Podcasts about recovery podcast

Send us Fan MailToday's topic is The Committee in Our Head: The Committee Isn't Always Bad

Send us Fan MailToday's topic is The Committee in Our Head: Showing Up

DopeyCon Tickets: https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/2345507No ADS for $8 a month! Save $15 on Tickets at: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastEpisode Summary:This week on the 600th episode of Dopey! Dave celebrates the show's unofficial 600th Friday episode from the increasingly unreliable Dopey studio at his father's house—and considers either dismantling the whole operation or hiring Ray as the new engineer.The episode begins with recovery anniversaries from the Dopey Nation. Mr. Jason celebrates one year sober and reflects on repeatedly returning after relapse, while Haley marks five years free from drugs after beginning at age 12. Hippie Earl delivers a classic Dopey voicemail about shooting heroin for the first time after having his wisdom teeth removed, mixing it with Percocet, Klonopin and alcohol, destroying his car and waking up with no memory of being arrested. Seventeen years later, he is celebrating a year completely sober.Dave also launches the latest Dopey versus Phish beef, announces that Hamilton Morris is officially coming to DopeyCon, discusses the DopeyCon theme-song challenge and reads listener reactions to last week's Jeff Garlin interview—including stories about food addiction, recovery and Dave's allegedly improved listening skills.Then Dave sits down with Garrett McClendon for one of the wildest and most complete meth stories ever told on Dopey.Garrett grew up in California's Antelope Valley with a mother addicted to methamphetamine. By his early teens, he was smoking and selling speed, dropping out of school and getting high alongside his mother. Together, they stole three enormous pigs, loaded them into Garrett's 1977 Toyota Celica and sold them at auction—only for his mother to short him on his share of the money.From there, Garrett's life descends into stolen cars, homemade meth pipes, purple crank, mobile meth labs, prison riots and increasingly elaborate criminal schemes. He trades half a gram of meth for a Toyota, steals an enormous boulder for a drug connection, receives 168 traffic tickets and eventually organizes drug drops into prison using runners, duffel bags, trash cans and body-cavity “plugs.”In prison, Garrett injects meth for the first time. Once released, he combines meth and heroin in goofball shots and becomes trapped in a cycle of addiction, homelessness, incarceration and treatment. Everything finally begins to change when his friend Levi—nine months sober—embraces him inside a treatment facility and tells him, “I really hope you stay.”Garrett did stay. Thirteen years later, he has rebuilt his relationships, established a career in construction, helped create Mindset Recovery and become the present father his daughter always deserved. His story culminates in an emotional moment when his daughter asks him to continue their tradition and buy the dress she will wear to her college graduation.It's an outrageous, cinematic and ultimately beautiful episode about addiction, belonging, incarceration, fatherhood, service and the possibility of building an entirely new life.All that and much ore on this brand spanking new episode of the 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.

In this episode of the Agents of Recovery Podcast, Coach Blu and Coach Wendell explore the complexities and absolute necessity of stepping outside your comfort zone in recovery.They discuss how comfort can quietly become stagnation, keeping people attached to familiar thoughts, routines, relationships, and behaviors that no longer support growth. Together, they identify the signs of a comfort zone, including avoiding difficult conversations, making excuses, resisting accountability, choosing short-term relief over long-term progress, and repeatedly returning to patterns that feel familiar but keep recovery unstable.Coach Blu and Coach Wendell also examine why resistance is not always a warning to stop. Sometimes, resistance is evidence that meaningful change is taking place. By leaning into the challenges of life, confronting uncomfortable emotions, and challenging limiting mindsets, individuals can build the discipline, confidence, and emotional strength necessary for sustainable recovery.This conversation highlights a central principle of recovery: stability is not created by avoiding difficulty. It is built by learning how to face difficulty without returning to the behaviors that once caused harm. Through honest self-awareness, consistent action, accountability, movement, and connection, discomfort can become a pathway toward a stronger and more stable life.Tune in as Coach Blu and Coach Wendell discuss how to recognize when comfort has become a barrier, how to move through resistance, and why the next right step often begins just beyond what feels familiar.Chapters00:00 Introduction to the comfort trap and its effects01:54 The analogy of frogs in boiling water04:10 Strategies for gradually expanding comfort zones07:12 Reframing discomfort as a sign of progress10:04 The importance of celebrating small wins11:52 Redesigning environment to support growth15:03 The paradox of safety and growth17:52 Stories of personal transformation22:01 The role of curiosity and mindful awareness26:10 Overcoming limiting beliefs and taking action29:58 The power of small steps and micro experiments34:03 Reframing discomfort and making deliberate choices38:02 The importance of decision and environment change42:04 The value of experiences over comfort44:56 Living intentionally and embracing challenge50:10 Final thoughts on growth and transformationJoin Coach Blu and Team Addict II Athlete and begin your recovery with a tram behind you! Our online addiction and mental health program provides live group sessions with Coach Blu, our weekly Home Base, recovery meeting, therapeutic assignments, and educational information at a fraction of what a therapeutic treatment program would require. Take You Mark, Get Set, Let's Go and click the link below. https://www.skool.com/addict-ii-athlete-5988/about?ref=9090e81114674311874340c02b1095d0Please visit our website for more information on Team Addict to Athlete and Addiction Recovery Podcasts.https://www.AddictToAthlete.orgBlu@AddictToAthlete.OrgWendell@AddictToAthlete.Org

