-level tour of the two fire zones — from the Altadena Rebuild Trade Show, where hope looks like soil science and a “Sears catalog” of home with a sense of place.  To the Palibu Rebuild Expo, where facing the reality of living in a warming world and saying no to fossil fuel products like astroturf, giving hope to displaced seniors and embracing the healing power of nature are reshaping what recovery means.Along the way: a Red Cross board member and a volunteer firefighter-dentist making the case that "Ready is the New Well," how leaders of a burned down YMCA are keeping community alive without a building, and the people refusing to let the fire have the last word.Our episode begins and ends with a symbol of resilience named Bernard. The power of inspiration and renewal from that 170-year-old tree is the whole episode in one story.  Dispatches from the Rebuild is living history, told by the people living it. https://caer.earth – Center for Applied Ecological Remediation https://www.foothillcatalog.orghttps://www.resilientpalisades.orghttps://www.wiseandhealthyaging.orghttps://www.wiseandhealthyaging.orghttps://monarch-nursery.comDonate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA

Cecelia Girr is Director of Cultural Strategy at Backslash, the cultural intelligence unit of Omnicom Advertising, and the author of Ready Is the New Well, a landmark report for the Global Wellness Summit on preparedness as a cultural movement.In this special double-hosted episode, Cecelia joins our host, Kim Marshall ,and After the Fire CEO, Jennifer Gray Thompson, and Kim Marshall to talk about what the data actually shows: why extreme weather is no longer extreme, why the 2030s will be defined by resilience, and how preparedness has moved from the fringes of doomsday prepper culture into the mainstream.They cover fear-based messaging and why it drives paralysis rather than action, Yale research showing that small acts of preparedness reduce anxiety and depression, the role of technology in democratising disaster readiness, the rise of disaster-literate social media creators and brands designing for emergencies, and why social connection turns out to be the strongest predictor of survival after a disaster. This is a conversation about culture, data, and what it actually looks like when a society decides to get ready.  Find out the key role wellness businesses can play in a warming world. Resources:Ready Is the New Well - Global Wellness InstituteBackslash at Omnicom AdvertisingLA Rising Podcast with Kim MarshallWatch Duty AppCommunity Brigade MalibuHow to DisasterLearn more about After the Fire USADonate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA

In this episode, our host, Kim Marshall, reunites with Councilwoman Traci Park—the leader she first met stranded on the roadside during the Palisades Fire. Together, they unpack what really happens after the cameras leave: the long-tail trauma that outlasts the smoke, the mental health crisis facing fire survivors, and the brutal maze of insurance, rebuilding, and bureaucracy. Traci shares candidly how she sees her job (“I was elected to fight City Hall, not be City Hall”), why wellness—from clean streets and safe housing to Venice’s emerging wellness corridor—is at the center of every decision she makes, and how communities can stay united instead of turning on each other during the long rebuild. This conversation is for anyone navigating disaster recovery, questioning government response, or looking for grounded reasons to hope—and practical ways to plug into help. It’s fitting that the episode was filmed at the podcast studio in the wellness-themed, Moss co-working space. Our Wellness Lift segment features guidance from Colonel Eric Swenson of the Army Corps of Engineers and representatives from the Trauma Resource Institute on the life and death realities of supporting each other post disaster and the importance of resetting the nervous system after trauma. Resources:Learn more about Councilwoman Traci Park Pacific Palisades Community CouncilPalisades Recovery CoalitionTrauma Resource InstituteL.A. County Department of Mental Health Resources Check out Moss Venice Los AngelesFor questions and comments: @larisingpodcastLearn more about L.A. RisingDonate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA

When disaster strikes, animals are often among the most vulnerable and least visible victims. In this deeply moving episode of LA Rising, Kim Marshall speaks with Dr. Leslie Irvine, Professor Emerita at the University of Colorado Boulder and author of Filling the Ark: Animal Welfare in Disasters, about how wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and toxic burn zones affect pets, livestock, and wildlife. From the lessons of Hurricane Katrina to the realities of the Palisades and Eaton Fires, Dr. Irvine explains why animal disaster planning is not optional; it is practical, public health-centered, and deeply human. This episode also features a heartwarming Wellness Lift with Emmy-winning animation director, David Knott, whose docu-animated short, Disaster Cats, tells the true story of Bergie, a cat who survived 32 days in the Eaton Fire burn zone before being reunited with her family. You’ll also hear from volunteer cat rescuers Lexi and Amy, who helped trap and reunite lost fire cats in Altadena. Listen in for stories of heartbreak, community courage, and practical steps every animal guardian can take now: microchip your pets, build a go bag, rehearse evacuation, and get to know the neighbors who may one day help save the animals you love.Resources:Read Filling the Ark: Animal Welfare in Disasters by Dr. Leslie IrvinePHAR – Pet Help and Rescue App Check out Disaster Cats on Ashes to FilmsFollow Disaster Cats on Instagram: @disastercats_filmDonate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA

After wildfire strips a neighborhood bare, what helps people heal, and what helps a community breathe again? In this moving episode of LA Rising, host Kim Marshall explores the deep connection between recovery and the urban forest with sustainable landscape architect David Card of the Palisades Forestry Committee and biophilia expert Jennifer Walsh. Together, they reveal why trees are far more than scenery: they cool our homes, calm our nervous systems, protect communities, and help restore hope after loss. From the fight to save surviving trees in Pacific Palisades to the science behind why even 40 seconds of looking at nature can ease stress, this conversation is both practical and deeply restorative. Listen in for a powerful reminder that rebuilding is not only about structures, but also about replanting beauty, resilience, and belonging, one tree and one neighborhood at a time. Then share this episode, support local replanting and recovery efforts, and be part of bringing the green back to Los Angeles.Resources:Palisades Forestry CommitteeWalks with WalshDonate to help support #L.A. RisingProduced by NOVA