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What happens when everyday life collides with catastrophe? When a food delivery arrives at your doorstep just as wildfire races down the hillside toward your home? These surreal moments reveal who we truly are and how communities respond when crisis strikes.

Stream the episode here, or follow on your favorite streaming service (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc).
Shared Ground emerged from co-host Sean Knierim's experience losing his family's home in the Los Angeles fires this January. Surrounded by an overwhelming outpouring of community support, Sean began documenting the faces and stories of those who extended kindness during his family's darkest hours. What started as personal photography evolved into this podcast—a platform for sharing powerful narratives about resilience, recovery, and human connection.
Together with co-host Alan Marks, Sean explores conversations with guests whose backgrounds span emergency management, climate science, sustainability, and community building. Each brings their unique expertise, but more importantly, their deeply personal ties to crisis response. From the absurdity of carefully unpacking groceries into a refrigerator that would soon melt in the inferno to the profound ways communities rebuild both physically and emotionally after disaster, these stories offer both comfort and practical wisdom.
Over the coming episodes, Shared Ground will celebrate the extraordinary capacity of ordinary people to support each other when it matters most. And from there we will explore wider concepts of resilience - how might we develop conditions necessary to help communities thrive in the face of challenging times.

Whether you've experienced disaster firsthand or simply want to understand how communities recover and grow stronger, these conversations offer insight, inspiration, and actionable guidance. Follow us on your favorite podcast platform or visit shared-ground.com to join this journey of resilience and community.

Shared Ground is produced by Sean Knierim and Allan Marks. Thanks to Cory Grabow, Kara Poltor, Corey Walles (from The Recording Studio) for your support in launching this effort.

For more stories of resilience & rebuilding, kindness & generosity: visit shared-ground.com and subscribe to Sean's substack. We invite you to share your own stories of resilience at the Shared Ground website - whether in response to the January fires in LA or other situations.

Follow us at seanknierim.substack.com, Instagram, or wherever you listen to podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc).