What Was That Like · Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media.

242: Jessica sensed disaster coming

January 9, 2026·1 hr 19 min·5 clips

Jessica's boss locked the door, pulled the shades, and revealed an FBI warning about a mass shooter targeting their 400-person climbing event.

The dread shows up first. Scott opens Jessica's story with a simple question: have you ever had that awful sense that something is about to go wrong? By then, Jessica is already inside it. The threat is still active, people around her do not know enough, and she cannot just hand them the fear she is carrying. She starts calling everyone. Her dad does not answer. Her best friend does not answer. Her sister does not answer. Even the therapist her assistant suggests is unreachable. So she pushes the panic down and keeps moving. That is what makes the excerpt hurt. Jessica has information other people should have, but saying it out loud could make everything worse. Work keeps going around her. Volunteers see her come out of the house, vendors ask questions, and the day keeps pretending to be normal. Her body knows it is not. With her back to the road, she tries to answer a church group's questions while wondering whether she will be shot from behind. The scene stays small, which makes it harder to shake. There is no big speech, no clean rescue by phone call. Just Jessica trying to get sentences out while helpful people mistake her stress for something else. Scott's short prompts leave room for her memory, especially when she talks about tucking the panic away. Any comfort arrives later, in the reflection about speaking to a young person during a defining moment. Even then, it is quiet. What sticks is Jessica trying to steady everyone else before anyone can steady her.

As heard by us

A quiet survival story where dread builds one ordinary minute at a time.

The episode stays close to Jess, and that choice gives the story its weight. It is about the strain of knowing danger may be near and still having to keep moving, through unanswered calls, a return to work, and the effort to act normal while the threat is still there.

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Why you'd press play

When you want a true story about trusting a bad feeling on a late-night subway ride.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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