After the Ashes: A Beautiful Altadena Podcast

We're back after a two-month hiatus. Between travel , Sacramento, and the landmark 18 months post Eaton Fire , there's a lot to catch up on. .Yes... we run long again. 18 Months Later This week marked 18 months since the fire and the latest numbers paint a sobering picture. Drawing from reporting by CBS News and Los Angeles Times on research from United Policyholders and Department of An...

It’s a longer episode this week with one instead of two and Shawna is extra punchy on no sleep after a long week… buckle up! Another Media Roundup and we hate to say it, but we told you so. Everything we warned is now playing out in real time. Steve breaks down the latest in his  SRP CRD “Frankenstein” is Alive , and how the policies we flagged have materialized with consequences. The State Farm i...

We jump right into it with another Media Roundup , because there is still so much to discuss this week.  • Los Angeles Times : Anger over Southern California Edison’s undergrounding work in Altadena boiled over as residents called for a temp halt to the project • CalMatters : Californians continue paying some of the highest taxes in the nation, but for what? • “ Gavin Newsom’s Empire of Fraud ” Ci...

We open with another Media Roundup , because the headlines keep coming!  • La Movida del Agua! Altadena Water Wars is back and talking consolidation • Mayoral race: Raman making moves, Pratt surging?, and what the latest dynamics may mean • Governor’s race: Swalwell’s campaign ending stumble, Mahan blowing his moment, Trump endorsing Hilton, and a rapidly shifting field; Antonio and Katie making l...

We open with more politics, because whether people like it or not, policy and power are shaping every part of disaster recovery. The Races Ahead We dive into the Governor’s race, including a look at Matt Mahan’s visit to Altadena and why he missed the moment. We break down his platform, who we think is actually positioned to win, what candidates are getting wrong, and what they would need to do to...

Steve is back from Washington, DC, and we open with a wrap-up of his second recent trip to the capitol — including what’s being discussed, what still isn’t, and why decisions being made right now will shape recovery here and far beyond Altadena. We also tackle the latest funding twist: CDBG-DR money is on hold , adding more uncertainty to an already slow and uneven rebuilding process. One thing fe...

We open this episode with a few technical difficulties — because apparently Mercury is in Gatorade — and then get right to it! With Steve back in Washington, DC, reporting on the drama, the intrigue, and full-on mishegas, we dive into another important conversation: The difference between EDA and CDBG-DR funding models , and why what happens in Altadena could shape disaster recovery policy nationw...

No media roundup this episode. We jump straight into the issues. With Steve in Washington, DC, we start with updates from the ground there, including the ongoing EDA push and Barger’s Rebuild Authority motion , and what those efforts signal about how recovery decisions are being shaped at both the local and federal level. We also revisit the Governor’s race , Rick Caruso’s Steadfast LA , what’s cu...

We're back! We kick this episode off with an important update from the Altadena for Accountability coalition. After months of strategic organizing, the California Attorney General’s Office announced on February 12 that it has opened a historic and unprecedented civil rights investigation into the failed evacuation and response in Altadena west of Lake — examining not just race, but also age a...

It’s another long one. We planned to kick things off with our usual media roundup, but first the Altadena Water Wars. The drama! The intrigue! We open with the rapid rise and even faster disappearance of the anonymously penned Altadena Water Wars Substack by “JJ Gittes.” It vanished almost as quickly as it appeared but we kept receipts. Shawna pulled the full archive and reposted every word under...

After taking a week off, we’re back, and yes, this episode runs long again. Sorry, folks. Too much happening to keep it brief! We open with another media roundup , connecting national events to what’s unfolding here in Los Angeles and in Altadena. We talk about the national strike, journalists being arrested, bystanders being shot, and perhaps the most Altadena detail of all, Altadena Cookie Co is...

We open this episode with another media round-up , because the news cycle has been busy! There are big stories everywhere, and nearly all of them raise the same unsettling question: who's actually in charge here . Stories and topics discussed include: The Guardian coverage on Climate Gentrification and the frustration that much of what we’re now facing could have been mitigated had AB 797 not...

