Episode Introduction
Joel Pollak called in to Breaking Battlegrounds from inside the Palisades Fire zone, one week after the fire began. On Podcast 227, the Breitbart News senior editor-at-large joins Chuck Warren and Sam Stone to go through what was known about the disaster so far.
He also presses a question he had posted on X. If elected officials believe climate change is a threat, he asks, why did they do so little to prepare for a fire like this?
Cambridge political economist Helen Thompson then turns the discussion to Europe. She explains how policy choices left European carmakers exposed to Chinese competition and what that means for the global economy. Kiley’s Corner closes the episode with two true-crime stories: the Brazilian Christmas cake poisoning and an Ohio woman killed by a neighbor’s pigs.
Quick Answer
Breaking Battlegrounds Podcast 227, recorded January 14, 2025, features Breitbart’s Joel Pollak reporting from the Palisades Fire zone. He asks why officials who call climate change a threat did not prepare for wildfire risk. Cambridge professor Helen Thompson explains how European policy helped China dominate the car industry. Kiley’s Corner covers the Brazil Christmas cake poisoning.
Episode Overview
The episode pairs a disaster story from Los Angeles with a long view of Europe’s economic decline.
Pollak gives the hosts an on-the-ground account a week into the fire and lays out the facts as they stood at that point. He centers the conversation on a question he had posted on X. He says he would not argue with anyone who blames the wildfires on climate change, but he wants to know why elected leaders who hold that view failed to prepare.
Thompson draws on her January 2025 UnHerd essay. She argues that short-sighted European policies gave Chinese automakers the advantage in a key industrial sector, and she explains the wider consequences for the global economy.
Kiley’s Corner ends the hour with an update on a deadly poisoning in Brazil and the story of an Ohio woman killed by her neighbor’s livestock pigs.
About Joel Pollak
Joel Pollak is senior editor-at-large at Breitbart News and hosts Breitbart News Sunday on SiriusXM Patriot 125, according to his guest bio. He covers California and national politics, and he was reporting from Los Angeles as the January 2025 fires spread. He is on X at @joelpollak and publishes on Locals at joelpollak.locals.com.
About Helen Thompson
Helen Thompson is Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her book Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century was published by Oxford University Press in 2022 and shortlisted for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year. She co-hosts the geopolitics podcast These Times and writes regularly for UnHerd, the Financial Times and other outlets. She is on X at @HelenHet20.
Key Topics Discussed
- Joel Pollak’s report from inside the Palisades Fire zone
- The facts known about the Palisades Fire one week in
- Pollak’s question on climate change and government preparedness
- How European policy choices helped China take the lead in car manufacturing
- What Europe’s industrial decline means for the global economy
- Kiley’s Corner on the Brazil Christmas cake poisoning and a fatal livestock attack in Ohio
Joel Pollak Reports from Inside the Palisades Fire Zone
The Palisades Fire started on January 7, 2025, the same day as the Eaton Fire. It burned more than 23,000 acres over more than three weeks and destroyed nearly 7,000 structures, devastating the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. It killed 12 people.
Pollak spoke with the hosts while the area was still an active disaster zone. He describes conditions on the ground and the facts that had been established in the first week.
Climate Change or Preparedness? Pollak’s Question for California Leaders
Pollak’s central argument comes from his post on X. He did not dispute that climate change may play a role. He argued that officials who see climate change as a serious threat should have prepared more for wildfire risk.
Later reporting gave his question more weight but did not settle it.
- Reservoir and hydrants. The 117-million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir, long seen as a lifeline for the Palisades, was empty for repairs during the fire, and some hydrants at higher elevations ran dry.
- LAFD response. The Los Angeles Fire Department’s own after-action report described costly delays in bringing in additional water.
- State findings. A state analysis released in November 2025 found that even a full reservoir would not have guaranteed water during the fire. It noted that draining the reservoir was necessary for public health reasons.
Cause of the fire: Federal prosecutors charged Jonathan Rinderknecht with starting the Lachman Fire on January 1, 2025. Officials say that fire smoldered underground and later became the Palisades Fire. His defense disputes this “holdover” theory. A judge declared a mistrial in June 2026 after the jury deadlocked, and prosecutors say they will retry the case. Rinderknecht has pleaded not guilty.
Helen Thompson on How Europe Handed China Its Car Industry
Thompson’s segment builds on her January 1, 2025, UnHerd essay, “How Europe crashed its car industry,” which argues that short-sighted policy gave China the advantage. Car manufacturing has been one of Europe’s industrial strengths, which is why she treats this as a broad economic warning and not only a story about one sector.
In the interview, Thompson explains how those policy choices played out and what Europe’s weakened position means for the global economy. Her argument fits the themes of her wider work on energy, industry and geopolitical instability.
Kiley’s Corner: The Brazil Christmas Cake Poisoning and a Fatal Ohio Livestock Attack
Kiley gives an update on a poisoning case in Torres, in southern Brazil. A Christmas cake served at a family gathering killed three people and sent others to the hospital. Police found arsenic in the flour at levels 2,700 times above the permitted limit. The suspect was Deise Moura dos Anjos, daughter-in-law of the woman who baked the cake. She was arrested in early January 2025 and charged with triple homicide and three counts of attempted homicide.
Update: In February 2025, dos Anjos was found dead in her prison cell, where she was being held alone.
The segment ends with the story of an Ohio woman killed by her neighbor’s livestock pigs.
Key Takeaways From the Conversation
- Pollak reported from the Palisades Fire zone during the first week of one of the most destructive wildfires in California history.
- He argued that even if climate change contributed, officials who call it a threat should be held accountable for failing to prepare.
- Thompson argued that Europe’s own policy choices gave China the lead in the global car industry.
- Kiley’s Corner covered the arsenic poisoning in Brazil, a case that ended in early 2025 when the suspect died in custody.
Listen to the Episode
- Listen on Substack
- Breaking Battlegrounds on Apple Podcasts
- Breaking Battlegrounds on Spotify
- Breaking Battlegrounds on YouTube
Related Breaking Battlegrounds Episodes
California’s fire problem came up again the following week. On Podcast 228, Ken LaCorte discussed fires linked to homeless encampments and what Republicans should do next. The toll on first responders is covered in Episode 230, where Tucson Fire Captain Travis North discussed crises like the DCA tragedy.
For China and national security, see Philip Klein and Todd Bensman on Podcast 226. For a field correspondent’s view of a different crisis, listen to Thomas Grove on reporting from inside Putin’s prisons.
Frequently Asked Questions
What caused the Palisades Fire?
Federal prosecutors allege that Jonathan Rinderknecht started the Lachman Fire on January 1, 2025, and that it later rekindled as the Palisades Fire on January 7. He denies starting it. His first federal trial ended in a mistrial in June 2026, and prosecutors plan to retry the case.
What did Joel Pollak say about the California wildfires?
On Breaking Battlegrounds, Pollak said he wouldn’t argue with people who believe climate change caused the wildfires. He asked why elected officials who see climate change as a threat did so little to prepare. He discussed the question while reporting from the Palisades Fire zone.
Was the Santa Ynez Reservoir empty during the Palisades Fire?
Yes. The 117-million-gallon reservoir was empty for repairs. A November 2025 state analysis concluded that even a full reservoir wouldn’t have guaranteed adequate water pressure. Critics still point to the empty reservoir as a preparedness failure.
Who is Helen Thompson?
Helen Thompson is Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge and the author of Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century (2022). She co-hosts the These Times podcast and writes for UnHerd, where she argued in January 2025 that European policy helped China take the lead in the car industry.
What happened in the Brazil Christmas cake poisoning?
A Christmas cake served at a family gathering in Torres, Brazil, in December 2024 contained arsenic. Three people died. Police arrested Deise Moura dos Anjos, a relative by marriage, who was found dead in her prison cell in February 2025.
