Torched
How a City Was Left to Burn, and the Olympic Rush to Rebuild L.A.
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3 Months Free
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Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
Torched
Narrated by:
Jonathan Vigliotti
Buy Now for £14.37
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Narrated by:
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Jonathan Vigliotti
In Torched, Vigliotti brings readers inside the inferno that devastated Los Angeles, weaving on-the-ground reporting with the deeper story of how a century of unchecked development and political mismanagement set the stage for disaster. With clarity and verve, he recounts the chaos of the fire, the flawed emergency response, and the human stories of survival and loss in the city he loves.
But this is more than a chronicle of destruction. Vigliotti unravels this catastrophe by placing it within the larger history of Los Angeles, a city that has in many ways been defined by its attraction to reinvention and deference to those who “move fast and break things”—an impulse that now puts it at risk of a short-sighted post-fire rebuild in the run-up to the 2028 Olympic Games. A future that might maximize profits but could potentially do too little to prevent similar disasters in the future or address the rampant inequities this blaze brought to global attention.
Urgent, unflinching, and deeply reported, Torched captures Los Angeles at a turning point—and reveals why its choices matter for us all.
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Critic reviews
"This important audiobook bears witness to a disaster."
"Vigliotti narrates his indispensable audiobook with a piercing clarity. Through deep investigative reporting, listeners learn the details that contributed to the 2025 Los Angeles fire, a powder keg that led to the destruction of the Pacific Palisades community. The early warning signs went unheeded and underreported, leaving residents with the horrifying conclusion that help wasn't just slow in coming, it wasn't coming at all. Leadership was absent, lines of communication were muddled, and needed resources were underfunded. The result was cataclysmic, and the aftermath is still fresh, despite a push to rush redevelopment. Vigliotti is unflinching in tone, delivering a devastating story of environmental shock and human failure."
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