Dukes of Hazards: The Emergency Management Podcast

The Dukes relive a heroic day with Drs. Tricia Wachtendorf and James Kendra, authors of American Dunkirk: The Waterborne Evacuation of Manhattan on 9/11. From the first impact on the towers, boat captains came by the dozens to rescue hundreds of thousands of survivors in under nine hours. If you don't know this story, you should. Plus: Andrew learns the Texas Chicken Maneuver and, yes, Mitch cheated. ALSO, we swear (but only about New Jersey).

Mitch and Andrew swallow the red pill with Kathleen Tierney, the former head of the Natural Hazards Center, and learn how society creates disaster risk as well as how homeland security after 9/11 made things worse, not better. Plus, the best congressional testimony of all time (seriously) and how one stroke of a President's pen hurt the professionalization of emergency management. Also, which FEMA Director would be which Marvel Avenger? and we ALMOST get Mitch's Wifi password on the air.

Pulitzer-prize winning author and New York Times journalist Sheri Fink ("Five Days At Memorial") for some reason agrees to visit the Dukes! She takes us on an intense tour of health and medical lessons from the historic 2017 Coastal Storm season, including stops in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico. Plus, we learn how Sheri first got obsessed (er, interested) in disasters in the Balkans, and why she always asks her interviewees about their last drills but never goes to see disaster movies.

The Dukes shut up (for once) and hand things over to their crack co-hosts, Drs. Nicolette Louissaint and Samantha Montano, to discuss the personal and professional journeys of women in Emergency Management. Joined by Sarah Miller and Susamma Seeley, we cover everything from first mentors to being the only woman in the room to why every single middle age white guy needs to explain things to you and check in about your hair. Really? No worries: We have an Improvement Plan on the way, and mostly no F-bombs. 

The Dukes hotwash the International Association of Emergency Management (IAEM) with a whole host of experts - Susamma Seeley, Sarah Miller, Diane Logsdon and Andrew McGuire. From Tech (Drones! Smart Cars!) to Education (Are EM degrees worth it?) to Healthcare (Yes, there are healthcare emergency managers), we catch you up on all the latest issues in your global network. Also: we take a look at the culture of emergency management, which is working to diversify, but still has a ways to go. 

The Dukes bring on Nicolette Louissaint, the Executive Director of Healthcare Ready, to talk the Hurricane Maria disaster in Puerto Rico, the federal response, and her work helping the healthcare system to recover. Spoiler alert: It's all about comms and logistics. Plus, Nicolette can do wicked things with bombs, Andrew plans to rule IAEM and Mitch realizes he has no idea what silicon is (trust us, it's relevant). And, yes, we totally forgot to cover the US Virgin Islands, but we feel really bad about it.

The Dukes sit down with Jeff Schlegelmilch, Deputy Director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (whew, long title) and basically make him answer the hard questions about what happened in Hurricanes Harvey + Irma - and why. From the Cajun Navy to Florida's traffic jams, we've got you covered, including evac decisions, prepositioning, healthcare response and why whole community doesn't work without the WHOLE community. Plus, Mitch is obsessed with Jon Snow.

Episode 24: If We're Nuked, The Government Will Save Itself, Not You

Episode 23: Craig Fugate Takes Us to School

Episode 22: Lori and Alice Find Their Equilibrium

Episode 21: Rafael Lemaitre Brings Snapchat to FEMA

Episode 20: We've Seen the Future and It Will Be

Episode 19: Flint, Michigan, really really doesn't drink the water

Episode 18: The best Defense is Food Defense

Episode 17: The Dukes Solve Emergency Issue #1