Her lisp is so annoying

Love the podcast and your political views. The rest of these turds can suck it 🙂

I love listening to history and this has all the facts and information, I love this podcast!!!!

I love to listen to historical stuff and this podcast I love to listen too. Those who says it’s political need to get over yourself. She’s stating facts and then gives her opinion on things. God forbid a woman give her opinion he’ll let alone have an opinion. 🙄. (Yes I’m being sarcastic lol) People need to get over themselves. Keep creating an amazing podcast! I’ve been recommending your podcast to everyone!

i never leave reviews but the 1/5 star reviews because of your (correct) political opinions were so annoying i needed to do something. incredible work, i’ve thoroughly enjoyed every episode i’ve listened thus far :)

You have a lovely voice, and I was excited to listen to the episode! Unfortunarely I turned it off because your intro was a bit long, and there's no need to mention all your social media outlets or talk about how donations will buy you snacks — listeners already know all of this in today's social media world. Get to the episode at the get-go- chat midway. I give you five stars for being a female entrepreneur doing something you love.

I absolutely love this podcast! I love historical disasters and I have done multiple high school projects from episodes on here, and have gotten A’s on them. Thank you SO MUCH for this podcast and keep on making great episodes Jennifer! P.S. My AP Historical Tragedies teachers is now hooked on this podcast lol! Edit: some people will hate me for this but the episode where you talked about the SS Princess Sophia and you started taking about the German wings pilot and went to your own mental health, it was a mini therapy for me. I experience a lot of things you do and it was like, “Hey you’re not alone, this person who has a podcast you love has these same problems!” Edit #2(I’m sorry I keep adding things to this Jennifer): I’m so glad you’re back! I do wish there were episodes between July and October, but the ones you released last month were GREAT!!

Upon listening to episode 251 it is apparent that this podcast is very politically motivated. If you were going to run a disaster podcast, you should stick to the disaster and the fact that you have. There is no reason to make the podcast itself, politically motivated, and talk chunk about the country that we live in. If you want to do that, make a political podcast. Unsubscribing.

Good job. Good read. Good info. Hard work…hope it turns from volunteer to well paid!

Straight and to the point and still well-researched and full of detail. Interesting cases, often obscure. Keep it up!

I really started off loving this podcast and I really enjoy the topics, but I think the podcasts could be about half as long, considering the amount of time she spends going off the rails and rambling about unrelated things. It also drives me crazy how much she says “ya know” and “um”. Good stories and great voice and articulation for podcasts, tho!

I listened to several episodes which I enjoyed! Then I listened to the one on Sandy Hook, which let me say was a tragedy, but why should a gun manufacturing company be sued? They didn’t pull the trigger!! I have several of those “bad” guns that have hurt anything. . Also you don’t have kids so keep your parenting advise to yourself!

I’m giving it one star bc *some* of the information is interesting. I understand that this is her podcast and she can do whatever she wants, but please leave politics out of it. For example, the Itaewon crush episodes - the South Korea leadership has absolutely nothing to do with President Trump’s impeachment. NOTHING. The Apollo 1 disaster - mentioning the incident of future astronaut Robert McNair at a library and saying, “you know I don’t always agree with police but they did right by this kid.” That has nothing to do with ANYTHING related to the disaster. I could go on. …and don’t even get me started on the lip smacking.

I want to like it because she chooses interesting subject topics. But the former is so god awful. It’s just dry bland blathering like listening to a mediocre high school student read off a book report. It’s just unengaging. Try a story method like other podcasts do

I used to LOVE this podcast and I still enjoy listening to it. I think it’s well-researched and well- written! It’s very solid content wise. However, the personal commentary provided by the creator can get off track even from the podcast subject. It seems like part of the podcast is historical based and research driven and then the other half is for the creator to vent all her feelings. For years I have supported the podcast as a Patreon follower but after her very out of line defense of the Germanwings pilot in a recent episode I decided to pull my financial support.

