As wildfires continue to burn in Los Angeles, some wealthy residents are shelling out thousands each day to hire private firefighters to protect their homes and businesses. But some argue that the market for these private crews diminishes public firefighting resources. We’ll get into it. And, renowned science fiction author Octavia Butler predicted many of our modern problems, including catastrophic wildfires. We’ll explain how looking to the past helped her write about the future. Plus, Kimberly gives us some advice for throwing better parties in 2025.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

• “‘Will Pay Any Amount’: Private Firefighters Are in Demand in L.A.” from The New York Times


• “I Will Pay Any Amount to Not Pay My Taxes” from McSweeney’s Internet Tendency


• “N.K. Jemisin on the prescience and brilliance of Parable of the Sower” from New Scientist


• “A Few Rules For Predicting The Future by Octavia E. Butler” from Common Good Collective


• “The LA Fires Aren’t a Surprise If You Study History and Climate Change. So Now What?” from Teen Vogue


• “Americans Need to Party More” from The Atlantic


• “Here’s how single women are successfully navigating an otherwise brutal market for first-time homebuyers” from Business Insider

We love to hear from you. Email us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.