Podcast appearances and mentions of william deverell

Thousands of new homes and businesses will be built to replace the ones that were incinerated by the Los Angeles County fires this month. If done properly, the rebuilding could create more resilient communities. However, if done poorly the structures will be tomorrow's fire fuel. Join a panel of experts to learn the right — and wrong — ways to rebuild L.A. The panelists are:  Christopher Boone, USC Price Dean and Director of USC Urban Futures. Santina Contreras, USC Price Assistant Professor of Environmental Planning. Richard Green, Chair, USC Price Wilbur H. Smith III Department of Real Estate Development. William Deverell, Historian and Co-Director of The West on Fire. With the moderator, Sarah Pilla, Climate Reporter for Spectrum News 1.

01:00 Judaism's Haunting Prayer/Unetaneh Tokef, https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/255977?lang=bi 08:00 New York: Los Angeles shouldn't rebuild the same way, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/los-angeles-shouldnt-rebuild-the-same-way-after-wildfires.html 11:00 Bloomberg: These Homes Withstood the LA Fires. Architects Explain Why In Pacific Palisades and Malibu, some houses with fire-resistant designs remained standing amid neighborhoods of destruction. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-13/los-angeles-wildfires-why-these-homes-didn-t-burn 16:00 WSJ: How the Left Turned California Into a Paradise Lost: Gavin Newsom promised to ‘Trump-proof' the Golden State. If only he'd fireproofed it instead. https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-the-left-turned-california-into-a-paradise-lost-government-policy-wildfires-48b88d6a 20:35 TRUTH about the CA Wildfires, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCbkS_CRypA 26:00 MEgyn Kelly: CNN's Fact Checker Incorrectly Checks Facts About LA Wildfires and Reservoir, with Stu Burguiere, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDEbjZVQt3Y 30:00 Lucy joins the show to discuss dating 49:00 Megyn Kelly: Gavin Newsom Tries to Salvage Political Career on Podcast in Wake of Wildfires, with Stu Burguiere, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc1EOTMvEvs 54:00 New Yorker: Does One Emotion Rule All Our Ethical Judgments?, When prehistoric predators abounded, the ability to perceive harm helped our ancestors survive. Some researchers wonder whether it fuels our greatest fights today. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/01/20/outraged-kurt-gray-book-review 1:05:00 Kurt Gray on Harm-Based Morality, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mbQ0ul9Jo4 1:14:30 Progressive failures, media failures, https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/progressive-failures-media-failures/id1081967784?i=1000683795175 1:33:00 Jonathan Haidt is wrong about morality | Prof Kurt Gray, https://www.aporiamagazine.com/p/jonathan-haidt-is-wrong-about-morality?utm_source=publication-search 1:38:00 Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong on LA's challenges 1:59:00 My high school friend Rob Stutzman talks to Mark Halperin, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn2aohL7Jy8 2:12:00 Column: A Democratic and Republican battled for Congress. They became unlikely friends, https://lukeford.net/blog/?p=149613 2:23:45 Morton Halperin, Mark Halperin's lobbyist father, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Halperin 2:29:00 L.A. Leaders Can't Hide Behind the Media Anymore, https://www.city-journal.org/article/la-wildfires-california-leadership-karen-bass-gavin-newsom 2:53:30 The Tragedy of California's Wildfires with William Deverell, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHRqUCYbij0 3:18:00 Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31029686/

Today on AirTalk, we get the latest on the wildfires impacting SoCal communities. Also on the show, we remember Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes; we dig into how the San Fernando Valley could be the future of urban farming; Daniel Levitin talks about his new book ‘I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music As Medicine;' William Deverell, host of the Western Edition podcast, stops by to preview the new season on Pasadena's hidden history; Larry Mantle interviews Charlotte Shane on her new book ‘An Honest Woman: A Memoir Of Love And Sex Work;'and more. Latest on SoCal wildfires (00:17) Suburbia — the next farming revolution? (13:41) Remembering musician Sergio Mendes (26:41) New book on music as medicine (32:12) Pasadena's hidden history (45:13) Study links cannabis use to cancer (1:01:57) Charlotte Shane talks new book “An Honest Woman” (1:20:33)