This episode opens with a media round-up , because there is no shortage of big stories shaping the narrative around Altadena’s recovery. We unpack recent reporting and what it gets right, what it gets wrong, and what’s being oversimplified. Stories discussed include: LA Times: Leaked Memo Reveals California Debated Cutting Wildfire Soil Testing Before Disaster Chiefs Exit . A look at how environme...

One year after the Eaton Fire, the dust still hasn’t settled — literally or figuratively. In this more emotionally raw episode of After the Ashes , co-hosts Shawna Dawson Beer and Stephen Sachs look back at the first 90 days after the fire. What was happening on the ground, what we understood then, how many solutions were proposed, and how many of today’s cascading failures were locked in during t...

We open this episode with some unexpected news. After the Ashes was named a Spotify 2025 Most Binged Show , a 2025 Marathon Show (listeners stuck with us 75% longer than the average podcast), and a 2025 Instant Hit , with a debut season more popular than 80% of other new podcasts .  Whoever you are listening out there — thank you. Truly. We're doing this for you.  From there, we dig into what...

New year, new season. We had planned to be on hiatus this week. But as the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire arrived, so did a flood of media coverage, public events, and major developments that made it clear we needed to get back into the studio. We recorded two back-to-back episodes, that both run a little long — just under an hour — so thank you, as always, for staying with us. We open wit...

This is our second episode of the new year, and the second of two back-to-back recordings made during the one-year anniversary week of the Eaton Fire. We begin shifting back into deeper policy conversations, asking one of the most important questions of all: did it have to go this way and does it still have to? Steve takes us through a deeper dive into the financing options for the $20 billion reb...

Episode 23 of After the Ashes arrives in the season of light and at a moment when much of what we’ve been saying here for months is finally breaking into the broader news cycle. As Hanukkah begins this week, we reflect on what it means to light the candles this time of year. We move through a wide-angle media roundup—from national coverage echoing long-standing warnings, to Emecka of Rhythms of th...

On our last episode before we head into a holiday hiatus and the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire, Episode 24 takes another look at the question many in the community keep asking: where is the money going. We revisit the role of philanthropy in the fire recovery digging into the oft nebulous world of fiscal sponsorship . We talk about what happens when transparency is thin, accountability is...

Housing chaos, policy puzzles, missing money, the one nonprofit you truly have to hear to believe, and will there be a 2026 Beautiful Altadena calendar—Episode 22 has it all. We kick off the episode with the real estate roller coaster gripping our post-fire communities: homes in Altadena clocking in at $1,000 per square foot and the Palisades market sinking 40%. Whether rising or plummeting, the n...

Recorded December 9, Episode 21 takes listeners through a pivotal week in our community’s recovery and resilience. We begin the episode with a milestone worth celebrating: the first homes rebuilt in both Altadena and the Palisades , but there's always more to the story. Then we turn to local spirit with a recap of the 105th Christmas Tree Lane lighting—a tradition that refuses to dim no matte...

As the one-year anniversary approaches, the journalists are circling—and so are the headlines. In this episode of After the Ashes, we sift through the news storm hitting Altadena: FEMA’s Acting Administrator steps out (and what that really signals for future disasters), SCE skipping out on a Black community town hall while KBLA and local reporters press for answers, Disney’s sudden Charles White P...

Another long episode recorded as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire, this episode examines the questions that still hang in the air. The questions that will shape not only how we remember the fire, but how we rebuild from it. We reflect on the narratives emerging from the reporting over the past year and the political realities behind them. Which electeds will step forward as t...

We're back from a Thanksgiving break with a long one. In Episode 19 we step back from the rubble and zoom out to the national landscape — because what’s happening in Altadena is playing out on a national stage. We dig into local government failure from the national perspective, why communities like ours are repeatedly left to rebuild ourselves, and how the latest political maneuvers, includin...

We kick of this episode with a media roundup and the biggest headline yet: Altadena on the cover of TIME Magazine . The digital story is live now , and the print issue hits stands on December 8. ( Yes, both Steve and Shawna are quoted ).  Our town’s story, its failures and its resilience, is now a national story. Altadena was also the feature of a Spectrum News Thanksgiving Special , where Tyler o...