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This Week on The Wednesday Dose of Dopey!Dave kicks off this Wednesday Dose solo from his dad's house, riffing on nostalgic broke-addict snacks (Little Debbie oatmeal pies as cheap highs) and weird fridge finds, before diving into fan Spotify comments praising last week's emotional Erin Khar episode. He shares wild Miles Davis coke-paranoia excerpts from the autobiography (Ferrari abandonment, trash-room hiding, dealer tricks), and recommending Kind of Blue and In a Silent Way as sick sick records!Then we welcome Sandra Vergara (Selling Sunset star, Sofia Vergara's cousin/sister-figure). Sandra opens up about a traumatic Colombian childhood: brother's murder at age 9, raised by an aunt after her bio-mom's brain damage left her mentally stuck at 12, feeling like a "burden," early glue-sniffing experiment, near-fatal ruptured appendix/septic shock at 16, and constant walking-on-eggshells survival via art, empathy, and never taking abuse personally.In LA from 18, she dabbled in makeup/acting (Fright Night), when she began drinking heavy. Blackouts, self-harm (throwing herself through glass), and suicide ideation. followed. First rehab in Medellín (befriended staff for special treatment → false security). Post-rehab: mushrooms sparked a "psychedelic love" fling, ayahuasca faced childhood trauma head-on, but led to half-assed AA and relapses.COVID alone-time in NYC brought painting growth, but cat Stewie's death (worse than losing family) plunged her into deep depression. Enter ketamine: started therapeutic (Mindbloom) but escalated to daily K-holes with Oculus VR for near-death/grief escapes, addictive Journey Circle weekends (MDMA/ayahuasca/mushrooms group catharsis without integration), erratic calls to mom, club blackouts, and cousin finding her passed out. Family intervention (Sophia pays, nephew packs her) lands her in trauma-focused Breathe Life rehab.She firmly rejects "California sober" as a trap—psychedelics delayed real surrender for her; true addicts can't substitute one mind-alter for another. Full AA commitment (no more a la carte) + Kabbalah (post-breakup desperation) changed everything: tikkun (soul correction via tough life choices), turning reactive impulses (anger/gossip) into proactive restriction, daily study/meditation for frequency shifts. Ties Kabbalah to quantum physics (observer effect = perception shapes reality, entanglement = we're all connected, certainty in the unknown = surrender).Sandra discusses Selling Sunset challenges (producer manipulation, ego, glamour vs. spiritual presence) and her new neuroscience/IFS/Kabbalah coaching for holistic recovery (mind stories, body regulation, spirit alignment). All that and much more on the brand new episode of that good old dopey show! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Addiction Unlimited Podcast | Alcoholism | Life Coach | Living Sober | 12 Steps
Everything you need to know about why sobriety alone isn’t enough – and what real recovery actually looks like. Listen, I see this pattern ALL the time with the people I work with. They quit drinking, they think they’ve done the hard part, and then a few weeks or months in… they’re confused. They’re disappointed. They’re thinking, “Is THIS what the rest of my life is going to be like?” And the answer is: only if you stop here. Sobriety is quitting. Recovery is healing. And the only way to stay sober – the only way to actually build a life you love – is to do the healing work Most people quit drinking hoping sobriety won't be too inconvenient. They want the same life.The same relationships.The same routines.Just… without alcohol. And at first, it works. You feel better. Clearer. Less foggy. But then — weeks or months in — the feelings come back. Anxiety.Overwhelm.Anger.Fear. All the things alcohol was quietly managing for you? They're still there. And now they're loud because you aren’t numbing them anymore. That doesn't mean sobriety is failing.It means your nervous system is healing. Today, I’m sitting down with Michael Z, who has 30 years of sobriety. And let me tell you, this conversation is GOLD. Michael is old-school AA, incredibly honest, and he shares exactly what it was really like in early sobriety and what it takes to build a life you actually want to live long-term. Because recovery isn't a destination — it's a practice. If you’re newly sober and struggling – if you’re thinking “why is this so hard?” or “I thought things would be better by now” – you’re not doing it wrong. You’re just in the gap. The gap between sobriety and recovery. Grab your headphones, get comfortable, and let’s talk about what it really takes to stay sober. Trust me, this conversation is going to give you the clarity and the roadmap you need to move forward. If you're done white-knuckling, overthinking, or feeling stuck in that miserable middle — and you want real support to build a solid recovery foundation — I can help.
May 16, 2017 - Adam and Drew open the show by turning straight to the phones and speaking to a variety of callers including one who is in a sexual drought with his wife after the birth of their second child, another who is wondering if he can date someone he knows through AA and more. The guys then discuss the classic film ‘The Shining' and some of Drew's quirks before wrapping up the show.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
In this episode of the Sober Motivation Podcast, Brad sits down with Tanya to talk about what it really looks like to get sober and stay sober when your journey isn't linear. Tanya shares how she grew up with a stable home and little exposure to alcohol—but still struggled with insecurity, belonging, and wanting to feel “cool,” which made alcohol feel like the solution. What started as binge drinking and partying progressed into DUIs, escalating consequences, and the painful truth many people discover: once the addiction wiring is there, moderation feels like torture. This conversation goes deep into relapse, grief, identity, relationships, resentment, and recovery—plus the power of community, AA, faith, service work, and learning to build self-worth from the inside out. Tanya also shares how she stayed sober through devastating loss and what helped her reach one year sober. If you're sober curious, trying to quit drinking, rebuilding after relapse, or looking for real tools to protect your sobriety long-term, this episode will hit home. ------------- Just Between Us Podcast Sign Up: app.helloaudio.fm/feed/07bfba32-e173-41c6-973e-ceee488187c7/signup Sober Motivation 30 Day Free Trial: https://sobermotivation.mn.co
Nora tells Olis and Don about the insane thinking that started the second she picked up a drink. It got so bad that Nora would bring a water bottle filled with vodka to the bar so she wouldn't have to wait as long to get drunk. Her bottom came when Nora could no longer get drunk. She came to AA through a side window, but stuck around even though she couldn't figure out what making coffee had to do with staying sober. Let's see how Nora does in this week's feature, Stump the Thumper.While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/storeYou can email us at podcast@aagrapevine.org. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to podcast@aagrapevine.org
We've been talking about God's natural design for release of dopamine, and how the enemy can distort that and even hijack His original design as it relates to sex in the confines of a marriage. What are some ways the enemy lies to us around sex? What are the costs to this? In this episode, Rodney Holmstrom, Global Field Director of celebrate recovery, will dive into part one of this important topic and how we can learn and grow through the counterfeit ways the enemy hijacks God's design and get back to the natural God-given gift design to walk in healthy intimacy with God and others.
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LISTEN WITHOUT ADS AT www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastThis week on the CLASSIC Thursday REPLAY!Dave opens with life updates amid heavy grief: prepping for the celebration of life for his father-in-law (Linda's dad), the car overheating again (mechanic drama continues), and a heartfelt decision to replay a classic “Al-Anon-ic Dopey in the family” episode with his mother-in-law, Sue—the one he calls one of the greatest ever recorded. He reflects on how addiction stories feel triumphant for the addict but painful for the “casualties” (family), shares listener comments on recent replays (including wild rehab tales from Florida), plugs stickers for Spotify comments/reviews, and reads touching emails: Wendy's condolences + 2-year sober shoutout to Jennifer N (synchronous on Jan 15!), plus her powerful insight on coming clean about kratom/7-OH in AA and discovering others struggling too. Another email from Charlie teases the upcoming kratom documentary “Kratom Side Effects May Include” (screening MLK weekend in NYC) and the dangers of potent 7-OH isolates.The heart of the episode is the full replay of Dave's emotional, cathartic sit-down with Sue (recorded years ago during COVID era), covering their rocky first impressions, Dave's early heroin relapse after Nora's birth, the terrifying custody battles, supervised visits, court drama (Dave showing up high), financial/legal stress, Linda moving back home with Nora for years, Dave's gradual recovery journey (18 months clean, then true sobriety), rebuilding trust, and the family's hope that Dave/Linda/Nora could become a unit. Sue shares her perspective as a non-drug-experienced, straight-laced mom/grandma—initial denial, sadness, anger, eventual admiration for Dave's hard-won sobriety, and deep gratitude for how he became a devoted father/provider. They laugh about Sue's cookie-stealing, ping-pong lies (she still claims she won!), competitive games, and family adventures gone wrong (like losing Nora/Sue at Gray Fox festival). Ends on hope, surrender, and advice for families: prioritize the grandchild, understand addiction as a disease, hang in there—there's light at the end (though not always a happy one). Dave closes with love for Sue, reflections on mortality/family. All that and more on a tough loving, good timey hard episode of that good ol dopey show. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Episode Notes This week on Live Like the World is Dying, we have another re-run episode. Margaret and Smokey talk about ways to go about mental first aid, how to alter responses to trauma for you self and as a community, different paths to resiliency, and why friendship and community are truly the best medicine. Host Info Margaret can be found on twitter @magpiekilljoy or instagram at @margaretkilljoy. Publisher Info This show is published by Strangers in A Tangled Wilderness. We can be found at www.tangledwilderness.org, or on Twitter @TangledWild and Instagram @Tangled_Wilderness. You can support the show on Patreon at www.patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. Transcript LLWD:Smokey on Mental First Aid Margaret 00:15 Hello and welcome to Live Like the World is Dying, your podcast are what feels like the end times. I'm your host, Margaret killjoy. And, this week or month...or let's just go with 'episode'. This episode is going to be all about mental health and mental health first aid and ways to take care of your mental health and ways to help your community and your friends take care of their mental health, and I think you'll like it. But first, this podcast is a proud member of the Channel Zero network of anarchists podcasts. And here's a jingle from another show on the network. Margaret 01:52 Okay, with me today is Smokey. Smokey, could you introduce yourself with your your name, your pronouns, and I guess a little bit about your background about mental health stuff? Smokey 02:04 Sure, I'm Smokey. I live and work in New York City. My pronouns are 'he' and 'him.' For 23 years, I've been working with people managing serious mental illness in an intentional community, I have a degree in psychology, I have taught psychology at the University level, I have been doing social work for a long time, but I've been an anarchist longer. Margaret 02:43 So so the reason I want to have you on is I want to talk about mental health first aid, or I don't know if that's the way it normally gets expressed, but that's the way I see it in my head. Like how are...I guess it's a big question, but I'm interested in exploring ways that we can, as bad things happen that we experience, like some of the best practices we can do in order to not have that cause lasting mental harm to us. Which is a big question. But maybe that's my first question anyway. Smokey 03:12 I mean, the, the truth is bad things will happen to us. It's part of living in the world, and if you are a person that is heavily engaged in the world, meaning, you know, you're involved in politics, or activism, or even just curious about the world, you will probably be exposed on a more regular basis to things that are bad, that can traumatize us. But even if you're not involved in any of those things, you're going to go through life and have really difficult things happen to you. Now, the good news is, that's always been the case for people. We've always done this. And the good news is, we actually know a lot about what goes into resilience. So, how do you bounce back quickly and hopefully thrive after these experiences? I think that is an area that's only now being really examined in depth. But, we have lots of stories and some research to show that actually when bad things happen to us, there is an approach that actually can help catalyst really impressive strength and move...change our life in a really positive direction. We also know that for most people, they have enough reserve of resiliency that....and they can draw upon other resiliency that they're not chronically affected by it, however, and I would argue how our society is kind of structured, we're seeing more and