A year ago, the second season of Western Edition focused on the past, present, and future of Los Angeles Chinatown. As part of that fascinating exploration, we investigated the horrific 1871 massacre of Chinese and Chinese Americans in downtown Los Angeles. In October of that year, a mixed-race mob of approximately ten percent of the resident population of Los Angeles killed 18 Chinese men and boys, or about ten percent of that ethnic and national group's population at the time.Though the event has burned in the memory of the Chinese and Chinese American community for 150 years, the rest of Los Angeles, people who live or who visit here, generally know nothing about it. But thanks to the collaborative efforts of grassroots organizations and institutions, working in concert with the city of Los Angeles, a fitting and powerful memorial to the victims of the massacre is now well underway. It made sense to us at Western Edition to add this final episode to our “Memorializing the West” season, as it offers a coda to what we've done and where we've gone this season and, we think, a bridge to last season's Chinatown investigation.Following a summer 2022 public call for ideas and a competition, artist and photographer Nicolás Leong and writer Judy Chung were selected from nearly 200 submissions and, eventually, five other finalists, all of whose thoughtful work sought to redress our city's amnesia about this event.Western Edition  host William Deverell spoke with Nicolás and Judy about their design and their process.To see images related to this episode, please visit dornsife.usc.edu/icw.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Moving from removal to renewal, many communities are not just calling for dismantling problematic monuments but also creating new layers of historical memory. This episode explores grassroots and public-driven projects in San Antonio, where students use digital technologies to reshape understandings of the city's communities of color and ongoing struggles for civil rights and recognition.To see images related to this episode, please visit dornsife.usc.edu/icw.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Denver, Colorado has seen highly public reckonings with historical markers referencing moments or people from the frontier past. Some actions seemed spontaneous and episodic: a statue of a Union soldier came down for its ties to a notorious massacre of Native peoples. Following the removal of another monument, the city's mayor publicly acknowledged and apologized for Denver's history of anti-Chinese violence.To see images related to this episode, please visit dornsife.usc.edu/icw.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Not far from the USC campus sits the home of the ONE Archives, one of the world's greatest repositories of historical material pertaining to LGBTQ people and institutions. The mid-century building once housed a USC fraternity and is now part of the USC Libraries. Today, the ONE Archives stand as an evolving memorial itself, with a mission to promote public conversation and scholarship about queer histories and cultures.To see images related to this episode, please visit dornsife.usc.edu/icw.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Additional histories are hidden behind the laconic language etched into markers across the West. The Daughters of Utah Pioneers Marker 123 in the center of Jackson, Wyoming celebrates the arrival of Mormon families in 1889 while eliding important context, including deeper histories of settler colonialism and violence against Native peoples. Why did Anglo Americans in the mid-20th century produce particular narratives about pioneers and settlement in the West?To see images related to this episode, please visit dornsife.usc.edu/icw.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

There are many places and sites in California that, if we listen closely, still echo with the angst of the Civil War past. Or if they don't, they should. Take, for example, the Broderick-Terry monument in Daly City. This plaque and two obelisks mark the end of dueling in the state but omit the critical context of the battle over slavery in California.To see images related to this episode, please visit dornsife.usc.edu/icw.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Starting on Catalina Island, just off the coast of Southern California, this episode of Western Edition zeroes in on a Civil War barracks that is now a private yacht club. The site played a curious role during the war and in the violent campaigns against Native peoples. Who is invested in the memories and histories of this site?To see images related to this episode, please visit dornsife.usc.edu/icw. Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

As California fires increase in frequency and scope of damage, it seems the definition of "fire season" has changed over time. Fore more, KCBS Radio political reporter Doug Sovern spoke with William Deverell, Professor of History, Spatial Sciences and Environmental Studies at USC.  

