In the first episode of Rising from the Ashes, KNX News reporter Nataly Tavidian recounts the day Southern California’s wildfires stopped being a story she was covering - and became the one she was living.
While reporting on the Palisades Fire, Nataly was sent to cover a new blaze threatening Pasadena and Altadena: the neighborhood where she grew up and the home her parents built after immigrating to the U.S. As evacuation orders spread, she rushed home while still on the air, trying to reach her family and rescue what mattered most.
The episode captures the collision between professional duty and personal loss, as Nataly and her brother returned to their property under extreme conditions, salvaging family photo albums and home videos while unsure if they would ever see the house again.
Episode 1 sets the foundation for the six-part series, exploring survival mode, adrenaline, and the moment a reporter becomes part of the disaster she is documenting - marking the beginning of a year-long journey through grief, recovery, and rebuilding.
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In the first episode of Rising from the Ashes, KNX News reporter Nataly Tavidian recounts the day Southern California’s wildfires stopped being a story she was covering - and became the one she was living.
While reporting on the Palisades Fire, Nataly was sent to cover a new blaze threatening Pasadena and Altadena: the neighborhood where she grew up and the home her parents built after immigrating to the U.S. As evacuation orders spread, she rushed home while still on the air, trying to reach her family and rescue what mattered most.
The episode captures the collision between professional duty and personal loss, as Nataly and her brother returned to their property under extreme conditions, salvaging family photo albums and home videos while unsure if they would ever see the house again.
Episode 1 sets the foundation for the six-part series, exploring survival mode, adrenaline, and the moment a reporter becomes part of the disaster she is documenting - marking the beginning of a year-long journey through grief, recovery, and rebuilding.
Episode two picks up in the quiet aftermath of the fire, when the adrenaline fades and reality sets in. Nataly Tavidian reflects on the moment she learned her family home was gone—a phone call from a close colleague/TV reporter who was reporting live from the property.
The episode centers on the shock of seeing what remains for the first time and the emotional weight of hearing devastating news from someone who knew the house, the family, and its history. Through archival audio and a year-later one-on-one conversation with her friend, the episode explores how grief shows up in unexpected ways, even for journalists trained to stay composed.
Episode 2 examines the human side of disaster reporting, the role of compassion in moments of loss, and the difficult transition from breaking news to personal reckoning.
Episode three turns inward, focusing on family, memory, and the long road toward rebuilding. Through conversations with her mother at the property site, Nataly captures the emotional complexity of losing not just a house, but a home built over decades - and the life that existed inside it.
The episode highlights the generational impact of loss, the challenge of accepting a “new beginning,” and the strength required to move forward without erasing the past. It also introduces moments of unexpected hope, including community support and symbolic items recovered from the rubble that helped the family keep going.
Episode 3 explores how grief can isolate - and how family and community help restore a sense of grounding when everything familiar is gone.
In the first episode of Rising from the Ashes, KNX News reporter Nataly Tavidian recounts the day Southern California’s wildfires stopped being a story she was covering - and became the one she was living.
While reporting on the Palisades Fire, Nataly was sent to cover a new blaze threatening Pasadena and Altadena: the neighborhood where she grew up and the home her parents built after immigrating to the U.S. As evacuation orders spread, she rushed home while still on the air, trying to reach her family and rescue what mattered most.
The episode captures the collision between professional duty and personal loss, as Nataly and her brother returned to their property under extreme conditions, salvaging family photo albums and home videos while unsure if they would ever see the house again.
Episode 1 sets the foundation for the six-part series, exploring survival mode, adrenaline, and the moment a reporter becomes part of the disaster she is documenting - marking the beginning of a year-long journey through grief, recovery, and rebuilding.
Exactly one month ago, the worlds of several thousand LA County residents were turned upside down ... when violent winds stoked massive fires that left a trail of unprecedented destruction.
