Character Defects

(recorded 5/28/2019) Jon H. goes Zen on the bit and chooses to not have a topic as his topic.

(recorded on 5/24/2019) John C. discusses whether disclosing his addiction issues with prospective new employers is a good idea.

(recorded on 5/5/2019) John C. leads a discussion about what a sponsor is, why they are important, and the reasons he wouldn’t be caught dead without one. Jon H. uses his exponentially superior intellect to pierce John C’s buffoonish attempt to become Jon H’s sponsor. He’s no Jedi.

(recorded on 4/30/2019) John and Jon discuss working Step 4, what one gets from doing it, and when it’s a good idea to complete this vital step.

(recorded on 4/30) The Frodo Baggins of AA (Jon H.) shares his experience watching un-recovered alcoholic couples bring darkness to their families with the Gandalf of AA (John C.). Please note — the solution does not involve volcanoes, orcs (regardless of shoe color) or Viggo Mortensen.

(recorded on 4/14/2019) Jon H’s friend Eric shares his 4+ year journey through sobriety. Spoiler alert: he doesn’t go to AA. Another spoiler alert: he’s really happy. Final spoiler alert: Jon H. loves to proselytize Sisyphus in his free time.

(recorded on 4/20/19) Jon H. celebrates John C’s 2-year anniversary (sober date: 4/20/17) at his home group, then shares about his mom.

(recorded on 4/11/2019) The first-ever Small Group discussion! Jon H. expertly recalls Steps 1, 2 and 3 from memory, elucidates on each. John C. struggles to keep up. John C. posted how he worked Step 3 on our website. His writing is the textbook definition of unintentional comedy.

John C. explains why we haven’t published anything for the past couple of weeks. In other news…listening to “Kid A” over and over again when feeling sad is awesomely awful.

John C. asks Jon H. “tell me about your mom,” then proceeds to talk about his own dad for the entire episode. Shocker. Part 2 (coming next episode) will feature the long-awaited origin story of Jon H.’s mom. Quick spoiler — she’s not from Canada and does not have retractible claws bonded with Adamantium. Her […]

Jon H. has a friend in an alcohol-fueled death spiral. He wants to help this friend, but isn’t 100% sure how to proceed. John C. helps him load his spiritual SIG Sauer full of 12-step hollow-points before doing battle with an almost-invincible foe…an alcoholic in complete denial.

As the Zen philosopher Bashō once wrote, “A flute with no holes is not a flute.” If it’s not a flute, though…what is it? A straw? A stick? The possibilities are as limitless, because it depends on how one looks at it, I guess…on one’s perception.

Two gentlemen callers (Nick S. and Chris T.) join the podcast for an afternoon of spirited discourse.

Chancellor Johan von H. goose-steps us through Step 3, encourages us all to find a higher power (as long as it’s the “right” one).

Alright, already…A guy who loves bad news (Jon H.) saves a spot in the unemployment line for a guy who loves good news (John C.) when he gets bad news this week. Yes…another Jo(h)n gets fired.

Our first listener request episode – courtesy of Jon S. in Florida. He asks how can friends of addicts/alcoholics support them in recovery.

The poet Ozzy Osbourne once wrote “Wine is Fine, but Whiskey’s Quicker.” Even quicker than wine or whiskey is an alcoholic with untreated mental illness. An alcoholic death is a slow suicide, but many of us fast-track death before we can get help. Please don’t become a sad statistic. Contact the National Suicide Prevention Hotline […]

Jon H. digs into the mighty-mighty, just letting’ it all hang out Wet Houses popping up across the country.

“It happens to a lot of guys” is cold comfort to Jon H this week. ED strikes him down, even though he’d been energized and “performing” well as of late. Our hero unfortunately had to swallow a bitter pill, whose side effects include: headache, stomach upset, back pain, muscle pain, stuffy nose, sowing discord, inflammatory […]

John C has his first awakening, but sadly prematurely awakejulates. Jon H finally gets credit for his natural ability to look cured when he is still not.

Ever wonder about proper AA Meeting Etiquette? Me either. Jon H does, though, so we go all-hands to get him on the same customer-centric sheet of music as our focus group. Buckle up as we action one blue-sky idea shower drill-down after another. There will be no need to circle back, ping, or take anything […]

John C shows up in his best sweater vest, fedora and ironed jeans. Things start to heat up as John C shares his NPR voice and creepy breathing techniques while sharing his love for Al-Anon

Jon H asks for insight on “the interaction that you have, generally, as a recovering alcoholic with people you have met in the program, who are in varying stages of their sobriety, and how big of a challenge that can be for (Jon H) personally.” Translated: Jon H can’t talk to people that are not […]

(originally published 12/16/18) John tries to help Jon H complete a bona fide 4th step inventory. Jon H resists, so John ends up taking his inventory for him. Together they unearth Also John’s innermost demons, cast them out, only to have them return before the end of the episode.

(originally published 12/9/18) Jon H describes how he is über creeped-out by AA members that don’t look like him, talk like him, dress like him, share his same tax bracket and/or his love of half-caf soy mocha frappuccinos…which is basically everyone. After attending his first AA roundup (with 8,000+ “non-conforming” members), Jon H was overheard […]

(originally published 11/18/18) Tragedy strikes when Jon H falls into some kind of coma. A grieving nation prays for his recovery.