What's next for Chinatown? What challenges does the community face in the era of Covid, of the Stop Asian Hate movement, of gentrification, and the ever-rising cost of living in Los Angeles?Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Greg Hise, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, Olivia Ramirez, Li Wei Yang, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Spanning multiple generations across Los Angeles history, the See family takes focus in episode five. Novelist and historian Lisa See narrates her family's rich history, as does Leslee See Leong, whose antique and furniture store has long been a fixture of the See family's life and work.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Greg Hise, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, Olivia Ramirez, Li Wei Yang, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

In the early 1930s, the old Chinatown of Los Angeles disappeared to make way for the new Union Station Passenger Terminal. This episode examines the history of that eradication and displacement alongside the rise of “New Chinatown,” the adjacent community that arose through the vision of Chinese American entrepreneurs and community leaders.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Greg Hise, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, Olivia Ramirez, Li Wei Yang, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

California played a fundamental role in legislating Chinese exclusion in the last decades of the 19th century. This episode explores the history of such exclusionary racism, as well as the ways in which Chinese attorney Y.C. Hong worked on behalf of his thousands of clients trying to return to, or stay in, the United States.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Greg Hise, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, Olivia Ramirez, Li Wei Yang, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

A dark stain on Los Angeles, the horrific massacre of Chinese men and boys in Chinatown still reverberates across community and memory. A movement to memorialize the victims has taken root through civic activism, community organizing, and partnerships with the City of Los Angeles.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Greg Hise, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, Olivia Ramirez, Li Wei Yang, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

As an idea, as a place, even as a single structure, Chinatown has meant and means different things to different people at different times. The first episode of L.A. Chinatown explores these multiple meanings across time and space.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Greg Hise, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, Olivia Ramirez, Li Wei Yang, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

L.A.'s Chinatown is a bustling cultural and business hub, legendary in cinematic history and popular with tourists and locals alike. Yet below its surface lies a challenging history – of racial discrimination as well as community resilience – going back more than a century and a half. And it's a history still being uncovered, as explored in the second season of Western Edition: L.A. Chinatown. This season explores the past, present, and future of one of L.A.'s oldest neighborhoods and one of the first Chinese American cultural centers in the U.S. Expanding on the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West's multi-year Chinatown History Project, the new episodes build on the Institute's work digging into archives, collaborating with community partners, and talking to longtime residents to reflect on, remember, and celebrate a neighborhood and its people.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Greg Hise, Jessica Kim, Elizabeth Logan, Olivia Ramirez, Li Wei Yang, and Stephanie Yi. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

This week marks the 73rd anniversary of the Kathy Fiscus tragdedy. Kathy Fiscus was a three-year-old girl who fell into a well in San Marino, California in April 1949. The multi-day rescue effort was heartbreaking and became the focus of the first live breaking news event in the history of television news. KTLA's coverage brought thousands of people to the scene in a desperate attempt to save Kathy.In the new book “Kathy Fiscus: A Tragedy that Transfixed the Nation,” William Deverell, professor of history and director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, takes readers inside the incident and provides the definitive history of it. During this podcast, Professor Deverell reveals how the rescue effort unfolded, explains KTLA's role in the spectacle, and discusses the lasting impacts of the event.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wildfires are in the news more than ever. William Deverell, professor of history at the University of Southern California, says we need to change how we fight them. William Deverell is Professor of History at the University of Southern California and Director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.  He writes broadly on […]

For over a century, the U.S. Forest Service has posted fire lookouts at the tops of mountains and trees: men and women who gaze out at the horizon, watching and waiting for signs of smoke, and serving as the eyes for the fire crews who go out to battle the blazes. In this episode, we talk to Philip Connors, who keeps watch over one of the most fire-prone forests in the country: the Gila National Forest in New Mexico. Every summer, for nearly two decades, he sits in a tiny cabin at the top of a fire lookout tower, with his binoculars, maps and notebooks, standing guard. That experience formed the subject of his book, "Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout." We also talk to science historian Jameson Karns about the origins of fire towers and their place in American culture; and to Vincent Ambrosia, a research scientist who works with NASA to improve wildfire monitoring.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

