the LA Fires: who's being forgotten?

Summary

Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) – Episode: "The LA Fires: Who's Being Forgotten?"

Host: Jamie Loftus
Release Date: January 14, 2025
Produced By: Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

In this poignant episode of Sixteenth Minute (of Fame), host Jamie Loftus shifts gears from her usual focus on internet personalities to address the devastating wildfires sweeping through Southern California. Loftus delves deep into the human stories behind the flames, highlighting those who are often overshadowed in mainstream media coverage. Through heartfelt narratives and insightful interviews, the episode underscores the urgent need for community support, mutual aid, and sustained local journalism in the face of climate-induced disasters.

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1. Personal Reflections and Context ([02:44] – [24:37])

Jamie Loftus opens the episode with a personal account of navigating the recent wildfires in Southern California. She shares the harrowing experiences of the fires, including the loss of lives and homes, particularly among seniors, the disabled, and long-standing Black and Brown families in middle-class neighborhoods like Altadena.

Jamie Loftus ([03:54]): "Last week, the first week of 2025 wildfires tore across Southern California, burning through thousands and thousands of acres and counting. As I write this, these fires are nowhere close to being completely contained and have at present claimed 24 lives with 17 people still missing and not accounted for."

Loftus emphasizes the disparity in media coverage, noting that affluent areas like the Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica receive disproportionate attention compared to working-class neighborhoods.

Jamie Loftus ([12:58]): "Most of my friends who lost their homes were regular people. They didn't live in the Palisades. They lived in the middle-class town of Altadena up in the Valley."

She highlights the systemic issues exacerbated by the fires, including the reliance on incarcerated individuals for firefighting efforts and the lack of adequate support for vulnerable communities.

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2. Media Coverage and Class Disparity ([10:49] – [24:37])

The episode critiques the mainstream media's focus on wealthy neighborhoods affected by the fires, overshadowing the struggles of everyday Californians. Loftus questions the empathy shown towards the affluent victims versus the overlooked working-class and unhoused populations.

Theo Henderson ([10:49]): "Houses, everything is just burned down."

Katherine Legge ([13:23]): "But that's not how I have seen this talked about online."

Loftus discusses the broader implications of these coverage biases, highlighting how they perpetuate class disparities and hinder comprehensive disaster response.

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3. Insights from Local Journalism: Alyssa Walker ([30:01] – [41:44])

Jamie Loftus interviews Alyssa Walker, a dedicated local journalist and founder of the newsletter Torched, which covers LA’s mega-events and the impacts of the fires. Walker provides an insider’s perspective on the immediate challenges faced during the fires, including inadequate school closures and poor communication from city officials.

Alyssa Walker ([32:45]): "We need another eviction and rent moratorium. We need additional facilities for unhoused people to have a sustained place to live."

Walker underscores the importance of mutual aid and community-based responses, criticizing policies like California's SB 118 which criminalize homelessness.

Alyssa Walker ([39:40]): "Why the unintended consequences always is, I guess, oxymoronic, if you want to be really clear, is the fact that the narrative has always been pushed about unhoused people are drug addicted, mentally ill, they don't want help."

She calls for a more compassionate and inclusive approach to disaster response, advocating for sustained support rather than temporary fixes.

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4. The Unhoused Perspective: Theo Henderson’s Commentary ([42:36] – [83:45])

Theo Henderson, host of We the Unhoused, shares his firsthand experiences as a former unhoused individual. Henderson critiques the media’s narrow focus on affluent victims while ignoring the plights of those already living on the streets or those employed in lower-wage jobs supporting the wealthy.

Michael Thweets ([46:26]): "This is a clear example of climate injustice. The frontline workers are unhoused people."

Henderson highlights the ongoing struggles faced by the unhoused during the fires, including lack of access to effective masks and inadequate medical support. He also discusses the detrimental effects of policies like Grants Pass, which further marginalize and criminalize the unhoused.

Michael Thweets ([51:02]): "Grants Pass has given the right for state city workers to criminalize unhoused people without any solutions, without any appropriate follow up to get them off the streets."

The conversation emphasizes the importance of mutual aid and community support in addressing these systemic failures.

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5. The Role of Libraries and Community Spaces: Interview with Michael Thweets ([84:36] – [97:34])

Jamie Loftus interviews Michael Thweets, known as Michael the Librarian, an advocate for libraries and literacy. Thweets discusses the critical role libraries play as communal spaces, especially during disasters. He highlights how libraries serve as shelters, information hubs, and resource centers for affected populations.

Michael Thweets ([88:51]): "Libraries are always going to be a community hub. They're about books, but also about providing digital resources, technology access, and a safe space for everyone."

Thweets shares initiatives like providing N95 masks at libraries and organizing book donations to support displaced families, underscoring the multifaceted support libraries offer beyond just literary resources.

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6. Mutual Aid and Organizational Response: SELA Interview ([97:34] – [84:36])

The episode features an in-depth discussion with Maybelle (Maybe) and Sarah Reyes from SELA Neighborhood Homeless Coalition. They elaborate on how their organization adapts to crises, manages volunteer influxes, and sustains mutual aid efforts during and after the fires.

Sarah Reyes ([63:57]): "We all have so much support. We're dealing with our own personal anxieties, but we're still able to come together and focus on each other."

SELA emphasizes the importance of monetary donations over material goods, advocating for financial support to provide sustained aid.

Sarah Reyes ([75:36]): "Money is power. Money is also going to be what helps people recover in the long term."

The conversation highlights successful strategies for mobilizing community support, managing resources, and ensuring that aid reaches those most in need.

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7. Conclusion and Call to Action ([98:06] – [100:16])

Jamie Loftus wraps up the episode by reflecting on the collective human spirit exhibited during the crisis. She urges listeners to support local organizations like SELA and emphasizes the enduring importance of community solidarity.

Jamie Loftus ([98:06]): "Free Palestine. One of the moments that really made me emotional this week was seeing that a library in Pasadena had burned down... Everything we've been thinking about, all of these people who are left behind in these discussions around climate change and disasters like this are welcome in a library."

She concludes with an inspiring message about rebuilding and fostering community resilience in the aftermath of tragedy.

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Notable Quotes

• Jamie Loftus ([03:54]): "The people that we have lost were valuable and many were vulnerable... it's not fair that I get to sit here with my dumb fucking stuff and they have to start over."

• Alyssa Walker ([30:38]): "The Palisades fire started in a neighborhood that is in the city of LA, but it's like tucked up into the mountains above Malibu... creates a catastrophic and dangerous situation for everyone else that lives in the city."

• Michael Thweets ([51:02]): "Grants Pass has given the right for state city workers to criminalize unhoused people without any solutions."

• Sarah Reyes ([75:36]): "Money is power. Money is also going to be what helps people recover in the long term."

• Michael Thweets ([88:51]): "Libraries are always going to be about books. We're always going to push books. But now there's Libby, there's Hookah digital for audiobooks and ebooks... Everything for everybody at the library."

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) serves as a crucial reminder of the multifaceted impacts of natural disasters like the LA wildfires. By shedding light on the stories of the forgotten, particularly the unhoused and working-class communities, Loftus underscores the importance of inclusive media coverage, robust mutual aid networks, and the vital role of community spaces like libraries in fostering resilience and recovery. The episode calls listeners to action, encouraging support for local organizations and advocating for systemic change to better protect and assist vulnerable populations in future crises.

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Stay Connected

To support the communities affected by the LA fires, consider contributing to local mutual aid groups like SELA Neighborhood Homeless Coalition or donating directly to initiatives supporting the unhoused. Visit Sixteenth Minute (of Fame) on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

Transcript

[Jason Alexander]

Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports, and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden, and together our mission on the really no really podcast is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions, like why the bathroom door doesn't go all the way to the floor, what's in the museum a failure? And does your dog truly love you? We have the answer. Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign. Jason Bobblehead the ReallyNo really podcast. Follow us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Eric Zimmer]

You don't need another podcast. You've got too many already. But if you're looking for one that actually changes something, a way to take control of the chaos and find meaning, well, then maybe the one you feed is for you. I'm Eric Zimmer and I bring real conversations with to help you feed the best part of yourself. No hype, no fluff, just wisdom that works. Listen to the one you feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Katherine Legge]

Hey you guys, I'm Katherine Legge. I'm a racing driver who's literally driven everything with four wheels across the planet. And I've got a new podcast. It's called Throttle Therapy. This season I'm competing in some of.

[Jamie Loftus]

The world's most notorious racing events.

[Jason Alexander]

Tune in to my new podcast, Throttle.

[Katherine Legge]

Therapy with Katherine Legg, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio.

[Jamie Loftus]

App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get.

[Katherine Legge]

Your podcasts, presented by Elf Beauty, founding.

[Jamie Loftus]

Partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

[Jason Alexander]

Hi, this is Alex Kanchowitz. I'm the host of Big Technology Podcast, a longtime reporter and an on air contributor to cnbc. And if you're like me, you're trying to figure out how artificial intelligence is changing the business world and our lives. So each week on Big Technology I bring on key actors from companies building AI tech, asking where this is all going. They come from places like Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon and plenty more. So if you want to be smart with your wallet, your career choices and at dinner parties, listen to Big Technology podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jamie Loftus]

Cool Zone Media hello Jamie here. Two quick things before we get started. First, before you even start listening to episode, please go check out the link at the very beginning of this episode of the description to contribute to GoFundMe to middle and workingclass families who have lost their homes in the recent LA fires, any amount you're able to give is wonderful. I've been giving consistently and at this time I'm hearing that direct financial aid is what is needed. So go check those out and once you've done that, self plug reminding you that I have tickets on sale for our live show with the Bechdel cast in San Francisco on next Thursday, January 23rd. We still have a couple tickets in the description. Our Portland show is sold out. Sorry. And with that, a very special 16th minute.

[Alyssa Walker]

Give me one moment.

