The Response is a new podcast documentary series exploring the remarkable communities that arise in the aftermath of natural disasters. Spanning the globe, each episode takes a deep dive into a unique location to uncover the remarkable stories that are hidden just beneath the surface of extraordinary events.

For the first season, starting Oct. 2, our team of producers traveled to New York, Puerto Rico, and California to investigate four key questions:

• How have community members taken care of each in the aftermath of disaster, aside from the official government responses?
• How are communities finding the balance between the desire to get back to normal as quickly as possible and rebuilding in ways that ensures greater resilience and sustainability in the future?
• How have disasters disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable and what can be done to respond and rebuild in a just and equitable way?
• How can communities prevent “disaster capitalists” — those who seek to profit from disasters — from preying on them in the aftermath of a crisis?

The Response will be broadcast nationwide starting Oct. 3 on the syndicated radio show, Making Contact. Find out when we’ll be on your local airwaves here.

The Response was created by:

• Executive producer and host: Tom Llewellyn
• Senior producer, designer, and technical director: Robert Raymond
• Field producers: Juan C. Dávila, Paige Ruane, Ninna Gaensler-Debs, and Robert Raymond
• Consulting producer: Asher Miller
• Editors: Ambika Kandasmy and Neal Gorenflo
• Marketing: Courtney Pankrat and Amy Buringrud
• Operations: Joslyn Biele
• Translation and transcription: Ellie Llewellyn, Kate Riestenberg, and Juan C. Dávila
• Voice-over: Luisa Cardoza, Monique Hafen, Neda Raymond, and Ellie Llewellyn
• Graphic art and design: Kane Lynch and Ellie Llewellyn

This season of The Response is part of the “From Stories into Action” project, a collaboration between Shareable,  Post Carbon Institute, Transition US, Upstream Podcast, and NewStories, with distribution support from Making Contact. Funding was provided by the Threshold and SHIFT Foundations.

Share your experiences of resilience, mutual aid, and disaster collectivism through Shareable’s Collaborative Storytelling Project. If the themes and stories presented in The Response have inspired you to take action in your community, here’s a growing list of resources to build community resilience before and after disaster strikes.

Listen to Episode 2, Episode 3

Originally posted at Shareable.com