Cecelia Girr is Director of Cultural Strategy at Backslash, the cultural intelligence unit of Omnicom Advertising, and the author of Ready Is the New Well, a landmark report for the Global Wellness Institute on preparedness as a cultural movement. Kim Marshall is the host of LA Rising: Stories of Healing, Help, and Hope, a podcast born from the LA fires.

In this special double-hosted episode, Cecelia joins Jennifer Gray Thompson and Kim Marshall to talk about what the data actually shows: why extreme weather is no longer extreme, why the 2030s will be defined by resilience, and how preparedness has moved from the fringes of doomsday prepper culture into the mainstream.

They cover fear-based messaging and why it drives paralysis rather than action, Yale research showing that small acts of preparedness reduce anxiety and depression, the role of technology in democratising disaster readiness, the rise of disaster-literate social media creators and brands designing for emergencies, and why social connection turns out to be the strongest predictor of survival after a disaster. Jennifer also talks about the Watch Duty app, block captains, and the third way between paralysis and denial.

This is a conversation about culture, data, and what it actually looks like when a society decides to get ready.

Resources:

• How to Disaster
• Learn more about After the Fire USA
• After the Fire USA Resource Library
• Ready Is the New Well - Global Wellness Institute
• Backslash at Omnicom Advertising
• LA Rising Podcast with Kim Marshall
• Watch Duty App
• Community Brigade Malibu
• Connect with Jennifer Gray Thompson on LinkedIn

Produced by NOVA

Jennifer Gray Thompson speaks with Eaton Fire survivor, journalist, and PostFire co-founder iO Wright about what happens when a person loses their home and is suddenly forced to navigate a recovery system that is confusing, fragmented, and often hard to access. iO shares how he and his partner, Patty, turned their own experience of loss into PostFire, a revolutionary survivor-centered platform designed to offer clear, fact-checked, trauma-informed guidance for people rebuilding after fire.

Their conversation looks at the gaps survivors face around insurance, housing, FEMA, debris removal, donations, rebuilding costs, and information overload. It also explores why dignity, choice, and trusted communication matter so much after disaster, especially when people are exhausted and trying to make decisions that will shape the next several years of their lives.

At its heart, this episode is about what becomes possible when survivors are listened to, supported, and trusted as experts in their own recovery.

Resources:

• How to Disaster
• Learn more about After the Fire USA
• After the Fire USA Resource Library
• PostFire
• iO Wright
• PostFire on Instagram
• Connect with Jennifer Gray Thompson on LinkedIn

Produced by NOVA

Joel Pollak is a journalist, opinion editor at the California Post, and a Palisades Fire survivor, devoted husband and father of four whose home survived the fire but was badly smoke-damaged, and with four children, he and his wife had to fight the insurance company. They are still not home.

In this episode, Joel joins Jennifer Gray Thompson to talk about what it actually means to have a standing smoke damaged home, why it is in many ways harder to navigate than a total loss, and what the past year of fighting his insurance company has looked like from the inside.

They cover the moment Joel drove back into the fire zone with a press pass and found his house still standing, the neighbor he never identified who stretched the hose across his lawn and tried to save it on his behalf, the insurance company’s opening offer of $5,000 for the contents of a family home, the public adjuster who changed everything, the lead and arsenic in the soil that had to be trucked to Arizona, and the 35 day threat that nearly forced him to sell.

They also talk about what it took to bridge a significant political divide, why disaster recovery needs people from every side of the aisle, and what Joel saw when he visited Coffee Park in Santa Rosa and felt, for the first time, something like hope.

Resources:

• How to Disaster
• Learn more about After the Fire USA
• After the Fire USA Resource Library
• Eaton Fire Survivors Network
• Three Homeless Guys Podcast
• Connect with Jennifer Gray Thompson on LinkedIn

Produced by NOVA