Too many ads and annoying 2nd person presentation.

Hard to listen to a show with so many ads. There are too many in this podcast and they’re too long. I know it’s somewhat unfair to criticize one specific show for the entire podcast ad environment. But I’m listening to fewer and fewer shows now because there are too many ads in them. It’s time for the podcast community to rethink monetizing podcasts, and what part ads could and should play in that. If ad dollars must float big budget shows, please make the ads vastly shorter, quieter, less repetitive and with fewer total ad breaks. I can’t even name one advertiser for this show and yet I’ve quit listening a few minutes into the first episode many times now.

The podcast has great production and poses interesting questions but the suffers from the problem many podcasts experience. The host has certain expectations that result in his bias coming through at times when interviewing subjects who do not agree with his view. It often creates a more alarming conspiracy like feel that is somewhat off putting.

I really enjoyed Season 1 from Laist Studios. It did an excellent job of portraying what The Big One was, why it's expected, and how people should react before, during and after that event. But this season, which they represent in their own byline as a survival guide for wildfires, is anything but. Six episodes in, we're still just talking about prescribed burns. And we get it, they're effective, native peoples invented them, we should respect their knowledge and revive the practice on a national scale. We even get a hearty helping of white guilt. What we don't get, is any discussion of how people should react before, during and after a wildfire. There are some fascinating relevant stories told. We follow a native tribal leader on a prescribed burn, getting a first hand view of how it impacts the land, or a wildfire survivor recounts how he scrambled to a residential pool and fought for his life in the water for hours. And those stories could have been part of a larger narrative of how to react to disaster. It just seems like they lost the plot of what they set out to create here. It's a shame, because there are a ton of aspects I would have loved to hear about. Hopefully they'll get back to the narrative in Season 3.

I just completed listing to Episode 5 and I am so very humbled. There is so much I did not know or realize about the indigenous communities that lived here before Europeans arrived on this land. Please listen and learn. I trust that Mr. Margolis will help see a way forward.

I can’t recommend this podcast enough!

Such an amazing series, so very relevant to all of us in LA and beyond!

Such a nice podcast! Great host, great music and sound effect with interesting topic. This show reminds me of the well made Netflix documentary series. But better cause I get less distracted.

Episode one of the Big Burn made me cry... twice! The story-telling was compelling and thoughtful -- I cannot wait for episode 2 to drop 0.0

So excited this is back! Love the call back from the first season and taking us on a new disaster journey. Excited to learn more from this season on how to prepare!!!!!

Is it possible to just make a podcast and let people enjoy your work and NOT make it political???? Not everyone is going to agree with each other’s opinions on certain stances and once you step on my toes I’m going to delete your podcast and move on.

Was a great podcast until they started showing their ignorance of the 2nd Amendment and guns in general. The more people like you preach about guns the more guns I buy. Stay in your lane. Hopefully mostly leftie liberals live near the fault line. Population control. Also the host sounds like he wears a man bun and couldn’t save himself from a bad dream much less The Big One.

Can we bring this back, maybe with a different topic? Such a great format.

What they did here is incredible. It should be mandatory listening for all living in Los Angeles. The tips at the end of each episode we’re for sure the most informative and important part, plus Micha has such a great radio voice! I really hope they continue to add to the Siri

To live in LA, we buy into a cultural cognitive dissonance that perceives a major quake as a possibility rather than an inevitability. And we can’t meaningfully prepare while we deny the risk we incur on behalf of ourselves and children. This woke me up to the reality of the impact. While recommending this podcast to friends, it still took me months to move past the first episode because it’s terrifying. And it took me months more to fully prepare my home and car. And having more fully accepted the reality of this risk, I’m seriously looking at property out of state.

I avoided purchasing water. I avoided packing my go bag. I avoid the conversations with my spouse about emergency plans. I avoid putting spare shoes and a blanket in the trunk of my car. Until I listened to this podcast. Seriously, if you need motivation, LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST. You’ll be glad you’re finally prepared. Excellent writing and podcast production!

