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 Jonestown cult massacre.

Here's what you need to know.

As a young white boy growing up in rural Indiana in the 1930s,

Jim Jones became fascinated with Pentecostal ministers and black Baptist churches.

By the 1950s, Jones began ministering to his own congregation,

fervently promoting socialism, racial equality, and desegregation during a time

when social injustices dominated American society.

He named the church the People's Temple Full Gospel Church,

preaching socialist ideals and performing healings to his growing interracial congregation.

The People's Temple offered rent assistance, job placement services, free canned goods,

...