What can nearly five decades in recovery teach us about service, connection, and helping others?In this episode of the Recovery Matters Podcast, Chris reflects on 47 years in recovery and the experiences that ultimately led him to a life centered around giving back.Chris shares his journey from years of pain and repeated attempts to find help to the moment he finally surrendered in December 1978. He explains how sharing his experience with others became an important part of his own recovery—and how that commitment to service eventually helped inspire Become Part of the Solution (BPS).BPS was created to help fill critical gaps when people in recovery find themselves just short of the resources they need to keep moving forward. Chris and John also discuss why stability matters, the importance of accountability, knowing the difference between helping and rescuing, and how genuine compassion can give someone hope at exactly the right time.This conversation is a reminder that recovery doesn't only change one life. Sometimes, what we survive becomes the very thing that allows us to help someone else.00:00 Meet Chris & the importance of service00:41 Chris's 47-year recovery journey02:36 Filling the gaps for people in recovery02:59 The story behind Become Part of the Solution05:19 Building BPS around service06:49 How BPS and CCAR work together08:35 Addiction, denial & Chris's experience10:09 His first recovery meeting10:56 Six months without drinking—and what happened next11:19 Faith, surrender & moving through pain12:37 Love, compassion & hope in recovery13:39 Supporting BPS through community16:19 Why stability matters early in recovery18:14 Accountability and responsible support20:10 Helping someone vs. trying to save them21:12 When change finally happens22:10 Final thoughts ----Across the Web----

Tickets for Dopeycon: https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/2216905PAtreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastEpisode summaryTHIS WEEK ON DOPEY! Actor, comedian, director and Curb Your Enthusiasm star Jeff Garlin joins Dopey for an unusually candid conversation about comedy, compulsive eating, mental illness, addiction and the breakdown that nearly killed him.Jeff explains why he believes his morally questionable Curb character is nothing like the person he tries to be. He talks about gratitude, refusing to indulge in self-pity and the early comedy lesson that taught him never to make an audience feel sorry for him.The conversation then moves into Jeff's lifelong relationship with food. He describes compulsively eating sugar as a child, hiding food, binging on the road and eventually developing diabetes. Even a stroke and the loss of part of his toe couldn't make him stop. Although alcohol and marijuana were also part of his story, Jeff says food was the addiction that brought him to his knees.Jeff opens up about working on The Goldbergs while struggling with undiagnosed bipolar disorder, severe ADHD, resentment and increasingly erratic behavior. After his departure from the show became public, shame and fear pushed him toward suicide. He called two people and told them that he intended to be dead by noon. His family and friends intervened, and Jeff entered treatment in Cincinnati, where DBT helped him understand his emotions and behavior. After returning home, a friend brought him to an AA meeting and gave him the beginning of a new life.Jeff also discusses transcendental meditation, clairvoyant experiences, his friendship with Larry David and how a lunch conversation became the original HBO special that evolved into Curb Your Enthusiasm. He reflects on the show's improvisational process, Bill Buckner's redemptive appearance and the extraordinary creative mind of Larry David.Before the interview, Dave shares listener stories involving grief, Suboxone, meth, crack, a police raid, cocaine psychosis, boofing drugs and leading a recovery meeting while hallucinating animals underneath the bed.PLUS MORE! ON A BRAND NEW EXCITING EPISODE OF YE GOODE OLDE DOPEY SHOW... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