more people that are suffering from very serious chronic effects of, what you said, bad things happening, or what is often traumatic things but it's not just traumatic things that cause chronic problems for us. But, that is the most kind of common understanding so, so while most people with most events will not have a chronic problem, and you can actually really use those problems, those I'm sorry, those events, let's call them traumatic events, those traumatic events they'll really actually improve your thriving, improve your life and your relationship to others in the world. The fact is, currently, it's an ever growing number of people that are having chronic problems. And that's because of the system. Margaret 06:19 Yeah, there's this like, there was an essay a while ago about it, I don't remember it very well, but it's called "We Are Also Very Anxious," and it it was claiming that anxiety is one of the general affects of society today, because of kind of what you're talking about, about systems that set us up to be anxious all the time and handle things in... Smokey 06:42 I think what most people don't understand is, it is consciously, in the sense that it's not that necessarily it's the desire to have the end goal of people being anxious, and people being traumatized, but it is conscious in that we know this will be the collateral outcome of how we set up the systems. That I think is fairly unique and and really kind of pernicious. Margaret 07:17 What are some of the systems that are setting us up to be anxious or traumatized? Smokey 07:23 Well, I'm gonna reverse it a little bit, Margaret. I'm going to talk about what are the things we need to bounce back or have what has been called 'resilience,' and then you and I can explore how our different systems actually make us being able to access that much more difficult. Margaret 07:47 Okay. Oh, that makes sense. Smokey 07:49 The hallmark of resiliency, ironically, is that it's not individual. Margaret 07:57 Okay. Smokey 07:57 In fact, if you look at the research, there are very few, there's going to be a couple, there's gonna be three of them, but very few qualities of an individual psychology or makeup that is a high predictor of resiliency. Margaret 08:20 Okay. Smokey 08:21 And these three are kind of, kind of vague in the sense they're not, they're not terribly dramatic, in a sense. One is, people that tend to score higher on appreciation of humor, tends to be a moderate predictor of resiliency. Margaret 08:46 I like that one. Smokey 08:47 You don't have to be funny yourself. But you can appreciate humor. Seems to be a....and this is tends to be a cross cultural thing. It's pretty low. There are plenty of people that that score very low on that, that also have resiliency. That's the other thing, I'll say that these three personality traits are actually low predictors of resiliency. Margaret 09:13 Compared to the immunity ones that you're gonna talk about? Smokey 09:16 So one is appreciation of humor seems to be one. So, these are intrinsic things that, you know, maybe we got from our family, but but we hold them in ourselves, right? The second one is usually kind of put down as 'education.' And there tends to be a reverse bell curve. If you've had very, very low education, you tend to be more resilient. If you've had extreme professionalization, you know, being a doctor, being a lawyer, well, not even being a lawyer, because that's the only...but many, many years of schooling, PhD things like that, it's not what you study. There's something about... Smokey 10:10 Yeah, or that you didn't. They're almost equal predictors of who gets traumatized. And then the the last one is kind of a 'sense of self' in that it's not an ego strength as we kind of understand it, but it is an understanding of yourself. The people that take the surveys, that they score fairly high....So I give you a survey and say, "What do you think about Smokey on these different attributes?" You give me a survey and say, "Smokey, how would you rate yourself on these different attributes?" Margaret 10:11 It's that you studied. Margaret 10:32 Okay. Smokey 10:59 So, it's suggesting that I have some self-reflexivity about what my strengths and weaknesses are. I can only know that because they're married by these also. Margaret 11:11 Okay. So it's, it's not about you rating yourself high that makes you resilient, it's you rating yourself accurately tohow other people see you. Smokey 11:18 And again, I want to stress that these are fairly low predictors. Now, you'll read a million books, kind of pop like, or the, these other ones. But when you actually look at the research, it's not, you know, it's not that great. So those..however, the ones that are big are things like 'robustness of the social network.' So how many relations and then even more, if you go into depth, 'what are those relationships' and quantity does actually create a certain level of quality, interestingly, especially around things called 'micro-social interactions,' which are these interactions that we don't even think of as relationships, maybe with storepersons, how many of these we have, and then certain in depth, having that combined with a ring of kind of meaningful relationships. And meaningful meaning not necessarily who is most important to me, but how I share and, and share my emotions and my thoughts and things like that. So, there's a lot on that. That is probably the strongest predictor of resilience. Another big predictor of resilience is access to diversity in our social networks. So, having diverse individuals tend to give us more resiliency, and having 'time,' processing time, also gives us more...are high predictors of resiliency, the largest is a 'sense of belonging.' Margaret 13:14 Okay. Smokey 13:15 So that trauma...events that affect our sense of belonging, and this is why children who have very limited opportunities to feel a sense of belonging, which are almost always completely limited, especially for very young children to the family, if that is cut off due to the trauma, or it's already dysfunctional and has nothing to do with the trauma, that sense of belonging, that lack of sense of belonging makes it very difficult to maintain resilience. So. So those are the things that, in a nutshell, we're going to be talking about later about 'How do we improve these?' and 'How do we maximize?' And 'How do we leverage these for Mental Health First Aid?' We can see how things like the internet, social media, capitalism, you know, kind of nation state building, especially as we understand it today, all these kinds of things errode a lot of those things that we would want to see in building resilient people. Margaret 14:28 Right. Smokey 14:28 And, you know, making it more difficult to access those things that we would need. Margaret 14:34 No, that's...this...Okay, yeah, that makes it obvious that the answer to my question of "What are the systems that deny us resiliency?" are just all of this. Yeah, because we're like....most people don't have...there's that really depressing statistic or the series of statistics about the number of friends that adults have in our society, and how it keeps going down every couple of decades. Like, adults just have fewer and fewer friends. And that... Smokey 15:00 The number, the number is the same for children, though too. Margaret 15:05 Is also going down, is what you're saying? Smokey 15:07 Yes. They have more than adults. But compared to earlier times, they have less. So, the trend is not as steep as a trendline. But, but it is still going down. And more importantly, there was a big change with children at one point, and I'm not sure when it historically happened. But, the number of people they interacted with, was much more diverse around age. Margaret 15:39 Oh, interesting. Smokey 15:40 So they had access to more diversity. Margaret 15:43 Yeah, yeah. When you talk about access to diversity, I assume that's diversity in like a lot of different axis, right? I assume that's diversity around like people's like cultural backgrounds, ethnic backgrounds, age. Like, but even like... Smokey 15:56 Modes of thought. Margaret 15:58 Yeah, well, that's is my guess, is that if you're around more people, you have more of an understanding that like, reality is complicated, and like different people see things in different ways. And so therefore, you have a maybe a less rigid idea of what should happen. So, then if something happens outside of that, you're more able to cope, or is this...does... like, because I look at each of these things and I can say why I assume they affect resiliency, but obviously, that's not what you're presenting, you're not presenting how they affect resiliency, merely that they seem to? Smokey 16:34 Yeah, and I don't know, if we know exactly how they affect, and we don't know how they...the effect of them together, you know, social sciences, still pretty primitive. So they, they need to look at single variables, often. But you know, we know with chemistry and biology and ecology, which I think are a little more sophisticated...and physics, which is more sophisticated. The real interesting stuff is in the combinations. Margaret 17:09 Yeah. Okay. Smokey 17:10 So what happens when you have, you know, diversity, but also this diverse and robust social network? Is that really an addition? Or is that a multiplication moment? For resiliency. Margaret 17:23 Right. And then how does that affect like, if that comes at the expense of...well, it probably wouldn't, but if it came at the expense of processing time or something. Smokey 17:33 Exactly. Margaret 17:35 Or, like, you know, okay, I could see how it would balance with education in that, like, I think for a lot of people the access to diversity that they encounter first is like going off to college, right, like meeting people from like, different parts of the world, or whatever. Smokey 17:49 I forgot to mention one other one, but it is, 'meaning.' Meaning is very important. People that score high, or report, meaning deep, kind of core meaning also tend to have higher resiliency. That being said, they...and don't, don't ever confuse resiliency with like, happiness or contentment. It just means that the dysfunction or how far you're knocked off track due to trauma, and we're, we're using trauma in the larger sense of the word, you know, how long it takes you to get back on track, or whether you can even get back on track to where you were prior to the event is what we're talking about. So it's not, this is not a guide to happiness or living a fulfilled life. It's just a guide to avoid the damage. Margaret 19:01 But if we made one that was a specifically a 'How to have a happy life,' I feel like we could sell it and then have a lot of money.Have you considered that? [lauging] Smokey 19:11 Well one could argue whether that's even desirable to have a happy life. That's a whole philosophical thing. That's well beyond my paygrade Margaret 19:22 Yeah, every now and then I have this moment, where I realized I'm in this very melancholy mood, and I'm getting kind of kind of happy about it. And I'm like, "Oh, I'm pretty comfortable with this. This is a nice spot for me." I mean, I also like happiness, too, but you know. Okay, so, this certainly implies that the, the way forward for anyone who's attempting to build resiliency, the sort of holistic solution is building community. Like in terms of as bad stuff happens. Is that... Smokey 19:58 Community that's...and community not being just groups. Okay, so you can, I think, you know, the Internet has become an expert at creating groups. There lots of groups. But community, or communitas or the sense of belonging is more than just a shared interest and a shared knowledge that there's other like-minded people. You'll hear the internet was great for like minded people to get together. But, the early internet was really about people that were sharing and creating meaning together. And I think that was very powerful. That, you know, that seems harder to access on today's Internet, and certainly the large social media platforms are consciously designed to achieve certain modes of experience, which do not lend themselves to that. Margaret 21:06 Right, because it's like the...I don't know the word for this. Smokey 21:10 It's Capitalism. Like, yeah, we're hiding the ball. The ball is Capitalism. Margaret 21:14 Yeah. Smokey 21:14 And how they decided to go with an advertising model as opposed to any other model, and that requires attention. Margaret 21:21 Yeah. Because it seems like when you talk about a robust social network, I mean, you know, theoretically, social network, like social networks, you know, Twitter calls itself a social network, right? And is there anything in the micro social interactions that one has online? Is there value in that? Or do you think that the overall...I mean, okay, because even like looking at... Smokey 21:46 I think there has to be value, I think, yeah, they did. I was reading just today, actually, about research, it was in England, with...this one hospital decided to send postcards to people who had been hospitalized for suicidal attempts. Margaret 22:09 Okay. Smokey 22:10 Most of them ended up in the mental health thing, some of them didn't, because they they left beyond, you know, against medical advice, or whatever. But, anyone that came in presenting with that a month, and then three months later, they sent another postcard just saying, "You know, we're all thinking about you, we're hoping you're all you're doing, alright. We have faith in you," that kind of thing like that, right. Nice postcard, purposely chosen to have a nice scene, sent it out. And they followed up, and they found a significant reduction in further attempts, rehospitalizations of these people, so that's a very, you know, there's no, it's a one way communication, it's not person-to-person, and it had some impact on I would guess one could argue the resiliency of those people from giving into suicidal