Book Talk: Disaster Nation by Dr. David J. Alexander

Today, we're honored to bring you a thought-provoking conversation with one of the nation’s leading voices on disaster resilience: Dr. David J. Alexander. With over 25 years of experience shaping national and state-level emergency preparedness and resilience strategies, David currently serves as a Senior Science Advisor at the Department of Homeland Security’s Science & Technology Directorate, where he guides innovation in disaster response and geospatial science. David is also the author of the powerful new book, Disaster Nation — a bold and deeply informed examination of America’s fragmented disaster management system and a call for urgent reform. In this interview, we explore his vision for transforming FEMA into a National Resilience Agency, the lessons we must learn from events like Hurricane Katrina and western wildfires, and what real preparedness should look like in the face of compounding risks. As David puts it, “The greatest threat to American resilience may not be the next disaster — but our outdated response systems themselves.”