[Jamie Loftus]

Hello, welcome to 16th Minute, the podcast where we usually do other things, but every four episodes or so something of historical consequence happens and so then we talk about that instead. I'm your host Jamie Loftus, and usually on this show we take a look at and often speak with the Internet's characters of the day and see how their moment affected them and what it says about us and the Internet. And this week, originally we were going to be talking about Haley Welch, the Hawk to a girl. And we will not today, but I have 16,000 words in a separate Google Doc that guarantees that we will be talking about her for more than one week, I promise. But this week in particular, I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to get an episode out in time. I've been sicker than I've been in years. Years. But there's something important that I would like to talk to you about this week, and that is the fires in Southern California where I've lived for the last nine years or so. I want to tell you a little bit about what's going on and hopefully use this space to spotlight the people and the efforts that I feel that some of the present coverage of this tragedy is leaving behind. But just to be clear of what I'm trying to do here, I am so grateful to the on the ground reporters who are collecting these crucial accounts of families who have lost their home their histories. But what I'm trying to do here is zoom out a little bit and take a look at some of the underemphasized elements that will, I think, help continue to liberate displaced communities. I'm talking about mutual aid organizers, local investigative reporters, advocates for the unhoused community, and advocates for crucial public gathering spaces like our public libraries. So if you're not totally familiar with the situation or you are and you're not sure how best to get involved, I hope this is a place to start. But first, Jamie's little monologue. Last week, the first week of 2025 wildfires tore across Southern California, burning through thousands and thousands of acres and counting. As I write this, these fires are nowhere close to being completely contained and have at present claimed 24 lives with 17 people still missing and not accounted for. And it's not just one fire. The largest was in the Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica areas south of where I live, while other fires burned north in Altadena and Pasadena and in the San Gabriel Valley. So there was a moment this past Wednesday where there were fires within 10 miles in every direction that our city was just not able to combat fast enough to save people. What hasn't been discussed very much is that while many wealthy neighborhoods have burned, like the Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica, there are also middle class and working class neighborhoods that have burned, mainly Altadena and Pasadena. And we'll get into that later, but it is important. But first I want to share the names of the people who were lost in these fires. Palisade senior Annette Rosely, who stayed behind with her four pets in her home, Anthony and Justin Mitchell, a father and son in Altadena, Anthony being in a wheelchair and Justin, who had cerebral palsy. Anthony's body was found at the foot of his son's bed. There's Earlene Kelly, an Altadena senior who didn't want to abandon her home of more than 40 years. There's Victor Shaw, an Altadena resident who died fighting the flames in his home with a garden hose. There's Altadena resident Rodney Nickerson, who'd lived in the neighborhood for over 50 years. There is Rory Sykes, who also had cerebral palsy and whose mother was not able to evacuate him to safety. He was my age. There is Randy Miyad, who died in his Malibu home fighting the fire. Deleece Curry, a 95 year old Altadena resident. She was a known figure in old black Hollywood and an extra in Lady Sings the Blues. There's Longtime Altadena resident Evelyn McClendon, who died in her bedroom. There's Arthur Ciminu, who died in the Topanga home he'd built with his own hands. The majority of the people lost in these fires were seniors, they were disabled or they were longtime black homeowners in the middle class neighborhood of Altadena, California. The people that we have lost were valuable and many were vulnerable. And many who have survived these fires are valuable and vulnerable. In short, I am tremendously lucky because as I record this, I'm in my apartment with air purifiers wailing. And even as a tremendously lucky person, last week was really scary because as I said, I was really sick. As the air quality worsened and in my area, a large fire started in an area we could see from our neighborhood. I felt that we had to leave if I was going to be any use to anyone in the long term. So we went to long beach, about 30 miles south until the smoke blew far enough south that it made more sense to try to buy the last air purifier on earth and drive back home. And I'll add, in case this is funny, because I was extremely sick and my boyfriend was not sick at all. We slept in separate twin beds in N95 masks in this hotel room like if Lucy and Ricky had survived an atomic bomb. But as I sit recording this Monday night, the city is in for two more days of wind advisories and quote unquote, particularly dangerous conditions according to the government. There's families losing everything on a scale like this. Do you know anything about your house? It's all burned down. Everything. My kids, school, our community, our neighbors.

[Theo Henderson]

Houses, everything is just burned down.

[Sarah Reyes]

Everything is gone.

[Theo Henderson]

We were having dinner.

[Sarah Reyes]

I told my 3 year old and.

[Jamie Loftus]

My 1 year old that I told.

[Theo Henderson]

Him that we're having a fancy candlelight.

[Jamie Loftus]

Dinner because the power went out.

[Sarah Reyes]

And then we looked outside, we saw.

[Alyssa Walker]

A huge fire and we just packed whatever we can and we ran out.

[Michael Thweets]

It was chaos.

[Katherine Legge]

But they, you know, to me it's.

[Michael Thweets]

Just, it's sad to see everything that.

[Jamie Loftus]

We work for, everything that we built here to just be gone in hours.

[Eric Zimmer]

We went here for today so we know what happened.

[Jamie Loftus]

And that was our chimney where Santa comes and now it's gone.

[Peter Tilden]

Now we can't get presents here anymore.

[Jamie Loftus]

I know a dozen people whose homes and belongings and memories are just gone. And many of these people have young kids and these kids have lost their schools, their libraries, their parks, everything that they remember. We weren't ready for this. And the Most vulnerable communities that are so often treated as afterthoughts are always the first to suffer. It's not fair that I get to sit here with my dumb fucking stuff and they have to start over. It's not fair. But that's not how I have seen this talked about online. And this is an Internet culture show. So I will say that I noticed that many people were kind of clowning on houses, particularly in the Pacific Palisades burning. And you know, my Boston instinct is to say to those people, kill yourself. But rationally, it's hard to get too angry at any one person when the way that these tragedies are represented on national news. Lead with the tremendously privileged each and every time. To make sure I wasn't losing my mind, I asked my family in Massachusetts who were checking in with me what they had seen on the news. And it was only these very privileged neighborhoods that they saw spotlighted.

[Eric Zimmer]

And this being the home of Hollywood, of course it's everyday Californians.

[Michael Thweets]

But they are not only everyday Californians.

[Jason Alexander]

That are the victims. Along a fire scarred stretch of Malibu, we met up with milo Ventimiglia, a 47 year old father to be for Miles Teller who played a firefighter in Only the Brave.

[Michael Thweets]

This is all that remains of his Palisades home.

[Jason Alexander]

The top gun maverick star and his.

[Michael Thweets]

Wife bought the Cape Cod style villa.

[Jason Alexander]

In 2023 for seven and a half million dollars. Behind me, what is left of Billy Crystal's house. This is the place where he raised his children and grandchildren and now it's gone. But this is also about more than just celebrity.

[Jamie Loftus]

It is about everyday people. And it is cruel to mock anyone who has lost their memories and all of their possessions. But with class disparity the way it is in the U.S. i get that. Leading with people who are very likely to be able to rebuild with their own money. It's a hard sell to empathize for people who are really struggling. But I can't emphasize enough. Most of my friends who lost their homes were regular people. They didn't live in the Palisades. They lived in the middle class town of Altadena up in the Valley. A place that has a lot of history and is known as one of the only places in the area where middle class families have even a shot at owning a home. Not to mention that Altadena is a very diverse area due to horrifically racist redlining practices in the mid century, making Altadena a rare oasis where black and brown families could buy their own property and build generational wealth, and so much of that is gone. If you're seeing gleeful posts that the homes of the rich are burning, you're missing the forest for the trees in a huge way. And that's stupid, because the forest and the trees burn down. I would ask you to consider how widespread the effects of a climate catastrophe event like this will cause. Even in the Pacific Palisades, we're sure many of the wealthy will be able to afford to rebuild. I have not seen a lot of consideration of who cleans these people's homes and is now out of either a job, lodging, or both. Who are the nannies who care for their children that are now out of work? Who are the wait staff at their favorite restaurants? Who are the Amazon delivery drivers that recently alleged they've been kept on 20 hour shifts in spite of the danger that these fires present? It's a situation where even if you're lucky enough to still have your home, if your job burned to the ground, what are you supposed to do? I'd ask you to consider who is fighting these fires. One piece of information I have seen breakthrough to the mainstream this week is that over 30% of the firefighters combating this nightmare are incarcerated people who make no more than $10 a day risking their lives to keep the rest of us safe. And many of them are young. I hope I don't need to tell you what a racket American incarceration is and how brutally it targets men of color. And this in a state where California quite literally voted to keep slave labor policies present in prisons just a couple months ago. And what's worse, because of how felony laws work in California, these same incarcerated firefighters will not be eligible to be hired as firefighters professionally upon their release. Twitch streamer. Hasan Piker was able to interview some of these firefighters the other night. Here's a clip.

[Jason Alexander]

Cal Fire is kind of just to.

[Michael Thweets]

Cover up for it, you know? And we get out there and we do the hard work. Yeah, but shout out to those people. Those people do work too, you know, but we get the rough and tough.

[Jamie Loftus]

End of the stage.

[Michael Thweets]

Yeah.

[Eric Zimmer]

You heard of the word institutionalized, right? Institutionalized. Have you heard that word important? Institutionalized. Like, oh, institutionalized, yeah. So now, I mean, I've only did it for like 12 years, 13 years. But the point is, I'm about to get home, go home next month. So you go from the cell to this right here. It's like it's culture shocking. So now, I guess, like the fire camp bringing back light to the fire camp, Right? It does Help you Because now you start like, like mingling with the public, with you guys, the civilians. Right? Which is. I feel foreign with you guys because that feels like I'm part of the prison. That's who I was. That's what they inducted me to be. Yeah, that's what they wanted me to be. So like now they want you to get and then go to a fire camp and then act like if you're a firefighter and we do get like minimum training.

[Michael Thweets]

Right.

[Eric Zimmer]

So how is it that you do that? How can I become a better civilian, a citizen coming from prison to this? Like, maybe you guys know something about that.

