Life with Fire

105
Nature #94

What are the benefits of prescribed burning? Why have wildfires gotten so severe lately? How can I help protect my home and community? Life With Fire podcast aims to answer these questions (and many others) while deepening our understanding of the critical role fire plays in America’s forests, lands and communities. Hosted by writer and former wildland firefighter Amanda Monthei, Life with Fire features interviews with everyone from scientists to fire management experts to Indigenous practitioners and folks doing the work on the ground. Through these interviews, Amanda hopes to explore our relationship with fire, as well as ways we can better coexist with it in the future.

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Recent Episodes
  • Fire in the Southwest Ep. 6: The Ebb and Flow of Public Trust Around Prescribed Fire, with New Mexico State Forester Lindsey Quam
    Nov 13, 2024 – 00:37:22
  • Fire in the Southwest Ep. 5: Using Wildfire To Build Resilience at the Landscape Scale, with Dr. Jose (Pepe) Iniguez
    Oct 23, 2024 – 00:49:50
  • Pros, Cons and Misconceptions of Aerial Firefighting with Matt Lynde
    Sep 3, 2024 – 00:31:11
  • Fire Tech and Improving Access to Wildfire Information, with Watch Duty Founder John Clarke Mills
    Jul 23, 2024 – 00:51:58
  • Fire in the Southwest Ep. 4: The Shifting Role of the Forest Stewards Guild in an Era of Megafires, with Zander Evans
    Jun 25, 2024 – 00:45:47
  • Fire in the Southwest Series, Ep. 3: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into Western Fire Management with Jon Martin
    Jun 18, 2024 – 00:37:32
  • Fire in the Southwest Series, Ep.2: The Grassification of the Sonoran Desert with Ecologist Mary Lata
    Jun 11, 2024 – 00:46:39
  • Fire in the Southwest Series, Ep. 1: Southwest Fire Regimes and Post-Fire Community Support with Mary Stuever
    May 29, 2024 – 00:48:33
  • THE BEAVER EPISODE (finally!) with Dr. Emily Fairfax and Dr. Sophie Gilbert
    Apr 3, 2024 – 00:51:21
  • Experiences of Wildfire in Montana, with Young Indigenous Storytellers and the Montana Media Lab
    Mar 15, 2024 – 00:29:50
  • The Changing Fire Environment and Shifting Baseline Syndrome with "Fire Weather" Author John Vaillant
    Feb 6, 2024 – 00:55:03
  • Fire Technology, Emergency Management and Building Resilience at Scale With Dr. Jessica McCarty
    Jan 18, 2024 – 00:46:12
  • Rapid Fire Episode with Mystery Ranch Backbone Scholarship Winner Riston Bullock
    Dec 29, 2023 – 00:21:09
  • Rapid Fire Episode with Mystery Ranch Backbone Scholarship Winner Junior Lazaro
    Dec 11, 2023 – 00:17:31
  • Fire For the People With the Nature Conservancy's Marek Smith
    Nov 30, 2023 – 00:32:39
  • The Wildfire Commission Report with Kelly Martin
    Oct 13, 2023 – 00:25:00
  • Humble Fire and Traditional Ecological Practices with Cultural Fire Scholar, Dr. Melinda Adams
    Jul 31, 2023 – 00:45:16
  • Community-Informed Wildfire Communications, With Isabeau Ottolini
    Jul 24, 2023 – 00:35:19
  • Expanding Prescribed Fire Capacity in Washington State, with Lucas King
    Jul 12, 2023 – 00:28:46
  • Life after Wildland Firefighting with Luke Mayfield
    May 12, 2023 – 00:37:50
  • Forest Resilience Policy at the State Level with Hilary Franz
    May 1, 2023 – 00:57:44
  • Fire in the Pine Barrens of the Northeast with Emily Dolhansky
    Apr 14, 2023 – 00:32:11
  • The Psychology of Fire and Innovating without Ego with Dr. Natasha Stavros
    Apr 4, 2023 – 00:45:18
  • The Philosophy of Fire with Amanda Rau, Part Two
    Mar 22, 2023 – 00:40:28
  • Making Your Own Spark, with Amanda Rau (Part One)
    Mar 1, 2023 – 00:34:26
  • Prescribed Fire, Managed Fire and Community Engagement in Oregon, with Christopher Adlam
    Feb 14, 2023 – 00:43:30
  • Community Resilience with Firesmart Canada Program Manager Magda Zachara
    Nov 29, 2022 – 00:17:56
  • Utilizing Traditional First Nations Values in Land Management, with Francis Johnson Jr.