DOPEYCON Tickets: https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/2345507SAVE 15$ on PATREON: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcastEpisode summaryThis week on Dopey's Greatest Hits! Dopey legend Jessa Reed returns for one of the strangest, funniest and most honest conversations in the archive. Jessa talks about becoming uncomfortable with public attention, feeling trapped by other people's versions of her and disappearing from podcasting after years of sharing her life.She describes contracting Lyme disease at the beginning of the pandemic, losing much of her memory and vocabulary, contemplating suicide and eventually recovering through an unconventional treatment involving Antabuse. She and Dave explore nervous-system regulation, people-pleasing, boundaries and rebuilding an identity after your mind and body fundamentally change.Then Jessa revisits her unbelievable meth years: growing up around addiction, discovering crank, doing stand-up while high, nearly dying, communicating with aliens, drinking meth pee and manufacturing her own fake teeth. She explains how a Christmas visit with her recovering father helped her recognize that meth had finally become “stale.”The conversation eventually turns toward her complicated relationship with twelve-step recovery. Jessa explains why she stopped identifying as an addict, cautiously returned to psychedelics and feared that telling the truth about her experience could give someone else permission to relapse. Dave and Jessa discuss recovery dogma, California sobriety, acceptance, gratitude, consciousness, manifestation and whether dreams—or aliens—might be trying to tell us something.Before the interview, Dave reads an anonymous listener's powerful account of a one-night relapse and explains how sharing the truth can transform shame into connection.Plus more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send us Fan MailWant to recover well after birth? Your recovery starts before your baby arrives.In this episode of the Pregnancy, Birth and Recovery Podcast, I talk about how to prepare your body during pregnancy with your postnatal recovery in mind, and the practical steps that can help support you in those important first six weeks after birth.In this episode, I cover:Exercising during pregnancy and why regular movement can support recoveryPreparing your body for birth with long-term recovery in mindWhy a pelvic floor assessment during pregnancy can be helpfulWhat a functional pelvic floor really means, including strength and relaxationPreparing your pelvic floor for birth and discussing perineal massageManaging pregnancy aches and pains so you can continue moving comfortablyGradually building up walking during the first six weeks after birthWhy short periods of horizontal rest can support pelvic floor recoveryReducing unnecessary lifting and physical strain during early recoverySupporting recovery after both vaginal and caesarean birthWhat to expect from a six-week postnatal physio checkHow to gradually rebuild mobility, strength and confidence after birthEvery birth and recovery journey is different, but building strong foundations during pregnancy and giving your body the right support afterwards can make a meaningful difference.Listen in for practical, realistic guidance to help you prepare for birth and recover well after birth.https://www.fitnestmama.comLINKS:Preparing for birth Pelvic health checklistFree 7 Day Trial Pregnancy WorkoutsFree 7 Day Trial Postnatal WorkoutsFitNest Mama WebsiteInstagram @kathbaquie.physio1:1 Consultation with Physio Kath at Hatched House** This podcast has general information only. Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your health or medical condition. 

Send us Fan MailSometimes something can hurt deeply even when nothing is wrong.After dropping his son Owen off at college, Matt expected the hard part to be worrying about whether he would be okay. Instead, the emotion hit when he realized the opposite: Owen was ready. He had found his people. He was going to be fine. And a chapter of Matt's life as a parent had changed anyway.Matt and Steve talk about grief that comes without tragedy, what it means to be present for moments you can't fix, and how sobriety changes the way we experience painful feelings. Not every uncomfortable emotion is a problem to solve. Sometimes it just hurts—and learning not to run from that can be part of recovery.Just Be True ~ A Soul-Led PodcastJust Be True is a podcast about spiritual awakening, self-discovery, and real...Listen on: Apple Podcasts SpotifySupport the show

DopeyCon Tickets: https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/2345507 PAtreon can save $15 on tickets: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Episode summary: This week on Dopey Total Replay! Dave circles back to Dopey Episode 42—the first appearance of his lifelong friend Devan. Before the replay, Dave celebrates eleven years in recovery, reflects on acceptance, gratitude and friendship, makes amends for sharing too much about a sponsee, and responds to listeners inspired by the Hunter Biden interview. Then Dave, Chris and Devan revisit their teenage years in New York City, including Dave and Devin's first acid trip at a Grateful Dead show, the pug that looked like an alien, a disastrous baby-powder fight and their organized campaign to steal CDs from HMV. Chris remembers Surfer Mike, addiction before the drugs and his dangerous childhood experiments with model rockets. Finally, an Australian listener tells the insane story of an overdosed friend who was dumped in a phone booth—only to wake up hours later and call the people who left him there. All that and MORE on the total replay episode of the 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.