[Jamie Loftus]

If you're interested in learning more, you can also send money directly to commissary for these firefighters at the link in the description. But I can't emphasize enough. We have teenagers, prisoners fighting fires at slave wages. Consider the air something that I can say for a fact people are really confused about, because I'm really fucking confused about it. If I look at my phone right now, Apple says the air quality is good. But Apple doesn't take into consideration the kind of chemicals that are released into the air when over 10,000 buildings, some of which are very old, burn nearby. My phone is like, go outside Queen. But when I go outside, the confetti that we released on New Year's Eve is on our neighbor's porch covered in ash. Consider how unregulated our housing market is. There's a number of thankfully eagle eyed people tracking how realtors and landlords have been increasing rent prices by a lot overnight in order to take advantage of these displaced families. And if these aren't reported and there aren't rent and eviction moratoriums put in place, this will inevitably displace renters who are priced out of their longtime neighborhoods to be replaced by these families. And while we have heard so many devastating accounts of families who are newly unhoused or housing insecure, there has been little to no consideration or conversation about people who have lived on the streets of Los Angeles for years. Many unhoused people in the area now have access to N95 masks, but in a polluted environment that no one quite understands. Yet unhoused people are, as always on the front lines of the climate crisis, living in a city that is always hostile to them. A climate scientist at UCLA named Daniel Swaim, who is a very respected local source, said that a tragedy like this was inevitable at this stage of climate crisis. He says, when you have bone dry, Critically dry vegetation, 50 to 90 mile an hour winds with highly flammable structures densely intermixed with vegetation, there isn't a lot to stop the aggressive chemical reaction that is the combustion process of an intense wind driven fire. And so to some degree, there's only so much the city and state can do. But this city is historically hostile to the unhoused. It's a place where the 4118 code states that the unhoused are prohibited from, quote, sitting, lying or sleeping or storing, using, maintaining or placing personal property in the public right of way, unquote. Basically, it's illegal to be unhoused. And this has continued now at a national level. Last summer the Supreme Court passed the Grants Pass decision. One that makes it quite literally an arrestable offense to be unhoused. And what tragedies like these fires demonstrate is a time honored truth. You can do everything right, but if something unprecedented happens, if something happens to your home, if you get sick and your insurance won't cover something, it is very possible that you would find yourself unhoused and subject a nationally sanctioned brutality. It is all legal, every climate catastrophe. And they will continue. Lay bare the ways in which systems have failed us and encouraged us to turn against one another. Isn't this episode fun? Are we having fun? Okay, one last thing. Even in the middle of this scary time, I do think that there is still a lot to be grateful for. Something I've been thinking about a lot is I read a book a few years ago at the recommendation of one Robert Evans called A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit. One that takes a look at some of the most devastating natural disasters in the last century plus of North American history. And its central thesis is that when disaster strikes, it's inhuman nature across class, racial, gender boundaries to be there for your community. Even though plenty of media would have us believe that normal people go Lord of the flies and turn against each other, we don't. Solnet illustrates. She uses examples ranging from the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005 in great detail to show that mutual aid and wanting to help our neighbors during a disaster appears to be a natural instinct. Instinct. This inherent desire to help others is so much of what I've seen in the last four days. My point is not to go full Randy on you, but I love la. I love it. I just wanted to share a passage from A Paradise Built in Hell that frames disaster as a devastating and painful opportunity to view the world differently. Disasters provide an extraordinary window into social desire and possibility and what manifests there matters elsewhere. In ordinary times and in other extraordinary times, in the wake of an earthquake, a bombing, or a major storm, most people are altruistic, urgently engaged in caring for themselves and those around them, strangers and neighbors, as well as friends and loved ones. The image of the selfish, panicky, or regressively savage human being in times of disaster has little truth to it. Decades of meticulous sociological research on behavior and disasters have demonstrated this. But belief lags behind, and often the worst behavior in the wake of a calamity is on the part of those who believe that others will behave savagely and that they themselves are taking defenses measures against barbarism. Disaster doesn't sort us out by preferences. It drags us into emergencies that require we act or act altruistically, bravely and with initiative in order to survive or save the neighbors. No matter how we vote or what we do for a living, the positive emotions that arise in those unpromising circumstances demonstrate that social ties and meaningful work are deeply desired, readily improvised, and intensely rewarding. Horrible in itself, disaster is sometimes a backdoor into paradise. The paradise, at least, in which we are who we hope to be, do the work we desire, and are each our sister's and brother's keeper. And when we come back, a few talks with the people who have been shedding light on their forgotten people of these disasters. See you after these scary ads.

[Jason Alexander]

I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together on the really no really podcast. Our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions, like why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor. We got the answer. Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer, and you never know who's going to drop by. Mr. Brian Cranston is with us.

[Eric Zimmer]

How are you?

[Jason Alexander]

Hello, my friend, Wayne Knight. About Jurassic Park. Wayne Knight, welcome to really no really, sir.

[Jamie Loftus]

Bless you all.

[Jason Alexander]

Hello, Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging. Really?

[Jamie Loftus]

That's the opening.

[Jason Alexander]

Really? No. Really? Yeah, really?

[Michael Thweets]

No really.

[Jason Alexander]

Go to reallynoreally.com and register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign. Jason Bobblehead. It's called really no really? And you can find it on the iHeartRadio app on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts Jon Stewart is back at the Daily show and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John Ste unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondents and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Eric Zimmer]

Can you hear it? It's the whisper of two wolves inside you. One says you're not enough. The other says, keep going. You can do this. They're always talking. The one you listen to shapes your life. I'm Eric Zimmer, host of the one you feed on my podcast. We explore how to hear the voice that matters, the one that leads you to courage, wisdom and love. It's not about perfection, it's about direction. Millions of listeners have fed their good wolf. Now it's your turn. Listen to the one you feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Michael Thweets]

When I smoke weed, I get lost in the music.

[Eric Zimmer]

I like to isolate each instrument.

[Michael Thweets]

The rhythmic bass, the harmonies on the piano, sticky melody.

[Eric Zimmer]

Careful babe, there's someone crossing the street.

[Jason Alexander]

Sorry, I didn't see him there.

[Jamie Loftus]

If you feel different, you drive different.

[Jason Alexander]

Don't drive high. It's dangerous and illegal everywhere. A message from NHTSA and the Ad.

[Peter Tilden]

Council did you know that companies hire the most in the first two months of the year? Or that nearly half of workers are worried about being left behind? I am Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn's editor at large for jobs and career development, and my show Get Hired brings you all the information you need to, well, get hired.

[Jason Alexander]

People are forming opinions of you even.

[Eric Zimmer]

Before you log into the zoom or walk into the room.

[Jason Alexander]

And so you really have to think about what is it I want to display?

[Jamie Loftus]

You don't plant a garden and then just walk away and expect it to thrive. You are in there pulling out the weeds. You're pruning it, you're watering it. It's the same thing with your network. You should always be in there actively managing your network. If you don't throw feel confident to say a number, even admitting that to a recruiter is going to be far.

[Peter Tilden]

Better than saying, well, what is your.

[Jamie Loftus]

Budget for the role?

[Alyssa Walker]

A lot is in the follow up, right don't wait to follow up.

[Peter Tilden]

Whether you're a new grad, an established professional, or contemplating a career change, Gethired is for you. Listen to Get Hired with Andrew seaman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you like to list.

[Jamie Loftus]

Welcome back to 16th minute. No little jokes today, It's a serious one. One of the many things that I believe I can turn any innocuous conversation into is a belabored point about the desperate need for local journalism, and this episode is no exception. It's the local reporters who know the city like the back of their hand, who know the massive diversity and richness of experience and problems that exist within it, that can really get to the heart of the issues that the average Angeleno is facing right now. And I cannot overstate how much I admire our first interviewee today, Alyssa Walker. It was the podcast that she co hosts LA podcast about local issues that really woke me up to the inner machinations of our city and had a big part in activating me as a part of my own community. She is an amazing reporter who has long written about public transportation. She's written for Curbed and most recently launched her own newsletter, Torched. Here's Alyssa Walker My name is Alyssa Walker.

[Alyssa Walker]

I'm a journalist who writes the newsletter Torched, which has a rather appropriate name, which is covering LA's mega event era, including the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

[Theo Henderson]

There's so many things I want to talk to you about. I know you've been reporting on the LA area for such a long time now, and particularly, I mean you're my go to in terms of transportation in particular and that you live in the area, you're a parent. There's all of these intersecting issues in your life. When it became clear these fires were going to have a serious impact on our area, what was your first instinct as a parent and what was your first instinct as a journalist?

[Alyssa Walker]

I put a story out last week, a few days after the fires began, and the first thing that was wild was after the first really bad night, LAUSD hadn't canceled schools. They have this really this big aversion to telling parents who of course rely on the school to be able to go to work, that they're going to cancel school. So you see all this real hesitation about when are we going to close them, how do we provide services like meals to kids who rely on them? And then of course we have staff members who are impacted, evacuating or maybe having to travel far distances on dangerous roads. So that first Morning. Actually, school was not canceled. We went to school. And one of the reasons I took my kids to school was because the smell of smoke was so strong inside our house. And I know that their school building got upgraded filtration systems during COVID Right, right.

[Theo Henderson]

That hadn't even occurred to me. But you're like, that makes total sense that it might be safer air to breathe there.

[Jamie Loftus]

Right.

[Alyssa Walker]

They just messaged that, you know, they would try to keep the kids inside and we should bring them. And, you know, for a lot of people, I think that sounded like a better deal than being in their. I had this, like, leaky, drafty house. So we took them to school and then within a few hours, I think it was very clear how bad the situation was. And we had to go scoop them up. And they went back today. Today's Monday. I'm glad they're back. You know, a lot of schools, some schools burn to the ground. Some schools are really close to evacuation zones. Some have extenuating circumstances. And I'm sure a lot of parents don't feel good about sending kids back, especially when we have the second windstorm coming through. But for the meantime, that was my biggest concern, was worrying about a lot of people have to travel through the region to get to places. And I think LAUSD offers a good signal that people should stay home and get prepared and take care of their families and check in on loved ones. So I was glad that the schools were closed because at least it sends that message that's very powerful.

