The Alarmist

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca speaks with Dr. Arjune Rama about the untimely death of music legend Kurt Cobain. Arjune Rama, MD is a psychiatrist and a Clinical Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. In his private practice he provides psychodynamic psychotherapy, psychoanalysis and medication management. He can be rea...

Who’s to blame for the Death of Kurt Cobain? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) keeps things in-house with Producer Clayton Early and Fact Checker Chris Smith to discuss the life, death and legacy of Kurt Cobain. The anti-pop star who forever transformed the music landscape, whose life was cut short at the young age of 27. What were the factors that contributed to his death by suicide...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca revisits the devastating 1931 Central China Floods with history professor Dr. Zhigou Ye. In her work, Dr. Ye touches on the transformation of China from an agricultural empire into a modernized society and the hazards that came along with that rush to industrialization. Especially when those efforts encounter a once in a lifetime environmental di...

Who’s to blame for the 1931 Central China Floods? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) welcomes friend and Amaro maker David Bly to discuss the devastating 1931 floods along the Yangtze River in China and the catastrophic loss of life that followed. There’s only so much we can do when Mother Nature slaps us with a deluge of unprecedented weather events, but could better flood control me...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca speaks with relationship therapist and Love Talk Live podcast host Jaime Bronstein about the complicated relationship dynamics playing out in the popular rom-com My Best Friend’s Wedding. Jaime reflects on marriage pacts, dating culture shifts, effective communication and reminds us that it’s always a good idea to be in touch with your own feelin...

Who’s to blame for My Best Friend’s Wedding?  This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) welcomes the host of That's A Gay Ass Podcast Eric Williams to discuss the highly chaotic sabotage and shenanigans in the 1997 rom-com My Best Friend’s Wedding starring America’s sweetheart herself, Julia Roberts. Is the societal pressure to marry young to blame? Perhaps Jules and Michael aren’t the...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca speaks with author and NYTimes health journalist Gina Kolata about the devastating 1918 flu pandemic and its lasting legacy. Gina draws parallels from our recent experience with Covid-19 and reminds us that viruses truly never go away, people often just choose to forget about them. Afterward, Patreon subscribers can listen as Rebecca and Producer...

Who’s to blame for the Spanish Flu? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) welcomes Actor Avital Ash to the show to discuss the catastrophically devastating flu pandemic which wreaked unprecedented havoc throughout the world from 1918-1920. What conditions were in place at the time that allowed for such a widespread outbreak? Could the war effort be to blame? Were poor living conditions a...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca speaks with Communications Strategist Robbie Vorhaus about the fallout from the Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show featuring Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. Robbie highlights some important pop culture moments that happened shortly before this epic event, details the extreme precision and scrutiny that goes into a halftime show production and...

Who’s to blame for the Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show Controversy? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) welcomes comedian Blaire Postman to discuss the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” (aka Nipplegate) turned Super Bowl Halftime show scandal-extraordinaire between Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson…Ms. Jackson if you’re nasty. Did the rise of YouTube contribute to the massive fallout?...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca speaks with British historian and author Jerry White about the disastrous sinking of the SS Princess Alice. Jerry highlights important context to the meaning of The River Thames at this moment in history and shares harrowing first hand accounts and crucial new information which potentially calls the initial verdict into question. Afterward, Patre...

Who’s to blame for the sinking of SS Princess Alice? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) welcomes fellow podcaster Adrien Behn to discuss the gruesomely tragic sinking of the SS Princess Alice in the Thames River. Does the ability to swim even matter if you’re swimming in raw sewage? Could an overcrowded passenger ship be to blame? Or was this a case of being in the wrong place at the...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca speaks with historian and author Erich R. Ebel about the lasting legacy of the Donner Party expedition and its tragic fate. Having written a historical fiction account of the members of the Donner Party, Erich touches on the crucial choices made by the Donner-Reed party which ultimately led them down a notoriously doomed path. Afterward, Patreon...