ideation. Right. Margaret 23:13 Yeah. Smokey 23:14 So I think this is to say that, you know, we'd be...unplugging the internet, you know, that kind of Luddite approach doesn't make sense. There is a value to answer your question to the the internet's micro social interactions. It's just we...it's complicated, because you can't just have micro-social interactions unfortunately, but you need them. Margaret 23:44 Yeah. No, that that's really interesting to me, because yeah, so there's, there is a lot of value that is coming from these things, but then the overall effect is this like, like, for example, even like access to diversity, right? In a lot of ways, theoretically, the Internet gives you access to like everything. But then, instead, it's really designed to create echo chambers in the way that the algorithms and stuff feed people information. And echo chambers of thought is the opposite of diversity, even if the echo chamber of thought is like about diversity. Smokey 24:16 Yeah, I mean, it's set up again, almost as if it were to kind of naturally organically grow, we would probably have just as chaotic and and people would still just be as angry at the Internet, but it probably would develop more resilience in people. Because it wouldn't be stunted by this need to attract attention. The easiest way to do that is through outrage. Easiest way to do that is quickly and fast, so it takes care of your processing time. And relative anonymity is the coin of these kinds of things, you know, that's why bots and things like that, you know, they're not even humans, right? You know, they're just...so all these kinds of things stunt and deform, what could potentially be useful, not a silver bullet, and certainly not necessary to develop resiliency, strong resiliency. You don't need the internet to do that. And there are certain...using the internet, you know, there's going to be certain serious limitations because of the design, how it's designed. Margaret 25:42 Okay, well, so hear me out. If the internet really started coming in latter half of the 20th century, that kind of lines up to when cloaks went out of style.... Smokey 25:54 Absolutely, that's our big problem. And they haven't done any research on cloak and resiliency. Margaret 26:00 I feel that everyone who wears a cloak either has a sense of belonging, or a distinct lack of a sense of belonging. Probably start off with a lack of sense of belonging, but you end up with a sense of belonging So, okay, okay. Smokey 26:15 So I want to say that there's two things that people confuse and a very important. One, is how to prevent chronic effects from traumatic experiences. And then one is how to take care of, if you already have or you you develop a chronic effect of traumatic experiences. Nothing in the psychology literature, sociology literature, anthropology literature, obviously, keeps you from having traumatic experiences. Margaret 26:52 Right. Smokey 26:54 So one is how to prevent it from becoming chronic, and one is how to deal with chronic and they're not the same, they're quite, quite different. So you know, if you already have a chronic traumatic response of some sort, post traumatic stress syndrome, or any of the other related phenomena, you will approach that quite differently than building resilience, which doesn't protect you from having trauma, a traumatic experience. It just allows you to frame it, understand it, maybe if you're lucky, thrive and grow from it. But at worst, get you back on track in not having any chronic problems. Margaret 27:48 Okay, so it seems like there's three things, there's the holistic, building a stronger base of having a community, being more resilient in general. And then there's the like direct first aid to crisis and trauma, and then there's the long term care for the impacts of trauma. Okay, so if so, we've talked a bit about the holistic part of it, you want to talk about the the crisis, the thing to do in the immediate sense as it's happening or whatever? Smokey 28:15 For yourself or for somebody else? Margaret 28:18 Let's start with self. Smokey 28:20 So, self is go out and connect to your social network as much as you can, which is the opposite of what your mind and body is telling you. And that's why I think so much of the quote unquote, "self-care" movement is so wrong. You kind of retreat from your social network, things are too intense, I'm going to retreat from your social network. The research suggests that's the opposite of what you should be doing, you should connect. Now, if you find yourself in an unenviable situation where you don't have a social network, then you need to connect to professionals, because they, they can kind of fill in for that social Network. Therapists, social workers, peer groups, support groups, things like that they can kind of fill in for that. The problem is you don't have that sense of belonging. Well, with support groups, you might. You see this often in AA groups or other support groups. You don't really get that in therapy or or group therapy so much. But that is the first thing and so connect to your group. Obviously on the other side, if you're trying to help your community, your group, you need to actively engage that person who has been traumatized. Margaret 29:33 Yeah, okay. Smokey 29:35 And it's going to be hard. And you need to keep engaging them and engaging them in what? Not distractions: Let's go to a movie, get some ice cream, let's have a good time. And not going into the details of the traumatic experience so much as reconnecting them to the belonging, our friendship, if that. Our political movement, if that. Our religious movement, if that. Whatever that...whatever brought you two together. And that could be you being the community in this person, or could be you as Margaret in this person connecting on that, doubling down on that, and often I see people do things like, "Okay, let's do some self care, or let's, let's do the opposite of whatever the traumatic experience was," if it came from, say oppression, either vicarious or direct through political involvement let's, let's really connect on a non-political kind of way. Margaret 31:19 Ah I see! Smokey 31:21 And I'm saying, "No, you should double down on the politics," reminding them of right what you're doing. Not the trauma necessarily not like, "Oh, remember when you got beaten up, or your, your significant other got arrested or got killed by the police," but it's connecting to meaning, and bringing the community together. Showing the resiliency of the community will vicariously and contagiously affect the individual. And again, doesn't have to be political could be anything. Margaret 32:01 Yeah. Is that? How does that that feels a little bit like the sort of 'get right back on the horse kind of thing.' But then like, in terms of like, socially, rather than, because we 'get back on the horse,' might mean might imply, "Oh, you got beat up at a riot. So go out to the next riot." And that's what you're saying instead is so "Involve you in the fundraising drive for the people who are dealing with this including you," or like... Smokey 32:28 And allowing an expectation that the individual who's been traumatized, might be having a crisis of meaning. And allowing that conversation, to flow and helping that person reconnect to what they found meaningful to start with. So getting right back on the horse again, it's reminding them why they love horses. Margaret 33:02 Yeah. Okay, that makes sense. Okay, I have another question about the the crisis first aid thing, because there's something that, you know, something that you talked to me about a long time ago, when I was working on a lot of like reframing. I was working on coping with trauma. And so maybe this actually relates instead to long term care for trauma. And I, I thought of this as a crisis first aid kind of thing, is I'll use a like, low key example. When I was building my cabin, I'm slightly afraid of heights, not terribly, but slightly. And so I'm on a ladder in the middle of nowhere with no one around and I'm like climbing up the ladder, and I'm nailing in boards. And I found myself saying, "Oh, well, I only have three more boards. And then I'm done. I can get off the ladder. "And then I was like, "No, what I need to do is say, it's actually fine, I am fine. And I can do this," rather than like counting down until I can get off the ladder. And so this is like a way that I've been working on trying to build resiliency, you can apply this to lots of things like if I'm on an airplane, and I'm afraid of flying or something I can, instead of being like, "Five more hours and then we're there. Four more hours and then we're there," instead of being like, "It's actually totally chill that I'm on an airplane. This is fine." And basically like telling myself that to reframe that. Is this....Am I off base with this? Is this tie into this, there's just a different framework? Smokey 34:27 That is what the individual should be trying to do is connect the three different things, keeping it simple. One, is to the community which gives them nourishment. On a plane or on your roof, that's not going to happen. Margaret 34:44 Yeah. Smokey 34:45 Though, actually, to be honest. If you're nervous and you have...go back to your roof example, which I think is a pretty good one. Let's say that you had more than three boards. Let's say it was gonna take you a couple hours to do that. But it's something you're nervous about, connecting to somebody in your social network, whether you, you have your earphones on, and you're just talking to them before or during...after doesn't help. That does one way. Or the other is connecting to what you were doing, which is connecting to kind of reframing or your own internal resilience. I've done something similar like this before. This is not something that is going to need to throw me, it is what's called pocketing the anxiety. Margaret 35:45 Okay. Smokey 35:45 Where you're other-izing it, being like, it's coming from you too, right? being like, "Hey, you could fall. This plane could go down," right? That that's still you, you're generating that. You're not hearing that over to, and you're saying, "Okay, but I'm going to try, you know, give primacy to this other voice in my head. That is saying, "You've got this, it's all right, you've done things like this before."" So that's the second thing. And that's what you were doing. So you could connect to your community, you could connect to kind of a reserve of resiliency. And to do that is allow that one to be pocketed. But be like, "Hey, I want to hear from what this core thing has to say. I want to hear from what the positive person on the front row has to say." You're not arguing with that one. You're just listening. You're changing your, your, what you're attuned to. And then the third one is, if you can, you connect to the meaning. What is the meaning of building the house for you? Where are you going on your flight? And why is it important? Margaret 37:03 Yeah. Okay, Smokey 37:05 And that anxiety and the fact that you're doing it, you want to give again, the primacy to the importance, that "Yeah, I'm really nervous, I'm really freaked out about this, but this thing is so important, or so good for me, or so healthy for me to do this. This must mean it's going to be really important. And I'm connecting to why it's important and focusing on that. So those are the three things that the individual can do. The helping person or community is engagement. The second one is the same, reconnecting to the meaning. Why did you love horses in the first place? Okay, don't have to get back on the horse. But let's not forget horses are awesome. Margaret 37:58 Yeah. Smokey 37:58 And Horseback riding is awesome. Margaret 38:01 Yeah. Smokey 38:01 And you were really good at it before you got thrown. But you know, you don't have to do it now, but let's, let's just let's just share our love of horses for a moment and see how that makes you feel. And then the third one is that kind of drawing upon, instead of drawing upon the individual resilience, which you were doing, like, "Hey, I got this," or the plane, you know, you were, you're hearing from other people, you're drawing upon their individual resilience. "Smokey, tell me about the time you did this thing that was hard." And I tell ya, you're like, "Well, Smokey can fucking do that I can do it. You don't even think...it doesn't even work necessarily consciously. Margaret 38:50 Right. Smokey 38:51 So you could see that what you're doing individually, the helper or the community is doing complementary. Margaret 38:59 Yeah. Smokey 39:00 And now you can see why a lot of self care narrative, a lot of taking a break a lot of burnout narrative, all these things, at best aren't going to help you and at worst, in my opinion, are kind of counterproductive. Margaret 39:17 Well, and that's the, to go to the, you know, working on my roof thing I think about...because I've had some success with this. I've had some success where I....there's certain fears that I have, like, suppressed or something like I've stopped being as afraid of...the fear is no longer a deciding factor in my decision making, because of this kind of reframing this kind of like, yeah, pocketing like...And it's probably always useful to have the like, I don't want to reframe so completely that I just walk around on a roof all the time, without paying attention to what I'm doing, right?Because people do that and then they fall and the reason that there's a reason that roofing is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. So a, I don't know I yeah, I, I appreciate that, that you can do that. And then if it's a thing you're going to keep doing anyway, it becomes easier if you start handling it like, carefully, you know? Smokey 40:17 Well, you don't want to give it too much. So why do we? Why is it natural for us to take anxiety or fear and focus on it? It's somewhat evolutionary, right? It's a threat, right? It's supposed to draw your attention, right? It's supposed to draw your attention. And if you're not careful, it will draw your attention away from other things that are quieter that like that resiliency in the front row you need to call on, because they're not as flashy, right? So I don't think you have to worry about threat....You're right. You don't want to get to the point where you and that's why I say 'pocket it,' as opposed to 'deny it, suppress it, argue with it. demolish it.' I think it's good to have that little, "Beep, beep, beep there's a threat," and then being like, "Okay, but I want to continue to do this. Let's hear from resiliency in the front row. What? What do you have to tell me too?" You have to not...what happens is we go into the weeds of the threat. Oh, so what? "Oh, I fall off and I compound fracture, and I'm way out here in the woods, and no one's going to get me. My phone isn't charged." That's not what the original beep was. Original beep like, "You're high up on a ladder, seems unstable. This seems sketchy," right? Okay. Got that. And then resilience is, "Yeah, you've done lots of sketchy stuff. You've written in the back of a pickup truck. That's sketchy, so seatbelt there, nothing, you know, let me remind you that that you can overcome." And, but by going into the anxiety, going into the fear, you're forcing yourself to justify the thing. And then it becomes more and more elaborate, and it gets crazier and crazier very quickly. You know, all of sudden, you're bleeding out and you're cutting your leg off with a pen knife. It's like, "Wow, how did all this happen?" Margaret 42:38 Yeah, well, and that's actually something that comes up a lot in terms of people interacting with the show and about like preparedness in general. Because in my mind, the point of paying attention to how to deal with forest fire while I live in the woods, is not to then spend all of my time fantasizing and worrying about forest fire. But instead, to compare it to this ladder, if I get this "Beep, beep, the ladder is unstable." I climb down, I stabilize the ladder as best as I can. And then I climb back up and I do the thing. And then when I think about like, with fire, I'm like, "Okay, I have done the work to minimize the risk of fire. And so now I can stop thinking about it." Like, I can listen to the little beep, beep noise and do the thing. And now I can ignore the beep beep because just like literally, when you're backing up a truck and it goes beep, beep, you're like, yeah, no, I know, I'm backing up. Thanks. You know, like, Smokey 43:35 Yeah, it's good to know, it's good to know, you're not going forward. Margaret 43:39 Yeah, no. No, okay. That's interesting. And then the other thing that's really interesting about this, the thing that you're presenting, is it means that in some ways, work that we present as very individual in our society, even in radical society, is actually community based on this idea, like so conquering phobias is something that we help one another do, it seems like, Smokey 44:02 Absolutely. I mean, the best stuff on all this stuff is that people reverse engineering it to make people do dangerous, bad things. The military. Margaret 44:18 Yeah, they're probably pretty good at getting people to conquer phobias. Yep. Smokey 44:21 They have a great sense of belonging. They have a great sense of pulling in internal resilient, group resilient, connecting to meaning even when it's absolutely meaningless what you're doing. It's all the dark side of what we're talking about, but it's quite effective and it literally wins wars. Margaret 44:47 Yeah, that makes sense. Because you have this whole... Smokey 44:50 Literally it changes history. And so, the good news is, we can kind of reclaim that for what I think it was originally purposed to do, which is to protect us from the traumas that we had to go through in our evolutionary existence. So we couldn't afford to have a whole bunch of us chronically disabled. Meaning unable to function, you know, they've just taken it and, and bent it a little bit, and learned very deeply about it, how to how to use it for the things that really cause, you know, physical death and injury. And, and, you know, obviously, they're not perfect, you have a lot of trauma, but not, not as much as you would expect for what they do. And every year they get better and better. Margaret 45:51 Hooray. Smokey 45:53 We have to get on top of our game. Margaret 45:56 Yeah. Smokey 45:57 And get people not to do what they do. I'm not suggesting reading...well maybe reading military, but not...you can't use those tools to make people truly free and resilient. Margaret 46:17 Yeah. Smokey 46:18 In the healthy kind of way. Yeah. Margaret 46:22 Okay, so in our three things, there's the holistic, prepared resiliency thing, then there's the immediate, the bad thing is happening first aid. Should we talk about what to do when the thing has, when you have the like, the injury, the mental injury of the trauma? Smokey 46:42 Like with most injuries, it's rehab, right? Margaret 46:45 Yeah. No, no, you just keep doing the thing, and then hope it fixes itself. [laughs] Smokey 46:53 My approach to most medical oddities that happen as I get older, it's like, "It'll fix itself, this tooth will grow back, right? The pain will go away, right?" Yeah, just like physical rehab, it does require two important aspects for all physical, what we think of when someone says I have to go to rehab, physical rehab, not not alcohol rehab, or psych rehab, is that there's two things that are happening. One, is a understanding, a deep understanding of the injury, often not by the person, but by the physical therapist. Right? That if they know, okay, this is torn meniscus, or this is this and I, okay, so I understand the anatomy, I understand the surgery that happened. Okay. And then the second is, short term, not lifelong therapy, not lifelong this or that. Short term techniques to usually strengthen muscles and other joints and things around the injury. Okay. And that's what, what I would call good recovery after you already have the injury. It's not after you've had the traumatic experience, because traumatic experience doesn't necessarily cause a chronic injury, and we're trying to reduce the number of chronic injuries, but chronic injuries are going to happen. chronic injuries already exist today. A lot of the people we know are walking around with chronic injuries that are impacting their ability to do what they want to do and what in my opinion, we need them to do, because there's so much change that needs to happen. We need everybody as much as possible to be working at their ability. So wherever we can fix injury, we should. So so one is where do I get an understanding of how this injury impacts my life? And I think different cognitive psychology, I think CBT, DBT, these things are very, very good in general. Margaret 49:22 I know what those are, but can you explain. Smokey 49:22 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. These all come out of cognitive psychology from the 50s. Our techniques, but most therapists use versions of this anyway. So just going to therapy, what it is doing initially, is trying to, like the physical therapist, tell you, "This is the injury you have. This is why it's causing you to limp, or why you have weakness in your arm and wrist. And what we're going to do is we're going to give you some techniques to build up, usually the muscles, or whatever else needs to be built up around it so that you will be able to get more use out of your hand." And that is what we need to do with people that have this chronic injury. So, one, is you need to find out how the injury is impacting. So, I'm drinking more, I'm getting angry more, or I'm having trouble making relationships, or I'm having, and there's a series of, you know, 50 year old techniques to really kind of get down and see, okay, this injury is causing these things, that's how it's impacting me, and I don't want to drink more, or I want to be able to sleep better, or I want to be able to focus, or I want to be able to have meaningful relationship with my partner or my children or whatever, whatever that is, right? And then there are techniques, and they're developing new techniques, all the time, there's like EMDR, which is an eye thing that I don't fully understand. There DBT, dialectical behavioral therapy, has a lot of techniques that you kind of practice in groups. As you know, we have mutual aid cell therapy, MAST, which is also a group where you're sharing techniques to build up these different things and resilience. So, community, and meaning, and all those...reframing all those kinds of things. So, but they shouldn't, despite the length of the injury, how long you've been injured, how long you've been limping, and how much it's affected other parts of your psychic body in a way. These are things that still should be able to be remediated relatively quickly. Smokey 49:31 That's exciting. Yeah. Smokey 50:10 But this is not a lifelong thing. Now, that doesn't mean, if you're traumatized as a child for example, it's sort of like if you've completely shattered your wrist bone, and they've put in pins and things like that, that wrist, may never have the flexibility, it did, the actual wrist bone, you know, the bones in the wrist. But by building muscles, and other things around it, you could then theoretically have full flexibility that you had before, right? But it's not the actual wrist bone, but that that injury is still there. You've built up...Sometimes it's called strength-based approach or model where you're building up other strengths, you have to relieve the impact that that injury, so like, a common thing with with trauma is trust. My trust is very damaged. My ability to trust others, or trust certain environments, or maybe trust myself, right, is completely damaged. So if, if my...and that may never fully heal, that's like my shattered wrist bone. So then, by building up, let's say, I don't trust myself, I did something, really fucked up myself, you know, psychologically, traumatically, but by building up trust in others, and then in the environment, or other things, that can mediate that damage or vice versa. Margaret 53:53 You mean vice versa, like if you? Smokey 53:59 Like, if my problem is a trust of others, or trust with strangers, or trust with friends, you know, I've been betrayed in a really traumatic way by my mother, or my father or uncle or something like that then, you know, building up my friendships to a really strong degree will reduce and eventually eliminate, hopefully erase the impact of that injury on the rest of my life. I'm not doomed to have dysfunctional relationships, lack of sleep, alcoholism or whatever are the symptoms of that traumatic event, that chronic traumatic event. Margaret 54:54 Okay, so my next question is, and it's sort of a leading question, you mentioned MAST earlier and I kind of want to ask, like, do we need specialists for all of this? Do we have people who both generalize and specialize in this kind of thing? Are there ways that, you know, we as a community can, like, get better at most of this stuff while then some of it like, you know, obviously people specialize in and this remains useful? Like... Smokey 55:22 You need. I wouldn't say...You need, you do need specialists, not for their knowledge, per se so much as they're there for people that the injury has gone on so long that the resiliency, all those other things, they don't have a social network, they haven't had time, because the damage happened so early to build up those reserves, that that person in the front row, the front row, the seats are empty. That is, it's really great we live...Now, in other cultures, the specialists were probably shamans, religious people, mentors, things like that, that said, "Okay, my role is to," all therapy is self therapy. That was Carl Rogers, he was quite correct about that. The specialist you're talking about are the kind of stand in for people who don't have people to do that. I would argue all real therapy is probably community therapy. It's relational. So if you have friends, if you have community, if you have a place, or places you find belonging, then theoretically, no, I don't think you need....I think those groups, and I think most specialists would agree to actually, those groups, if they're doing this can actually do a much better job for that individual. They know that individual and there's a natural affinity. And there there are other non specifically therapeutic benefits for engaging in re engaging in these things that have nothing to do with the injury that are just healthy, and good to you. So sort of like taking Ensure, Ensure will keep you alive when you're you've had some surgery, you've had some really bad injury, or if you need saline solution, right? But we're not suggesting people walk around with saline bags. There are better ways to get that, more natural ways to get that. I'm not talking alternative, psychiatric or, you know, take herbs instead of psychiatric medication. But there are better ways to do that. And I think, but I'm glad we have saline. Margaret 58:08 Yeah, Smokey 58:08 I think it saves a lot of people's lives. But, we would never give up the other ways to get nutrients because of other benefits to it. You know, sharing a meal with people is also a really good thing. Margaret 58:21 And then even like from a, you know, the advantages of community, etc. I'm guessing it's not something that's like magically imbued in community. It's like can be something that communities need to actually learn these skills and develop like, I mean, there's a reason that well, you know, I guess I'm reasonably open about this. I used to have like fairly paralyzing panic attacks, and then it started generalizing. And then, you know, a very good cognitive behavioral therapist gave me the tools with which to start addressing that. And that wasn't something I was getting from....I didn't get