Batya Ungar-Sargon

Yeah, you're seeing people on the left kind of blaming the climate change issue and people on the right blaming DEI or incompetence. I feel pretty grossed out by both of these trends. I think Leighton Woodhouse really nailed it in a piece he wrote for Newsweek and also in the Free Press article.

where he argued that there's just something about the geology of this place that lends itself to these horrific acts of God every half a century, that the land there, you know,

where he argued that there's just something about the geology of this place that lends itself to these horrific acts of God every half a century, that the land there, you know,

where he argued that there's just something about the geology of this place that lends itself to these horrific acts of God every half a century, that the land there, you know,

Around the Santa Monica Beach, Pacific Palisades should never have been developed because it was always going to erupt in flames in this way due to the fact that the vegetation grows really lush during the rainy winter months and then dries out and the Santa Ana winds show up in the dry summer months. And so to me, I found that really compelling. I just think it is so hard to imagine...

Around the Santa Monica Beach, Pacific Palisades should never have been developed because it was always going to erupt in flames in this way due to the fact that the vegetation grows really lush during the rainy winter months and then dries out and the Santa Ana winds show up in the dry summer months. And so to me, I found that really compelling. I just think it is so hard to imagine...

Around the Santa Monica Beach, Pacific Palisades should never have been developed because it was always going to erupt in flames in this way due to the fact that the vegetation grows really lush during the rainy winter months and then dries out and the Santa Ana winds show up in the dry summer months. And so to me, I found that really compelling. I just think it is so hard to imagine...

You know, somebody doing a better job with so much destruction. I don't have any confidence in Karen Bass or in Gavin Newsom. I don't think that they're stars or particularly competent people. But at the same time, nobody's pointing to things that are legitimate as, you know, actual mistakes that would have actually prevented this or... helped the situation.

You know, somebody doing a better job with so much destruction. I don't have any confidence in Karen Bass or in Gavin Newsom. I don't think that they're stars or particularly competent people. But at the same time, nobody's pointing to things that are legitimate as, you know, actual mistakes that would have actually prevented this or... helped the situation.

You know, somebody doing a better job with so much destruction. I don't have any confidence in Karen Bass or in Gavin Newsom. I don't think that they're stars or particularly competent people. But at the same time, nobody's pointing to things that are legitimate as, you know, actual mistakes that would have actually prevented this or... helped the situation.

From what I've been able to gather, and your listeners should tell me if I'm wrong about this, but it seems like the reason there was no water in the hydrants was not because there is an absence of water for this kind of thing, but because the water pressure was simply failed because they were trying to get all of the water in the city into one place, which

From what I've been able to gather, and your listeners should tell me if I'm wrong about this, but it seems like the reason there was no water in the hydrants was not because there is an absence of water for this kind of thing, but because the water pressure was simply failed because they were trying to get all of the water in the city into one place, which

From what I've been able to gather, and your listeners should tell me if I'm wrong about this, but it seems like the reason there was no water in the hydrants was not because there is an absence of water for this kind of thing, but because the water pressure was simply failed because they were trying to get all of the water in the city into one place, which

which is something that is very predictable, but I don't know how you fix for it. So to me, I feel like the politicization of this has been extremely disappointing. But I do think that on the ground, there's been a lot of unity and a lot of coming together, a lot of really moving moments on social media. So I'm trying to focus on those.

which is something that is very predictable, but I don't know how you fix for it. So to me, I feel like the politicization of this has been extremely disappointing. But I do think that on the ground, there's been a lot of unity and a lot of coming together, a lot of really moving moments on social media. So I'm trying to focus on those.

which is something that is very predictable, but I don't know how you fix for it. So to me, I feel like the politicization of this has been extremely disappointing. But I do think that on the ground, there's been a lot of unity and a lot of coming together, a lot of really moving moments on social media. So I'm trying to focus on those.

That was my first thought, is this is the end of his political career. I don't see how he survives this. And that sounds like a contradiction with what I opened with, but I don't think it is. It could be that something is just so devastating that your inability to respond to it in a way that's compelling ends your political career, even though there would have been very little you could have done.

That was my first thought, is this is the end of his political career. I don't see how he survives this. And that sounds like a contradiction with what I opened with, but I don't think it is. It could be that something is just so devastating that your inability to respond to it in a way that's compelling ends your political career, even though there would have been very little you could have done.

That was my first thought, is this is the end of his political career. I don't see how he survives this. And that sounds like a contradiction with what I opened with, but I don't think it is. It could be that something is just so devastating that your inability to respond to it in a way that's compelling ends your political career, even though there would have been very little you could have done.

Obviously, like if DeSantis had been in charge of L.A., I think people would have felt it. like there was more competence going on around them. Because I agree, of course, with both of you that the contract in California has been broken and that there's a huge crisis in trust in public institutions. I just think that this was an act of God and was so devastating for these ecological reasons.