Tonight we will bring you the survival stories of six people who lost everything during the January 7th fires ... three residents of the Pacific Palisades, and three residents of Altadena. We'll ask about processing and overcoming the trauma, about their dealings with insurance companies and the government ... and ask about the next stages of recovering, and rebuilding.
The only voices you'll hear tonight, aside from Charles & Margaret, are from the survivors. No politicians, no officials, no analysts ... just the people who lost it all, but have come out the other end still standing ... still fighting.
This is a story about historic fires, survival, and what promises to be monumental efforts to rebuild and flourish in an often hostile environment where danger lurks with every gust of wind.
In short, it is a story about ourselves.
As tens of thousands of L.A. County residents spent the last two weeks trying to stay alive and keep their homes from burning to the ground, there was little time to think about how these fires will change the complexion of our region.
But as the flames die down and we all absorb the staggering losses of people and property, our focus shifts to picking up the pieces and choosing the best path forward.
In a KNX News special, we look back at how the fires ripped through communities and the destruction left in their wakes ... and we look forward to the immensely complicated questions about recovery and rebuilding.
We dive into the brewing Republican civil war over whether businesses should be hiring foreign workers over American workers. Then we look back at four years ago today--January 6th, 2021--and whether President-elect Trump and the MAGA movement actually won that day.
32 days to go before Donald Trump takes over as President of the United States ... although considering how the last couple of days have gone, one would be forgiven thinking he's already moved into the White House!
Thanks for counting down with us ... on today's Countdown 2025: We'll examine the chaos unfolding in Congress ... where the government is set to close down tomorrow night and Republicans can't decide if it's Donald Trump, Mike Johnson or Elon Musk in charge. We'll be talking with a Republican member of Congress to ask what comes next. Speaking of Musk ... we'll also take a closer look at the tech billionaires who once despised Trump, but have decided to butter him up this second time around.
33 days to go before Joe Biden departs the White House ... and Donald Trump moves in for a second run at America's top job. Thank you for counting down the days with us.
On today's Countdown 2024: Donald Trump and his allies have perfected the art of intimidation through lawsuits ... and even before his second term has begun, the president-elect is already seeing the results of defamation threats. We'll ask whether journalists and critics will be forced to cower.
And, even though it's technically guaranteed in the constitution ... should the Postal Service be handed over to private ownership?
34 days to go in the Trump transition ... thank you for counting down the days with us.
On today's Countdown 2024: Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson is with us to preview the strategy for resisting Donald Trump ... a second time around. And we get a preview into the Trump administration's immigration policy playbook from the people who helped to write it at the Heritage Foundation.
35 days to go before Donald Trump is sworn back into the office of the presidency ... thank you for counting down these transition days with us.
On today's show: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would bring all kinds of baggage with him to Health and Human Services, if he's confirmed as the department's next secretary ... but the biggest worry with Kennedy is his history of anti-vaccine advocacy. So we'll hear from an FDA advisor who is hoping that Kennedy doesn't come anywhere close to vaccine policy. And ... can the Trump administration derail California's controversial high speed rail project for good?
38 days to go in the Trump transition ... thank you for counting down the days with us.
On today's show: we're getting the other side of the passionate debate over gender-affirming care for transgender youth, an issue that will likely be front-and-center during the next four years. And ... ? why is the Trump administration seriously considering axing several of the nation's banking regulatory agencies?
39 days to go before Donald Trump takes the oath of office and moves back into the White House. Thank you for counting down the transition with us. Mike Simpson pulling double duty today, sitting in for BOTH Margaret Carrero and Charles Feldman.
On today's Countdown 2024: Current FBI director Christopher Wray made it easy on Donald Trump, announcing his retirement at the end of Joe Biden's term and saving the president-elect from the chore of firing him when he takes office next month. Is this the start of a dangerous politicization of the nation's top law enforcement agency? We're going to hear from a former FBI special agent who now covers the agency for CNN, Josh Campbell ... and we're talking with a former Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Trey Gowdy.
