Trying to make sense of the Reiner Tragedy and the ethics of telling the story with Erin Khar

Hear the rest at www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast

This week on Dopey Tuesday with returning friend, writer, and “elite ex-equestrian” Erin Carr. They joke about their disorganization, their family-like bond, and the chaos of planning episodes. Erin updates Dave on her recent election win to the NYC Education Council and what serving on it has been like—contentious but meaningful work centered on education policy and generational differences.

The conversation shifts into generational talk (Gen X, Gen Z, Gen Alpha), early internet days, and feeling grateful they grew up before social media. Erin then describes learning—through an ex—that Dopey was suddenly in the news because Dave was doing media interviews about the breaking Nick Reiner case.

Dave recounts going on ABC News unprepared, explains his new plan to publish a show every day, and details the backlash he received for releasing a Dopey Emergency Episode compiling all of Nick Reiner’s past appearances. Erin gives thoughtful criticism: the issue isn’t releasing the audio, but centering Nick rather than the murdered victims. They discuss responsibility, ethics, addiction stigma, and the complexity of public consumption of tragedy.

Dave explains why he released the compilation, his intentions, the bizarre Dopey connection to the story, and his concern over tone. Erin helps him rework the title toward something victim-centered (“The Reiner Family Tragedy”). They unpack addiction narratives, mental illness stigma, and how easily public discussion slips into blaming or sensationalizing.

The two close on themes of empathy, horror at the details emerging about the Reiner murders, the emotional weight of family devastation, and the moral questions around covering breaking tragedy in recovery media. The teaser ends with Dave redirecting listeners to Patreon for the rest of the conversation before running off to Susan’s Nutcracker performance. 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.