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What We’re Reading: The L.A. Fires, One Year On
Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here.
A second chance
A year on from the devastating Los Angeles fires that burned for weeks and killed 31 people, the smell of smoke still clings to parts of L.A. County as residents — many of whom remain displaced — continue rebuilding their lives.
For Jose Angel Amezcua, a formerly-incarcerated firefighter from Salinas, the fires marked a different but no less fundamental moment in his life.
In this CalMatters comment piece, shared by Executive Editor Will Doig, Amezcua describes the weeks he spent as one of hundreds of incarcerated firefighters who helped battle and contain the fires. “When people think of incarcerated people, they often see us as a danger, with our past mistakes magnified,” Amezcua writes. “Amid the smoke, ash, and destruction of the L.A. fires, people saw us as heroes, recognizing the good we could achieve when given a second chance.”
Will says:
The idea of training incarcerated people to fight wildfires has always made me squeamish — is it fair to ask someone with no leverage or power to pursue such a dangerous job? But the more I’ve read, the more it seems like these re-entry programs offer folks a meaningful, skills-based pursuit while they’re incarcerated, and a path to a good job once they’re released.
Magic mushrooms
While still nascent, the practice of mycoremediation — a branch of bioremediation that uses fungi and their fruiting bodies, mushrooms, to rehabilitate nature — has shown promising signs when it comes to everything from oil spills to tackling nuclear waste.
Wildfires are no exception. This Atmos feature, shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley, documents the work of environmental toxicologist Dr. Danielle Stevenson, who works to remove toxins from contaminated soils by seeding land with mushrooms and native plants.
Among other senior roles, Stevenson is part of the team behind SoCal Post-Fire Bioremediation Coalition, a collective of scientists, mycologists, environmental advocates and community organizers collaborating to heal fire-impacted landscapes in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California. “I’ve seen amazing reductions in contaminants in relatively short times with very few inputs,” says Stevenson. “I really believe in this stuff.”
Tess says:
I learned a lot about the fascinating world of fungi after our week-long series on the subject last year. Dr. Stevenson’s work is yet another reminder of the huge potential fungi have to help clean up even the most contaminated of soils.
What else we’re reading (it’s a bumper crop this week!)
How the Planet Fared in 2025 — the Good, the Bad and the Ugly — shared by Executive Editor Will Doig from Grist
Cheap Solar Is Transforming Lives and Economies Across Africa — shared by Founder David Byrne from The New York Times
‘It Restored My Hope’: How Community Action Is Confronting Racism in Belfast — shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from The Guardian
When It Comes to U.S. Transportation, 2025 Had Some Wins, Too — shared by Founder David Byrne from Bloomberg
Inside a Closing Minnesota Prison, a Radical Shift in How Inmates Live — shared by Executive Editor Will Doig from Governing
Clean Energy Is Still Winning. These 10 Charts Prove It. — shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from Canary Media
How New York Keeps Its Unfiltered Water Safe: Spending Millions on Land — shared by Executive Editor Will Doig from The New York Times
In other news…
A new year calls for some new year resolutions, and the Reasons to be Cheerful team has some great ones already underway, from fortnightly “around the world” lunches with friends and family to explore new cuisines, to finding ways to carve out more downtime in otherwise busy schedules. Now we’d like to know yours. Email us at info@reasonstobecheerful.world with your inspiring resolutions and we’ll feature a selection of them in this slot next week.
The post What We’re Reading: The L.A. Fires, One Year On appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
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