[Theo Henderson]

And I think that this ties into a larger point you made in your most recent piece where there was just very clunky communication on the city's part on the whole, because I've seen so much black and white debate of like, is this a failure of city officials or is it just the inevitable consequence of climate change? And I feel sure the answer is somewhere in the gray area. As such a close observer of city politics, what could have been done better Here?

[Eric Zimmer]

Here.

[Alyssa Walker]

So this is where I'll turn to the scientists first instead of the. Instead of the politicians. I've been watching the live streams of Daniel Swain, UCLA climate scientist and like a climate messenger kind of like studies about how we do communication related to these types of disasters. Always a fascinating person to talk to, someone. I always call when I have a question, and that's basically what he said. The second part of your thoughts, that this is an unprecedented situation because of the situations we have created, because we worship fossil fuels in the city and this society and this country. And this planet. And there's really, at a certain point nothing you can do when you're faced with these types of conditions. They kept calling it the perfect storm. That being said, there's a lot of things that we could do. The Palisades fire started in a neighborhood that is in the city of la, but it's like tucked up into the mountains above Malibu. We can talk about why it started later. I'm sure they're figuring that out. There's a lot of things to discuss there. But the fact that we are building in areas that need to burn, continue to burn, have burned traditionally, creates a catastrophic and dangerous situation for everyone else that lives in the city. And until we want to confront that, this is going to keep happening.

[Theo Henderson]

What if the Olympics were happening right now? You ask yourself this every day.

[Alyssa Walker]

As you say, like I said, it terrifies me. I literally walk around the city every single day and think that I think about it on 110 degree days when we have like major power outages. I, you know, I, I, I'm at a loss for words right now because it's like this is kind of the worst thing I, I ever considered happening while it was happening. But in a way, the thing I'm worried the most about is, is more people being here. It doesn't sound very considerate of the residents, but like adding millions of tourists to the evacuations, people who don't understand how those alerts come through on their phones, like, do we, are we gonna tell people when they land in LAX to lax to like download all the different warning systems and the earthquake early warning system.

[Peter Tilden]

Right.

[Theo Henderson]

And like introducing more language barriers and just.

[Alyssa Walker]

Oh my gosh, such a good point. And, and people staying in hotels that don't have access to cars. And that's the instinct to get in your car and evacuate. Even though it might not be the best idea, you might need to get out a different way. So actually what, you know, what terrifies me the most is having people who aren't familiar with the city here. That was always in my mind. This is still the worst case scenario, though. Yeah, I wrote a story for Curbed after the Woolsey fire with those, it's the same images we see every time, just those cars backed up on the PCH of people trying to get out. And that was during the same time as the campfire, which, as you remember in paradise, which is the deadliest fire in California history. Hopefully we do not get close to those numbers here. Many of those deaths were caused by people who were trying to evacuate in their car who got stuck in traffic trying to get out as the flames were kind of coming too fast. Again, a situation where you can't drive fast enough in some of these cases to outrun these new fires that we've created and to talk to experts, especially after that fire, saying in the Woolsey fire in la, just saying, have a bike in your garage, have another way to get out. Just come up with one alternate that's not a car. Because all sorts of things can prevent you from getting out in a car. And when there was evacuation, the evacuation of Hollywood the other night, there was the Sunset fire that was in Running Canyon. The fastest way to get out would have probably been walking down to the Hollywood Highland Metro station. Trains were running, trains were free. And just put yourself to safety. Just get far away, as far away as you can. That was not something that our city leaders were promoting.

[Theo Henderson]

Without belaboring the point, I mean, I, I think about how, as you've written about quite a bit, that the LA Olympics in 2028 are predicated on. We'll be a carless city by then. What is the likelihood of that?

[Alyssa Walker]

Actually, every venues. Actually, every venues.

[Theo Henderson]

Okay.

[Alyssa Walker]

Yeah. I mean, it's, It's a. Funny that, like I said, that was the first thing I thought of when the fire started, when it was very small and you had Steve Gutenberg, you know, out there telling people not to leave their keys in their car when they were abandoning their vehicles, because. And then they come through with the. They came through with the bulldozer to move, like all these, like, Porsches and Teslas and Mercedes, like, get out. I mean, it was very comical in the early moments of the fire because. Right, this is, this is our. This is how the life we've chosen is. You might have to leave your car behind as you're getting out because you get stuck in traffic, But. But it's the same issue when I go back to the way we've decided to design our communities. Right? Like, you do need two different ways out. You do need to be able to walk to a place where maybe a shuttle can come pick you up and evacuate you safely if you don't have a car. In Altadena, there are multiple instances of people who were disabled or who were elderly who were left behind. This is usually what happens in these types of disasters. I believe in the campfire, three fourths of the victims were elderly or disabled, and the median age was something like 75 or something like that. So we have not done a good job with that aspect of Our evacuation plan. I mean, yes, we say check in on your neighbors, get yourself ready. We always say, pack the car. But if you look at other cities that have been through these types of disasters, like New Orleans, they do have, like a public evacuation system in place where you're making sure that everyone can get out. And that's, I mean, that's what shouldn't happen in a place like Pacific Palisades.

[Jamie Loftus]

Right.

[Alyssa Walker]

You just, you just don't imagine that, that a wealthy community like that would have deaths because people got left behind.

[Theo Henderson]

As a journalist, what stories are not being looked at that should be looked at in the mainstream coverage of this event? Who are we leaving behind? What stories are we leaving behind?

[Alyssa Walker]

I would love to see more about why people were physically left behind. The. Really, the story they said this morning on the news, on Monday morning, I think they said 17 people were still missing. I don't. I hope it won't. We won't reach these very high numbers where we have this massive loss of life. But for the most part, we do do an okay job, you know, getting, getting people to safety. But there are these big gaps. And not just, you know, the physical, you know, being able to transport people, but the messaging systems. I'm seeing so many different ways that people were told to leave and who told them to leave and who they listened to, and even the risk that people know about when they buy a home and that many people had moved into places that they didn't fully understand, had burned recently. So how can we continue to explain to people how dangerous this is? I think people get earthquake drilled into their head a lot, and they think about that a lot. But these are fires that are coming down into neighborhoods sometimes that aren't burning, haven't burned before. So we really need to have a deeper conversation about messaging and disclosures. I guess in one sense, if you rented a place, would you know the same way that a homeowner did? What kind of risk you're at? All these questions I have, yeah, maybe just like situational awareness about your neighborhood, your particular home, we shouldn't be forced to learn all these things. But this is kind of a new reality we all need to face together. If a fire starts tonight during the second windstorm event, it doesn't really matter where you are in the city. It will not going to be put out right away because the resources are stretched thin and everything could go up in flames. But just being prepared, talking to your neighbors, getting everything packed up, even if you're going on foot, is what we have to do. Yeah.

[Theo Henderson]

Alyssa Walker, thank you so much.

[Alyssa Walker]

Thank you, Jamie.

[Jamie Loftus]

Thank you so much to Alyssa. And particularly if you're a local, I highly encourage you to subscribe to her newsletter, Torched in the description. My next conversation is with a close colleague and friend of mine named Theo Henderson. And if you don't listen to his show on iHeart podcasts, you have to get your act together. It's called we the Unhoused, and it began back in 2019, when Theo himself was living on the streets of Los Angeles. These days, he's brought the show to iHeart and continues to be one of the only major platforms where stories about and that concern the unhoused are told and centered around the unhoused. And I was really eager to hear what Theo had been hearing within the unhoused community and how he felt about the media cycle around this climate disaster.

[Theo Henderson]

Theo Henderson, hello.

[Michael Thweets]

Hello. Thank you for having me on your show. It's like turnabout inspired play.

[Theo Henderson]

I know. The tables have turned. Yeah. I'm so glad that you're doing all right. This, I mean, just observationally, is another huge example of the mainstream media kind of whiffing it. So I'm curious, as you've been observing how the coverage of this has been versus the lived reality, what's been on your mind?

[Michael Thweets]

I've seen some misfires in the communication about the newly displaced and the existing displaced of unhoused community members and how the narrative has been framed. In the beginning, the narrative was framed as they were looking at rich people's homes, which brought out a response where there was a lot of cynicism and sarcasm and a lot of, you know, gallows type of humor which people took umbrage with because of the fact that anybody can lose, no matter what kind of economic status that they have, can lose things and can feel things. And I think the point was made on the moment was missed is because of the fact that media does what media does. Mainstream media in particular, they always try to reach out for the elite or the oligarch in a way that we have to feel empathy and sympathy for them. But we missed the point where the people, the rich people that are being displaced, there were people that work for rich people that are being displaced. There are rich people. There are people, working class people that have to provide the services and all of the. The accoutrements that are necessary for the wealthy to upkeep their lives. But we also miss out on another major incident that when we talk about how Mayor Bass has. Does a duplicious type of service is that during the fires, during all of the panic and the chaos and the pandemonium was going, there were sweeps still being held, there were sweeps being going on simultaneously in the same day on the same time where people were being asked to move. Whether it's spot clean or whether it was a deep intensive or whether it was the way of just forcibly removing unhoused people from areas when such a volatile situation was occurring. They're still coming every Thursday. They come sweep unhoused people every Thursday. It's just so much that many unhoused people self evict. It is when I was unhoused I briefly stay here. But the antipathy against unhoused people here is so strong and they hide it with political correctness and they don't really, you don't really see the veil come off unless you are really entrenched in it and you are impacted.

[Theo Henderson]

All of the immediate coverage went to these wealthy people, which is the media's tendency and also just like so's discord and any solidarity to the working class that makes LA work. I haven't seen anything about, you know, the domestic workers in the Palisades. I haven't seen anything about, you know, the, the wait staff that works in this area. People who may not have lost their homes but definitely lost their jobs. And I mean there's just such a wide gradient in a way that I feel like minimizes the issue and makes it seem like, oh good these rich people lost their homes because there are all of these people, I mean, thousands of people who are either newly housing, insecure or unhoused themselves now overnight. I feel like it really just further demonstrates that this could happen to anyone. Everyone is far closer to being unhoused than they think. But in the media I've noticed that there's a clear delineation between, well, they were housed last week, so we don't need to treat them like we do unhoused people in the media.