There's a good chance that the firefighter saving you from a wildfire is actually an incarcerated person. As of summer 2021, about 1,600 work at conservation camps, also called fire camps, in California. These are minimum-security facilities staffed by incarcerated people who both volunteer and then qualify for the program based on their conviction offenses and behavior in prison. Other incarcerated persons serve at institutional firehouses. Once they finish serving their sentences, some might continue on to a training and certification program at the Ventura Training Center in Ventura County, or the The Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program. In this episode, we consider how much we all owe these firefighters and hear about two programs to help them find work – and a renewed sense of purpose – in fighting fires after they finish their sentences. We also speak with Jaime Lowe, author of Breathing Fire: Female Inmate Firefighters on the Frontlines of California's Wildfires.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Wildfire smoke can spread far beyond the fire itself, and the toxic pollutants carried in the smoke can be deadly. In this episode, we investigate the harm posed by wildfire smoke and exactly what happens to our bodies when we're inhaling wildfire smoke, including triggering or worsening other health problems. We'll also learn about how migrant farmworkers are especially at risk -- due to the nature of their outdoor work, pesticide exposure, and lack of Indigenous language translation -- and the efforts to reduce their vulnerability.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

The gospel of fire safety in the Western U.S. has long been one of suppression: fires are bad and they should be avoided at all costs. But Indigenous communities in the West see things differently. In this episode, we talk to Indigenous tribal leaders who engage in controlled burns: carefully controlled fires intentionally set as a way of managing ecosystems, by burning the undergrowth and dead trees that would otherwise fuel wildfires. It's become a sensitive debate, in which fire management officials have often gone up against Indigenous practices. We'll also explore how our current views of fire were formed in the West.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Fires can be terribly destructive forces of nature, wiping out entire communities, as we've seen so often these past few years. But the destruction doesn't stop when the fires go out. Fires can leave hillsides denuded. Foothill communities no longer have the trees and roots to protect them from the rocks and mud that flow down from the mountains after it rains. That's what happened in Montecito, a community on the eastern edge of Santa Barbara, in early January 2018. In this episode, we learn about the phenomena of post-fire debris flow and mudslides and hear a first-hand story of the incredible wreckage it can cause.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

“Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.” Generations of Americans have this fire safety adage emblazoned on their collective memory thanks to Smokey Bear (often mistakenly called Smokey the Bear).  Smokey Bear is the longest-running public service announcement in U.S. history. A large, friendly, bare-chested bear in denim jeans and a campaign hat, asking you to prevent forest fires, he is universally beloved… almost. In this episode, we get to know the bear himself. Where did he come from? How did he and his message spread like, well, wildfire? How did he become a beloved children's character, a working-class hero, a guardian of nature, a countercultural icon, and a symbol of government overreach, all in one? And what's it like to dress up in a Smokey Bear costume?Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Firefighters have a hard job. Whether they're putting out housefires or battling large-scale wildfires, the work can be grueling, dangerous, and thankless. Imagine having to deal with racism and bigotry on top of all that. Los Angeles firehouses were segregated until the 1950s, and the work to overcome racism on the force continues to this day. In this episode, we meet members of the Stentorians, a fraternal organization that focuses on recruiting, training, and connecting Black firefighters, in both the city and county of Los Angeles; the team behind L.A.'s African American Firefighter Museum on South Central Avenue; and we hear about the legendary Arnett “The Rookie” Hartsfield, Jr., who helped lead the battle to integrate the Los Angeles Fire Department.Western Edition is hosted by William Deverell and produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Amidst the most catastrophic fires the North American West has ever experienced comes a new podcast from the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West (ICW), and hosted by its director William Deverell, exploring the legacy and calamity of wildfire in the Western U.S. Launching on Sept. 7, 2021, Western Edition is the first podcast from ICW, a center for scholarly investigation of the history and culture of California and the American West based jointly out of the University of Southern California and The Huntington.The first season, The West on Fire, explores the West's relationship with fire, and how it has shaped both our past and present. Topics will include fire practices in Indigenous communities, the history of Black firefighters in Los Angeles, smoke and urban air quality, farmworker community health during wildfires, post-wildfire debris flow, the origins and endurance of Smokey Bear, incarcerated firefighters, and more. Western Edition is produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

This episode features an interview with historian William Deverell regarding his latest book, "Kathy Fiscus: A Tragedy That Transfixed The Nation."

