Whether it’s an earthquake, a fire or a riot, disaster has long been part of the ecology of Southern California. Our guest is Mike Davis, who for decades has been delivering apocalyptic warnings about pandemics and other catastrophic events in his books “The Monster at Our Door: The Global Threat of Avian Flu,” "City of Quartz" and "Ecology of Fear.”

More reading: Revisiting Mike Davis’ case for letting Malibu burn.

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