An Iriot original.

I was born with a special gift.

The ability to mentally transform any situation into the worst case scenario.

In my own brain.

My therapist calls my gift catastrophizing.

And that's why I'm uniquely qualified to scrutinize and analyze history's greatest disasters.

And find out who's to blame.

They say history repeats itself.

Not on my watch.

My name is Rebecca Delgado-Smith and I am the alarmist.

Hey everyone, thanks for tuning into the alarmist.

A comedy podcast where we talk about history's greatest tragedies and figure out who's to blame.

Today we're discussing the French pharmaceutical weight loss drug scandal.

Here's what you need to know.

While weight loss fads may seem like a relatively modern obsession,

people have been experimenting with diets for centuries.

But it wasn't until the 19th century that dieting exploded

and an industry in selling weight loss potions, pills, and wonder remedies

to those looking to improve their physique came about.

The first diet pills, known as fat reducers, became widely available in the late 1800s.

While the pills had an ability to increase a patient's metabolic rate,

it was soon discovered they had unexpected side effects,

...