Western Edition -- a new podcast from the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West and hosted by its director William Deverell, historian of the American West -- seeks to engage Angelenos, Californians, and Westerners as critical thinkers, conscious consumers, and informed community members. The podcast seeks to tell the fascinating stories of the people and communities of our region, connecting the past to the present, and demonstrating the tightly woven fabric of history. The first season, The West on Fire, explores the West's relationship with fire, and how it has shaped both our past and present. Topics will include fire practices in Indigenous communities, the history of Black firefighters in Los Angeles, smoke and urban air quality, farmworker community health during wildfires, post-wildfire debris flow, the origins and endurance of Smokey Bear, incarcerated firefighters, and more. Western Edition is produced by Avishay Artsy, Katie Dunham, Jessica Kim and Elizabeth Logan. Our music was written and recorded by I See Hawks in L.A. Western Edition is a production of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

20 Minute History is extremely excited to welcome historian William Deverell to the show! Professor Deverell is a member of the history faculty at the University of Southern California, as well as the director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. Among other things, he is an expert on the tragic events surrounding Kathy Fiscus, the very same events that we covered in our eighth episode of Season 1. His work was absolutely instrumental to the writing of that episode, and his new book Kathy Fiscus: A Tragedy That Transfixed the Nation is the culmination of that work, as vivid as it is thought-provoking. So today, David sits down with Professor Deverell to discuss the experience of writing the book, break down his own personal connection to Kathy, and dive deep into an analysis of the tragedy and its aftermath.Follow 20 Minute History on social media!Facebook: www.facebook.com/20minhistoryTwitter: www.twitter.com/20minhistoryInstagram: www.instagram.com/20minhistoryFind us on all your podcasting platforms: www.linktr.ee/20minhistoryRevisit our own episode on Kathy Fiscus: https://pod.fo/e/ac8afFollow the Huntington Institute on social media!Facebook: www.facebook.com/husc_icwTwitter: www.twitter.com/husc_icwInstagram: www.instagram.com/husc_icwBuy Kathy Fiscus: A Tragedy That Transfixed the Nation: https://www.amazon.com/Kathy-Fiscus-Tragedy-Transfixed-Nation/dp/1626400873/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Kathy+fiscus&qid=1619057308&sr=8-1Links to support Paranoid Strain:Podfollow: https://podfollow.com/the-paranoid-strainFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theparanoidstrainTwitter: https://twitter.com/paranoidstrainContribute to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/20minhistory Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/20-minute-history. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/20-minute-history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kathy Fiscus was a three-year-old girl who fell into a well in San Marino, California in April 1949. The multi-day rescue effort was heartbreaking and became the focus of the first live breaking news event in the history of television news. KTLA's coverage brought thousands of people to the scene in a desperate attempt to save Kathy.In the new book "Kathy Fiscus: A Tragedy that Transfixed the Nation," William Deverell, professor of history and director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, takes readers inside the incident and provides the definitive history of it. During this podcast, Professor Deverell reveals how the rescue effort unfolded, explains KTLA's role in the spectacle, and discusses the lasting impacts of the event.

Kathy Fiscus tells the story of the first live, breaking-news TV spectacle in American history. At dusk on a spring evening in 1949, a three-year old girl fell down an abandoned well shaft in the backyard of her family's home in Southern California. Across more than two full days of a fevered rescue attempt, the fate of Kathy Fiscus remained unknown. Thousands of concerned Southern Californians rushed to the scene. Jockeys hurried over from the nearby racetracks, offering to be sent down the well after Kathy. 20th Century Fox sent over the studio's klieg lights to illuminate the scene. Rescue workers-ditch diggers, miners, cesspool laborers, World War II veterans-dug and bored holes deep into the aquifer below, hoping to tunnel across to the old well shaft that the little girl had somehow tumbled down. The region, the nation, and the world watched and listened to every moment of the rescue attempt by way of radio, newsreel footage, and wire service reporting. They also watched live television. Because of the well's proximity to the radio towers on nearby Mount Wilson, the rescue attempt because the first breaking-news event to be broadcast live on television. The Kathy Fiscus event invented reality television and proved that real-time television news broadcasting could work and could transfix the public.   Author William Deverell is in conversation with Skylight's Lance Morgan. _______________________________________________   Produced by Maddie Gobbo, Lance Morgan, & Michael Kowaleski Theme: "I Love All My Friends," an unreleased demo by Fragile Gang. Visit https://www.skylightbooks.com/event for future offerings from the Skylight Books Events team.

