Boiling Point

A New Look at L.A.’s War on Smog

Boiling Point

Show Notes

Los Angeles has long been famous for its smog — and while things are better today, the fight isn’t finished. Sammy Roth talks with L.A. Times columnist Patt Morrison about her new podcast on the city’s smog history, and what it will take to build a future with truly clean air.

More from Boiling Point

Oct 22, 2026

In her new book, The Carbon Wave, political scientist Leah Stokes traces the years of work involved in the creation of the Inflation Reduction Act, the landmark climate law that she helped shape. She talks with Miranda Green about the law’s legacy, how it has endured despite Trump, and the future of clean energy in the U.S. And Boiling Point reporter Noah Haggerty recaps the week in climate news.

Oct 15, 2026

Artificial Intelligence or AI seems to be all around us. It’s part of every conversation, every news cycle, and in every product. When people talk about AI, data centers are typically not far behind. But data centers use up a ton of energy and only about 24% of it comes from wind and solar.

Oct 8, 2026

Hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Beth Ruyak, California Politics Podcast is a weekly show examining the latest news, trends and policies shaping the Golden State. Each week during the legislative session, Ruyak sits down with lawmakers, academics and journalists from the Los Angeles Times Sacramento bureau and across the state to break down Capitol decisions and their impact on Californians. The series unpacks complex policy shifts through reporting and analysis, spotlighting critical races, high-stakes legislation and key power struggles across the state.

Oct 1, 2026

How do you get more people to care about climate change — and tell riveting stories along the way? Boiling Point explored that question at a live event during this year’s New York City Climate Week at Columbia University’s Climate School. Host Miranda Green was joined by climate activist and author Bill McKibben, New York Times climate reporter David Gelles, Woo Qiyun, a senior communications manager at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Alexis Abramson, dean of the Columbia Climate School.

Sep 24, 2026

Boiling Point’s Miranda Green and Heated’s Emily Atkin team up in a collaborative episode exploring the truth behind forest management. They speak with principal ecologist and co-founder of the John Muir Project, Chad Hanson, and Hugh Safford, a retired ecologist for the US Forest Service and director of the The Safford Lab at UC-Davis. Together, they dive into the fiery debate around logging, thinning, prescribed burns and how best to approach fire prevention in a warming world.

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