Common Peril

Hi. We're back with another bad boy for ya. This week it's Fred, Aliza, Evan and Mike Heimann is back in the building. We talk about the term Recovered as addicts and alcoholics, character defects, cross addictions such as spending and gambling, and so much more. We had a lot of fun with this one. If you're just looking for helpful info skip to about 12 minutes in because we were on a sick one for a little while. 

We had a last minute cancellation so we just have a check-in episode this week for you guys. We discuss the current state of our sobrieties and some of the behaviors that formed in each of us when we stopped getting loaded. Freddy, Evan and Aliza are here this week. We'll have something more for you next week.

Hey folks. We're back with a doozy. Our friend Page stopped by to tell us her story and did not disappoint. From the islands of Georgia (which are apparently a thing) to Chicago and many, many treatment centers, she is now over a year sober and doing great. Page talks us through her progression from goody two shoes to full blown heroin addict in just a couple years. Thanks for listening!

Remember when we said we were not your average recovery podcast? Nick Morgan is a motivational speaker who has traveled the United States in hopes of ending the stigma surrounding drug addiction. Nick tells us about his experience moving through the treatment world as an addict and eventually hitting a hard bottom in Lake Worth, Fl. Nick also shares about the events that brought him to incorporate Marijuana use into his sobriety without changing his sobriety date. Nick tells us about how he and others have found ways to practice a spiritual, 12-step-based program, while still using Cannabis. Needless to say we had many questions and we didn't hate the answers. 

We are back and full of love after an amazing Valentine's day. We have (name deleted) back again after her interview from a few weeks ago and we discuss our Valentine's festivities, or lack there of. Evan tells us about his accidental run-in with the THC monster while Fred and (name deleted) relate with similar stories. We discuss the feelings we had following the freelapse and how we got back on the horse and stayed sober again. 

This week our friend Serena stopped by to give her experience, strength and hope. She shares about her growing up in a religious, Jewish home and rebelling once she found drugs. She shares her experiences from being in a treatment program in North Carolina and how she is staying sober today. We had a really fun time having her and are looking forward to having her on for some check-in episodes. 

Freddy and Evan get together to discuss their holidays. Freddy catches us up on his trip home to Florida, new events in his career, and some borderline irresponsible financial decisions. Evan discusses his holidays in Los Angeles and his New Year's resolution to actually work a program. This and much more this week on Common Peril.

This week we have Mike Heimann and Billy Cavanagh in the studio for a check-in episode with Evan and Fred. We touch on all types of topics from medications in early sobriety, crossing the imaginary line into addiction, marijuana in the treatment industry, and our theories on what causes addiction in the first place. Billy talks about his stand-up, Mike talks about his new free schedule, Evan is on Tik Tok now, and Freddy takes multiple, lengthy phone calls during recording. All this and so much more!

Garrett Braukman is 12 years sober and an owner of a detox facility in the Hollywood Hills. He stopped by this week to tell us his story of recovery. He talks dropping out of school at age 16, traveling the country touring with hardcore bands, transitioning from straightedge to not so straightedge, his father's death at an early age, and much more. He talks us through what led to him reaching the point of getting sober at age 18. We'll have another one for you next week!

Our comedian friend Billy Cavanagh stops by this week to fill us in on what brought us this beautiful man. He talks about growing up in a home where both parents struggled with addiction which led to being shipped around to different foster homes. He tells us how this affected him and how he ultimately found drugs and alcohol to help him through life. He walks us through the innocent times all the way to getting swept up by a DEA task force. You can follow Billy on instagram @thebillycavanagh and keep an eye out for his stand-up.

Just a quick check in from your two favorite sober people on the planet earth. Evan is questioning his path in life (again) and he updates us on his sleep experiment. Fred tells us about his weekend jaunt to an abandoned mental hospital in the suburbs of LA. Happy Halloween everyone and don't forget to leave us a review, subscribe and tell your friends. 