This is very detailed in giving a realistic view of the threat we in California face with this big earthquake coming. 10 million people affected... that’s crazy. Currently we’re all stuck in our homes so if it happened now that would be devastating. I found this to be an interesting dive into a very real threat we need to be prepared for.

It could be better if they don’t try to tell people that they don’t need a firearm for their preparation plan.

There is some good info in this show and the audio is good however... the placement of the advertising is absolutely irritating. They cut off the show mid sentence.

Some good podcast I listen to recommended this podcast, so I had high expectations--all dashed. I was deeply disappointed! If there is any useful survival information, I never had the patience to listen through the extensive, sensationalistic and not very good audio rendering of what The Big One might sound and feel like. Then there were the whiney. unprepared subjects they interviewed droning on and on about how helpless and unprepared they would be. Boo hoo, poor me, whatever will I do? was the main message without one whit of sense of useful information. It was simply unendurable.

There is some great story telling here but the political angle of some of the episodes really drags it down. I didn’t come here to get preached at.

Doesn’t matter where you live this is excellent story telling and excellent food for thought. If you’ve ever been through a natural disaster give this a listen, it will be highly relatable and comforting. And most of all, if you live in California PLEASE listen right now. This is too good to miss.

Excellent gripping content!!! Please do one for a community that is at risk of devastation from a hurricane. Tampa Bay Fl one of those places that think it will never happen to them!

slow, overly dramatic, boring

Like most Californians I know I’m woefully unprepared for a devastating quake. This podcast has really helped me summon the courage to look disaster in the eye and prepare. Thanks, y’all.

Sounds like a typical liberal. I don’t want a gun everybody will share and help will come in a day or two! You are a flipping loon! After 3 days you will be very hungry. Just try to skip meals for 3 days and see how you feel!

This is a really good show. Tangible and practical tips for how to prepare before and what to expect after.

Mostly good except when they descend into lefty politics. The one question they don’t answer is the most obvious one: Why live in L.A.?

I love the mix of fiction and interviews. I’ve never heard a show like this. Also that lady at the end with the tips is a riot. I will be recommending this to all my friends.

Got halfway through until they started in with all the political racism stuff.

Started off decent but I thought eventually it would focus more on tips. After being boring for a while and I was hoping for it to pick back up. Instead they started to discuss politics. Maybe if the name was different I wouldn’t mind but it wasn’t what you’d expect.

It’s real slow without a lot to say. I was hoping for more helpful and specific strategies for planning and survival but it was mostly, at least in the first couple of episodes, just a bunch of “supposing” and drawn out scenarios.

A lot of time, research, detail, and expense went into producing this podcast with the sole purpose of educating and helping people prepare LA’s Big One. I’ve started sharing and encouraging my co-workers and friends to listen and start getting prepared. While targeted for LA citizens and those of us working in LA it also serves to educate others living in earthquake, or other types of major natural disaster zones around the world. Much thanks to all those who put this together.

Although I don’t live anywhere near LA, I am still riveted by this podcast. Perfect mix of narrative and factual content. Scary stuff.

I have really enjoyed this and I do like format of this podcast. I heard about it months ago, but what too paranoid to listen until the recent earthquakes we had this month in Southern California. I think people who are commenting it’s not super informative or doesn’t have great tips / science have not bothered to listen past the first episode, OR are not paying attention. I’ve learned so much!

It’s an interesting podcast, but includes unnecessary political talking points and that kind of killed it for me.

The people who are complaining that this podcast is too “overly dramatic” are missing the point. What the hosts are doing is helping you to visualize what would actually happen, how things might actually go down, in the event of The Big One. The narration takes you through several likely scenarios step by step. I found this incredibly helpful in terms of getting myself mentally prepared and hopefully lessening the shock factor when the quake does happen. They also give you plenty of good information and helpful tips. Such as, did you know that running during a severe earthquake is likely to get you thrown to the ground and your legs broken? That’s why the first thing you’re supposed to do is “drop” to ground, before the earth has a chance to do it for you. Also, in addition to stocking up on water, keep your gas level above the halfway point. You don’t want to be stuck with an empty tank if you need an escape vehicle. So much of this info you just don’t get in a FEMA handout. I’ve been looking at a lot of earthquake preparedness stuff and honestly this podcast is the most helpful resource I’ve found so far.

