I am hoping you can help me with a little experiment.
In addition to writing a column for the Brentwood News, a paper I founded in 1991, I am involved with some digital news ventures, including something called Our National Conversation, or ONC for short.
The idea behind ONC is to reduce toxic partisanship and get America talking again. We’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, staffed mostly by student interns.
Some experienced mentors and I work closely with our students. Our team includes Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and more. We write articles, host podcasts, and post on social media. We all get along great. You can find us at OurNationalConversation.org.
We now want to see if there’s an appetite for a monthly Brentwood-based podcast. I’d be the main host, but others would be welcome to join in.
Every month, we’d interview one or more Brentwood residents doing something interesting we think all Brentwood residents should know about. We recently recorded a podcast about the idea of using salt water to fight fires in places like the Palisades and Brentwood.
I wrote about this idea recently, and got quite a response. Here’s the article: https://brentwoodnewsla.com/brentwood-beat-before-the-next-fire-lets-build-a-water-pipeline-from-the-ocean/
I found two world-class experts on this topic to join a recording session with: Carolyn Jordan, former head of the Brentwood Community Council; Teri Redman Kahn, who has headed up fire safety programs in Mandeville Canyon for decades; and me.
Our first expert guest was Sal Mercogliana, a professor at Campbell University in North Carolina. He has also served as a professional firefighter with the Merchant Marines and other volunteer firefighting organizations. He’s been doing this for 25 years, and much of that time, he worked with saltwater firefighting systems. They are real.
Steve Ritchie, our second expert guest, is with the San Francisco Department of Water, Power & Sewer. San Francisco started a saltwater pumping and storage operation back in 1909, after the 1906 earthquake.
It wasn’t the earthquake that destroyed San Francisco, said Ritchie; it was the fire that followed.
I urge you to listen to this one-hour podcast called “Preparing for the Next Fire: Can Salt Water Help?” Watch and/or listen, and you will learn something interesting, I can assure you. Teri Kahn called our recording session “a big wow.”
Since Palisades is being forced to pretty much start over from scratch – as San Francisco had to do over a century ago – this might be the time to install a saltwater pumping and maybe even saltwater storage system.
Sal Mercogliano makes an excellent suggestion for how this could be done relatively inexpensively. You’ll have to watch or listen to find out what he proposes for the Palisades. So, with all that as background, if you just want to sit back, watch, and listen, go to YouTube, here:
At our YouTube channel, you get to see the visuals – and there are some good ones. If you want to simply listen, here are the links to various podcast channels:
Spotify:
Apple Podcasts:
Audacy (no account needed):
Now, let me ask you a favor. After you listen, please send me an email. Tell me what you thought of this first podcast. Was our format OK? Did we run too long? Any suggestions? Do you want to see us do more of these podcasts?
If you have a Brentwood-based topic you’d like to see us cover – maybe something you’re working on or know about – let me know.
Next up: Nancy Freedman, Brentwood’s guardian angel, is working on a big plan she has been working on to completely revamp Barrington Recreation Center. I’ve seen the plans; they are amazing. We’ll do that podcast next.
If people like our podcasts, we’ll keep going. If not, we’ll pull the plug. If you have an idea for a name for our Brentwood podcast, let me know that, as well.
There are two things in particular I like about the podcasting format: 1) There is time to go into depth on a topic; 2) You get to see and hear it all directly from the source (or sources); and 3) Podcasting, in many respects, is easier than writing. Writing is hard. Talking is easy.
My student intern team at Our National Conversation recorded, edited, and posted this first podcast. If you know of any Brentwood students who might like to get involved, please have that student contact me.
I can be reached at: jeffhall@mirrormediagroupla.com.
