After the Ashes: A Beautiful Altadena Podcast
We are Beautiful Altadena, the online community group that launched in 2015 and the Substack by the same name. We started this podcast to ask: Who’s writing the rules of recovery? Who benefits? Who’s being left out? This podcast deep dives into the issues of recovery and rebuilding through the lens of policy.
Each episode, we dissect the policies and bills impacting Altadena, Los Angeles County, and the rest of the country post disaster. We break down what they say, what they really mean, who they affect, and what – and who – they leave out. Every episode closes out with a local small business shout out and most include a media roundup of what's making the headlines and what's not.
Your hosts:
Shawna Dawson Beer / @BeautifulAltadena, Eaton Fire Total Loss Survivor
Stephen Sachs / @AltaPolicyWonk, Eaton Fire Survivor, Current Altadena Resident
We are not advertiser, sponsor or grant funded and have no agenda beyond ensuring our neighbors in Altadena, the Palisades and beyond are as in the know as possible so that we can all be our own best advocates for ourselves and our towns.
Episodes
40 episodes
We Told You So
It’s a longer episode this week with one instead of two and Shawna is extra punchy on no sleep after a long week… buckle up!Another Media Roundup and we hate to say it, but we told you so.Everything we warned is now playing...
Let Them Eat Cake
We jump right into it with another Media Roundup, because there is still so much to discuss this week. •
Where's the Money
We open with another Media Roundup, because the headlines keep coming! • La Movida del Agua! Altadena Water Wars is back and ...
Who's Running This Place?
We open with more politics, because whether people like it or not, policy and power are shaping every part of disaster recovery.The Races AheadWe dive into the Governor’s race, including a look at Matt Mahan’s visit to A...
Living History
Steve is back from Washington, DC, and we open with a wrap-up of his second recent trip to the capitol — including what’s being discussed, what still isn’t, and why decisions being made right now will shape recovery here and far beyond Altadena...
Mercury in Gatorade
We open this episode with a few technical difficulties — because apparently Mercury is in Gatorade — and then get right to it!With Steve back in Washington, DC, reporting on the drama, the intrigue, and full-on mishegas, we dive into ano...
Mister Sachs Goes to Washington
No media roundup this episode. We jump straight into the issues.With Steve in Washington, DC, we start with updates from the ground there, including the ongoing EDA push and Barger’s Rebuild Authority motion, and what those...
Under Investigation. Plenty of Money, No Accountability
We're back! We kick this episode off with an important update from the Altadena for Accountability coalition. After months of strategic organizing, the
The Water Wars Wage On as the Rebuild Trudges Along
It’s another long one. We planned to kick things off with our usual media roundup, but first the Altadena Water Wars. The drama! The intrigue!We open with the rapid rise and even faster disappearance of the anonymously penned Altaden...
Back to the Policy Future
After taking a week off, we’re back, and yes, this episode runs long again. Sorry, folks. Too much happening to keep it brief!We open with another media roundup, connecting national events to what’s unfolding here in Los Angeles a...
Everyone’s Suing Everyone & Survivors Turned Investigators
We open this episode with another media round-up, because the news cycle has been busy! There are big stories everywhere, and nearly all of them raise the same unsettling question: who's actually in charge here. Stories and topics...
The Billion Dollar Questions
This episode opens with a media round-up, because there is no shortage of big stories shaping the narrative around Altadena’s recovery. We unpack recent reporting and what it gets right, what it gets wrong, and what’s being oversimplifie...
You Can’t Always Get What You Want… But If You Try Real Hard
We open this episode with some unexpected news. After the Ashes was named a Spotify 2025 Most Binged Show, a 2025 Marathon Show (listeners stuck with us 75% longer than the average podcast), and a 2025 Instant H...
The One We Forgot to Title
One year after the Eaton Fire, the dust still hasn’t settled — literally or figuratively.In this more emotionally raw episode of After the Ashes, co-hosts Shawna Dawson Beer and Stephen Sachs look back at the first 90 day...
Missed Chances & Bad Bets. Could It Have Been Different?
This is our second episode of the new year, and the second of two back-to-back recordings made during the one-year anniversary week of the Eaton Fire. We begin shifting back into deeper policy conversations, asking one of the most important que...
Weeee’re Baaaack
New year, new season. We had planned to be on hiatus this week. But as the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire arrived, so did a flood of media coverage, public events, and major developments that made it clear we needed to get back into the...
Episode 24: Read the Room – Philanthropy and More Cracks in Recovery and Accountability
On our last episode before we head into a holiday hiatus and the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire, Episode 24 takes another look at the question many in the community keep asking: where is the money going. We revisit the role of ph...
Episode 23: Eight Crazy Nights
Episode 23 of After the Ashes arrives in the season of light and at a moment when much of what we’ve been saying here for months is finally breaking into the broader news cycle. As Hanukkah begins this week, we reflect on what it means...
Episode 22: On Golf Courses and Lobbyists, Another CRD, and the Real Estate Roller Coaster
Housing chaos, policy puzzles, missing money, the one nonprofit you truly have to hear to believe, and will there be a 2026 Beautiful Altadena calendar—Episode 22 has it all.We kick off the episode with the real estate roller ...
Episode 21: Rebuilds, Roadblocks and the Coming Water Fight
Recorded December 9, Episode 21 takes listeners through a pivotal week in our community’s recovery and resilience. We begin the episode with a milestone worth celebrating: the first homes rebuilt in both Altadena and the Palisades, but t...
Episode 20: TIME Magazine, In Government We (Mis)Trust, and the Call for Unity
We kick of this episode with a media roundup and the biggest headline yet: Altadena on the cover of TIME Magazine. The digital story is live now, and the print ...
Episode 19: Altadena in the Big Picture – Local Failure, National Conversations
We're back from a Thanksgiving break with a long one. In Episode 19 we step back from the rubble and zoom out to the national landscape — because what’s happening in Altadena is playing out on a national stage. We dig into local government fail...
Episode 18: Journalists Are Writing the First Draft of History
Another long episode recorded as we approach the one-year anniversary of the Eaton Fire, this episode examines the questions that still hang in the air. The questions that will shape not only how we remember the fire, but how we rebuild from it...
Episode 17: The Stories They’re Writing—And the Ones We’re Living
As the one-year anniversary approaches, the journalists are circling—and so are the headlines. In this episode of After the Ashes, we sift through the news storm hitting Altadena: FEMA’s Acting Administrator steps out (and what that real...
Episode 16: The Long Rebuild – Nearing One Year and Facing What Comes Next
As we move closer to the one-year mark in January, After the Ashes takes stock of where Altadena’s recovery really stands — and what the next twelve months might bring.We look at the rebuild by the numbers: 520 unique parcel ...