I did really like this to start, but it gets old and gets into things that aren’t necessary. Like apparently earthquakes are racist? It went from well written to total SJW. Sorry, just not my cup of tea.

I listened to all of the episodes. While it includes good info and was sometimes quite thought-provoking and troubling, I think this podcast series would be more effective if it had been a little less melodramatic/sniveling/cutesy and a lot more specific and can-do. The website (kpcc.org/thebigone) includes a link to a FEMA pamphlet listing specific household things people should have prepared. A lot more of those very practical details should have been integrated into the podcast’s story-telling. Gathering up a bunch of water, canned goods, a first aid kit, etc would not THAT much of a hassle for most people/families so don’t make it sound like it is! Why not show how easy it is to spend a Saturday at your neighborhood Wateria, supermarket, and hardware store and then stashing everything appropriately at home. Likewise spending a little time thinking about what you’d do if a big quake occurred while you’re at work or elsewhere isn’t that hard to do. So, the dramatic sniveling about those things was a turn-off. And the bit with the gun-fixated survivalist-artist with the goofy playing cards should have been edited out. He just sounded like unhelpful, negative jerk.

Heavy assumes these cities will be capable in the face of a disaster. Some could argue they aren’t capable without one.

While the show in its entirety is fairly informative and works sort of well telling you what to do in an earthquake emergency, its editing was way too choppy for my taste.

I was quite impressed with the quality and thoroughness of these episodes. I listened to them all while I was working on another project. They were uniformly helpful and informed me about intelligent preparation. Before listening, I had read many of the reviews, including the poor ones. I was a bit skeptical but listened anyway, and I am very glad I did. I encourage others to take advantage of this helpful information. Jacob, I learned about this podcast when you were on the NewsHour with Judy Woodruff last night. Good job altogether!

Jacob, saw your interview aired on Tuesday, 7/9/2019 on PBS Newshour, on YouTube. Thank you for your insight on preparation techniques. Hadn’t considered the living will but it in the To Do list for preparation activities.

I understand the need to make people aware of the dangers of earthquakes in the next big one. But if this is called a survivor guide spend more time talking about survival tips, how much water we do we need how much food do we need should I buy walkie-talkies.

I listened to this months ago and because I did I am much better prepared. Having a stocked “go bag” in my car gives me the peace of mind that I can get home if there is a major quake while I’m at work, even if I have to go on foot. The recent quakes are unsettling, thank you for giving me the tools and knowledge I needed to get better prepared.

I live in LA and a former Angeleno recommended this to me in response to our very recent quake activity. I was appreciative of any resource that might provide valuable and practical insight or info to help me feel more prepared (both logistically and psychologically!) What I found instead is this extra dramatized delivery that seems to aim to amplify fear instead of helping someone prepare for it. I’m freaked out enough as it is and I’d rather find helpful articles and tips online than endure this for even a moment more.

Was listening to this for the first time and was freaked out but felt informed. Then the room literally started shaking (I live in LA) and I knew to get under the table and cover! The most insane and coincidental experience, but love the podcast even though I am terrified. Must be heard!

This is not what you expect. As a native Angeleno, I was excited about this series, but it is a heavy handed role-playing exercise where “you” are constantly being told what “you” are doing when the Big One strikes. Strangely, despite this construct the series totally lacks a compelling perspective. It is very light on science or anything more illuminating than what we learned as kids after Northridge. It felt embarrassingly dumbed down, and the cumbersome architecture really bogs down the experience. I couldn’t even finish the it. I bailed after 2 hours. Trust me, 20 minutes in you’ll forget the Big One even happened as you look for a more interesting podcast.

Great podcast! As an Angeleno that lives in the valley and went through the 94 earthquake I’m always aware of the approaching big one. Do a season two, following these new earthquakes we’ve been having

Just started this podcast this past week and been sharing with my friends. And today an earthquake hits Southern California. Yowza! Keep talking about the BIG ONE!