Who’s to blame for the ill fated Donner Party Expedition? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) is revisiting another oldie but goodie to see if we still got it right. Revisit Clayton Early’s very first episode, back in the days before Fact Checkers, Guest Experts and Big Slaps and see who ended up in the Alarmist Jail. But that’s not all! This time around we have a Guest Expert to weigh...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca revisits the Kendall Jenner Pepsi Commercial debacle with marketing expert Shailendra Jain. A professor of Marketing & International Business at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, Professor Jain masterfully walks us through the complexities of in-house generated brand content, the role of advertising agencies and a tren...

Who’s to blame for the Kendall Jenner Pepsi Commercial? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) welcomes podcaster Sequoia Holmes to discuss the infamously disastrous 2017 Pepsi commercial starring Kendall Jenner. They’re joined by Fact Checker Chris Smith and Producer Clayton Early. With America in political turmoil and social injustice at the forefront of our minds, why did Pepsi feel th...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca speaks with pilot and aviation expert Captain Scott Miller about the ongoing recovery and investigation of Malaysia Airlines Flight #370. With years of experience as a flight instructor and pilot for a major US airline, Scott walks through flight protocol with masterful precision and lends new insight to the dynamics at play with this fateful fli...

Who’s to blame for Malaysia Airlines Flight #370? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) welcomes back friend of the Alarmy Anastasia Kousakis to discuss the baffling and sobering case of Malaysia Airlines Flight #370. With so much scrutiny on airplane safety and security, what could have caused such a tragic accident that remains steeped in mystery to this day? Was improper protocol to b...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, Rebecca speaks with monster aficionado Josh Woods about all things werewolf. Author of O Monstrous World! and host of the podcast The Monster Professor, Josh has some wonderful insight on werewolf theory and what they’ve come to represent in modern society. Afterward, Patreon subscribers can hear the post interview breakdown with Producer Clayton Early a...

Who’s to blame for the origins of Werewolf Folklore? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) speaks with writer/producer Tracy Sayre about the storied origins of werewolves and whether or not they actually exist. If it’s all just a tall tale, why were they invented in the first place? Does early farming have something to do with it? Maybe the unknown side effects of lead poisoning had peop...

In May of 1980 near Anaheim California, Dorothy Jane Scott disappeared and would never be seen alive again. Leaving us to wonder decades later, what really happened to Dorothy Jane Scott?   Generation Why is a podcast that covers notable true crime cases like this one, and so many more. Every week, hosts Aaron and Justin sit down to discuss a new case covering every angle and theory, walking...

New Guest Expert! On this week’s Aftermath, it’s a Christmas miracle! Rebecca speaks with THE Director of Photography on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. The one and only Thomas Ackerman. An accomplished cinematographer and Professor in the department of film at UNCSA, Tom shares anecdotes from the set and shares incredible firsthand knowledge of the tone and experience film director John Hu...

Who’s to blame for the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation? This week, The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) welcomes podcaster Bridger Winegar to discuss the Griswold family's disastrous holiday gathering gone wrong in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Tensions tend to run high around the holidays, but did Clark’s unrealistic expectations make things worse? Could a lack of boundaries have s...

From Wondery, and hosted by Laura Beil - The new season of Dr. Death, BAD MAGIC is a story of miraculous cures, magic and murder. When a charismatic young doctor announces revolutionary treatments for cancer and HIV, patients from around the world turn to him for their last chance. As medical experts praise Serhat Gumrukcu’s genius, the company he co-founded rockets in value to over half a billion...

New Mailbag! Like we said last week, we’ve been slacking on the mail and it’s about time we check in with The Alarmy. And good thing we did, this Mailbag is chock-full of amazing new episode suggestions and insightful anecdotes from previous episodes. Join The Alarmist (Rebecca Delgado Smith) as she reads your mail with Producer Clayton Early and Fact Checker Chris Smith. Oh, and you’ll get to hea...