[Michael Thweets]

That's the age old conversation point that we have is that for example, the worthy unhoused and the unworthy unhoused. You see the narrative that's been always put out, which is why the unintended consequences always is, I guess is oxymoronic, if you want to be really clear, is the fact that the narrative has always been pushed about unhoused people are drug addicted, mentally ill, they don't want help. It's effective because it turns the working class, that could be an ally to you against you. Now we have to Sift through all of the misinformation, but also sift through what? The apparatus that's in place that we, when we talk about houselessness, when we talk about housing insecurity, we must be honest with our communities and with our different walks of life to understand that this is a clear example of climate exchange. I want to point out one more thing about climate change as well. Yes, climate injustice is what is going on. And the first line of defense, the first people that are affected, the frontline workers, are unhoused people. You know, many people could put on a mask, but the mask is still not necessarily effective enough. If you're sitting in a stationary position outside on the street where there's debris, where there's falling ash, where there's breathing metals and all of the other things that are going on, it only gives you a certain respite if you're going into maybe another layer of protection, like you can go into a building, close the door and not be able to ingest that for maybe a temporary period of time. But can unhoused people do that on a sustained level? No, not particularly. There are not enough shelters, There are not enough places where they can be able to find a respite on the weekend, like Sunday. The libraries are closed, so where they're going to go, you know, so I think we. There is so much of the environmental issues to be considered. I personally, it affects me, right. But I got infected with all the ash in my damn eye. But yeah, yeah, but like the breathing quality, it's like when I was out living when they had brush fires. It is very difficult to try to sleep and it's very difficult if you have health issues. I have health issues. It affects my heart, it affects my breathing. So I know I'm not the only one. I know I'm not the only unhoused person that has other medical issues that have to contend with where they may be having people that may have medical issues and other issues, that they're in a house environment to be able to get the appropriate medical care. Many unhoused people miss those same type of services.

[Theo Henderson]

I know you speak to this every week on we the Unhoused, which I'm going to plug the hell out of throughout this show, how this is a California example of unhoused people being on the front lines of climate injustice. But you cover stories like this all the time. I mean, you've talked about Florida and North Carolina and these are problems that aren't going to go away.

[Michael Thweets]

Well, also too, climate change affects us Maybe a little bit differently. They have a different recipe because we're dealing with brush fires. But I also want to point out the climate changes that are going on in the Midwest and the colder places where there are migrant unhoused families are living out in the elements. It's very cold. We're going to get a cold snap coming up very soon. So unhoused people here are going to be dealing with that issue. But I also want to point out most hypothermic deaths are usually here in California. But particularly because I believe most when I was in house in Chicago and of Midwest places, they do have places where warming centers and things and California does, and Los Angeles in particular does a very piss poor job and getting the word out, creating services to get vans or trolleys or things of that nature to get unhoused people to and fro places and have it maybe kind of are kind of warming centers where there's not stringent requirements for them to be in places that I think that's where one of the things that many of the things that Los Angeles misses the mark on during the season there are various stages of climate injustice incidents that are happening to unhoused people.

[Theo Henderson]

The answers to this I know will be fairly obvious, but for the sake of asking it what is the city of Los Angeles and the state by extension, what should they be doing for unhoused and housing insecure folks right now that they are not doing?

[Michael Thweets]

We need another eviction and rent moratorium. The second thing is that we need is another facilities opened up that are extended for unhoused people to have a sustained place to live. Maybe hotels, but also places where we can be able to get unhoused people inside. And then two, we need to upgrade our medical facilities because again, unhoused people, you're going to see many more. It's going to be an uptick of medical emergencies, particularly probably from unhoused people because they're going to be in sustained, environmentally disastrous kind of areas. There was an unhoused person that I was in contact with that was impacted. They voluntarily evacuated because the area that they were at was starting to burn. And so they had to leave because they were in hiding. And why were they in hiding? It's because of the aggressiveness of the grants passed that and then the 4118 kind of things.

[Theo Henderson]

Just for listener clarity. And I know we talk about this every single day. What, what is grants pass for for those who are not in the know?

[Michael Thweets]

Yes. Well, you know, as you know Jamie, I know this Exasperates everybody. But I've been on the soapbox.

[Theo Henderson]

I'm sorry, no, get back on the soapbox. This is the time.

[Michael Thweets]

So. Well, I, I, I, I'm gonna do a very quick synopsis because I can go on and on, on like I'm on a pulpit. So the long and short of it, what Grants Pass has done is given the right for state city workers and leaders to criminalize unhoused people without any solutions, without any kind of appropriate follow up to get them off the streets. In short, it is basically they have the right if they see an unhoused person to put them in jail or do other criminalized ticket them or make them self evict or evict from the area. Because many of the cities would use that as the rallying cry or the whipping post to justify that they claim that they couldn't do anything because the state is giving the unhoused so many rights. Or you hear heaven forbid the unhoused people be treated like human beings instead of the deprivatives that they want to treat them as. So Grants Pass is the vehicle that is used to justify different horrific examples. One of the things that I do think too we were making a very good point too about with COVID about where One shelter had 100% of the entire staff and residents had Covid because they were bunched in together. But also one of the improving things that I think encouraging is that, and this is not from the city, but I noticed from our citizenry the mutual aid response. I think that was the perfect proving ground or the perfect testing ground and case. And a point that I want to point out, and I've been interviewing some of the mutual aid groups myself, that stating some of the city leaders are asking for resources from the mutual aid groups. We've been asking for the assistance the city is. What they always do is throw money at the problem for criminalization or propaganda campaign to delineate or to blame the victims for their problems. But in the same, on a certain token that they want services from us.

[Theo Henderson]

That is, I think one of the major positive takeaways of the last week is I feel like it's proven time and time again, and I think we saw this during COVID as well, is when times are horrible, it is human instinct to come together and want to provide support. I'm curious how you have seen the mutual aid sort of roll out, but how do we sustain, sustain it? You know, I mean, I worry about flash in the pan moments and then, and then a fall off.

[Michael Thweets]

Well, yeah, that's one of the legitimate concern. One of the things that I noticed when I first started my podcast during the time hyper pandemic, everyone was concerned. Everyone wanted to dial in to understand about houselessness and housing and security because they realized on that clear example that they were on their way out on the street. There were some that were on this way street. But also it also created a sense of Bon Homie or a sense of empathy that is fleeting. And one of the things that I noticed, or what really irritates is why there was such a generation of gallows humor and sarcasm about this current situation is because of the flash in the pan or the spotty kind of empathy that it is. It's like one of the things that we need is frankly most mutual aides need now is money. Because this is a problem that's going to have unintended consequences. There was a recent article that was talking about people are competing now that were recently housed and trying to find housing. Now I want you to consider for a moment looking into the vista on what this is going to look like for the newly unhoused. They are now going to be susceptible to grants pass. They're now going to be susceptible to being swept. They're now going to be susceptible to 4,000, 118 because the money is going to only sustain someone that lived unhoused and had to go through the steps before I became completely unhoused. You're going to be on this hamster wheel that you won't be able to get off unless you have some kind of community organized support to be able to get you out of that and to sustain you when you are not financially at the best place, or you're going to end up falling through the cracks like many of the unhoused currently are. And you're going to see the effects on how the city has very limited empathy or sympathy towards your condition. Even though you've gone through the pandemic or you've gone through the fires. We're going to see more of that. We're going to see more of the politicians going to come in and look at unhoused trying to cope with the stresses and traumas of losing everything and trying to use the coping mechanisms that they can. And they're going to make a video and make it sound like this is where your money is going. They're coddling on house people, they don't want help and things like that. And then now we're going to be faced in the same hostile kind of response to the houseless crisis.

[Theo Henderson]

Theo, is there anything I didn't ask that you wanted to touch on?

[Michael Thweets]

Also to really lean into the mutual aid, start financially being much more sustainable and helping the unhoused currently as well as the enduring unhoused as well as well as looking to a both of our podcasts and learning more of this of the matter because I'm going to be covering the fires as well and the multitude of different responses that I've heard and I wanted to be able to say that thank you thank you.

[Jamie Loftus]

So much to the amazing Theo Henderson and please subscribe to we the Unhoused as he will continue to cover the fallout of the fires in the unhoused community, which is definitely something to keep your eye on. And we will be right back with mutual aid and organizational tips with three pros. See you after all these ads.

[Jason Alexander]

I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden and together on the really Know really podcast on Our mission is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions, like why they refuse to make the bathroom door go all the way to the floor. We got the answer. Will space junk block your cell signal? The astronaut who almost drowned during a spacewalk gives us the answer. We talk with the scientist who figured out if your dog truly loves you and the one bringing back the woolly mammoth. Plus, does Tom Cruise really do his own stunts? His stuntman reveals the answer and you never know who's going to drop by. Mr. Bryan Cranston is. What are you hello, my friend Wayne Knight About Jurassic Park Wayne Knight, welcome to really? Not really, sir. Bless you all. Hello Newman. And you never know when Howie Mandel might just stop by to talk about judging. Really?

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[Peter Tilden]

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[Michael Thweets]

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[Jason Alexander]

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[Eric Zimmer]

Can you hear it? It's the whisper of two wolves inside you. One says you're not enough. The other says, keep going. You can do this. They're always talking. The one you listen to shapes your life. I'm Eric Sim, host of the one you feed on my podcast. We explore how to hear the voice that matters, the one that leads you to courage, wisdom and love. It's not about perfection, it's about direction. Millions of listeners have fed their good wolf. Now it's your turn. Listen to the one you feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast tests.

[Michael Thweets]

Some people won't give you the real.

