Today’s Moving Memorial of President Jimmy Carter at His State Funeral
We begin with today’s state funeral of President Jimmy Carter who died recently at the age of 100 and was celebrated today by his friend President Biden who eulogized him before a gathering of former and future American presidents – Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump. Joining us to discuss the moving ceremony and the life and legacy of the 39th president is James Fallows, an award-winning author and national correspondent for The Atlantic. He previously worked as President Carter’s chief speechwriter and was editor of US News & World Report. His books on media and politics include, Who Runs Congress, Breaking the News: How the Media Undermine American Democracy, Blind into Baghdad: America’s War in Iraq, and, China Airborne: The Test of China’s Future. His latest book co-authored with his wife Deborah Fallows is Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey Into the Heart of America and he blogs at fallows.substack.com where his latest article is “Jimmy Carter, President and Citizen.”
How Climate Change Supercharged the Wildfires That Swept Through LA
Then we examine the extent to which climate change supercharged the wildfires that swept through areas of Los Angeles like a blowtorch causing an unprecedented loss of property leaving thousands homeless. Joining us to discuss how the dry summer, followed by a dry winter when rain normally falls, along with up to 100 mile an hour winds, contributed to this on-going disaster is Glen MacDonald, the John Muir Memorial Chair of Geography, Director of the White Mountain Research Center and a Distinguished Professor at UCLA. He is a former UC Presidential Chair and former Director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. His research focuses on climate change, its causes and its impact on the environment and society.
A Former LAFD Battalion Chief on What it is Like to Confront a Wall of Flame Driven by 80 MPH Winds
Then finally, with criticism from Republicans of LA’s Mayor and its Fire Chief underway, we speak with a former fire-fighter about what could have been done in the face of these walls of flame sweeping through areas of LA and speak with Mark Whaling, a retired Los Angeles County Fire Department Battalion Chief who is now the CEO of Whaling Fire Line Equipment inc. He joins us to discuss how the wind is to blame as the fires overwhelmed the fire-fighters as well as lessons learned and what can be done to make the next wildfires less destructive.