it from my community in the end, but I got it from a specific person in the community, rather than like, everyone already knows this or something. Smokey 59:03 Well, I think what we're doing right here is, is....I mean, people don't know. So they read....People were trying to help you from your community. Undoubtedly, with the right. intentions, and the right motives, but without the information on what actually works. Margaret 59:27 Yep. Smokey 59:28 And that's all that was happening there. Margaret 59:30 Yeah, totally. Smokey 59:31 So, it's really, you know, as cliche as it sound. It's really about just giving people some basic tools that we already had at one time. Margaret 59:44 Yeah. Smokey 59:45 Forgot, became specialized. So you know, I'm throwing around CBT, DBT, EMDR. None of that people can keep in their head. They will....The audience listening today are not going to remember all those things. And nor do they have to. But they have to know that, you know, reconnecting to the horse, but not telling people to get back on the horse, that kind of tough love kind of thing isn't going to work, but neither is the self care, take a bubble bath... Margaret 1:00:19 Never see a horse again, run from a horse. Smokey 1:00:21 Never see a horse, again, we're not even going to talk about horses, let's go do something else, isn't going to work either. And I think once we...you know, it's not brain science...Though it is. [laughs] It is pretty, you know, these are, and you look at how religions do this, you know, you look at how the military does this, you look at how like, fascists do this, you know, all sorts of groups, communities can do this fairly effectively. And it doesn't cost money. It's not expensive. You don't have to be highly educated or read all the science to be able to do that. And people naturally try, but I think a lot of the self help kind of gets in the way. And some people think they know. "Okay, well, this is what needs to happen, because I saw on Oprah." That kind of thing. " Margaret 1:01:26 Yeah, Well, I mean, actually, that's one of the main takeaways that's coming from me is I've been, I've been thinking a lot about my own mental health first aid on a fairly individual basis, right? You know, even though it was community, that helped me find the means by which to pull myself out of a very bad mental space in that I was in for a lot of years. But I still, in the end was kind of viewing it as, like, "Ah, someone else gave me the tools. And now it's on me." It's like this individual responsibility to take care of myself. And, and so that's like, one of the things that I'm taking as a takeaway from this is learning to be inter-reliant. Smokey 1:02:06 There isn't enough research on it, again, because of our individualistic nature, and probably because of variables. But there's certainly tons of anecdotal evidence, and having done this for a long time talking to people and how the place I work is particularly set up, helping others is a really great way to help yourself. Margaret 1:02:30 Yeah. Smokey 1:02:31 it really works. It's very, I mean, obviously, in the Greeks, you know, you have the 'wounded healer,' kind of concept. Many indigenous traditions have said this much better than the Western. And I believe they have...and they needed to, but they had a much better kind of understanding of these things that we're we're talking about. You know, it. So, where people can...and I've heard this podcast, your podcast too, talking about this ability to be, you know, have self efficacy. But it's more than self efficacy. It's really helping others. Margaret 1:03:22 Yeah. Smokey 1:03:23 And that, that is really powerful. And there's not enough research on that. And I think that's why support groups, I think that's why, you know, AA, despite all its problems, has spread all over the world and has been around for, you know, 75 years, and is not going to go away anytime soon. Despite some obvious problems, is there's that there's that... they hit upon that they they re discovered something that we always kind of knew. Margaret 1:03:59 Yeah. Okay, well, we're coming out of time. We're running out of time. Are there any last thoughts, things that I should have asked you? I mean, there's a ton we can talk about this, and I'll probably try and have you on to talk about more specifics in the near future. But, is there anything anything I'm missing? Smokey 1:04:15 No, I think I think just re emphasizing the end piece that you know, for people that have resources, communities, meaning, social network, you know, that is worth investing your time and your energy into because that's going to build your...if you want to get psychologically strong, that is the easiest and the best investment, Put down the self help book. Call your friend. You know, don't search Google for the symptoms of this, that, or the other thing. Connect to what's important to you. And then lastly, try to help others or help the world in some way. And those are going to be profound and effective ways to build long lasting resilience as an individual. As a community, we should design our communities around that. Margaret 1:05:35 Yeah. All right. Well, that seems like a good thing to end on. Do you have anything that you want to plug like, I don't know books about mutual aid self therapy or anything like that? Smokey 1:05:46 I want to plug community. That's all I want to plug. Margaret 1:05:50 Cool. All right. Well, it's nice talking to you, and I'll talk to you soon. Smokey 1:05:54 Yep. Margaret 1:06:00 Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this podcast, please tell people about it. Actually, I mean, honestly, if you enjoyed this episode, in particular, like think about it, and think about reaching out to people, and who needs to be reached out to and who you need to reach out to, and how to build stronger communities. But if you want to support this podcast, you can tell people about it. And you can tell the internet about it. And you can tell the algorithms about it. But, you can also tell people about it in person. And you can also support it by supporting the, by supporting Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness, which is the people who produce this podcast. It's an anarchist publishing collective that I'm part of, and you can support it on Patreon at patreon.com/strangersinatangledwilderness. And if you support at pretty much any level, you get access to some stuff, and if you support a $10 you'll get a zine in the mail. And if you support at $20, you'll get your name read at the end of episodes. Like for example, Hoss the dog, and Micahiah, and Chris, and Sam, and Kirk, Eleanor, Jennifer, Staro, Cat J, Chelsea, Dana, David, Nicole, Mikki, Paige, SJ, Shawn, Hunter, Theo, Boise Mutual Aid, Milica, and paparouna. And that's all, and we will talk to you soon, and I don't know, I hope you all are doing as well as you can. This podcast is powered by Pinecast. Try Pinecast for free, forever, no credit card required. If you decide to upgrade, use coupon code r-69f62d for 40% off for 4 months, and support Live Like the World is Dying.
In today's Afro-Euro Reco12 Meeting, Lisa.S hosts the Afro-Euro meeting with Wesley being the speaker. Reco12 Afro-Euro Timezone is a Reco12 Resource in and for the Afro-Euro time zone hosted by Karen A. We hope that you will join us and draw strength and hope from these podcasts that we will host about every Friday at 10:00 am Israel time and 8:00 am GMT.Reco12 appreciates your help in keeping us working our 12th Step with these great resources and services for the addict and loved ones. We gratefully accept contributions to help cover the costs of the Zoom platform, podcast platform, web hosting, and administrative costs. To become a Reco12 Spearhead you can quickly and easily become a monthly donor here: https://www.reco12.com/support or you can do one-time donations through PayPal (https://www.paypal.me/reco12) or Venmo: @Reco-Twelve . Thanks for your support!If you would like to get in contact with either Lisa S or Wesley please send an email to reco12pod@gmail.com and we will get you connected with them.Information on Noodle It Out with Nikki M Big Book Roundtable Informational Seeking and educating on how to donate to Reco12.Support the showPrivate Facebook GroupInstagram PageBecome a Reco12 Spearhead (Monthly Supporter)PatreonPayPalVenmo: @Reco-TwelveYouTube ChannelReco12 WebsiteEmail: reco12pod@gmail.com to join WhatsApp GroupReco12 Shares PodcastReco12 Shares Record a Share LinkReco12 Noodle It Out with Nikki M PodcastReco12 Big Book Roundtable Podcast
Susie's SA Sobriety date is 4/20/2014. Her AA Sobriety date 2/28/1992. She has been involved in some 12-step recovery since the summer of 1991. Her SA home group is in Lewiston, ID. Susie has been active in the SA service structure at the local, Intergroup, and Regional levels. This month she completes a 3-year term as a Delegate from the Northwest Region to the SA General Delegate Assembly. She also had her 75th birthday this last week. Today she speaks to us on Gratitude in Action.Reco12 is an open-to-all addictions and afflictions organization, dedicated to exploring the common threads of the differing manifestations of alcoholism; sharing tools, and offering hope from those walking a similar path. We gather from diverse backgrounds, faiths, and locations to learn and support one another. Our speakers come from various fellowships and experiences, demonstrating the universal principles of recovery. Reco12 is not allied or affiliated with any specific 12 Step fellowship.Support Reco12's 12th Step Mission! Help provide powerful audio resources for addicts and their loved ones. Your contributions cover Zoom, podcasts, web hosting, and admin costs.Monthly Donations: Reco12 SupportOne-Time Donations: PayPal | Venmo: @Reco-Twelve | Patreon | WISEYour support makes a difference—thank you!Resources from this meeting:SAAALiving in ProcessSA LiteratureOutro music is “Standing Still” by Cory Ellsworth and Randy Kartchner, performed by Mike Eldred and Elizabeth Wolfe. This song, and/or the entire soundtrack for the future Broadway musical, “Crosses: A Musical of Hope”, can be purchased here: https://amzn.to/3RIjKXs This song is used with the express permission of Cory Ellsworth.Information on Noodle It Out with Nikki M Big Book Roundtable Informational Seeking and educating on how to donate to Reco12.Support the showPrivate Facebook GroupInstagram PageBecome a Reco12 Spearhead (Monthly Supporter)PatreonPayPalVenmo: @Reco-TwelveYouTube ChannelReco12 WebsiteEmail: reco12pod@gmail.com to join WhatsApp GroupReco12 Shares PodcastReco12 Shares Record a Share LinkReco12 Noodle It Out with Nikki M PodcastReco12 Big Book Roundtable Podcast
In today's episode I discuss Varg seemingly embracing AI, why the western activist class are silent on Iran, and in part three or four of why there are not angry bands in the mainstream anymore I discuss what the rental market has to do with this and why artists cant afford to live in cities anymore.....nemtheanga_primordialon the gramsupport the show over at :https://patreon.com/AlanAverillPrimordial on SpotifyYES THERE'S A NEW Primordial LIVE ALBUM OUT !!https://open.spotify.com/artist/0BZr6WHaejNA63uhZZZZek?si=yFFV8ypSSDOESUX62_0TzQsponsored by Metal Blade recordshttps://metalblade.indiemerch.com/promo code AA 2024 for 10% off your orderships worldwideFor info on my work as a booking agent go to:https://www.facebook.com/DragonProductionsOfficialor email alan@dragon-productions.comPrimordial cds/lps available fromhttps://www.metalblade.com/primordial/death metalVERMINOUS SERPENThttps://open.spotify.com/artist/54Wpl9JD0Zn4rhpBvrN2Oa?si=zOjIulHXS5y9lW1YHMhgTAdoomDREAD SOVEREIGN https://open.spotify.com/artist/60HY4pl0nbOrZA6u2QnqDN?si=sxQ5_1htR6G3WIvy1I_wXAgothAPRILMENhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/7GzLO1YJClmN5TvV4A37MJ?si=cRXSk24lQKWSqJG-B8KbWQSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/agitators-anonymous-the-alan-averill-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Tommy from the OC shares his journey through anxiety, OCD, alcoholism, and addiction, leading to his current years of sobriety. With a steady, calm delivery, Tommy reflects on how the rooms of AA—along with his willingness and effort—brought him the gift of recovery and peace.Sobriety Date: 2/20/2022Referred by: Caleb (Episode #269)InstagramFacebook
The Art of Sobriety: Crafting a Lasting Legacy with Jermaine Dante BurseAuthor and artist Jermaine Dante Burse returns to the coffee shop with Mike and Glenn to dive deep into his life's work: creating a legacy that outlasts his time on Earth. Driven by a powerful purpose rooted in his sobriety, Jermaine shares the discipline and exhaustion that come with living life fully present. This conversation isn't just about art or addiction; it's a battle cry against complacency—an essential listen for anyone seeking to embrace their own potential.
Tiempo de análisis con los periodistas Genoveva Crespo, Elena Puértolas e Iván Trigo: El Consejo de Ministros aprueba un anteproyecto de ley que protegerá numerosos escenarios tecnológicos como los deepfake, la producción de series de TV de género true crime y el uso de nuestra voz e imágenes una vez fallecemos. Además, hoy es noticia el Consejo de Política Fiscal y Financiera donde la ministra Montero explicará a las CC.AA la nueva financiación autonómica. Hablamos con el periodista José Antonio Zarzalejos sobre su último libro, "La huella de Sánchez", y repasamos el estudio de UGT Aragón sobre la salud mental de los docentes en Aragón. Y en directo, desde el ayuntamiento de Zaragoza, asistimos al sorteo de las mesas electorales.
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"AA" and "CC"- Samson was chosen by God to deliver Israel from the Philistines. He was raised in a Christian home. He was set up for success, but he had a couple big problems. Samson had authority without accountability, and consecration without communion.
"If I cease striving for happiness, the 'right' and the 'wrong' at once become apparent all by themselves." — Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu, Page 101 30 Tools to Stay Sober All Year Round! Here is a link to an online version of the Tao Te Ching that we use in every meeting: https://ttc.tasuki.org/display:Year:1972,1988,1996,2004/section:80 You can download a free PDF of the most current version of Powerless But Not Helpless, a Recovery Interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, at www.BuddyC.org. You are welcome to share, post, and distribute this book anywhere that you believe it will be of help. You can also access a free daily Tao Recovery Email, a list of podcasts, and many other recovery resources. Join our private Facebook group and continue the conversation! Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TaoPodcast/ or search Tao of Our understanding Podcast. A Course in Miracles - Daily lessons from the 365-Day Course in Miracles Calendar. See the notes in each entry for a more detailed description. Click Here to add the Course in Miracles Calendar to your Google Calendar Daily Thought is a daily Google Calendar you can add to your Google Calendar. It provides a daily thought that combines elements of Christian, ACIM, Tao, and AA. Click here to add the Daily Thought Calendar to your Google Calendar Nightly 9 pm eastern Zoom A.A. Meeting www.ZoomAAMeetings.com Would you like to receive a free daily topic email with the most popular A.A. resources, accompanied by a secret Facebook group for discussion? Go to www.DailyAAEmails.com for more information!
Join us as Ben, Dessy, Tiago, and Rose cover the inspirations behind Ace Attorney! Time to start 2026 with a beautiful fantasy: a world in which cops are good, rich men get their comeuppance, and every murder gets solved. Yes, we're back with our good friend Columbo, who is this time up against John Cassavetes as Alex Benedict, an arrogant orchestra conductor that murders his mistress. We discuss the first appearance of the bestest little guy Dog, the wise-beyond-her-years neighbor girl Audrey, and of course, the (technically) first time Gwyneth Paltrow is on film. Yes, we talk about Goop. Also, we make an announcement at the end: Dessy will be stepping back from the podcast for a bit due to scheduling and personal reasons, but don't worry! Anytime things line up, we'll have them back on (they just won't be a regular for the time being). Whenever a new AA game comes out though, we'll be sure to reunite the full cast, so... Capcom? You're on notice! NEXT TIME: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, stories 1 through 6 Follow us online: aceattorney.bsky / aceattorneypod.tumblr.com / updatedautopsy.report Watch Ben, Dessy, & Iro's Let's Plays of the series on YouTube here! Want a shirt? Check out our store here! Ben: yotsuben.bsky Dessy: dessy.bsky Rose: rosenonsense.bsky Tiago: tiagosdutra.bsky / linktr.ee
Dr. Keith Humphreys is a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford School of Medicine and a leading expert on treating addictions, drug laws and policy. We discuss all the major addictive substances and behaviors, including alcohol, opioids, gambling, stimulants, nicotine, cannabis and more, focusing on how genetics and certain use patterns shape addiction susceptibility. We discuss the best evidence-based tools for recovery, from 12-step programs to emerging treatments such as psychedelics and ibogaine. Anyone interested in making better choices for their health and/or seeking to avoid or overcome addictions ought to benefit from this episode. Read the episode show notes at hubermanlab.com. Thank you to our sponsors AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman David: https://davidprotein.com/huberman BetterHelp: https://betterhelp.com/huberman Helix Sleep: https://helixsleep.com/huberman LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/huberman Timestamps (00:00:58) Keith Humphreys (00:03:22) Addiction; Genetic Risk (00:09:14) Alcohol Use Disorder & Alcoholism; Genetic Predisposition & Addiction Risk (00:18:03) Sponsors: David & BetterHelp (00:20:37) Women & Alcohol Use; Young Adults; Cannabis Use (00:23:36) Health Benefit to Alcohol?, Red Wine, Cancer Risk; Social Pressure (00:31:47) Alcohol in Social Gatherings, Social Anxiety, Vulnerability, Work & Dates (00:37:41) Old vs New Cannabis & THC Levels; Smoked vs Edible Forms (00:44:38) Cannabis & Psychosis Risk; Cardiac Health; Youth Cannabis Use & Transition to Adulthood (00:52:29) Sponsor: AG1 (00:54:13) Industries of Addiction, Regulation; Gambling, Slot Machines, Novelty; Casinos (01:05:28) Decriminalization vs Legalization; Cannabis, Gateway Drug? (01:08:50) Psylocibin or LSD, Addiction Treatment; Microdosing, Clinical Trial Challenges (01:18:58) Sponsor: Helix Sleep (01:20:32) Brain Plasticity & Age; Ketamine, Depression, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) (01:28:10) SSRIs, Mass Shootings, Suicide, Side Effects; Drug Approval; Ibogaine & PTSD (01:36:10) Caffeine Addiction?; Stimulants & Rehab; Prescription Stimulants & ADHD (01:44:04) Nicotine, Mistaking Withdrawal for Benefit (01:47:24) Sponsor: LMNT (01:48:44) Tool: How to Talk to Someone with Addiction (01:55:23) Perception of Addicts, Character Defect, Pain (02:00:58) Overcoming Addiction, Immediate Rewards, AA; Addict & Co-Dependency? (02:09:53) Longterm Drug Use, Dopamine, Cues & Relapse; Social Media (02:16:21) Brain Stimulation, TMS; Homelessness, Substance Use & Rehab (02:26:11) Addiction Treatment Policy, Rehab & Insurance (02:29:08) Tool: 12-Step Programs, AA, Accessibility & Benefits (02:38:08) AA, Higher Power, Cult?; Flexibility, Tool: Open AA Meetings (02:44:38) GLP-1s, Weight Loss, Alcohol Addiction; Pharmaceutical Advertisements (02:52:39) Social Media Addiction, Tool: Avoiding Social Media Strategies (02:58:36) “Failure to Launch”, Youth, Video Games, Social Media; Recovery Pathways (03:04:13) AA as an Action Program, Tool: Try Different AA Meetings (03:08:21) Hospice, Death, Overcoming Fear of Death (03:13:54) Addiction to Escape Death?, Desire for Oblivion (03:18:11) Men vs Women & Addiction; Lying; Relapse; Fentanyl & Addiction Advice (03:24:27) Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter Disclaimer & Disclosures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
ad free at www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastThis Week on Dopey! Dave opens with a deeply personal and emotional tribute to Linda's father, Tony, who recently passed after a long battle with Lewy body dementia, and other ailments. He shares heartfelt memories of Tony's exceptional character—his strength, kindness, love of family, rock 'n' roll roots, teaching career, and unwavering positivity—reflecting on how Tony's compassion and support played a huge role in Dave's own recovery and relationship with Linda. The episode also touches on recent losses (Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead and actor James Ransone from The Wire), with Dave offering a half-hearted amend to Weir, pondering the future of Dead & Company, and urging listeners to reach out if struggling with depression. He then replays his powerful, candid interview with Alec Baldwin, where Alec gets brutally honest about his 40 years of sobriety, wild 80s cocaine-and-alcohol-fueled days in New York and LA, the terrifying overdose that led to his bottom, finding AA as his new “family,” the spiritual shift that kept him sober, and how the program carried him through massive personal and public storms (including his divorce and the Rust tragedy). All that and more on this weeks REPLAY! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Hangovers, fuzzy nights, shame spirals. Have you ever wondered if the life you're craving is waiting on the other side of your wine glass? Alcohol doesn't require a rock bottom to deserve a breakup, says Suzanne Warye, host of The Sober Mom Life podcast and author of “The Sober Shift.” Suzanne quit at 39 after years of drinking. Now, she shares why sobriety isn't about deprivation—it's about reconnecting with who you were before alcohol took center stage. We explore "mommy wine culture," the myth of moderation, why AA isn't the only path, and what happens after you say, "enough is enough." Whether sober-curious or already on your journey, this conversation offers a clear-eyed look at outgrowing alcohol. Cheers to that, beauties! FOLLOW A CERTAIN AGE Instagram Facebook LinkedIn GET INBOX INSPO: Sign up for our newsletter AGE BOLDLY We share new episodes, giveaways, links we love, and midlife resources Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Rick first came to AA supporting a friend mandated to attend. He didn't think himself an alcoholic, but read some literature and heard from some members and eventually understood his own problem. The Second and Third Steps came easy, but the Fourth presented a problem until he heard "it's just a list." Don and Sam introduce a new podcast feature, Using the Traditions in Our Lives, and Suzy and Angela share about Tradition One: Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon AA unity.While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/storeYou can email us at podcast@aagrapevine.org. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to podcast@aagrapevine.org
In this powerful episode, host Dustin Defenderfer sits down with Keith Seiver, CEO of Mountain Ops and 20-year sober recovering alcoholic, who opens up about his journey from childhood immersed in alcohol culture to rock-bottom isolation, shame, and addiction. Keith shares how AA's community, accountability, and spiritual surrender saved his life, replaced numbness with discipline, and fueled his transformation through fitness—ultimately leading to purpose, leadership, and helping men escape apathy, loneliness, and substance abuse for a life of grit and meaning.Join Dustin Diefenderfer, Founder of MTNTOUGH Fitness Lab and creator of the MTNTOUGH+ Fitness App in the top podcast for Mental Toughness and Mindset. (P.S.
If you have to pick, which elite status would you prefer, American or Alaska? How does this new edit credit work? We answered these and many other questions on the Ask Us Anything hosted live on January 7th of 2026.(03:34) - Curious to hear what 'coupons/credits' you just let go of, without redeeming by 12/31. I didn't use my first The Edit credit and can't stop feeling guilty.(05:48) - How does this new edit credit work, because there are so many different answers...?You can see a map of The Edit by Chase Travel℠ properties here:(10:05) - What do you think about the Apple Card takeover by Chase?See Greg's old post about the Apple Card here(12:48) - Have any of you proactively lowered the credit limit on a card?(17:17) - Do you think that the Bilt leak is real or fake? There are 3 different leaks right nowFind coffee break episode 86 about Bilt leaks here(18:44) - I started with Chase (I'm newer to points), but I'm curious what you all think are the best uses of each of the ecosystems and/or what you personally use them for?Learn more about Citi transfer partners here(23:05) - Last October, I booked a stay at the Hyatt Regency Rome for mid-April 2026, not realizing it was a new hotel. The website now shows reservations starting May 1, 2026, with no availability in April. I'm concerned about whether my reservation will be honored. If the hotel isn't ready, will Hyatt relocate me, and how soon would I be notified? I've booked a backup hotel, but would appreciate any tips(25:25) - Do the miles and points conventions mention things that aren't normally discussed in free podcasts like yours?(26:53) - Alaska miles redemption for Europe often entails BA metal that has high fees. Any tips on European redemptions? Or are Alaska miles mainly for AA or Asian partner awards?(35:22) - Does that PLAT airline credit still work for United Travel Bank this year?See our "Amex airline reimbursement fees...what still works?" post here(36:53) - Venture X travel credit is a discount rather than a credit. If I have two bookings and have to cancel the one booked with the discount, can I retroactively have them lower the second booking?(37:25) - What is everyone's US Bank strategy? I cashed mine out at 1.5x(42:00) - If you have to pick, which elite status would you prefer, American or Alaska?Find our podcast episode about American vs Alaska here(48:01) - Find coffee break episode 86 about Bilt leaks here(48:24) - Tim - In what cases is it worthwhile to keep both Atmos cards (Summit and Ascent)(54:10) - For 2026, any new programs you're prioritizing for earning or status? E.g. Citi to PHR, Atmos, etc?Visit https://frequentmiler.com/subscribe/ to get updated on in-depth...
Have you ever found yourself in a place of fatigue, depression, isolating from others and just feeling like you're tolerance for things that used to bring life joy just aren't there anymore? There could be many things that contribute to this, but one of the things that can be contributing is something called dopamine crash. How does the dopamine crash take us out of God's design for life? In this episode, Rodney Holmstrom, Global Field, Director of Celebrate Recovery, will unpack what a dopamine crash is and how going outside of God's design for stimulation and natural dopamine release can lead to unhealthy consequences. There is hope and a way out of it if we're willing to acknowledge it and understand it and invite God and others into it.
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In this episode Danni catches up with Chris Gimpel about his 1000 days of living with out alcohol. Danni and Chris talk about what Chris had to do to be where he is now, things like learning to sit with discomfort and really planning the steps that you need to take for change to take place.For more resources such as coaching or to join the next HIQA challenge go towww.iquitalcohol.com.auFollow HIQA insta @howiquitalcohol Music for Podcast intro and outro written by Danni Carr performed by Mr CassidyIf you are struggling with physical dependancy on alcohol consider contacting a local AA meeting or a drug and alcohol therapist. Always consult a GP before stopping alcohol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Bob D from Las Vegas speaking about Step 4 but more specifically about fear and sex at Woodstock of AA in Cocoa Beach FL. May 2010. Support Sober Cast: https://sobercast.com/donate Email: sobercast@gmail.com Sober Cast has 3000+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search. https://sobercast.com
What if the symptoms you've been battling are your body's way of asking for a different story? We sit down with Shannon—a wife, mom of three, nurse turned functional medicine coach—to trace a path from postpartum autoimmunity and burnout to gut healing, sobriety, and a faith-fueled life that actually works. Her journey starts with a doctor who asked better questions and a decision to believe the process could work. From there, everything shifted: inflammation dropped, brain fog cleared, weight released, and joy came back online.We unpack why gut health is the master key—how removing inflammatory triggers, treating infections like H. pylori, and restoring minerals can resolve skin flares (including hidradenitis), balance hormones, and steady mood. Shannon shares how quitting alcohol was less about deprivation and more about reclaiming her nervous system, her marriage, and her spiritual clarity. Alcohol is a toxin and a microbiome disruptor; letting it go created space for genuine healing and a clear mind. AA, community, and surrender to God anchored the change and gave her a roadmap that holds during vacations, busy seasons, and life's mess.Trauma weaves through this conversation with honesty and care. We explore how the body keeps the score, why fear blocks healing, and how tools like EMDR and somatic work help release stuck patterns. Most of all, we keep it simple: belief plus action beats perfection. Start with hydration, protein, fiber, sleep, and one courageous step—remove the thing you know is hurting you. Our coaching sisterhood brings structure, testing, IV nutrient therapy, and weekly support so you're never alone. If you're tired of trying to out-supplement exhaustion, this story will show you a kinder, proven way back to energy, confidence, and faith.If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help more women find a path to real healing.If you're ready to move beyond trying harder and start living more aligned, you're invited to join Empowered by Faith — LIVE, a guided 5-day reset led by Dr. Tabatha that helps women reset body, mind, and spirit through simple, faith-centered rhythms.
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First episode back this year is a spicy one, I couldn't resist taking a look into Maduro's wild ride, the chaotic mess that sadly became Venezuala and how politics in 2026 started with a bang, no rest for the wicked and not a moments peace! Start as you mean to continue and it's full pedal to the metal to begin the year!Metal podcast for next week I promise!Helter Skelternemtheanga_primordialon the gramsupport the show over at :https://patreon.com/AlanAverillPrimordial on SpotifyYES THERE'S A NEW Primordial LIVE ALBUM OUT !!https://open.spotify.com/artist/0BZr6WHaejNA63uhZZZZek?si=yFFV8ypSSDOESUX62_0TzQsponsored by Metal Blade recordshttps://metalblade.indiemerch.com/promo code AA 2024 for 10% off your orderships worldwideFor info on my work as a booking agent go to:https://www.facebook.com/DragonProductionsOfficialor email alan@dragon-productions.comPrimordial cds/lps available fromhttps://www.metalblade.com/primordial/death metalVERMINOUS SERPENThttps://open.spotify.com/artist/54Wpl9JD0Zn4rhpBvrN2Oa?si=zOjIulHXS5y9lW1YHMhgTAdoomDREAD SOVEREIGN https://open.spotify.com/artist/60HY4pl0nbOrZA6u2QnqDN?si=sxQ5_1htR6G3WIvy1I_wXAgothAPRILMENhttps://open.spotify.com/artist/7GzLO1YJClmN5TvV4A37MJ?si=cRXSk24lQKWSqJG-B8KbWQSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/agitators-anonymous-the-alan-averill-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
For the next few weeks, the guys will be re-airing some of their favourite episodes from our archives.Today, on a special episode, Asif and Ali interview addiction expert Dr. Jason Giles. For over two decades, Dr. Giles has helped more than 10,000 patients overcome substance use disorders. Dr. Giles combines clinical expertise with personal experience, having navigated his own journey to recovery 25 years ago. Dr. Giles is the founder and Medical Director of Addiction Doctors, a leading telemedicine practice specializing in comprehensive addiction care.Dr. Giles discusses his personal story with addiction and how this led him from anesthesiology to addiction medicine. Asif and Ali then ask Dr. Giles about whether certain jobs or personality types are predisposed to addiction, and then ask about some “hot button issues” including forced addiction treatment,decriminalization of illegal drugs, and if you should pay people to stay sober. They also discuss whether people need to “want” to stop using. They then ask Dr. Giles about inpatient versus outpatient treatment and the role of telemedicine and Ali asks about the role of organizations such as AA and NA. The opinions expressed are those of the hosts, and do not reflect those of any other organizations. This podcast and website represents the opinions of the hosts. The content here should not be taken as medical advice. The content here is for entertainment and informational purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions. Music courtesy of Wataboi and 8er41 from PixabayContact us at doctorvcomedian@gmail.comFollow us on Social media:Twitter: @doctorvcomedianInstagram: doctorvcomedian Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Camryn Lubner, from Southampton, New Jersey (a small town about 40 minutes outside Philly) and graduated from the University of South Carolina in May of 2024. She was on their IHSA team for all four years, competing in Open Flat and Fences throughout her career and attending Nationals in 2022, 2023, and 2024. She have been riding and showing horses ever since she could walk and have had the privilege of living on and running a horse farm my entire life. Lubner graduated with a degree in Statistics and Finance and started her career as a Financial Analyst in July of 2024. Lubner still competes regularly and just imported a 5 year old KWPN from Poland in August of 2024, along with dabbling in some AEE/ATOC (Alumni Equestrian Events/Alumni Tournament of Champions) competitions. Lillard Preschlack is a captain of the Skidmore College Riding Team. She began riding as a toddler on her cousin's retired ponies at her grandmother's farm, officially starting lessons at age 8. She competed locally in Illinois until High School, where she successfully began the AA circuit in the junior hunters and equitation at Kentucky and Wellington. Since the pandemic, she has ridden alongside her mom at Buena Vista Farm in Wadsworth, Illinois. Throughout high school, Lillard wasn't sure if she wanted to ride in college, but after visiting Skidmore, she knew it was the perfect fit for her. She loved that Skidmore provided the opportunity to ride at a high level while receiving a top-notch liberal arts education.
"I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river." — Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu, Page 98 30 Tools to Stay Sober All Year Round! Here is a link to an online version of the Tao Te Ching that we use in every meeting: https://ttc.tasuki.org/display:Year:1972,1988,1996,2004/section:80 You can download a free PDF of the most current version of Powerless But Not Helpless, a Recovery Interpretation of the Tao Te Ching, at www.BuddyC.org. You are welcome to share, post, and distribute this book anywhere that you believe it will be of help. You can also access a free daily Tao Recovery Email, a list of podcasts, and many other recovery resources. Join our private Facebook group and continue the conversation! Here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/TaoPodcast/ or search Tao of Our understanding Podcast. A Course in Miracles - Daily lessons from the 365-Day Course in Miracles Calendar. See the notes in each entry for a more detailed description. Click Here to add the Course in Miracles Calendar to your Google Calendar Daily Thought is a daily Google Calendar you can add to your Google Calendar. It provides a daily thought that combines elements of Christian, ACIM, Tao, and AA. Click here to add the Daily Thought Calendar to your Google Calendar Nightly 9 pm eastern Zoom A.A. Meeting www.ZoomAAMeetings.com Would you like to receive a free daily topic email with the most popular A.A. resources, accompanied by a secret Facebook group for discussion? Go to www.DailyAAEmails.com for more information!
I am honored to be joined today by James Swanwick, a renowned stop-drinking expert and author of Clear: The Only Neuroscience-Based Approach for High Achievers to Quit Drinking Without AA, Rehab, or Willpower. He is a former SportsCenter anchor on ESPN and the creator and founder of the Stop Drinking Process. In today's personal and thought-provoking conversation, James and I talk about alcohol use disorder, exploring how family dynamics and early environments shape our drinking habits, how alcohol use becomes normalized, the perceived benefits of drinking, and the very real health risks and consequences. James explains why alcohol is considered one of the most harmful drugs, how younger generations are approaching alcohol differently, the role of peer pressure in an alcohol-free lifestyle, and the importance of gratitude. Join us for an insightful and informative discussion on why we drink, how to reframe our relationship with alcohol, and for those who are sober-curious, a stepwise approach to making that shift. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: How family dynamics and early environments shape our relationship with alcohol How alcohol becomes normalized long before we ever take our first drink The real cost of using alcohol as a social lubricant How the health consequences of alcohol show up as we age Where alcohol ranks among the most harmful drugs Why appropriate accountability and community matter more than willpower The importance of structured support when quitting alcohol How gratitude, reframing, and daily practices can reduce cravings and support lasting change Connect with Cynthia Thurlow Follow on X, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia's website Submit your questions to support@cynthiathurlow.com Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community: The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow Cynthia's Menopause Gut Book is on presale now! Cynthia's Intermittent Fasting Transformation Book The Midlife Pause Supplement Line Connect with James Swanwick On Instagram Alcohol-free Lifestyle Alcohol-free Lifestyle on YouTube Alcohol-free Lifestyle Podcast CLEAR: The Only Neuroscience-Based Method for High Achievers to Quit Drinking Without Willpower, Rehab, or AA
Ep 365 You Didn't Fail - You Returned (Changing Your Relationship with Alcohol) In this episode of Stop Over-Drinking and Start Living, I share a simple question my yoga teacher asked us before practice: “Why did you return?” Not why you stayed consistent. Not why you did it perfectly. But why you came back. This episode is about why returning to work on your relationship with alcohol — whether you want to cut back, take a break, or stop over-drinking — is not failure. It's commitment. If you've taken time away from this work… If you've disengaged, started again, stopped again… If you're here listening after some time away… This conversation is for you. We explore: Why commitment isn't about perfection or never slipping How returning is often the real work Why time away doesn't erase what you've learned How to come back to changing your drinking without shame Why choosing again can be an act of self-trust and care You don't have to start over. You don't have to explain yourself. And you don't have to do this perfectly. If you're sober curious, thinking about drinking less, or want a healthier relationship with alcohol without AA or rigid rules — you're in the right place. And if you want to deepen this work with me in a powerful, immersive way, there are a few remaining spots at The Magic House Retreat Center, my international retreat center for women ready to get alcohol out of the way and come back to themselves.