We have Mike joining us for this episode out of the kindness of his heart. We discuss the importance of sleep in our lives, how we are staying sober with virtually no meetings (not recommended), and Mike's first impressions of working in addiction treatment. We talk about what we envision for our lives over the next couple years and how that differs between us. This is one of the best discussion episodes we've ever done. Enjoy! #oxfordcommagang

What up children? We (your parents) are back with another episode of Common Peril. Our friend Cesar Flores stops by this week to tell us his recovery story. He talks about growing up in central Jersey, getting into the good stuff at a young age, trying to be a chess champion, and eventually ending up in Palm Springs for treatment for his addiction. He walks us through is not-so-standard approach to sobriety and touches on what he believes are the most important things to maintaining a sober life. We hope you enjoy and will have another episode for you soon :)

Hi. This week we have our friend Jesse stop by to tell us his story of recovery. Jesse walks us through a tumultuous adolescence which led into a full blown heroin addiction before leaving high school. Jesse talks us through his stints in rehab and ultimately finding sobriety through the rooms without it. Thanks, as always, for listening, and tell your friends!

We're glad to be back! We had our friend Ryan Willey stop by to tell us his story and he did not disappoint. Ryan describes his progression from smoking weed in 6th grade to leading police on a car chase through Compton with a safe in his trunk. Ryan is now 17 months sober and thriving in Los Angeles. We missed you and we are happy to be back to our regularly scheduled programming.

This week on the quarantine series we discuss the seedy underbelly of the addiction treatment industry. Freddy enlightens Evan on just how sketchy things can get when it comes to the business side of things. We talk body brokering, piss money, insurance fraud, and many other avenues owners of treatment centers use to make the most off your addiction. In addition to this we catch up about our weeks and some upcoming plans for the week to come. Enjoy!

As the country opens back up we continue our quarantine series. Just Evan and Freddy this week talking about their new potential hobbies, Evan's covers being pulled, Freddy's big life goals, our desire for the world to go back to normal and so much more. We look forward to getting some guests back in the studio to continue with our regular programming, but for now, enjoy!

Our guest for the quarantine series this week is Evan's hometown friend, Nick Moses. We were thinking there might be an audience for a speaker that isn't necessarily an alcoholic or addict, but chose to get off mind-altering substances in order to better their life. Nick calls his sobriety his super power and it's nice to hear his take on what sobriety can do for someone even when it's not a life or death scenario, like it is for a lot of us. We hope you enjoy and hope all of you are healthy and happy.

It's so close we can taste it. Sweet freedom to go out and do whatever we want again, but for now we continue on the quarantine series. This week we have our episode 5 alumni Will Carlson back to talk about everything under the sun. We talk about conspiracies (yes, again), dealing with our common wave of cravings, working with new people in the program and so much more.

This week on Common Peril Podcast we have two guests join us for a quarantine episode. Skyler and Stacy join Evan to talk how they've been handling quarantine, conspiracy theories, space, and of course a dab of sobriety. We had a lot of fun and we think you'll enjoy this one a lot. 

Hey all you cool cats and kittens we have another quarantine episode for you all. Part IV features our friend Mike Heimann, Evan and Freddy talking about sobriety while under these stay at home orders. We talk about our recent Zoom meeting experiences, newcomers during this weird time, and how we deal with the inevitable relapse thoughts we've been having. This and so much more this week on Common Peril. 

This week on Common Peril Podcast we talk about how we got our sponsors and how we're keeping up with our sobriety during the quarantine. Every time we think this is over, they push it back here in California, but that doesn't mean we are going anywhere. We are going to continue to bring you content. By the way, Freddy blesses us with some vocals over the intro. 

Hey guys. This is getting old. We sit down to chat about our week and what we did to stay sober. As per usual, we get into all types of other topics. Evan had a terrible day and Fred is positive af like usual. Fred tells us about the importance of routine and we discuss our master plan of forcing guests to come on the podcast in the coming weeks. Thanks for listening and we hope everyone is healthy and happy out there.

Hey all. We hope all our fans out there are happy and healthy. This week Evan and Fred talk about what their programs have become. Zoom meetings, sponsor chats, and thats pretty much it. We are grateful that through this time we have all of you and each other. We hope that this helps get you through this weird time. 

Hey all. Remember when we used to be able to hang out in groups of 10 or more? Juliette joins us again this week due to the lockdown in Los Angeles. This week we talk about our experience attending Zoom meetings, Evan's possible case of the Covid, Freddy keeping his kids woke, our theories on how this virus got started, and so much more. Let us bring you a little humor during this uncertain time. 

