In Lauren’s conversation with podcasters and authors Nick Mott and Justin Angle, the three talk about the nuances of wildfire: This is Wildfire: How to Protect Yourself, Your Home, and Your Community in the Age of Heat (Bloomsbury Publishing) “offers everything you need to know about fire in one useful volume.”
Wildfires are getting more destructive than ever before. Flames in forests are scorching about twice as many trees as they did two decades ago, and nearly 100,000 homes, barns, and other structures have been incinerated. “Fire seasons” are now fire years. Tens of millions of people live in areas vulnerable to fire, and more keep moving in. Driven in part by climate change, the areas burned and prevalence of smoke in the skies is expected to skyrocket in the decades to come.
At the same time that wildfires leave swathes of the country in ash, they also renew. Wildfire is crucial for ecosystems to function and flourish. We’re putting out many of the fires our landscape needs, and the ones that escape our control are devastating for forests and communities. It’s clear what we're doing isn’t working. Wildfire is inevitable, and we need to learn to live with it.
About Nick Mott:
Nick Mott is a journalist and podcast producer. His podcast work has received a Peabody and two National Edward R. Murrow Awards. His print and audio reporting has been published in The Atlantic, NPR, High Country News, and The Washington Post, among many other outlets.
Nick Mott is looking forward to reading:
Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World (Alfred A. Knopf)
About Justin Angle:
Justin Angle is a professor and the Poe Family Distinguished Faculty Fellow at the University of Montana College of Business. His work has been published in Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, and the Washington Post.
Justin Angle, a father to teenage girls, is currently reading:
Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions into Adulthood by Lisa Damour, Ph.D. (Ballantine Books)
Lauren Korn recommends:
This is Wildfire: How to Protect Yourself, Your Home, and Your Community in the Age of Heat by Nick Mott and Justin Angle (Bloomsbury Publishing)
This conversation between Nick, Justin, and Scott Tong on WBUR’s Here & Now
Fireline, a podcast produced by Nick Mott, Justin Angle, and Victor Yvellez
Fire Weather: A True Story From a Hotter World (Alfred A. Knopf)
The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America by Timothy Egan (Mariner Books)
Higgins Ridge, a documentary about the smokejumpers who pivoted from battling a fire to fighting for their lives on August 4, 1961 (Montana PBS)
Land on Fire: The New Reality of Wildfire in the West by Gary Ferguson (Timber Press)
On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal by Naomi Klein (Simon & Schuster)
Shadows on the Klamath: A Woman in the Woods by Louise Wagenknecht (Oregon State University Press)
—
The Write Question team for this episode was Lauren Korn, host, co-producer, and editor; and Jake Birch, co-producer and editor; and Bryan Ramirez, and sound engineer.
The Write Question logo and brand (2022) was designed by Molly Russell. You can see more of her work at iamthemollruss.com and on Instagram @iamthemollruss. Our music was written and recorded by John Floridis.
Funding for The Write Question comes from Humanities Montana; members of Montana Public Radio; and from the Greater Montana Foundation—encouraging communication on issues, trends, and values of importance to Montanans.
The Write Question is a production of Montana Public Radio.