It is very clear she does a ton of research, and is very passionate about educating others. That’s awesome! But I was only able to get through about 20 min of a 1+ HR episode. The tongue sucking and lip smacks were making me so uncomfortable I had to turn it off. A few sessions with a vocal coach could help and since she’s been doing this so long it could be worth considering. Actors and voice actors do this all the time. Over all, deeply researched podcast but it wasn’t for me in its current form.

Great and informative podcast about various disasters throughout history. There are a lot of cases covered on this one that other podcasts haven’t touched. Jennifer does a good job presenting the background and details of every case. She does go off on side tangents here and there, which I don’t mind because it shows her personality and is a reminder that there is a human being behind the microphone with their own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. I appreciate the casual nature of her delivery rather than the flat, stoic, monotone narration that a lot of podcasters use for this type of subject matter. She does the research and is VERY thorough while also being respectful of the subject matter.

Thorough and interesting! Thank you.

Jennifer does a great job, and I must say I enjoyed the fictional episode on Nakatomi Plaza! She did an excellent job on this one, and it was a great summary, as if it really happened! She’s a dog mom, which I sympathize with, and has a normal life, which she is happy to share. I will listen to more episodes.

Too much lip smacking.

I don’t want to hear about the hosts personal like. I don’t care how old her brother was when Columbine happened. I don’t care what year the city was established or how it was named. For goodness sakes, you got me to start listening, just get to the story. Tried 3 episodes and so much snore and bore, I’m unsubscribing. Great subjects. Horrible delivery.

I love to just really dig into all the aspects of a disaster. Why it happened. Who, if anyone was to blame. The timeline and the backstory. This host is an expert researcher! I love this podcast. And by the way I also enjoy the ramblings, it’s like listening to a best friend talk. I also like the host’s descriptive abilities, she can place me right at the scene. Excellent writing too. Keep up the good work.

Rambling Yakity-yak on lots of things around the topic before you get to the topic. This should be called word salad mixed with seconds before disaster.

I think the host has a personality and does a good job of blending it in her presentation considering the subject matter. Also feel like she has a strong sense of accuracy so important for her to do her research and do it well. Learning what caused a disaster can help prevent future ones and I feel host does her homework to present subject matter in the best way possible.

Tried to listen to an episode on the north Hollywood shootout just to hear her ramble on and on about Henry Kissinger and George Floyd. Holy cow she is annoying and a super Karen. Never listened to something so brief! Stay away! Annoyingly woke

This show should be entitled “This is What I Saw on the Seconds from Disaster” tv series. Just watch the show. It’s a much better presentation.

I’ve watched all free episodes at this point, and I can say conclusively that this show would be greatly improved by an increase in confidence on the hosts part. She has clearly done her research, but she speaks as if she is not sure of what she’s saying almost constantly. This is exemplified by her chronic struggle with the pronunciation of words and names. She often waffles between options rather than opting for what others have utilized when discussing the topics at hand. Overall, I really like the final product! It’s very interesting and Jennifer is a passionate podcaster who takes great care with the subjects she covers. Unfortunately, her lack of confidence leads the product to feel unpolished.

They didn’t follow their “oath.” They’re no longer required to protect anyone, so I don’t understand why they even exist. Your take is f ignorant, privileged, and awful. I wish they had rushed in to stop the murdering of innocent children, but you obviously value cops over victims.

I cannot emphasize enough how well researched and respectful this host is! She has given me so many resources to read and is genuinely empathetic

I found myself irrationally and unfairly critical of this podcast initially. However, I went through a period of great anxiety and Jennifer’s stories were one of the only things I could stand to listen to. She does a passionate amount of research and clearly cares about her subject. Thank you for continuing to create this, mea culpa for my wrongheaded hot take

I listened to two episodes and kept getting so confused because information would be repeated and I kept checking to see if I had hit rewind somehow. But no, the editing is really poorly done. Whole 5-10 minute sections are repeated. Another episode just cut off in the middle of a sentence and it was over. What more the narrator goes off on tangents and talks about her own thoughts way too much. It got more and more irritating as it went. I tried… I really did.