Batten down the hatches the corona is coming for us all. We talk about how the quarantine is affecting our sobrieties, the measures we took to prepare, and just how different our lives have become over the last week or so. Guests this week are Evan's roommates Juliette Campbell and Gabriella Ferrarini because it's difficult to convince people to leave their houses. 

So we put down the drugs and alcohol, but now what? We brought back Mike Heimann to talk about life after a couple years sober. Mike recently took his cake for 4 years and we talk about all the things they didn't teach us in rehab... or maybe they did and we weren't listening. Anyway we're happy to be back and we missed all of you terribly. Thanks for bearing with us. 

Richie Blair is the founder and CEO of Catalyst Recovery. In addition, he is a well known member of the 12-step community in Los Angeles. Richie talks about growing up as an Angeleno and the road that led him to sobriety, as well as his experience working in the treatment industry and ultimately starting the first sober companion company accredited by the Joint Commission. 

Dr. Noe is a long-time friend of the podcast dating back to our treatment days. She specializes in grief and loss as well as spiritual healing. Dr. Noe tells us some of her story and we talk a lot about grief, loss, and personal growth through sobriety and beyond. She is very near and dear to our hearts and we felt it was only right to share her with all of you. Follow her @thejourneywithlove

This week our friend Jesse Windham drops by to tell us his story. Jesse talks growing up in Texas, coming to terms with his sexuality, and partying until the consequences got severe enough to want to stop. We talk about finding solid friends and dating in sobriety. All this and much more this week.

Our friend Jack Peterson stops by to tell us his story of growing up all over the United States and ultimately getting sober in California. We talk drug deals gone bad, possible divine intervention, and we actually talk about some of our experiences in sobriety this week. This was a really fun one and we hope you enjoy it too. 

Garland Gerber has her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology with MFT focus, is currently enrolled enrolled in a PhD program at UCSD for Research on Substance Abuse, has a couple other credentials I can’t fit, and she’s also one of us. We talk her story of growing up in Los Angeles, being in the entertainment industry at a young age, and forcing the party to go longer than it should. We then get into all the different types of research going on in the field of addiction now and the crew probably asks a lot of dumb questions, but she's really nice about it. Lots of Science on this one. Enjoy!

We are back baby! Took a little hiatus due to travel arrangements and the need to regroup after the new year. One of us from the crew relapsed, and we talk about it in detail. It was a tough decision, but we felt it would be positive for the listener to walk through this with us. We also talk about Evan and Diana each getting into scuffles with strangers before recording and asked the question "if you could have one weapon for the end of the world, what would it be?" We are just happy to be back talking with each other and all of you who listen.

Merry Christmas from all of us at Common Peril Podcast. Evan, Shannon, and Diana got together to attempt to bring some holiday cheer. We talk about Christmas traditions, goals for the new year, and so much more. Thanks to all who supported us in 2019 and we look to bring you much more content in 2020!

Our friend Juliette stops by following her 7 year birthday to share her story with us. She talks growing up in Hawaii, gettin into party drugs in LA, and the quick decline into full on addiction. We talk about grief, seeking help in sobriety, and Freddy plays one of his prank calls to a scammer from earlier in the day. We all had a lot of fun on this one. 

Our guest this week tells us his unique experience of getting sober in an actual cult in Georgia (no, not a 12-step "cult"). We talk about his transition to 12-step once the cult was raided and shut down, his experience with 12-step in other countries, and we all talk about our toughest amends that we've made. All this and more this week on Common Peril. 

A little laid-back episode this week with just the crew. We dive into our own lives for you guys. Evan had a mini-breakthrough this week when it comes to dealing with the death of his and Shannon's father. They talk about it with each other for once. Diana walks us through her recent run-in with the law. Freddy is just good vibes and Shannon wants to know why. We laughed, we cried, great episode this week. 

Take a break from the family you didn't choose to be a part of with this week's episode of Common Peril. We dip into a little cross-addiction with our guest Billy Black. He talks about having sex, drinking and drugs intertwined which all came to a head when he entered rehab. We talk top-line and bottom-line behavior, the things he's learned in multiple 12-step programs, the weight of friendships made through sobriety, and much more. 

Our friend Dan stops by to talk about what it's like to work a solid program. Turns out it's a pretty good decision if you want to be happy and successful. He talks about growing up in New York and moving to Long Island where his family hoped he would have a safer life. We get into pill mills, various hustles, college life, and moving in sobriety this week on Common Peril. 

Our friend Kara stops by to discuss her intense journey to recovery. In addition we discuss the treatment model and how it ultimately failed her, the grimy side of third-party marketing in the recovery industry, Methadone maintenance and how having a baby daughter saved Kara's life. 

Our friend Ian stops by to enlighten us on his life pre-sobriety. He talks growing up in the Seattle area, dealing with his feelings of being different, seeking acceptance in all the wrong ways, attempting to control a heroin habit and ultimately getting kidnapped in the middle of the night to go to treatment. We dive into dealing with loss and the grief that follows as well as all types of other sobriety topics on this weeks episode. 

Boo! No it's okay its just us. LA is burning and we don't have a guest this week, but that never stopped us before. We discuss all types of stuff, but basically nothing at the same time. We tackle sobriety during holidays and our plans for Halloween while diving into all types of nonsense. 

Te'Devan Kriyavan Kurzweil is a healer, meditation advocate and has been a nomad for the last 18 years. He stopped by during his travels to share his story of how he became a healer and to spread the word about what he has found through meditation. We have been wanting to get an avid meditator on the podcast for a while and this just happened by fate. Matt Jarvis is the guest host today standing in for a sick Freddy and we all learned a lot from this episode so check it out!

Tim Skelly is Freddy's roomate and joins us today to tell his story of how he ended up in sobriety. Tim grew up in Delaware and got started at a young age, but did not waste any time getting to using the heavy stuff. He leads us down a chaotic road to his sobriety and we get into all kind of other topics afterward. 

Chris Stites is a musician from the LA area and friend of the podcast who is in recovery. He talks about growing up in Camarillo, getting into music at a young age and his progression into full on addiction. He talks about failed attempts to get sober through various approaches before finding one that worked for him. It's cooling off in LA, but it's still very hot in the podcast room so pardon the fan. 

Our friend Eddie Garcia stopped by this week to tell his story. Eddie is born and raised in Los Angeles and shared about his rapid progression into hard drugs. Eddie walks us through a four month prison sentence and his failed intentions to stay clean afterwards. We get into the topic of how to approach someone who may think they've got a problem and also how to deal with clients when they want to leave treatment. All this and more on this week's episode of Common Peril. 

Alanon episode. Casey Morrissey stops by to give us a refreshing perspective on addiction. His sister was addicted to heroin which sparked his straight edge lifestyle at the age of 16. He gives us perspective on what our families went through during while we were out running as well as what they go through while we enter sobriety. Casey had limited time with us so Evan, Diana and Freddy (Shannon got stuck in Chicago) bless you with some bonus content following the interview. 

Our friend Justin Keller dropped in to share his story with us this week. He discusses growing up in Los Angeles, losing his father at a very young age and all the unhealthy coping mechanisms that come with losing a parent during developmental years. He discussed how dark things got before he had a revelation and turned things around and what his life looks like now. He has no shortage of hilarious stories from the dark times. We get into how we would live if we had a few weeks left to live and what we do on the day to day to stay happy.

Hawkins Golden stopped by to tell us his story and discuss all other types of recovery based topics this week. He talks growing up in Texas, transitioning from a weekend warrior to a constant partier, when fun became fun with problems and when he hit bottom after getting run over by an ex-girlfriend. Diana is more of the homicide type, Shannon seeks medical advice at Erehwon, and Evan is trending upwards after a sobriety bottom. 

Our long-time friend Britan stopped by to share her story with us. She touches on self-harm, getting hooked on the acceptance that drugs and alcohol brought to her life and coming back to the rooms after a long relapse. We attempt to tackle the idea of whether women have a more difficult time getting and staying sober or not, time travel, and new perspectives on the program after relapse. It's very hot in LA and the sweat is real on this episode.

We had our friend James come by to talk to us about his journey to sobriety. He talked growing up splitting time between Colorado and Los Angeles and how he quickly developed into a real deal addict and alcoholic, all the while knowing what he was doing. We then move the conversation to honesty (or at least tried to) and got into all types of trauma response talk and all admitted our lack of trust for literally anyone. Evan cuts everyone down, Shannon is built of trauma responses, Diana's got a mean sneeze on her, but we all ultimately chime in on the honesty topic.