    Nov 8, 2022 – 00:19:29
  • Paradoxes and Solutions In Wildfire Smoke Exposure, with Sarah Henderson
    Nov 2, 2022 – 00:18:38
  • Tracking The Economic Impacts of Wildfire, with Environmental Economist Jude Bayham
    Oct 13, 2022 – 00:32:44
  • How Do Wildfires Impact Snowpack? With Andrew Schwartz
    Sep 27, 2022 – 00:27:03
  • Building Trails in Burn Areas, with Dillon Osleger
    Sep 6, 2022 – 00:43:22
  • How Wildfires Are Impacting Outdoor Recreation, with Jamie Ervin
    Aug 23, 2022 – 00:31:01
  • Hotshot Crew to Grad School, with Harrison Raine
    Aug 11, 2022 – 00:47:00
  • Underdiscussed, Poorly Understood: Prescribed Fire Liability Insurance with Daniel Godwin
    Jun 30, 2022 – 00:46:34
  • Indigenous-Led Fire Stewardship with Amy Cardinal-Christianson
    Jun 2, 2022 – 00:47:02
  • How Can Fire Culture Become More Inclusive? with Triss Seemiller
    May 12, 2022 – 00:43:05
  • A Life Of Fire as a Trans Woman, with Bobbie Scopa
    Apr 13, 2022 – 00:50:27
  • Diversity in Fire with Jane Park (Part Two)
    Mar 22, 2022 – 00:37:43
  • Prescribed Fire Management in Banff National Park with Jane Park
    Mar 14, 2022 – 00:31:56
  • From Fashion Week to the Fireline with Celilo Miles
    Mar 8, 2022 – 00:23:44
  • Creating Connections Through Community Forests with Jay McLaughlin
    Mar 1, 2022 – 00:33:41
  • Michael Wara Part 2: Sustainability of the Suppression Workforce + Lots More
    Feb 17, 2022 – 00:29:26
  • The Reality of Burning 50 Million Acres in 10 Years with Michael Wara
    Feb 1, 2022 – 00:32:12
  • The Tim Hart Act and Channeling Grief with Michelle Hart
    Jan 19, 2022 – 00:21:49
  • Climate Change Impacts on High Severity, Low Frequency Fire Regimes with Phil Higuera
    Jan 7, 2022 – 00:57:08
  • Four Decades of Fire, with Sue Husari (and Guest Host Zeke Lunder)
    Nov 30, 2021 – 00:46:32
  • What The Infrastructure Bill Means for Wildland Firefighters with Riva Duncan
    Nov 16, 2021 – 00:32:23
  • Homes as Fuel with Zeke Lunder, Yana Valochovic and Eric Knapp
    Nov 15, 2021 – 00:38:13
  • All Things Cultural Burning with Karuk Tribal Member Bill Tripp
    Nov 8, 2021 – 00:47:42
Recent Reviews
  • mollymaggieeli
    I just got scared
    There's one episode with a girl named Molly McCabe and... Thats litterly my name..... 😳😳
  • Scrapyard
    Powerful conversations
    This will be interesting to people inside and outside fire services.
  • Benjamin Cossel
    Great Guests, Great Host, Great Questionsn
    Amanda knows her stuff and what she doesn’t know she finds the right experts and asks great questions. Short enough to be able to listen any time but packed with enough depth to make every episode worth its weight in gold.
  • firedivs
    Great Podcasts
    Amanda, you bring to light a lot of issues that are out there when it comes to fire and protecting yourself and your home. You have some great guests that put it into such a perspective that people can understand it. Not a bunch of language that people don’t understand or comprehend. Thank you so much. Another great podcast about wildfire communication. Everyone should be able to articulate about wildfire communication and what mitigation efforts should be done to protect people’s homes.
  • _Newton_
    Positive, Realistic, and Informative.
    Amanda is excellent hosting her guests through discussions that are simultaneously informative and engaging. She goes deep enough to bring more understanding of the industry dynamics, and stays human enough to bring out the life experiences. Overall, she has a natural gift for positively addressing the negatives about our current wildfire practices.
  • JKDuguay
    Gets me talking every time!
    This is a thorough, thought-provoking and engaging podcast about wildfire. As a former female firefighter, I love staying up-to-date on the subject of wildfire, and hearing from experts in the field. Amanda chooses to explore topics that are timely and critical, like climate change, prescribed burning and fire ecology. This podcast dives deep into subjects like gender and society in relation to wildfire. After every episode, you’ll find me talking about what I learned with my friends and family!
