Searching for paradise

July 17, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In November 2018, Richard and Zeta Gore had been living in their dream home in Paradise, California, for just seven months. When their son called to say their town was on fire, they packed a few clothes and drove off, assuming they would be back soon. Within hours, they were hiking through a canyon, praying for their lives as embers exploded around them. Their house was destroyed. The word "paradise" evokes lush abundance and refuge from harm, but the episode asks whether that search is futile on a warming planet—and what we might find when we stop looking for an idyllic elsewhere and start engaging with reality.

The megafire crisis and what can be done

Paradise, California lost 18,000 structures and 85 people in the 2018 Camp Fire, then the deadliest in modern U.S. history until the Maui fires five years later. George Whitesides, founder of MegaFire Action, explains that eight of the ten largest megafires in California history have occurred in the last five or six years. The cause is not only global warming but also decades of fire suppression that have created "conditions akin to almost a bomb in our forests." His organization proposes three solutions.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:56) **Paradise Lost: The Gore Family Story** - Richard and Zeta Gore recount moving to Paradise, California, only to have their dream home destroyed by the 2018 Camp Fire.
2 (05:29) **George Whitesides: The Megafire Crisis** - Founder of MegaFire Action explains why wildfires are becoming catastrophic and outlines three solutions.
3 (11:28) **Return to Paradise** - The Gores explain their decision to rebuild in Paradise, citing new building codes, a sense of community, and a cleared landscape.
4 (15:48) **Pico Iyer: The Illusion of Paradise** - Writer Pico Iyer reflects on how "paradise" is often a projection, beginning with his experience in Bali.
5 (19:09) **Conflicting Visions in Iran** - Iyer begins his global search in Iran, a culture that gave us the word "paradise," to explore competing notions of it.
6 (21:28) **The Taxi Driver's Collage** - Iyer shares the story of a young Iranian taxi driver who risked his life to flee to England, yet returns every year to Iran.
7 (27:35) **Varanasi: The Holy Mess** - Iyer describes Varanasi, India, as a city of both death and joy, where the holy Ganges River is also profoundly polluted.

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Show Notes

We often view paradise as a place of safety, beauty, tranquility. It’s an ideal we long for but one we can rarely find. This hour, TED speakers search for utopia and come to terms with reality.

Original broadcast date: November 10, 2023

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