Episode 086: Jamie Brisick - After The Fire

Full episode info and Show Notes - www.wearelookingsideways.com Disaster, tragedy, catastrophe, death, grief - these are the concealed details of life, hidden in plain sight in the hope we never have to experience them. The truth, of course, is that we will all be tested by such experiences in our lives. Until we do, a couple of questions loom. How will we cope? How can we square these experiences, and move forward? These are questions Jamie Brisick, my guest for episode 086, has faced twice now in the last decade. The first time was when he was suddenly widowed. And now, having lost everything he owns in recent Woolsey Fires in Malibu, he is facing them all over again. Jamie is a surfer, writer and documentary maker. Like all true artists, he’s used these unimaginable losses as fuel for his work, channelling his experiences into a series of articles exploring the aftermath of the fire that rank among his finest. I met up with Jamie in Malibu at the start of my recent trip. We recorded this episode of the podcast at the site of his former home, exploring in depth the emotions that such experiences bring forth - loss, grief, self-examination and, ultimately, hope. This was the second time we’ve chatted for the podcast, but the first time we’d actually met, and it was a rare pleasure to meet somebody I’d long admired in person for the first time, and to share such a personal and moving conversation. Thanks as usual to Matt Ward for the theme tune, and to my new editor Fina Charleson.