Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Conversation
The Conversation
Gemma Ware, Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

How wildfire, humans and a warming climate led to the extinction of California’s big mammals 13,000 years ago – podcast

Firefighters in Los Angeles continue to battle devastating wildfires that have killed at least 27 people and left thousands of homes destroyed. A new fire also provoked evacuation orders north of the city.

As Stacy Morford, environment and climate editor for The Conversation in the US, put it: “It’s every Californian’s nightmare.”

Today on The Conversation Weekly podcast, we’re revisiting an interview we ran in late 2023 with Emily Lindsey, a paleoecologist who works at the La Brea tar pits archaeological site in Los Angeles, about a wildfire warning from southern California’s ice age history.

Her research has helped shed light on a decades-old mystery about the extinction of large animals that provides some worrying lessons from history about the way humans, fire and ecosystems interact.


The interview with Emily Lindsey originally aired in November 2023. This episode was written and produced by Katie Flood. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens and Michelle Macklem, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Gemma Ware is the executive producer of the show.

Newsclips in this episode are from CNN, CNN-News 18, City News and NBC News.

You can get in touch with us via email.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here.

The Conversation

Emily Lindsey receives funding from the National Science Foundation, which funded some of the research reported in this article.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.