This is Jacobin Radio. I'm producer, director and engineer, Melissa Figaroa, sitting

in for Suzy Weisman. Today, we spend the hour discussing the historic series of winter

storms that have been lashing the entire state of California since New Year's Eve, causing

widespread flooding, landslides, wind damage, and levy failures that have resulted in

three deaths so far. And with rain forecasted to continue all the way until Martin Luther

King Day, the worst may be yet to come. While California is far better known for droughts,

earthquakes, and wildfires, atmospheric rivers from the Pacific also bring regular flooding,

sometimes on a biblical scale, an inherent feature of California's extreme weather regime

that is expected to increase in frequency and intensity as a result of climate change.

My guests today bring various perspectives to the flood that touch on its historical,

scientific, and socio-political significance. First, I discuss the deep history of California's

200-year flood cycle with indigenous traditional ecological practitioner Ali Metters Knight,

who brings the long view to a place that has only been called California for 180 years.

Then, I speak to climate scientists Daniel Swain about the complex dynamics of atmospheric

river events, and how climate change and wildfires contribute to intensifying the extremes

of California's drought and flood cycles. Finally, Mila Ablug, a wetland ecologist and

former regulatory official, discusses the state of California's infrastructure, the impact

of these floods on workers and houseless people in the Central Valley and elsewhere, and

what we can and must do to prepare our communities for the other big one. All this when our program

returns in just a moment.

This is Jacobin Radio. I'm producer, director and engineer, Melissa Figueroa, sitting

in for Susie Weissman, who is out this week. Susie is recovering from major surgery and

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