Disrupting Disasters Disastrous

Elizabeth speaks with her 'disaster buddy' Dr Kate Brady. Kate has a PhD in Public Health with a focus on disaster recovery. She is the National Recovery Adviser for Australian Red Cross Emergency Services and Senior Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales.

In this episode, they discuss why imagination isn’t always helpful, the pragmatic reality of systems change, and pros of asset-based community development. They touch on burnout, the emotional toll of recovery work and how it’s changed their world views. Kate tells us about her podcast, her newest research project, and what life was like juggling work with newborn twins during the pandemic. Elizabeth and Kate agree on the need for more support and training for anyone working in disasters.

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Elizabeth speaks with Dr David Lallemant, Assistant Professor, Disaster Risk Analytics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and Head of Disaster Analytics for Society Lab. David’s background is in earthquake sciences and engineering, predictive modelling, geostatistics, and reliability analysis, all supporting research into resilient societies. He supported recovery following earthquakes in Haiti (2010), Christchurch (2011), and Nepal (2015). 

In this episode, Elizabeth and David discuss balancing both the built and social environments, risk mitigation, optimism biases, and finding hope amidst climate anxiety. They cover Black Swan events, counterfactual analysis, and how understanding what could have happened means we can celebrate important work of disaster preparedness; also how this idea led to David and his colleagues to launch the Averted Disaster Awards. They discuss the role of urgency, leadership, and even what life lessons can be learned from the classic book, The Little Prince. 

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In this episode Elizabeth speaks with Dr Lucy Easthope, the UK’s leading authority on recovering from disaster and author of the book When The Dust Settles: Stories of Love, Loss and Hope from an Expert in Disaster.

They discuss the need for reflection time, the Welsh concept of Hiraeth (a feeling of longing and heart sickness for something lost), and the gap between policies and experience on the ground during disaster. They discuss control, truth, imagination, and their experience as parents; also how important it is to surround yourselves with support, and how nothing is ever unprecedented.

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This is a podcast about doing disasters differently. It's for people involved in disaster recovery, emergency management, crisis leadership, or for anyone interested in what we can learn together to disrupt disaster. Join Elizabeth as she introduces Disrupting Disasters.