I am so let down. Great subject matter but horrible everything else. The person trying to convey the subject matter is really bad. It’s like she skimmed a book or got the latest gossip and tried to speak from memory. Disjointed with some kind of tooth sucking sound and hitting the mike. I had heard about The Station but never heard the story. After that episode was done I wanted to punch myself in the head. Research, write and get a proper reader. Then redo all the episodes and you will be rolling in money.

Edit, January 2024: the same issues are extant, but I'm now noticing more errors of assumption, which detract further from the topics she covers. You can present a disaster and present the human toll in an emotional, tactile way without going overboard (for instance, Pan Am 103 is tragic enough--erronously droning on and in about how not everyone was killed by the explosion and how they were aware of the plummet (which is not how concussive force OR altitude works) is just trying to be as upsetting as possible, which is a weird choice considering her (under-educated) take on 1908 newspaper and cultural mores in the Collinwood episode.) You're 200+ episodes in at this point. Be better. ORIGINAL: As a long-time disastwr hound, I was on the lookout for a good disaster podcast. Having tried a few others and finding them tedious and impossible to listen to, I stumbled on Disaster Area. I enjoy DA. Or rather, I (mostly) enjoy the first half of any given DA episode. I wish the intro music wasscaled to the podcast itself—I often have the volume up to hear her intro only to be blasted across my car by the intro music—and I wish the host would lean a little more heavily on “a good solid outline that lets your words flow better” and less on “a bunch of notes that tend to make the podcast sound like we’re all just sitting around the table shooting the breeze.” Folksy and informal is fine, if done well. Unfortunately, the informality here too often turns to stumbling and becomes grating after awhile. She would also do well to pay a bit more attention to her delivery, as she sometimes comes off as flippant or redundant in tone. The biggest issue, though—and the issue that turned my four star review to a three star—is the tangents and tedium of the second half of any given episode. The first half is usually a little stumbly, but it generally gives the overview and meat of the chosen disaster along with some framing data. So far so good. But once rhe disaster has “concluded,” there is usually anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes of the host going off on this tangent or that tangent. Some are personal anecdotes, some are about entirely other situations, some are...geography? Psychology? Metaphysics? It varies, and it rarely if ever adds anything to the podcast. All of which would have earned a rounded-up four star review (I’d give 3.5 if I could) until I happened upon an episode wherein the host complained about how she does not care for disaster books that go off on tangents about only semi-related matters. Not five minutes after uttering this jaw-dropping statement, she herself went off on her requisite tangents about only semi-related-if-not-nearly-unrelated matters. I found myself sputtering at the stereo and so frustrated I avoided the podcast for a few weeks. Hence the rounded-down three star review.

There’s something about the host’s non-serious style that made me cringe. I have listened to other podcasts that discuss the same content yet they don’t have flippant approach that this one has. I tried 3 episodes, older and newer, and I didn’t make it through the third one. The host does seem to research the content well, but the rambling at the end of episodes and unserious analogies and judgements do not do justice to the weight of these tragedies.

Listening to the review “Society of the Snow” the first five mins were about how crazy it was that she hadn’t watched the film sooner than she did, another 3mis about how she didn’t even know it was being made, another 5mins about realizing she’s a self described expert on this plane crash, bragging that she can name the survivors by memory, I got to 11mins in she’s still basically talking about herself. I don’t know how long it will take to get to the actual story but I’m not sticking around to find out

I have learned a lot through these episodes but I don’t really care about the host’s opinions. There are entire sections of these that I just skip because I know she’ll be rambling for several minutes before she gets back to the story.

I love listening to Jennifer. I have listened to almost every episode and I really appreciate the research that goes into each episode. I have been exposed to some of these events before but the detail with which she explores the historical background and the people involved is really impressive. My only regret is that i’m running out of episodes!

