The Best of RISK! #35

RISK!

Performing Arts, Society & Culture, Comedy, Personal Journals, Arts

4.6 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 99 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode brings together two of the most gripping conversations in the show's recent run: a man who survived an extended stint in a Philippine jail on fabricated charges, and a medical student whose addiction and grief turned out to be more entangled than she had ever let herself understand. (Content note: accusations of sexual assault, child abuse, false imprisonment) Scott McMahon went to Manila for a construction job, ended up befriending a Belgian neighbor, and got pulled into a nightmare when that neighbor's wife turned the Philippine justice system against him. What followed was five and a half years in a maximum-security cell with 300 men, corrupt cops showing up every six weeks with a cash demand, and a family he could only see through a chain-link fence. It is one of the most staggering survival accounts this show has ever aired. (Content note: addiction, overdose death) Chelsea Dalsey was a medical student with a photographic memory, a habit she couldn't shake, and a lifelong partner in crime named Alex. Her conversation with Kevin Allison is part confession, part excavation, arriving at a truth she had spent 14 years burying alive. Leave your reactions to these stories and find episode details and music credits at risk-show.com/podcast/the-best-of-risk-35 You can find all of our Best of RISK! episodes at risk-show.com/bestofrisk Be Part of RISK! 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ 💵 Make a one-time donation⁠⁠ via PayPal or Zelle to kevin@risk-show.com 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠ 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	On this episode of Risk, you'll hear six feet off the ground, six feet long, four feet wide.
0:05.9	And that was my world for five and a half years.
0:08.7	And you'll hear...
0:10.1	If you've smelled what rotting flesh smells like, it's that. It's really that.
0:15.9	And of course, you'll hear me, Kevin Allison, on the show where people tell true stories they never thought they dare to share.
0:30.7	Fear is the virus is trending on TikTok.
0:34.2	Vaccines are poison.
0:36.1	Then your yoga teacher says that sex traffic children are being
0:39.5	sacrificed by satanic liberals, but it's all okay. The Great Awakening is coming. What is happening?
0:48.0	Every week on Conspiratuality Podcast, we explore the fever dreams that suck friends, family, and wellness gurus down the
0:56.5	right-wing cult spiral in a search for salvation.
1:16.9	Okay, folks, this episode is the best of risk number 35.
1:25.0	And along with the recent rerun of the best of risk number 12 and the release in April of the best of risk number 34, there are a lot of amazing episodes
1:31.0	of Risk high up in the queue right now that are great for you to be sharing with newcomers
1:37.4	to the podcast. And if you are new to the podcast, welcome. Risk has been around for over 16 years, a length of time, which is
1:48.4	almost unheard of in the indie podcasting realm. And that means there are so many hilarious and
1:58.1	heartbreaking and unforgettable stories you can find here, not to mention such a
2:04.4	smart and caring and creative community of storytellers and fellow listeners and this amazing
2:13.0	risk staff making it all happen as such a labor of love.
2:18.2	Now, this episode features two stories.
2:21.2	We'll be hearing from Chelsea Dulcy later on, but to start things off, a remarkable story by Scott McMahon.
2:29.6	It's a story that he shared with Don Fraser in conversation.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from RISK!, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of RISK! and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.