Hey! Sam here. 

First, my heart goes out to everyone affected by the catastrophic winds and fires around LA this week. For those reading who aren’t in the area, know that it’s hard to overstate the reach and scale of this disaster. So many people, including many friends of mine, have lost everything. The fabric of Los Angeles is fundamentally changed now, with large parts of our metro area completely destroyed. 

I don’t know what a return to normalcy looks like for LA, or if LA will ever look and feel the same way again. But maybe normalcy isn’t what we should return to. 

Whatever comes next, I am so insanely confident in the people of this city to find a way through this, together. I’ve loved LA since the first day I got here over a decade ago, and the humanity showcased over the last week only makes me love this city more. I am so grateful to be an Angeleno, and honored to be a part of whatever is next for LA.

With that, some updates. We tape this show weekly in Santa Monica, at KCRW headquarters. That wasn’t doable this week, given events. So radio listeners will hear an encore of my chat from a few months ago with climate scientist Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, author of What If We Get It Right: Visions of Climate Futures. She talks about moving through the climate crisis with ingenuity, optimism, and even joy. I think this is a really good week to re-air this chat, as I know so many people need inspiration right now in the midst of this week’s disastrous climate event. 

Podcast listeners won’t get a new episode either, but you can hear a little three-minute-or-so check-in from me that we’ve placed in the feed this morning, with a TV recommendation I won’t share with you here (go listen!). And YouTube viewers: don’t worry, we’ll have something new for y’all next week. 

With that, can I offer another recommendation? If you’re looking for something to watch or listen to over the next few days, I’d love to direct you to my recent chat with Rachel Bloom, creator and star of my favorite musical sitcom ever, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. She’s out with a new Netflix comedy special called Death, Let Me Do My Special. And it’s unlike any comedy special I’ve ever seen before. 

Here’s the gist: Rachel begins her special with jokes and comedic songs. But a few minutes into the set, she’s interrupted by a heckler. Turns out, the heckler is death personified. And he makes Rachel use her special to talk through and process her unresolved feelings on grief and death brought about by the pandemic, namely her experience giving birth during lockdown while a longtime collaborator died of COVID on the other side of the country at the same time. 

Rachel speaks to the trauma of COVID with such beauty, and it’s particularly resonant as Southern California deals with another major crisis this week. “It feels like death interrupted me,” she told me during our interview. “And death interrupted all of us.” She continued, “Death is like life’s heckler. It’s interrupting you… someone who just comes in and messes with your shit. And makes you feel small.” 

I know, sounds pretty depressing. But Rachel, incredibly, made this entire special — and our conversation — hilarious and uplifting. She has this special ability to release the pressure valve on tough emotions like pain and grief. She can feel these dark feelings while also laughing through them and releasing some of the pain they bring. I can’t think of a better listen this weekend, as the city I love works its way through a massive and traumatic grief event. 

With that, I wish you all well. To everyone reading affected by these fires, my thoughts, prayers, and well wishes are with you. For all those watching, please find some way to help out, however you can. If you’re in need of help, or want to be a helper, check out KCRW’s comprehensive wildfire aid and resource guide, and consider giving it a share. It includes everything from emergency preparedness to mental health services and insurance guides, to vetted donation links, to volunteer opportunities. I’ll speak with you all next week. Till then, much love. 

– Sam