Barry Weiss

I'll say here that the piece that you referenced by Leighton Woodhouse has elicited more anger from very thoughtful people than perhaps any story we've run in the past few months. I want to just read part of a letter that we're going to run tomorrow because I think it'll take us a little deeper into this conversation.

I'll say here that the piece that you referenced by Leighton Woodhouse has elicited more anger from very thoughtful people than perhaps any story we've run in the past few months. I want to just read part of a letter that we're going to run tomorrow because I think it'll take us a little deeper into this conversation.

Leighton Woodhouse's piece is a revolting example of the defeatism that permeates far too much of civil society today. It's the same philosophy animating low birth rates, climate inevitability, and racial determinism.

Leighton Woodhouse's piece is a revolting example of the defeatism that permeates far too much of civil society today. It's the same philosophy animating low birth rates, climate inevitability, and racial determinism.

Leighton Woodhouse's piece is a revolting example of the defeatism that permeates far too much of civil society today. It's the same philosophy animating low birth rates, climate inevitability, and racial determinism.

Taken to its logical conclusion, Woodhouse's argument is that because Earth is part of a solar system that faces black holes, asteroids, and an eventual implosion on the sun, we should merely hang our heads and mutter goodbye to our lineage as the natural process of destruction takes place. In other words, there's a kind of

Taken to its logical conclusion, Woodhouse's argument is that because Earth is part of a solar system that faces black holes, asteroids, and an eventual implosion on the sun, we should merely hang our heads and mutter goodbye to our lineage as the natural process of destruction takes place. In other words, there's a kind of

Taken to its logical conclusion, Woodhouse's argument is that because Earth is part of a solar system that faces black holes, asteroids, and an eventual implosion on the sun, we should merely hang our heads and mutter goodbye to our lineage as the natural process of destruction takes place. In other words, there's a kind of

determinism and defeatism in the argument that, well, Los Angeles is built to burn. In other words, you could say the same thing. Manhattan is built to flood. We're surrounded by water. The entire idea of building cities and civilization is the idea that we push back against nature.

determinism and defeatism in the argument that, well, Los Angeles is built to burn. In other words, you could say the same thing. Manhattan is built to flood. We're surrounded by water. The entire idea of building cities and civilization is the idea that we push back against nature.

determinism and defeatism in the argument that, well, Los Angeles is built to burn. In other words, you could say the same thing. Manhattan is built to flood. We're surrounded by water. The entire idea of building cities and civilization is the idea that we push back against nature.

So, maybe I'm getting too heady for before noon on a Monday, but I got to say, having lived in LA over the past four years, having seen the way that the basic compact between citizens and the government does not work. If you call the LAPD because you see a robbery, or in my case, see a man wildly swinging a machete, it might take them an hour to show up.

So, maybe I'm getting too heady for before noon on a Monday, but I got to say, having lived in LA over the past four years, having seen the way that the basic compact between citizens and the government does not work. If you call the LAPD because you see a robbery, or in my case, see a man wildly swinging a machete, it might take them an hour to show up.

So, maybe I'm getting too heady for before noon on a Monday, but I got to say, having lived in LA over the past four years, having seen the way that the basic compact between citizens and the government does not work. If you call the LAPD because you see a robbery, or in my case, see a man wildly swinging a machete, it might take them an hour to show up.

Living in New York, New York feels like this utopian paradise in terms of just functionality compared to Los Angeles. So those fires are taking place in that political context, one in which things that should be public are increasingly privatized and in which people have really lost faith in the mayor and in the governor. But I've gone on too long. I'm meant to be the host.

Living in New York, New York feels like this utopian paradise in terms of just functionality compared to Los Angeles. So those fires are taking place in that political context, one in which things that should be public are increasingly privatized and in which people have really lost faith in the mayor and in the governor. But I've gone on too long. I'm meant to be the host.

Living in New York, New York feels like this utopian paradise in terms of just functionality compared to Los Angeles. So those fires are taking place in that political context, one in which things that should be public are increasingly privatized and in which people have really lost faith in the mayor and in the governor. But I've gone on too long. I'm meant to be the host.

Brianna, what do you think? Who's to blame?

Brianna, what do you think? Who's to blame?

Brianna, what do you think? Who's to blame?