[Jamie Loftus]

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[Michael Thweets]

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[Katherine Legge]

And used to make fake versions of prescription pills.

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[Peter Tilden]

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[Michael Thweets]

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[Katherine Legge]

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[Jason Alexander]

Get the facts.

[Peter Tilden]

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[Peter Tilden]

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[Jason Alexander]

People are forming opinions of you even.

[Eric Zimmer]

Before before you log into the Zoom or walk into the room.

[Jason Alexander]

And so you really have to think about what is it I want to display?

[Jamie Loftus]

You don't plant a garden and then just walk away and expect it to thrive. You are in there pulling out the weeds. You're pruning it, you're watering it. It's the same thing with your network. You should always be in there actively managing your network. If you don't feel confident to say a number, even admitting that to a recruiter is going to be far better.

[Peter Tilden]

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[Alyssa Walker]

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Whether you're a new grad, an established professional, or contemplating a career change, Get Hired is for you. Listen to Get Hired with Andrew seaman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you like to listen.

[Jamie Loftus]

Welcome back to 16 Minute with more interviews with the folks who are shedding light on those who aren't being centered in these conversations about the Southern California fires. My next conversation is with the executive director, operations manager and volunteer coordinator with an unhoused nonprofit coalition in my neighborhood called sela. Sarah, maybe and Rachel are such wonderful people and as they are very experienced organizers, I wanted to ask ask them what this week has been like with increased demand for services and how they would advise new organizers who want to get involved. Here's our talk.

[Peter Tilden]

Hey everybody, my name is maybe. I'm the operations manager for cela and my pronouns are she, her and they them.

[Katherine Legge]

Hi, my name is Sarah Reyes. I'm the executive director of CELA Neighborhood Homeless Coalition. And my pronouns are she, her.

[Theo Henderson]

We're recording this interview on the afternoon of Monday the 13th and I know it has been a very heartening and also chaotic weekend over at cela. How's everybody doing?

[Jamie Loftus]

Good.

[Katherine Legge]

Can you tell by our silence? We're good. I'll let everyone else speak too about to their mental health and energy, but I think we are overwhelmed and in all the best possible ways. But yeah, overall good.

[Peter Tilden]

Yeah, doing all right. Both physically and emotionally recovering from the past few days.

[Sarah Reyes]

I definitely feel similarly. Something that I know all of us are feeling that I think speaks to how much I love everybody here is that we all are dealing with our own personal anxieties with fire and our own homes and our friends homes and that we're all still able to come together and focus on each other is beautiful and also of course tiring. But we all have so much support.

[Theo Henderson]

For those listening who are uninitiated. What does a normal week look like at SELA in terms of mission and programs. And then we'll talk about what has been adjusted and expanded in the past week.

[Katherine Legge]

Absolutely. So our vision statement at SELA Neighborhood Homeless Coalition is a community where every neighbor thrives. That's sort of what we're working towards is this ideal community where homelessness is not something that we're confronting because everyone has a home and the resources they need to thrive in their world, in their lives. We do that by activating a coalition of participants and sister organizations and working in lockstep with social services and city services to host a couple of different program types. So first and foremost we have our drop in program at the Silver Lake in Silver Lake, in Hollywood and in Echo Park. Those drop in programs are every single week and they provide things like bike repair and ID support and meals and some of them have movie screenings. But really fundamentally what they are is a place for people to come and be in community and know that just because they are existing without homes at this moment, that does not make them anything other than our neighbors and valued members of our community. And those are our drop in programs. Our outreach programs run in tandem with many of our drop in programs. Again, those happen multiple times every single week across Northeast la. And we do things by starting with material aid like handing out water bottles at encampments. Right now we're doing masks. We can talk about some of our emergency response a little bit later. But handing out meals, handing out harm reduction supplies, and getting to know people and really, truly fundamentally listening to what is the experience of our neighbors who are living on the street and what is it that they need. And educating our housed neighbors and elevating the voices of our unhoused neighbors to make sure that we're all working in unison to create that community where every neighbor thrives.

[Theo Henderson]

You're such a well oiled machine of being able to show up, not just show up for your unhoused neighbors, but also build sustaining relationships, build connections in the neighborhood that can assist your unhoused neighbors, whether that be medical or veterinary services, whether that be social services, whether that be connecting with transportation or caseworkers or whatever the need may be. In a situation like this last week where all of a sudden there is a new population of people who are either housing insecure or houseless, what was it like as sort of the leaders of this organization of figuring out how do we respond to this and how do we expand on the programs and systems we already have in place?

[Peter Tilden]

You know, I think one of the things that's helped us to be prepared for something that was not necessarily immediately foreseeable is the fact that we do this week in, week out, year round, year after year. So our organization exists to respond to people in crisis. And so given that, you know, I feel like we were just a little more prepared than, you know, somebody who doesn't work with a volunteer organization or is not immediately familiar with, you know, working with people who are neighbors in crisis. So because we already had our programs in place, we basically had to adapt our existing programs to meet the conditions of the day. And so, you know, we had our Wednesday program. At first we thought about canceling the program because, you know, we were nervous about having our volunteers have to be outside, nervous about our participants having to be outside during these, you know, this, these smoky conditions. So basically we ended up adapting the program. We brought it inside and we opened it up to the entire community. Anybody that needed to come in to charge their devices, if their Power was out if they're housed or if they needed to just get out of the smoky air, basically just opening it up to everybody. So a lot of adaptation, but because we already had systems in place, it was, we were able to adapt to the situation. You know, one of the other things is, you know, we've been overwhelmed in such a positive way with so many people wanting to help in so many different kinds of ways, whether that be through material donations or through volunteering. And so I think even just, you know, having to figure out how to utilize in a very quick manner how to effectively take in these donations and you know, empower volunteers to be able to take action, which I think, Rachel, you can probably speak about that.

[Theo Henderson]

I know that there was already sort of a huge influx of volunteers late in the year and now I would imagine that there's another wave of volunteers. How, as a volunteer coordinator do you make that work with, I mean, I think like the beautiful problem of so many people who want to help.

[Sarah Reyes]

Yes, the energy is so, it feels so monumental and I think everybody feels how important this moment is. Of course, we've all been working with our neighbors in this capacity, like maybe just said, but you can feel the, the, it's, it's just everything's so compounded. You can feel the urgency that people have. And so one of the things that we had to figure out right away is you spoke to the well oiled machine nature of everything. And part of that has been like, there's a signup process. We've, we've figured out roles that are very specifically needed and we make sure there's shifts for those roles. And we kind of had to change that in the moment where it was just, our doors are open, if you can help, come here, we'll figure out what that help looks like when you're here. And so it was sending out a lot of mass communication via our email list, via our Instagram, texting. People I know maybe brought some friends to join that they can speak more to. And it was literally things as specific as figuring out what is inaccessible on our website, because I know so many people are on the website and it was just making it so that anybody knew that they could just show up. And then part of that in real time, when you're welcoming people to join you, you have to give them everybody space and the communication and the guidance to figure out what being on site looks like in this emergency. So that was letting people know when they got here, hey, we just had a bunch of people come to move These supplies, we're kind of figuring out our next move. We don't know what it is yet. Can you just be here? And people were so willing to just be there and figure out what the next steps were. And our volunteers, our participants, our community decides how this organization moves forward. And so I think it was a really important opportunity for us all to be in a physical space with, with our usual volunteer base and all of our neighbors and folks who are coming from all over LA to figure out together, what does that look like? So that looks like putting on Instagram, hey, we need to find somewhere that can take these supplies because we don't have the space or we can't distribute it efficiently. And giving people space to come into our community and tell us what needs to be done and where things need to go between the three of us. I think we've all spoken to hundreds of people in the last few days. And so there's the really logical part of responding to every message as much as we can, putting out mass communications as much as we can, and just letting people know that even if they're not able to sign up for a specific cla shift right away. For example, we opened up shifts into February and March, which we normally wouldn't do yet, just to welcome this influx of people and let them know that this is going to be an ongoing need. We been here for a long time. We're going to continue to be here and letting them know that we want them here and this isn't the only way for them to support their neighbors. Yes, of course we want them at a shift where they're distributing water bottles and masks like Sarah said, but they could also go outside and do that right now if they have the resources and feel safe to. And so just creating a place where we let people know that this feeling of community support that they are feeling and that they know. I think it's so amazing they knew to come to SELA that we've been able to build that community. They know we're here, but reminding them that this is happening all the time. And so that energy, they feel there's always going to be a place for them to plug into their community and just creating as much of an open door and as much of a space for education as we can.

[Theo Henderson]

How do we kind of harness this energy, this inherent goodness to people and extend it to educate them on these issues are ongoing and turn it into sustained work?

[Peter Tilden]

Something that I've been thinking about a lot over the past few days is it's been really empowering to see so many community members, folks who may have never volunteered for anything at all previously, they see this crisis very prominently happening in their community. And it's neighbors saying, I need to take action. I want to do something to contribute to relieving the suffering of my fellow neighbors. And that's really what this is about. And that's what gives me a lot of hope in humanity throughout this crisis. It's a horrible, awful situation. But this beautiful silver lining of actually seeing people come together. And I, I just hope that people recognize and I've been trying to share the message that this isn't just about dropping off bottles of water. This isn't just about dropping off snacks or cleaning out your closet to drop off for folks. This is something that's going to be an ongoing need. It's going to be an ongoing need in the short term and in the long term, just in terms of the kinds of resources that people are going to need who have been immediately impacted by the fires and people who were already experiencing homelessness and who are also being impacted by the fires in an environmental manner. So I just hope that the energy keeps up and I hope that, you know, people who have signed up to volunteer or, you know, want to be at a drop in shelter or want to be at a donation center, I just want everyone to know that that is going to be something that there is going to be a need for, for the foreseeable future. You know, we were talking to one of our program directors, you might know him, Jamie. His name's Grant.

[Theo Henderson]

Oh yeah, I'm gonna marry that guy.