Artist Ignacio Perez Meruane in conversation with historian of the American West, William Deverell, about the cultural, environmental, and social history of the land connected to LASHP and how artworks can function within this historical context. Live event recording.

William Deverell, director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, explores the life of Henry E. Huntington (1850-1927) against the backdrop of American history. This program is a Haynes Foundation Lecture.

William Deverell, director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, explores the life of Henry E. Huntington (1850-1927) against the backdrop of American history. This program is a Haynes Foundation Lecture.

Historian William Deverell, the director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, visits Zócalo to deliver a groundbreaking lecture on the role that the American West played in healing the wounds inflicted by the Civil War. After all, it was questions about the future of the West that provoked the war in the first place. Unable to reconcile antagonistic positions regarding the expansion of slavery into western territories, North and South capitulated to four years of catastrophic warfare. Then what? Did the post-war American West become a region in which to heal the wounds of disunion? Deverell explores themes of reunification through stories of the convalescence of individuals and the re-fashioning of what it meant to be an American after the Civil War.

Governor Jerry Brown and author Miriam Pawel discuss the development of California through the perspective of the influential Brown family with moderator William Deverell.

William Deverell, professor of history at USC, explores the regional dimensions of American entrepreneurialism, asking what special features or challenges found in the American West helped drive entrepreneurs and stimulate original thinking?

William Deverell, professor of history at USC, explores the regional dimensions of American entrepreneurialism, asking what special features or challenges found in the American West helped drive entrepreneurs and stimulate original thinking?

A live recording of our educational podcast The How The Why with our California Writing Residency 2017 recipients–William Deverell, Elline Lipkin, and Ruth Nolan. Gil Soltz, the founder of Yefe Nof, also joined the panel discussion.William, Elline, and Ruth also shared their thoughts on the residency: "The experience was simply fabulous.  It is the longest period of my life where I have been alone; within 24 hours of arrival, I found my "extrovert switch" and turned it off...I sat at the little table in the kitchen for hours and hours each day and each night.  It was a perfect workspace for me.  I walked down Burnt Mill Road every day, then back up Cottage Grove.  I went out once to a pub in Blue Jay, but, otherwise, I was at the house or on my walk...I surprised myself with how much I got done; there was a purity to the work experience that was utterly satisfying...My work time was unhurried, contemplative, and I delighted in all of it...I feel so fortunate to have had this experience.” –William "I'm so enamored of the house, quiet, and Arrowhead woods.  It's truly been a peaceful and productive retreat...The treehouse-like sense of nesting in the mountainside and the chance to concentrate on work has been tremendous.” –Elline "I LOVED my time at the house in April. I loved the location, the vibe of the house, and I really felt supported and nurtured as a writer, something that is so hard to find. It was energizing to be on the ridge line of the mountains, hiking around and finding wildfire burn zones, digging the radical weather (wind and fog and even a bit of rain) and reconnecting in a visceral way with the areas I'm actually writing about in my book.” –Ruth     William Deverell is Director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West and Professor of History at University of Southern California. He publishes non-fiction on the history and culture of the 19th and 20th century American West and is author of Evangel, a short story which appeared in Exposition Review in 2016. Elline Lipkin is the author of two books: The Errant Thread, chosen by Eavan Boland for the Kore Press First Book Award and Girls’ Studies, published by Seal Press. A poet and nonfiction writer, she affiliates with the University of California, Los Angeles Center for the Study of Women and teaches for Writing Workshops Los Angeles. Her writing has appeared in a variety of journals and she is a contributor to Ms. Magazineonline and the academic site Girl w/Pen.  Currently, she is the Poet Laureate of Altadena, California. Ruth Nolan, a former wildland firefighter, is a writer/professor based in Palm Springs, CA. She’s the author of Ruby Mountain (Finishing Line Press, 2016); her story “Palimpsest,” from LA Fiction: Southland Writing by Southland Writers (Red Hen Press, 2016), received an honorable mention in Sequestrum’s 2016 Editor’s Reprint contest and was nominated for a 2016 PEN Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers. Her work’s been published in James Franco Review; Angels Flight LA; Rattling Wall; KCET; Desert Oracle; Women’s Studies Quarterly; News from Native California, and more. Ruth holds her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from UCRUniversity of California, Riverside. Gil Soltz is founder of the Yefe Nof Residency and author of its origin story, Inspiration Drive. He holds an MPA in Nonprofit and Public Management from NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service and an MFA in Creative Writing from Warren Wilson College. Since 2010 he is based in Paris, France.