It's an even 40-days left in the Trump transition .... thank you for counting down the days to inauguration with us.
On today's Countdown 2024: According to President-elect Donald Trump, Congresswoman Zoe [Z-OH] Lofgren and the rest of her January 6th committee members belong in jail ... so we're asking the Congresswoman herself if she's feeling worried or intimidated about the threat of imprisonment. Then ... the president-elect put forward a national investment policy, of sorts: spend 1-billion-dollars in the U.S. to open a new business or manufacturing plant and Trump will wave those pesky regulations ... we'll make some sense of that.
41 more days to go until Donald Trump reoccupies the White House ... thank you for counting down the transition with us.
On today's Countdown 2024: the American media is heading into a second Trump administration in a state of transition and uncertainty. With legacy outlets losing their audience and advertisers ... and nontraditional media, like podcasts and TikToks, gaining new prominence ... the ability, and willingness, to investigate the president-elect and hold him to account could be waning. We're dedicating today's show to journalism in the age of Trump.
42 more days to go until the Trump transition becomes the second Trump administration ... thank you for counting down the days with us.
On today's Countdown 2024: Elon Musk spent nearly a quarter-BILLION-dollars of his own money to help Donald Trump get elected to the presidency ... so now what does he want in return for his investment? We'll look at Trump's cabinet stuffed with billionaires. And the president-elect said in an interview over the weekend that he will get rid of birthright citizenship on day one of his administration ... but can a president do away with a constitutional amendment by way of an executive order?
President-elect Trump has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants once he gets back into the White House. But how realistic is this? And how will this impact certain immigrants protected by a special program? While Trump talks tough, the action might not be as strong as he says. We get into the realities of the situation and talk to a person who could be sent to a country she doesn't even really know.
46 more days until Donald Trump is back in the White House ... thank you for counting down the days with us, as we keep a close watch over this important transition.
On today's Countdown 2024: whether it's Pete Hegseth, Ron DeSantis or someone else entirely that ends up leading the Defense Department in the Trump administration, MAGA-world has big changes planned for the American military--we'll take a closer look at those plans. And ... ? why are the donors financing the Trump transition being kept secret ... and what could that mean for potential conflicts of interest and corruption down the road?
47 days to go until the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump, reoccupies the White House ... thank you for counting down the days with us.
On today's Countdown 2024: if Donald Trump's threats are to be taken seriously, no country is safe from having the Trump administration slap a tariff on its imports ... but how will that impact prices on every day goods ... and are trade wars indeed "good and easy to win" like the president-elect says? And we'll look at a pivotal transgender medical care case argued in front of the Supreme Court today, and discuss its implications for the bigger fight over transgender rights.
48 days left in the transition from Joe Biden to Donald Trump in the White House, when there is never a dull moment ... thank you for joining us in counting down the days to inauguration.
On today's Countdown 2024: For California's newest U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, it all has to feel like deja vu ... albeit with a new job in a new chamber. The man who played the starring role of public enemy number one for Donald Trump and all of his supporters from 2016 to 2020 is preparing for the sequel ... we'll look down the road over the next four years with Senator-elect Adam Schiff, coming up.
In the first episode of Rising from the Ashes, KNX News reporter Nataly Tavidian recounts the day Southern California’s wildfires stopped being a story she was covering - and became the one she was living.
While reporting on the Palisades Fire, Nataly was sent to cover a new blaze threatening Pasadena and Altadena: the neighborhood where she grew up and the home her parents built after immigrating to the U.S. As evacuation orders spread, she rushed home while still on the air, trying to reach her family and rescue what mattered most.
The episode captures the collision between professional duty and personal loss, as Nataly and her brother returned to their property under extreme conditions, salvaging family photo albums and home videos while unsure if they would ever see the house again.
Episode 1 sets the foundation for the six-part series, exploring survival mode, adrenaline, and the moment a reporter becomes part of the disaster she is documenting - marking the beginning of a year-long journey through grief, recovery, and rebuilding.