[Peter Tilden]

And one of the things that, you know, he brought up this great point that, you know, people who've just lost their homes, they don't need a new wardrobe right now. That's something that they're going to be needing months down the road as they're beginning to re secure their housing. So just keeping in mind the kinds of donations that you're donating and also just keeping in mind that you can help us as a volunteer at a lot of these organizations such as sela, but certainly not limited to sela, you know, for the foreseeable future. And even once this disaster is totally recovered from, there's still going to be a need to help your neighbors. So there's always a way that you can make your community better just by bringing other people into community with you.

[Katherine Legge]

My hope too is that people see in this the power that they have.

[Jamie Loftus]

Right?

[Katherine Legge]

You, you talk about sela's response and the best part About SELA is that we have almost 600 volunteers. Like, when you're talking about Sila's response, this is not a, a coordinated response of a large government entity or service provider. Right. Like, all what you're talking about is the fact that basically SILA is just a conduit. SILA is just a place for everyday neighbors to hit their ceiling. What is it you're willing to do? What is it you want to do? How much would you like to have an impact on your community? We are a tool through which you can do that. But really it's like what makes SELA SILA is the fact that SELA is just a bunch of neighbors who are getting together, housed and unhoused to make a difference. And my hope would be that, that when we talk about that long term energy that people look at, people can come to SILA to volunteer and they don't just see, oh, I helped out, right? What they see is how much power they have to influence someone else's life permanently. And, and I think that's something they can take out into their every single day.

[Peter Tilden]

That actually reminds me of a story I'd love to share of something that happened this weekend that I feel like is just a prime example of that. Now, I. A lot of my friends know that I work for sela. They've been interested in what I do, but it really wasn't until this immediate crisis that a lot of them specifically reached out to me and said, hey, I want to volunteer for sela. I'm available these days. Let me know how I can help. They want to be mobilized. And so part of what we do at SELA is really empower them to take action in the moment within the structure of sela. But as you mentioned, like, take that into their own hands and into their own neighborhoods, their own communities, specifically. A few of my friends, they came and we were able to, on the fly, totally organize a new shared warehouse space that Selah's fortunate to be a part of. We're in partnership with Everyday Action, which is a wonderful food reallocation organization. They have basically allowed us to be in partnership in this, this warehouse. And it's, it's all nonprofits that are focused on food insecurity, housing insecurity. And we were able to organize a lot of these donations that came in and also donate forward, donations that we knew were not going to be right for the kind of work that we do. After we did all of this organizing on Saturday, we ended up going out afterwards and we encountered a young Queer person, probably in their early 20s, they were unhoused. Talking with them, you know, first of all, as they are, as they are a human being, they're one of our neighbors in sort of destigmatizing the fact that this is a neighbor experiencing homelessness, but also engaging in the challenges that they've experienced over the past few days with the fires. And I watched as my friends decided on their own to try to find who temporary housing for this complete stranger that they had just met. And it was so beautiful to watch, but it was also very disheartening to watch in real time somebody see how, even when they want to help, how it can be very difficult to acquire temporary housing for people experiencing homelessness. Just sort of watching, you know, them being excited to help, to then watching them realize how difficult the system is to work with, to then taking action into their own hands and getting this person a hotel room for the night to be able to relieve them from the, you know, the smoky environment. And it was just a really beautiful thing to watch, just people coming together in community to take immediate action for community members. And I think that oftentimes the role of government can really create a bystander effect amongst neighbors where people are kind of always just waiting for somebody else to take action, waiting for somebody else to solve the problem. When we all know that, you know, it takes a long time for governments to do things like governmental agencies, bureaucracy, intentionally designed to work very slow. But when you pull together a few neighbors, you can make anything happen immediately.

[Theo Henderson]

If you are someone in the LA area or outside of the LA area that wants to immediately have a pragmatic and helpful effect. The unhoused community, those who are recently displaced by the fires. What would you all recommend for those that are a little unsure of what to do right now?

[Katherine Legge]

You know, we've been getting an influx of people who are interested in helping. And it's been very interesting to see how people perceive help, right? How people perceive their own help. We had someone who had driven down with a truck full of clothes from Oregon and called us and was really dismayed and very upset to learn that that was not going to be the most useful thing at this moment. For good reason, right? That's someone who has put a lot of time and energy and thoughtfulness into what they have to offer and what they're able to do. And to be told this is not what we need is a challenge, right? Like, it's all this, like, untapped energy. And so one of the things that we are really Encouraging. And I say we, as in like the community based organizations right now that we are in partnership with, are really encouraging people to give monetarily if possible at this point, whether that's to sila, whether that's to another organization. The two things that we have as humans in the society that we live in that are the most valuable resources are time and money. Those are the things we have. Where you decide to spend your time and where you decide to spend your money is going to have the greatest impact on your neighbors. So. So we, as Rachel mentioned, have a bunch of volunteer opportunities. If you go to selahnhc.org volunteer you can sign up to volunteer with us. Lots of other organizations are also looking for volunteers. Pick, point, close your eyes and point to an organization in Los Angeles. Sign up to be a volunteer. Learn more about them. If you think that they are an organization that is having a direct impact on the community in a way that you would like to support. Give them money because money gives them autonomy. It gives them the ability to be adaptive to what maybe spoke to about us adapting our programs. We are not able to adapt our programming with cartloads of clothing. We are able to adapt our programming as needed with money. Money is power. Money is also going to be what helps people recover in the long term. There are going to be all sorts of side effects to this that we, we haven't even begun to see, right? So temporary housing is going to be necessary when all of these emergency shelters close. All that temporary housing is going to take money when all of this is quote unquote over and we're trying to rebuild. Rents in LA are going to skyrocket. There are tons of people who were not housing secure when they lost their home. They don't have the opportunity to just buy or rent a new home. They're going to be facing homelessness for the very first time. Money can help that long term health care effect. The side effects of all of this, the physical ones for one, because of everything that people are inhaling, especially people who are unhoused and out in the smoke, long term, that's going to be long term illness. We're going to have all sorts of health care needs that's going to take money. There's also going to be psychological needs that people are going to have. Mental health is really suffering. We're seeing this in our volunteer community with people who've now been displaced three or four times because of the different fires. Money is something like that. People have lost their cars, they don't have Transportation. Money can help with that. Like, it's. I know people don't. It's taboo to talk about money, and people tend to feel like it's not meaningful and they're not getting their hands in. But, like, truly, money is love in a situation like this. And I just encourage people to. To take the resources that you've collected, host a yard sale, donate that money to an organization that you think is doing good. If you know someone who's directly impacted, they've lost their home, they've lost, moved, they've been, you know, displaced three or four times, send them money. Yeah, I think that's, that's really what we're encouraging people. Give your time and give your money. And then if you're not sure what to do, reach out and ask. And instead of saying, I'm bringing you something, if there's an organization or an individual that you know you would like to have an impact on, reach out and say, what do you need? And then listen to that. Right? That's. I think we all really.

[Michael Thweets]

We.

[Katherine Legge]

We jump to help. And then just like that man who drove down with that cartload, the carload of clothing, he jumped to help without asking what was needed, and then was. Was pretty hurt by the response that he. He wasn't helping in the way that he thought. So, yeah, ask people what they need.

[Sarah Reyes]

None of this is unusual. We see this in our volunteers all the time. But it was in just these last couple days just became so clear how everybody, everybody lives the way they live as a seal of volunteer all the time. Like the number of people who have connected us with other organizations, emails I've gotten from volunteers connecting with the volunteer who might be able to help the specific need. It's just really beautiful to see how everybody is activated all the time. And I think it's just very. This just shows how crucial it is to kind of find your community and figure out how to be a part of it.

[Jamie Loftus]

Thank you so much again to Rachel, Sarah, and maybe you can contribute to Ceela's ongoing efforts. In the description of this episode. I particularly love their laundry program, so I hope this was helpful. If you didn't know much about what is happening in this area or you wanted to do more and. And didn't know where to start, or maybe you live here and you wanted to be reminded that there's hope and still a paradise of some kind to be built, there has been such tremendous loss, and I think a lot of organizers have smartly and directly connected to the fact that the US Is funding a genocide willfully causing losses in Palestine every single day? The way that our systems are failing us are often to prop up violence elsewhere that is oppressing other people. Free Palestine. One of the moments that really made me emotional this week was seeing that a library in Pasadena had burned down. This beautiful historic library. And maybe I'm a hooked on phonics dork, but seeing a burned down library made me cry. It's such a loss. And the day after I saw that, I learned that there was a library that had made it the Altadena main library. I first saw it in a friend's Instagram story from someone who lived in Altadena. And it was such a relief for them. And then for me, even though I'd never been there. But everything I've been thinking about, everything that's been on my mind, all of these people who are left behind in these discussions around climate change and disasters like this are welcome in a library. Everyone is. And seeing a space like that still standing around so much down devastation was really special. And so as a bonus treat, I reached out to one of my favorite presences in all of Internet history, Michael 3 the librarian TikTok guy. So I hope you enjoy our brief conversation. And yes, 16th minute. We'll be back next week with, I promise, a truly punishing three part Hawk to Us series. So please enjoy my talk with Michael and I'll. I'm pretty sure my cats were fighting through a lot of this recording. It's just been a hard week.

[Peter Tilden]

Sure.

[Eric Zimmer]

My name is Michael Thweets. More people know me as Michael Librarian. And far more people know me as the librarian or the library guy. So many people I meet seem to not know that I have an actual name. I've been a librarian for close to 11 years. I'm no longer a practicing librarian, but I'm still very much a huge supporter of libraries. I'm still paying student loans. I very much see myself as a librarian. I'm a library advocate, I'm a literacy advocate, a mental health advocate, and so much more. But I think I'm just really just the biggest library's biggest fan. I'm just a person who's trying to cheerlead for human beings and convince them that they should make it to tomorrow to take 24 hours at a time.

[Theo Henderson]

I mean. And are you currently based in California as well?

[Eric Zimmer]

I am. I'm in the Bay Area.