The history of the aerospace industry in Southern California and its intersections with contemporary culture are the focus of this panel discussion, presented in conjunction with the exhibition of NASA’s Orbit Pavilion (on view at The Huntington from Oct. 29, 2016, to Feb. 27, 2017). Panelists are Peter Westwick, aerospace historian; William Deverell, director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West; and Daniel Lewis, senior curator of the history of science and technology at The Huntington. Recorded Dec. 13, 2016.

The history of the aerospace industry in Southern California and its intersections with contemporary culture are the focus of this panel discussion, presented in conjunction with the exhibition of NASA’s Orbit Pavilion (on view at The Huntington from Oct. 29, 2016, to Feb. 27, 2017). Panelists are Peter Westwick, aerospace historian; William Deverell, director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West; and Daniel Lewis, senior curator of the history of science and technology at The Huntington.

Guthrie LA: 1937-1941 (Angel City Press)“What happens when we push beyond Woody’s iconic image to try to understand how an unemployed hillbilly singer in the late 1930s transformed himself into something else?” writes co-editor Darryl Holter in the book’s first essay. “We learn that transformation started in, and started because of, Los Angeles, a place key to Woody’s evolution."The book’s twelve essays, richly illustrated by photographs from the era, explore such themes as Guthrie’s early radio success in Los Angeles with the Woody and Lefty Lou Show; his first recordings made on old Presto disks; and the important friendship he forged with the actor and leftist radical Will Geer (later of “Grandpa Walton” fame). Other pieces cover Guthrie’s racial egalitarianism, as he threw off the worst of his Oklahoma and Texas roots and pushed past a notorious lynching in which his father may have participated; his ability to mold evangelical perspectives into politically savvy folk songs; and the impact he still exerts in his songs about migrants and workers looking for their main chance in California. “Because Woody Guthrie came to Los Angeles when he did, his music stridently addresses inequities and inequalities amplified by the Depression. In Los Angeles, the ever-observant Dust Bowl troubadour became the urban folksinger,” says co-editor William Deverell. “His time in L.A. created the Woody that—eighty years later—bears witness to America’s promise and its problems.”In addition to Woody Guthrie L.A. 1937 to 1941, Darryl Holter has written books and scholarly articles on labor history and urban revitalization. He has a Ph.D in History from the University of Wisconsin and taught for several years in the History Department at UCLA. Holter manages several family businesses in Los Angeles and is an Adjunct Professor in History at the University of Southern California. He is also a singer-songwriter and a member of Professional Musicians Local 47. His album, Radio Songs: Woody Guthrie in Los Angeles, 1937-1941, was released to critical acclaim in 2015. Woody Guthrie L.A. 1937 to 1941 is the latest of several books by William Deverell, a professor of history and the director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West at the University of Southern California. With a focus on the nineteenth and twentieth century American West, Deverell has authored works on political, social, ethnic, and environmental history, including Whitewashed Adobe: The Rise of Los Angeles and the Remaking of Its Mexican Past. InWoody Guthrie L.A. 1937 to 1941, he brings together his overlapping passions for the history of American folk music, the Great Depression, and Los Angeles.

