Press Play With Madeleine Brand

Federal authorities have charged a 29-year old Florida man for intentionally starting a New Year’s Day fire, which one week later rekindled into the Palisades Fire. The evidence against the suspect includes his actions from the night, including his ChatGPT searches. The LA Times’ Richard Winton tells KCRW, “He basically walked up the trail, and at some point, used a lighter, and he was smoking at the time, and ignited the fire with an open flame. … Seemingly in a panic, he started to then dial 911, he couldn't get through. And then he, a little bit later, tried to again. And then … this is probably the most obvious thing he did, which is … literally typed into his phone to ChatGPT: Are you at fault if a fire is lit because of your cigarettes?” While most reporting on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has moved to Chicago and Portland, the online news outlet LA Taco is still documenting incidents in SoCal. In fact, though the outlet began as a food blog in 2