Purpose This conversation presents the reflections from six international disaster scholars on how disaster capitalism manifested in very different ways in different countries, including Japan, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, India and South Africa, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to address this issue. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on the conversations that took place on Disasters: Deconstructed Podcast livestream on the September 15, 2020. Findings The prominent themes in this conversation include profiteering, oppression and the politics of disasters. Originality/value The conversation contributes to the ongoing discussions around disaster capitalism and disaster risk creation.