Jacob Soboroff on Reporting on the Burning of His Hometown, 1 Year Later

KQED's Forum

KQED

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.2 • 727 Ratings

🗓️ 6 January 2026

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

January 7 marks one year since the Palisades and Eaton fires ignited in Los Angeles County. MS NOW senior political reporter Jacob Soboroff reported on the fires, an assignment he pursued because he grew up in Pacific Palisades, despite the emotional challenges of the task. As he writes in his new book, “Firestorm,” “What are you supposed to say when the entire community you were born and raised in is wiped off the map, literally burning to the ground before your eyes?” Soboroff joins us to share how he found the words, where recovery stands in LA and why we’re now in “America’s New Age of Disaster.” Guests: Jacob Soboroff, senior political and national reporter, MS NOW (formerly MSNBC); author, "Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster" and "Separated: Inside An American Tragedy" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for KQED podcasts comes from Landmark College, offering executive function support
0:06.3	and social coaching for neurodivergent individuals at the Bay Area Success Center. Learn more at
0:12.6	landmark.edu slash success center. Support for KQED comes from Stanford Continuing Studies. This winter, explore how AI is transforming our world
0:24.0	in an introduction to AI. Learn the fundamentals, tools, and trends shaping the future. Available online
0:31.5	starting January 26th. Learn more at continuing studies.standford.edu.
0:40.0	From KQED.
0:44.2	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
0:50.6	Nearly one year ago today, journalist Jacob Soberoff had to report the burning of his hometown.
0:58.6	It's never in my lifetime can I remember standing in Pacific Palisades and having the entire community evacuated as much of this part of Los Angeles burns tonight?
1:02.7	Tomorrow morning is going to be a bleak scene here, and we haven't even seen the beginning
1:06.2	of it with winds expected to reach those peaks.
1:10.2	On January 7th, the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out,
1:13.2	fueled by ferocious winds and dry vegetation. In the end, they would take 31 lives and destroy
1:19.8	thousands of homes as they tore through nearly 40,000 acres. The Palisades fire would burn down
1:25.9	Soberoff's childhood home and the community he grew up in.
1:29.5	He's written a book about the experience and of his need to understand how it happened and what it means for all of us.
1:36.4	The book is called Firestorm, the great Los Angeles fires, and America's New Age of Disaster.
1:43.2	Jacob, welcome back to Forum. Thank you so much for having me
1:45.9	back. That's great to be with you again. Yeah, same. It's so impossible often in the moment to
1:51.1	absorb everything that's going on. Usually it hits us later, but what do you remember about what
1:58.0	it was like to stand in front of a camera and tell America what's happening as your
2:03.0	childhood home, your childhood landmarks went up in flames. Yeah, you hit the nail on the head.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from KQED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of KQED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.