Disasterproof

George Whitesides has spent his career on systems-level problems: NASA chief of staff, Virgin Galactic CEO, co-founder of Megafire Action, and now the U.S. Congressman representing one of California's most fire-prone districts. In this episode of Disasterproof, we sit down with Whitesides near the site of the Sandy Fire to talk about what it actually takes to fix the wildfire crisis, from the five...

In late May, the Sandy Fire broke out on a hot, windy afternoon in Simi Valley, California and grew to more than 2,000 acres and forced over 10,000 evacuations. When it was over, only one home had been lost. California Congressman George Whitesides calls wildfire existential for the state, the defining risk of an era increasingly shaped by fire. The Sandy Fire is exactly the kind of threat he mean...

What does it take to build something that survives? In episode one of the Disasterproof Podcast, hosts Kat Mañalac and Bill Clerico sat down with Y Combinator co-founders Paul Graham and Jessica Livingston to find out. From the 2008 financial crash to COVID-19 to the current AI moment, Paul and Jessica share how YC has weathered uncertainty, why they look for "cockroaches" in their portfolio, and...

In wildfire response, speed is everything. By the time firefighters reach many fire starts, the fire is already too large to easily contain. In 2018, the Camp Fire showed how quickly a small ignition can turn into a catastrophic disaster—destroying an entire town in less than a day. That is why many fire experts believe the most important window is the first few minutes after a fire is detected. I...

Wildfires are putting more towns and critical infrastructure at risk every year. In 2024, the largest wildfire in Texas history spread rapidly toward the town of Borger until it reached the edge of town and just… stopped. The town was spared because months earlier the Borger Fire Department had deliberately set fire to the land surrounding the town. This is called prescribed burning, an ancient la...