This week we discuss Woody Guthrie L.A.: 1937 to 1941, a chronicle of Guthrie's formative years in Los Angeles, during which he not only experimented and refined his music but also found his calling as a political songwriter. Co-authors Darryl Holter and William Deverell join to talk about Guthrie's legacy in Los Angeles, and Holter even plays a rare Guthrie tune about the city's 1934 New Year's Eve flood. Featuring Tom Lutz, Laurie Winer, and Seth Greenland. Produced by Jerry Gorin. The LARB Radio Hour airs Thursdays at 2:30pm on KPFK 90.7 FM in Los Angeles.

William Deverell explores the history of the Los Angeles River and investigates the ways in which large-scale environmental projects such as cementing a river can inevitably reveal much about regional culture and identity. Deverell is professor of history at USC and the director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

William Deverell explores the history of the Los Angeles River and investigates the ways in which large-scale environmental projects such as cementing a river can inevitably reveal much about regional culture and identity. Deverell is a professor of history at USC and the director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Philip Connors discusses his book Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout with William Deverell, professor of history at USC and director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Philip Connors discusses his book Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout with William Deverell, professor of history at USC and director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West. The event was part of AxS Festival 2011—Fire and Water, organized by the Pasadena Arts Council.

Philip Connors discusses his book Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout with William Deverell, professor of history at USC and director of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West.

Today is Family Literacy Day! Literacy is defined as “the ability to understand and employ printed information in daily activities at home, at work and in the community - to achieve one's goals, and to develop one's knowledge and potential.” Four out of 10 adult Canadians, age 16 to 65 - representing 9 million Canadians - struggle with low literacy according to Statistics Canada. This means they are denied the pleasures and benefits of, among other things, reading literature. Literature, as John Carey puts it in the final chapter of his book What Good are the Arts?, enlarges your mind, and it gives you thoughts, words and rhthms that will last you for life. With this in mind, I talked to Margaret Eaton, President of the ABC Canada Literacy Foundation about what is being done to help those who live with illiteracy to overcome this obstacle. In so doing we discuss the impact of the Internet on reading habits and the income of freelance writers, the future of the book, blogging, publishers' business models, and bringing the U.K.'s successful Quick Reads program,which commissions authors (including Ruth Rendall, Joanna Trollope and Richard Branson), to write exciting, short, fast-paced books specifically for adult emergent readers, to Canada. Margaret is now looking for well know Canadian authors to write true crime, and how-to titles, both of which were very popular in England. I immediately suggest William Deverell, and a can't miss how-to topic: Seven Steps to Phenomenal Sex.  

William Deverell, has been widely hailed as Canada's greatest ‘literary mystery' writer. This from his website: "Deverell worked as a journalist for seven years, with Canadian Press Montreal, the Vancouver Sun and the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, where he was night city editor while at the University of Saskatchewan law school and editor of the student newspaper. As a member of the British Columbia, Alberta and Yukon Bars, he was counsel in more than a thousand criminal cases, including thirty murder trials, either as defender or prosecutor. He is a founding director, former president, now honorary director of the B. C. Civil Liberties Association. His first novel, Needles, won the $50,000 Seal Prize in l979 and the Book of the Year Award in l98l. His subsequent novels include High Crimes, Mecca,The Dance of Shiva, Platinum Blues, Mindfield, Kill All the Lawyers, Street Legal – the Betrayal, and he is author of the true crime book A Life on Trial – The Case of Robert Frisbee, based on a notorious murder trial which he defended…Trial of Passion won Canada's 1997 Arthur Ellis prize in crime writing, and the Dashiell Hammett award for literary excellence in crime writing in North America. " Our conversation explores Deverell's oeuvre in light of the question: How to write a great crime novel? Humour, complex characters, contentious relationships and appropriate use of ‘the clock' all feature prominently in Deverell's work, and contribute to what makes it award winning.   Twenty odd years ago my wife and I rented a cottage perched at the edge of the Rideau River for a weekend getaway. I cracked Deverell's Dance of the Shiva shortly after arriving. Couldn't get away from it. Couldn't put it down. After finishing it, couldn't understand why Deverell wasn't as popular as Turow, Cornwell, Ellroy or Rendell. Still can't.