Author Matt Simon, for Grist Matt Simon is a senior writer at Grist, covering climate solutions. Prior to that, he spent over a decade at Wired magazine. He’s the author of three books, most recently A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies. Matt's Latest Articles As California burns, new research shows smoke is wildfire’s silent killer By Rebecca Egan McCarthy & Matt Simon, for Grist ● News ● August 24, 2025 The official death count from the Palisades and Eaton fires was 30 — the real number may be 15 times higher.