  • fanboi509
    Thoughtful & thorogh
    Amanda does a great job of getting speakers from many topics fire related & adjacent. It’s amazing to see how far this podcast has come. I’ve been following since ep. 1!
  • Treefort June
    Covers a lot of territory!
    Just discovered this pod a few months ago and have listened to nearly every episode so far. Amanda has tracked down and interviewed knowledgeable leaders and researchers with interesting and valuable perspectives on our current struggles and successes with fire in the West. I’m so grateful and have a a better understanding of the many moving parts that make up the whole of living with fire here.
  • risadaisy
    Informational and Interesting!
    I began my career in the fire service this year and while I’m not a fire fighter, I really appreciate Amanda’s education and experience as a firefighter, especially as a woman! Because I work in prevention, I’ve been able to get so much more perspective about the fire service through this podcast and share that information to high fire severity communities that I work with. This is essential information for Californians especially so I highly recommend this podcast!
  • ajlark
    Superb Fire Podcast
    Amanda crushes a wide variety of fire topics at a level that is both easy to understand and gets into the nuance that makes fire, especially in the western US, a tough topic. I often find myself sending my family members episodes I think they’ll enjoy (they live in a large metro area, but I work in fire) and often feel reinvigorated & excited for my work. Keep up the awesome work!
  • Bryan the forager
    5/5 Great podcast
    Super informative conversations on a critically important subject, thank you!
  • cromero1
    Purpose of Podcast
    Losing interest in your podcast with so much focus on LGBQT. Was more interesting to me when you focus on mitigation strategies and activities for wild fires of today.
  • Trackrocks_2522
    Life with Fire Podcast
    I work in the forestry sector and have been trying to find a forestry/fire ecology podcast for several years now. There are some others out there, but I’ve really connected w/ Life with Fire! I really appreciate how Amanda brings in such relevant/current issues (like the 2021 Forest Service all fires out directive) as well as going deep on policy (what does SB 332 actually mean for prescribed fire). Her guests all have their own unique experiences and expertise when it comes to fire, and I leave each episode learning something new. My coworkers and I are always excited to debrief after each episode! Thanks Amanda, you’ve really done an incredible job!
  • That Anchor Point Guy
    Better than Anchor Point…
    Obviously Amanda has her s**t together, unlike that Anchor Point guy who says “dude” and “bro/brah” every 5 seconds… 😂 But seriously - nice work on the podcast. It’s refreshing to hear the educational/science side of wildland fire! Sincerely, The Anchor Point Podcast
  • ellewerner
    Really Well Done
    Excellent coverage of and insight into fire and its necessity on Earth, and fire management points that not many people have a comprehensive understanding of or exposure to - extremely valuable podcast, definitely share with your friends! Spread the knowledge.
  • devinfd
    Excellent podcast on living with good fire.
    Excellent podcast on living with good fire.
  • Atlas Sketch
    Critical knowledge for anyone today
    This century simply can’t look like the last one in terms of fire policy. This podcast helps make the necessary mindset change possible. A must listen for anyone wanting to unlearn and relearn their relationship and perspective on fire. Thank you for taking on such an important topic and working hard to convey the knowledge
  • Smokey P.
    Great for everyone, from fire vets to family and friends
    Amanda is the voice that the fire service needs right now. Articulate, approachable, and genuine. I share her episodes regularly with my peers in fire management and those who are unfamiliar with the industry and science. The message from both Amanda and her guests are always appreciated by all.
  • 1127MelM
    Amazing podcast!
    Love your content, I never miss an episode! Hope to hear more on/from women in fire! Stay safe
  • thelineofculture
    1000/10 would recommend!
    Living with Fire is one of the new “up and coming” fire podcasts that dives into the scientific, ecological, and historical “socio-pyro” questions surrounding wildland fire. Amanda brings her A GAME with her savvy journalistic mind and field experience as a former hotshot to deliver informative episodes and subject matter experts on the show. 1000/10 would recommend listening and reaching out to her, she’s awesome!
  • phatnutz101
    Amazing
    5 star podcast
  • Jimgreer
    Narrow Interviews - No Narrative
    Sadly, this podcast gets into narrow detail and doesn't tell the broader story of fire. For example the first interview starts with information on Jeremy Bailey organizes training sessions. I'm sure that's of interest to some people, but I wanted a history of wildfires, a broader narrative of how they influence the ecosystem, etc.
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