[Theo Henderson]

Your work so clearly demonstrates not just the importance of libraries and keeping them funded, but the importance of libraries as communal spaces and community Building tools. But I wanted to get started with you. You recently posted to Instagram sort of a list of books to explain wildfires and wildfire consequences to children. Could you tell me a little bit more about how you sourced that?

[Eric Zimmer]

So list that I shared recommending books for children, teens and for library growing up to be able to talk with their kids and teens about this tragedy of the California wildfires. It was built from other various libraries from seeing Instagram posts from people like the book Wrangler and saying, okay, here are some books. Let's, let's broaden the, let's broaden it just a little bit because I wanted to make sure that the list was able was a book list that was good for kids, teens and also for grown ups so they could help their own, their family, but also so that they could help themselves. It's a compilation of, of picture books, chapter books for kids, graphic novels, YA books, and even some books that adults would also really appreciate as well.

[Theo Henderson]

Libraries are sort of this first line of defense on educating about climate change and about climate catastrophe, especially for younger people.

[Eric Zimmer]

Unfortunately, I've had my own experience with wildfires being a California native, to be prepared to seek a list like this. The infamous wildfires of Northern California. Of course, even though I'm on the other side of California, we're still very much in support of you all in Southern California. We're trying to seek ways to provide resources to help. I myself am working currently with various people to provide books to increase the presence of literacy. With the loss of houses, with the loss of one major library in Pasadena. I think that was a big part of where I was coming from. And that's my experience as a librarian in various mental health crises, the crisis of COVID 19 of that major California wildfire. But as a Californian, you also know that we have these wildfires, what it feels like every single year, but also in response to all the various disasters across the nation, be it the various shootings that occur, be it the hurricanes, be it the earthquakes, tsunamis, the Sudan, whatever. I mean, these are things I'm trying to find resources to share with people. This is how we gather as neighbors. I'm a person who always talks about Mr. Rogers. This is what Mr. Rogers would have encouraged us to do. So how do we build resources to get toward a journey towards recovery?

[Theo Henderson]

You know, being, being a local, just seeing a library gone and not and seeing all of these community spaces gone, these schools, these places that you don't really consider what life would be like without one of the most emotional responses I've had all week is learning that the Altadena main branch somehow survived the fires and that their staff is already organizing to make sure that even though the air quality isn't safe at the main branch, what are programs we can do for kids? And the importance of libraries as community spaces where all are welcome.

[Jamie Loftus]

Absolutely.

[Eric Zimmer]

You know what I'm still so shocked with? I've been, I've been on social media talking about libraries and literacy and so much more for what feels like years now. But there's still so many people who don't know about the joys and the resources that the local libraries offer, especially in tough times, unprecedented times like these that we're living in. There's so much more. I mean, libraries are always going to be about books. We're always going to push books. But now there's Libby, there's Hookah digital for audiobooks and ebooks. There's Canopy for TV shows and movies. There's Mango languages to learn a new language for the various people who are displaced and trying to figure out how do I find these tools amongst, amongst these disasters. There's tool, there's tooling libraries, there's big break collections, there's 3D printers. There truly is something for everybody at the library. And that's in response to saying, yes, the library is very much a community hub. It's all about, there's something for everybody, for every single neighborhood, every single person who lived in your community. That's what library exists for and that's what I've loved. And I've scoured social media for resources, seeking ways to help. I love the immediate aftermath after the California Wildfighters, the most recent ones, first started. I didn't love it, but it was so like, for me, it was so refreshing to see author friends and various friends in Southern California at the library. The library was still standing. That's where they wanted to get out of the air, the bad quality air. They were in the library. I believe the LA County Library is currently offering N95 masks. So I saw some friends just charging their devices, charging their, their chargers, their, their phones, their tablets, whatever it may be at the local library. And that's, that's why the library is always going to be a third space. You don't have to have a library.

[Michael Thweets]

Card to do that.

[Eric Zimmer]

You can just be, you can just ask for help at the local library. A library card is not required to seek help, to seek services.

[Theo Henderson]

As a librarian, I mean in terms of just bringing people together, housed unhoused of all classes. What have you sort of noticed over the years in terms of bringing folks together?

[Eric Zimmer]

I mean, I think this is so much of what you just said. There's so much that. So much is possible for every person, regardless of their background, regardless of their financial situation, where they can benefit from the local library. That's the beauty of it. I mean that's with like so many of you. So many of the Southern California libraries are still standing, but they are ones that are lost. And there are so many people who are coming together to support these libraries. There's so many schools that have been lost, there's so many classes that have been temporarily put on pause because of the situation where students are not allowed, are not able to imagine and grow as much as they should be able to. And that's why I love that there are campaigns by people like author Veronica Bain who's trying to get, trying to gather various funds to gather books and various forms of literacy to donate and gift to local, to local schools and local libraries. And all these people are coming together to collect books, to collect so many, so many resources for these schools and these libraries. And I think that's what I've learned over the years being a library, library loving persons. There's so many people who are willing to support libraries, to go to bat for the community because of what the library means to them that libraries are still offering these programs. We're offering story times, we're offering homework help, we're offering a space for you to grow, to be, to learn something, to take your tests, to apply for jobs. And it's so amazing to see. I think, I believe I love the unhoused community most of all so very much. I think since leaving the library full time, I love that I go to my local library and I see my former, my, my former unhoused friends I used to see all the time. They're all like, oh man, good to see you back. I saw you down at the other, at these other institutions. Are you helping people with, with housing full time now? And I'm like, no, I just happen to be there. I love it. That's what they bring up because that's what the library should be. It should be a place that welcomes the unhoused house that tries to find them resources that says yes, we may not be able to do everything for you, but we're going to help you to the best of our abilities. I think that's what, that's what I discovered most of all in the last few years. From the community, from the neighbors, from people across the world. Honestly, they love having a library card. They really appreciate their library. They recognize how powerful books have been in their lives. But most of them, they recognize the presence of the library, always being there, being there for them. Even though they didn't remember the library, that, yes, on a Tuesday, five years from now, people could say, oh, yeah, I didn't realize I knew this library at the time, but now I really need it. And I'm so surprised that even though I haven't used it all the time, it's still there. It's still there for me. I think that is the lasting legacy of the library. That library is always going to be there for you.

[Theo Henderson]

For the average person, what is the best way to support your local library?

[Eric Zimmer]

Shouldn't I talk about social media? This morning I was offering anybody who loves libraries or who wants to love libraries four ways to support. To support them and keep them going. And I think number one is to get this. To get a library card, you don't have to. You don't have to use that library card. Just get a library card. Renew that library card, every single.

[Theo Henderson]

But you probably will end up using it.

[Eric Zimmer]

Yeah, it's exactly. Number two, which is to visit. To visit the library, to actually use that library card to borrow the materials. It's totally fine. If you're a digital library user, you are helping the library by using Libby and Hoopla, using audiobooks and ebooks. It helps libraries more than you know, with funding, with making libraries better for the community. Borrow those tools from the tooling library, the bakeware supplies from the bakeware collection. Borrow the manga, graphic novels, comic books, anything. Library has something for everybody. At least once a year, use that library card. See what it's all about. And then number three is to not only visit the library, but to use a library. And specifically the programs. Attend library programs, the art programs, history programs, the author talks. Just whenever you see it. Try to go as often as possible. Last one, number four is just tell everyone about the library. I think that's the best way to keep libraries going. Libraries, as much as we're under attack, as much as we're facing a lot of problems, we're still there. People are showing up more than ever for libraries, and we just want to keep it going so we can keep on offering everything for the community and show people liberation through literacy.

[Jamie Loftus]

16Th Minute is a production of Cool Zone Media and iHeartRadio. It is written, hosted and produced by me, Jamie Loftus, our executive producer. Are Sophie Lichterman and Robert Evans. The amazing Ian Johnson is our supervising producer and our editor. Our theme song is by Sad13. Voice acting is from Grant Crater and Pet shout outs to our dog producer Anderson, my cats Flea and Casper and my pet rock bird who will outlive us all. Bye.

[Jason Alexander]

John Stewart is back at the Daily show, and he's bringing his signature wit and insight straight to your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. Dive into John's unique take on the biggest topics in politics, entertainment, sports and more. Joined by the sharp voices of the show's correspondence and contributors, and with extended interviews and exclusive weekly headline roundups, this podcast gives you content you won't find anywhere else. Ready to laugh and stay informed? Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jason Alexander. And I'm Peter Tilden. And together our mission on the really no really podcast is to get the true answers to life's baffling questions, like why the bathroom door doesn't go all the way to the floor, what's in the museum a failure? And does your dog truly love you? We have the answer. Go to really know really.com and register to win $500, a guest spot on our podcast or a limited edition sign. Jason Bobblehead the Really no Ellie podcast. Follow us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Eric Zimmer]

You don't need another podcast. You've got too many already. But if you're looking for one that actually changes something, a way to take control of the chaos and find meaning, well, then maybe the one you feed is for you. I'm Eric Zimmer, and I bring real conversations with real people to help you feed the best part of yourself. No hype, no fluff, just wisdom. That works. Listen to the one you feed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Katherine Legge]

Hey, you guys, I'm Katherine Legg. I'm a racing driver who's literally driven everything with four wheels across the planet. And I've got a new podcast. It's cool. Throttle Therapy. This season, I'm competing in some of.

[Jamie Loftus]

The world's most notorious racing events.

[Katherine Legge]

Tune in to my new podcast, Throttle Therapy with Katherine Legg, an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio.

[Jamie Loftus]

App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Katherine Legge]

Presented by Elf Beauty, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

[Jason Alexander]

Hi, this is Alex Kanchowitz. I'm the host of Big Technology Podcast, a longtime reporter and an on air contributor to cnbc. And if you're like me, you're trying to figure out how artificial intelligence is changing the business world and our lives. So each week on Big Technology, I bring on key actors from companies building AI tech, asking where this is all going. They come from places like Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and plenty more. So if you want to be smart with your wallet, your career choices, and at dinner parties, listen to Big Technology podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.