In today's Afro-Euro Reco12 Meeting, Lisa.S hosts the Afro-Euro meeting with MJ from UK being the speaker. MJ talks to us on the topic of "3 Years in Sobriety". Reco12 Afro-Euro Timezone is a Reco12 Resource in and for the Afro-Euro time zone hosted by Karen A. We hope that you will join us and draw strength and hope from these podcasts that we will host about every Friday at 10:00 am Israel time and 8:00 am GMT.Reco12 appreciates your help in keeping us working our 12th Step with these great resources and services for the addict and loved ones. We gratefully accept contributions to help cover the costs of the Zoom platform, podcast platform, web hosting, and administrative costs. To become a Reco12 Spearhead you can quickly and easily become a monthly donor here: https://www.reco12.com/support or you can do one-time donations through PayPal (https://www.paypal.me/reco12) or Venmo: @Reco-Twelve . Thanks for your support!If you would like to get in contact with either Lisa S or MJ please send an email to reco12pod@gmail.com and we will get you connected with them.Information on Noodle It Out with Nikki M Big Book Roundtable Informational Seeking and educating on how to donate to Reco12.Support the showPrivate Facebook GroupInstagram PageBecome a Reco12 Spearhead (Monthly Supporter)PatreonPayPalVenmo: @Reco-TwelveYouTube ChannelReco12 WebsiteEmail: reco12pod@gmail.com to join WhatsApp GroupReco12 Shares PodcastReco12 Shares Record a Share LinkReco12 Noodle It Out with Nikki M PodcastReco12 Big Book Roundtable Podcast
(0:00) Intro(0:15) What I've been up to(2:40) There's a right answer, but what is it?(10:25) $5/$5/$10 hand: AThh on A83xdd6x(15:25) AQo on Q83r4r(23:56) $5/$5/$10 session(25:14) AJo on AK6xcc9x8x(26:51) Ridiculous preflop spot with KK(30:34) AQo on AQ2dxdTx8x(32:51) AQo (again) on KJTrJccTx(33:59) AA on Q94hhx(35:22) TT on T72ccx6x6x(38:27) A9ss on 863ddxAhhYour correspondent thinks about the many decision points in live poker in which there probably are correct answers, but it's not clear what it is. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE Episode notesTwitterCrush Live Poker
From the Brink of Death to a Platform of Purpose: Author/Artist Jermaine Dante Burse Joins Sober.CoffeeIn this powerful episode, Mike and Glenn sit down with Jermaine Dante Burse, who shares a raw and inspiring story of survival and transformation. Once in a coma with organ failure due to alcoholism, Jermaine has forged over a decade of hard-won sobriety into a powerful platform for helping others. Discover how art, writing, and the courageous process of making amends became his path to reconciliation and a new life. This is a story of reclaiming trust, discovering brilliance on the other side of dependence, and the journal notes that inspired his searing memoir, Autopsy of My Former Self (available at Barnes & Noble).
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Today we have Sarah. She is 49 years old and lives in San Diego, CA. Sarah took her last drink on August 6th, 2025. This episode is brought to you by: Better Help – 10% off of your first month #sponsored Pick up your copy of Paul's newest book Dolce Vita. You can get it on Amazon, listen to it on Audible or order it at your favorite bookstore today. Join us on January 10th for the start of our AF Ukelele Course. This course is sponsored by Kala brand ukelele and if you register, you get a code for 10% off an instrument. [02:00] Thoughts from Paul: This is the first podcast of the new year and maybe you are a new listener. Paul wants to cover some basics and let you know what we are about. Recovery Elevator is about quitting drinking. The goal isn't cutting back, moderation or putting the beast back in the cage. It's full send on zero alcohol consumed. Recovery Elevator is also about embracing that there is no right or wrong way to ditch the booze, just don't do it alone. No explanation needed her, we get it. What you'll find here and in Café RE is there is no judgment. We all know where you are and have been there ourselves. Recovery Elevator is the podcast, courses, Dry January, sober travel, merch, Instagram and more. Café RE is the non-profit alcohol-free community – it's the social app for sober people. We've got 25+ chats each week, Accountability Partner pairings, in-house AA meetings, book club, movie club, etc. [06:27] Paul introduces Sarah: Sarah is a painter and lives in San Diego with her partner and two daughters, 17 and 19. For fun, she enjoys surfing with her partner, backpacking with her older daughter and loves living on the beach. Sarah says she grew up in an idyllic childhood. Her parents drank but not to excess. She recalls that she was a worried child with a tendency towards overthinking and had a addictive personality to many things. Drinking wasn't part of her story while in school. She was on the cross-country team from seventh grade until she was a sophomore in college. After an injury took her out of the sport, she began to participate in parties more. She quickly recognized that drinking took away some insecurities and inhibitions and enjoyed that aspect but realized she couldn't moderate. Sarah developed a "take it or leave it" attitude towards alcohol but developed an eating disorder. Food became the replacement for alcohol when it came to self-medicating. After a divorce, Sarah made a new friend that was going through the same things. She confided in him about her eating disorder and he helped her find treatment for it. While in the process of recovering from the ED, she started using alcohol again and would replace meals with beer. Sarah began asking God, "why are we having me have another problem?" She knew she was meant for better things but was having a hard time stopping the addictions. Sarah used prayer to try and find the help she was after. She began going to AA, listening to podcasts and working herself to try and gain the tools to decide the addiction wasn't an option anymore. She was able to gain some traction but relapsed after several months of sobriety. In spite of being upset about being back at day one, Sarah learned to just keep showing up for herself and others and stopped beating herself up. Sarah has removed food and alcohol as options for coping. When she needs to get away, she utilizes the beach and the ocean. She enjoys the studio space with her art to help her get out of her head. Sarah O'Connor Art Sarah's Instagram Recovery Elevator You took the elevator down We gotta take the stairs back up We can do this. Café RE RE on Instagram Sobriety Tracker iTunes RE YouTube
Greg, whose article "A Well-Made Bed" appears in the January 2025 issue of Grapevine magazine, tells Don and Olis about getting to AA with the help of a patient twelfth stepper. Greg shares a bit of history about the beginnings of his home group — the Princeton Alternative Group in New Jersey. We learn Greg's take on the secret to being "cool," and one difference between alcoholics and non-alcoholics. Terry talks about the benefits of Grapevine both in print and digital formats, and Don shares about Grapevine's Carry the Message project.While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/storeYou can email us at podcast@aagrapevine.org. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to podcast@aagrapevine.org
There's something incredibly powerful when we get to hear the hope and life change that happens in one of our brothers and sisters in Christ. When we hear another's story, it gives us hope to keep going ourselves. Listen in as Rodney Holmstrom, Global Field Director of Celebrate Recovery, interview Jim, to hear an encouraging word and a portion of a powerful life change story.
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Without inserted ads go to: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/one-show-at-a-time-a-yellow-balloon-experience/id1690094890This week on Dopey! Dave rings in New Year's Eve with a raw, reflective Wednesday dose amid a “rough fucking week” on the home front, admitting family struggles (including Linda's dad's health) have him questioning whether to keep the grueling Five Days of Dopey schedule into 2026 while teasing resolutions like restarting the infamous Dopey Fitness Challenge, daily writing, and maybe even Tai Chi to save his creaky joints. He reads a heartfelt email from old-timer Craig begging him to go full-throttle for the community's sake, then drops the full replay of his recent guest spot on the hippie Yellow Balloon podcast One Show at a Time—a rapid-fire qualification packed with childhood staph infections, codependency as his first “drug,” heroin-fueled career crashes, supervised visitation shame, and the desperate AA surrender that finally stuck at 41. The share ends with an avalanche of love from the Zoom crowd (random cameos from Ivan Neville and Anders Osborne included), leaving Dave both embarrassed and deeply grateful as he closes out 2025 counting blessings, overeating brookies with Susan at Patchogue's early ball drop, and reminding the Nation: if you're struggling tonight, reach out—tomorrow's a new day. All that and more on this weeks collab show with the one show at a time podcast! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
What's the true color of the sun? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comic co-host Chuck Nice discuss things you thought you knew about the color of the Sun, the sound of weather, and why friction is our friend. NOTE: StarTalk+ Patrons can listen to this entire episode commercial-free here: https://startalkmedia.com/show/things-you-thought-you-knew-the-color-of-the-sun/Thanks to our Patrons Jorge Aguirre, C&C Angeli, Len Brandis, Alan Parker, Aaron Ivey, AA-ron or just "AI", MD Bartlett, Nox, Nicholas Crayford, Adam Collins, Deep Patel, RAHIM THERIOT, Dan Abrams, Dan Thomas, Tig, Gloria Michelle Shirley, Mike Horvath, Daniel Brannon, Tonieh Ellis, Camila Von Malice, Kat, Nickolas Madeo, Marcus Phelps, Daniela Eneva, AndyF, Paul Purington, Paul, Mark Fowler, Thomas Freridge, Corey Ferrell, Mo O, Jacob Johnson, Matt Newcomb, Vladimir Antonovich, Steffen Sommers, Joan Morrissey, yared ts, Danielle Seitz, Edmond Fondahn, Blythe Lucas, Richard Adam, Bryant McFayden, Nayah Sci Fi, Lissett Lamboy, John Lujan, Marie Mckenna, Kaustav Chakravarthy, Hannah Bradley, Joshua Jones, EVA, Gail Knapp, Gavin Dunagan, Decoy, Athena Ozanich, Dakota Barron, William Gibson, Eleanor Dewitt, Tru Shadow, MorningSong, Matt Delashaw, Angela Woods, Eric Gorohoff, Zakary Tackett, Carmen Fragapane, Kristián Žuffa, Michael Dunsavage, Mark Bradshaw, Kelsey Harkness-Jones, Mark Rose, Brent, Mohammed Hamdy, Baz, Andrew Stevens, Rachel Jacobsen, Rick Dawson, Tibor Szabo, Raven Knight, McMarklar, Chris Cummings, FromLongIsland, Wendy Parsons, Denise Asmus, Brad, JimPP, Lauren Cooper, Juan Jove, Brent Bailey, Watts Wire Extension Cords, Graham, sean aley, NotAnotherMike, Robert Currier, Steve Vanspall, Alex Nuss, Thomas PASCAL, Antonín Karásek, Mikayla Trousdale, MC, 22 Simulations, Kasey Marsland, and Stevie for supporting us this week. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of StarTalk Radio ad-free and a whole week early.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
More of the funniest reviews on the internet! We read reviews for a strip mall, that has everything from nail shops, dentists, and rims, to government offices, a McDonald's, and AA meetings. One thing they share is that everyone's life is apprantly in danger. A "living history museum" in Arizona where it's so hot, that no history could possibly survive. A city bus station, that will leave its stink in your clothes & much more!! Join comedians James Pietragallo & Jimmie Whisman as they explore the most opinionated part of the internet: The Reviews Section! Subscribe, and we will see you every Monday with Your Stupid Opinions!! Dont forget to rate & review!! Go to shutupandgivememurder.com for merch & more Check out James & Jimmie's other podcasts, Small Town Murder & Crime In Sports on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!!