Nataly Tavidian holds her late father’s harmonica, which was found in the rubble of the family home. Tavidian was covering the wildfires for KNX when she learned her own family’s home had been destroyed; her story is part of the USC Annenberg students’ “Altadena: After the Fires” podcast. (Photo/Kris Adler)
‘Altadena: After the Fires’ podcast series gives Trojans unforgettable experience in compassionate storytelling
“I was trying to get to know a place through its remains,” says one student.
Being laid off from the news department of a local radio station made USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism graduate student Kris Adler even more determined to expand her skills beyond 30- to 45-second on-air reports.
That’s why Adler signed up for last spring’s edition of Journalism 525 — This California Life: Storytelling for Radio and Podcasting. She and her classmates had no way of knowing that devastating California wildfires — including the Eaton Fire in the foothill community of Altadena — would break out just days before their initial class meeting in January. This would set the stage for what students and professors alike call some of the most compelling stories ever created in the history of the course.
“We had to keep going into the devastation,” Adler said. “We had questions like, ‘Are we handling this right and with care?’ ‘Are we doing the story justice?’ We all had a lot of doubt but kept pushing through that and realized, ‘OK, we are the right ones to tell the story.’”
The Eaton Fire, the second most destructive wildfire in California history, destroyed or damaged more than 9,000 buildings in Altadena and left 19 people dead. It was one of several major wildfires in the state that month, including the deadly Palisades Fire that burned simultaneously.
In her 14-minute piece titled “Ring in the Rubble,” Adler tells the story of Nataly Tavidian, a KNX News reporter who was covering the fires in Pacific Palisades when she found out that her family home of 40 years had burned down. The emotional story follows Tavidian’s family members as they navigate between their grief and setting the groundwork to rebuild their home.
“The advantage of this series is you have the luxury of working on one story and crafting a relationship with one person or a family or getting to know parts of a community over time,” said USC Annenberg Professor Sandy Tolan, who has been teaching Journalism 525 each year since 2008.
“As you listen to the stories, there is a growth over time,” Tolan said. “People are dealing with grief, then they’re in despair, and then they’re rebuilding.”
The entire 13-feature Altadena: After the Fires podcast is available on the PRX Radio website. It includes segments on Altadena’s only tattoo shop, the “Altadena Not For Sale” movement, the community farmer’s market, an effort to rescue pets and reunite them with their families, and a profile on a couple married 65 years who went viral when they were seen on video singing in the rubble of their home.
Fires lead to last-minute pivot on topics
Class members had originally considered focusing their podcast stories on either immigration or the second term of President Donald Trump.
“We felt deeply like we needed to do something on the fires — how could we not?” said Megan Donis, an Emmy-winning producer and journalist who has co-taught the class with Tolan since 2023. “This seemed like a real opportunity to connect with the Altadena community and learn how to tell stories in the midst of a crisis — stories that can be done compassionately and with impact.”
It took the students a while to find the Altadena stories, and to find people who were willing to open up about their lives. The class emphasized being respectful, and held many discussions on the ethics of talking to people who have endured trauma.
“We care deeply about teaching our students the use of empathy in storytelling, about bringing a lot of compassion and non-exploitation to social justice issues,” Donis said.
Students often carpooled to Altadena, attended neighborhood meetings and monitored news developments online, later following up in person.
“A lot of us talked about how it felt like we were on a film set, except it was real — you could smell it,” student Mallika Seshadri said. “You see these little pieces of life that are continuing, even amidst the ash and rubble.”
Seshadri said she will never forget the day she joined a group of classmates and went to Altadena for the first time.
“I had never been to Altadena before this and I was trying to get to know a place through its remains,” she said. “I think that’s when the magnitude of what had happened hit, and that’s also when the responsibility to tell the story hit too. This isn’t just one person going through something difficult but part of something much larger. This is the whole community.”
Impact on Altadena’s artistic community
Seshadri, a graduate student who is already a professional journalist covering the Los Angeles Unified School District for the news website EdSource, told the story of Sarah Azcarate, founder and artistic director of Altadena Music Theatre, and her efforts to bring the theater back to life.
Azcarate’s rental home burned down in the fire. In addition to her family’s personal belongings being destroyed, sets, props, costumes and equipment stored in the home perished. The fire also burned a small outdoor amphitheater at Charles S. Farnsworth Park where the company had presented its musical productions.
“I wanted to do something that was speaking to the artistic community of Altadena,” Seshadri said. “The arts can be this amazing balm and way for people to heal.”
Working on the story helped Seshadri meet her goals of deepening her work in journalism, opening her ears to new experiences and expanding beyond print media to other mediums — audio in particular.
Preparing for professional success
Over the years, the class has had more than 50 people go into public radio or podcasting jobs after graduation. One year, four members were hired by KPCC (now LAist).
Tolan and Donis teach the class as if students are starting a job on a narrative documentary, podcast, documentary series or as part of a production unit.
“There’s no teaching that’s out of context,” Donis said. “Whatever they’re learning on that particular day is basically an edit of the next thing they’re going to turn in.”
Donis said to achieve a rich storytelling podcast, the emphasis is on such sounds as the wind, people sorting through rubble or nails being hammered into wood.
“We just believe so deeply in sounds and their ability to affect emotions, to bring you into the story,” she said. “It gets exhausting for students because we often say, ‘Can you go back and record sound of this?’”
All 11 students enrolled in the Journalism 525 class produced stories for the Altadena: After the Fires podcast. The series also included stories by two students from Professor Allissa V. Richardson’s USC Annenberg Charlotta Bass Journalism and Justice Lab who were already working on pieces on the Black community in Altadena.
“Honestly, I think it’s the best work that’s ever come out of this class,” Tolan said. “I don’t think we’ve ever done it in a way that the students have stepped up more than in this class. It was so moving.”
