The redwoods of California’s Big Basin State Park have lived for centuries with fire — a force for both destruction and rebirth. When wildfire engulfed the park in 2020, it was unclear how the ancient trees would fare. Three keen observers who know the forest intimately, returned to take stock of what the flames had wrought for the short film Fire Among Giants. These podcasts episodes share their thought-provoking insights in greater detail.

Episode 1: Portia Halbert
Portia Halbert is a Senior Environmental Scientist with the Santa Cruz District of California State Parks who was on the front lines when Big Basin burned. She understands why the park draws visitors from around the world and how it must contend with the realities of fire, especially in a warming climate.

Episode 2: Don Hankins
Don Hankins is a Professor of Geography and Planning at California State University, Chico who draws on his Indigenous identity to bring the wisdom of traditional knowledge to the crises of our current age. In California, that revolves around the role of wildfire on the landscape, an important field of science called pyrogeography.

Episode 3: Christian Schwarz
What is it like to walk a fire-charred landscape in search of mushrooms? Christian Schwarz, who teaches about fungi at University of California, Santa Cruz explains how these remarkable life forms can inspire curiosity, awe, and a deeper appreciation of an ecosystem recovering from fire.