River Phoenix: Hollywood’s Lost Star

Right Answers Mostly

Claire Donald & Tess Bellomo

Society & Culture, History, Tv & Film

4.6 • 764 Ratings

🗓️ 20 April 2026

⏱️ 86 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

River Phoenix was everything Hollywood wanted: talented, magnetic, and deeply beloved. So how did it all go so wrong? Joined by friend of the pod Hannah Aaron Brown, we unpack the life and tragic death of River Phoenix, from his unconventional upbringing and rapid rise to fame, to the pressures, people, and environment that surrounded him in his final years. Created and produced by Claire Donald and Tess Bellomo Follow us on social media, buy merch, and more⁠ HERE! ⁠ Join our premium channel for 3 bonus eps a month ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ and save 15% when you buy annually! Follow Hannah on TikTok and Instagram and Listen to her podcast, Not Apsirational! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Meet the new Hoka Speed Goat 7.
0:05.0	Proven grip, comfort and control.
0:08.0	For runners who meet the wild head on.
0:12.0	From steep climbs to slick descents and loose rock. goat seven run wilder explore more on hocker dot com i'm claire phallon
0:31.2	and i'm emma gray we are friends and reality dating show fans and the only thing we love as much as
0:36.2	love stories is lovingly snarking on them.
0:38.9	Whether you love love or love to hate it, listen to Love to See It, our podcast dissecting all the romance we see on screen.
0:45.5	From reality dating shows like The Bachelor and Love is Blind to classic rom-coms like You've Got Mail.
0:50.5	We recap in obsessive detail and unpack all the weird messages they send us about love,
0:55.6	sex, and dating. Listen to Love to See It on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to write answers mostly a podcast on what you didn't learn in history class
1:31.7	but you really wanted to.
1:32.8	I'm Claire Donald.
1:33.7	I'm Tess Falamo.
1:34.7	And if you're watching on YouTube, you might notice that we're in a different studio today.
1:38.0	And that is because we have a very special guest.
1:40.4	We have the one, the only Hannah Aaron Brown.
1:43.6	Yay!
2:17.6	Hi. Hi. Hi, Rammmies. Thank you so much for having me. Friend of the pod. Friend of our hearts. This is the third time you've been on RAM, I believe. Yes. Because we did the girls episode. Oh my God, this is the fourth time then. Wait. Girls. Hannah's premiere on RAM was the day after Scandival, I think. Oh my God. How did I forget? And that's where our friendship began. Talk about Dark Hollywood. Oh, my God. Just Scandival. We don't have the time. No, exactly. And then we did a recession pop episode with you. Which went viral because you're just so funny and creative. I'm so honored. Exactly. So Ramies, you are in for a treat.
2:18.9	And so we're so excited to have you back.
2:21.1	Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for having me back. Of course. Always a joy. Well, so as you, Ramies know, we are deep in dark Hollywood month and we're like, we need to have a guest on. we need to have Hannah back on.
2:32.0	And so he said, Hannah, who's calling to you for this?
2:34.7	We knew you'd say something good.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Claire Donald & Tess Bellomo, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Claire Donald & Tess Bellomo and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.