I thought a lot of the comments initially unfounded. However the more episodes I listen to, the more bothered I am. I don’t think I have ever written a review for a podcast before but feel I have to say something. The personal spin that is placed on horrific events is completely inappropriate. It’s disrespectful for the heroes and/or victims described in the actual podcast. Edit- the number of times the host has commented/called out people who are overweight…. I have yet to hear a reason to call it out other that she wants to embarrass people after death? Completely irrelevant to the story but everytime she find a fat person in a story it has to be discussed.

I’d like to hear about these disasters BUT I could watch an entire documentary in less time. More details less woman-splaining.

It’s not easy to put a lot of passion into such a dark subject matter while still treating it respectfully in regards to the victims, but Jennifer handles each one extraordinarily well. Even when delving into a topic that’s familiar to me, I find myself quite often learning something new thanks to the thorough research that she’s done. I’m looking forward to the future of this show!

Since you referenced people that didn’t get the vaccination (it’s really not a vaccination) and died get the Darwin Award, are you going to say that the people that got the so called vaccination and died get the Darwin Award. Your concept for a podcast is really interesting, but I would stay away from your personal opinions on politics and other issues that are debatable.

She is immature and doesn’t understand that these are real tragedies. She adds inanely unnecessary personal details that just further show how juvenile she is. Her ability to read her own script is lacking as well.

While I appreciate the topics she covers, the host is very annoying. I’m not interested in her “woe is me” act when it comes to her need for money, nor do I appreciate her political insights. She’s annoying. She also goes off on tangents that involve conspiracy theories where she rambles on for long periods of time.

I’ve been binging on Disaster Area for a few weeks now and I’m hooked. Jennifer clearly has a writer’s mind with her descriptive visuals. She also feels like a friend retelling the story rather than the typical documentary style. Also, she sounds *real*, not like she should be doing radio commercials if that makes any sense. Anyway, really enjoying the show and Professor Pancakes 😊

There’s not anything like this one out there at the moment. There are a few that focus on engineering disasters but they seem to skew towards comedy (successfully in the case of Well There’s Your Problem, less so with a few others). I appreciate that Jennifer is empathetic and detailed in her approach and she’s grown so much as a host over the years!

This is a unique true crime show that is well researched and told by a very empathetic yet direct and honest host. Her voice is dynamic but also soothing. She covers events that aren’t covered on every other podcast.

Like other reviewers I desperately want to like this because I find the subject fascinating. But every episode I’ve listened to tonight - all stories I’m knowledgeable about - I keep zoning out because it isn’t told in a gripping way. All the negative reviews I saw were from this year; the episodes I’ve played are from 2016. So she’s been um and uhhing through her stories for seven years. It’s just boring.

Did you seriously just lump all “gamers” into using the “n” word in this episode. I too am a gamer and am bisexual. I love disaster podcasts and have loved your past episodes but this time you stereotyped a whole group of people. Also what’s with all the fat talk. I get it the shooter was fat. Let’s just stick to the facts and maybe leave out some of the bias.

Jennifer has an amazing voice. I can listen to her for hours driving

I used to be a fan of this podcast, but after the most recent episode on the Titan Submersible I don’t think I’ll be subscribing anymore. The lack of quality control in new episodes compared to older ones is staggering. I’m not sure who Jean-Henri Nargeolet is, perhaps he’s related to deep sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet? The audacity of the host to paint him off as a generic rich man on the Titanic for kicks when he is one of the leading experts of the wreck and an incredibly experienced deep diver who’s been to the site countless time before. We’re supposed to believe you’re a long-time follower of the Titanic tragedy, but you’ve never heard his name before? But of course it’s the father who forced his teenage son into the submersible we have to have real sympathy for. What a weird take. To have an episode about such a recent event be so poorly researched (which almost anyone else listening will be better educated on the facts) is embarrassing. I’ll be sure to take your advice on googling people to find a better podcast to listen to.