Send us Fan MailToday's topic is The Committee in Our Head: The Image Maker pt. 2

Send us Fan MailToday's topic is The Committee in Our Head: The Image Maker pt. 1

Chason Forehand has spent 45 years in the culinary industry—but his story goes far beyond the kitchen. After experiencing abuse as a child, Chason turned to drugs at an early age while trying to cope with rage, fear, depression, and shame. His addiction followed him into the restaurant industry, where he was often able to perform even when his life outside of work was falling apart. Then one chef changed the direction of his life. After disappearing on a three-day bender and missing the busiest shifts of the week, Chason returned to work expecting to be fired. Instead, his chef revealed that he was 10 years clean and sober himself—and that someone had once given him a second chance. He decided to pay that same gift forward to Chason, becoming his mentor and first sponsor and helping him begin his own recovery journey. That experience would eventually influence the philosophy behind Transformation Kitchen, a program created to offer people more than culinary training. Participants develop job skills, life skills, financial literacy, conflict-resolution skills, community connections, work experience, and a pathway toward living-wage employment. But bringing Transformation Kitchen to the United States hasn't been easy. After coming incredibly close to opening a U.S. location, a lease fell through just before it was supposed to be signed. Chason describes the disappointment as devastating—and shares why, after 30 years in recovery, he found himself returning to NA meetings because he knew he needed to protect what he had built in his own life. In this episode of Recovery Matters, CCAR Executive Director Stacy Charpentier talks with Chason about addiction, long-term recovery, second chances, Transformation Kitchen, the danger of attaching our identity to outcomes, and why the work of recovery never truly stops. They also discuss what Chason learned from having a door close, why strong support systems still matter decades into recovery, and why he continues to believe that Transformation Kitchen will find its first home in the United States. 00:00 Meet Chason Forehand 02:36 Chason's Recovery Journey 05:53 Addiction, a Bender & a Second Chance 07:48 The Idea Behind Transformation Kitchen 11:33 What Happens When You Put People First 14:19 How Transformation Kitchen Works 15:25 Bringing Transformation Kitchen Around the World 17:22 Why Hasn't It Happened in the U.S.? 19:55 When the Dream Fell Apart 20:19 Protecting 30 Years of Recovery 22:18 Lessons From the Setback 24:30 When Recovery Work Becomes Your Identity 26:17 "Your Addictions Will Just Morph" 27:42 What Transformation Kitchen Needs Next 30:29 What Transformation Means to Chason 31:14 What to Do When a Door Closes ----Across the Web----

What does it actually mean to fish without bait? In Episode 529 of Fishing Without Bait, behavioral health therapist Jim Ellermeyer sits down with Producer Mike for a return to the fundamental ideas that have shaped the podcast through more than 500 episodes. At the center of the conversation is a simple relationship between expectations and serenity: “The greater your expectations, the lower your serenity. The lower your expectations, the greater your serenity.” Jim and Mike explore the difference between setting rigid expectations and setting intentions. An expectation can turn life into a pass/fail exercise where anything short of a particular outcome feels like failure. An intention gives us direction while allowing us to remain present, curious, and responsive to what actually happens. That leads to another question Mike asks himself: “What am I working so hard to get to?” Jim's answer is equally simple: “There is no there.” The conversation expands into emotional honesty and the ways people avoid uncomfortable truths. Jim challenges the automatic response of telling everyone we're “good” when we aren't—including situations where honesty with doctors, loved ones, recovery peers, or ourselves could make a meaningful difference. They also discuss the 12-step idea that “it's our secrets that keep us sick,” the discomfort involved in confronting fears and resentments, and the tendency to keep “kicking the emotional can down the road” instead of dealing with what is immediately in front of us. Mindfulness, as Jim and Mike describe it, isn't escaping daily life or spending hours in meditation. It is practical: Paying attention on purpose. It's pausing before reacting. Questioning assumptions. Making choices based on facts instead of beliefs. Recognizing how our words and actions affect others. And allowing our words to pass through three important gates: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? The episode closes by returning to impermanence and non-attachment. Everything and everyone in our lives is shared with us temporarily. Rather than making life meaningless, that understanding can make the present more valuable. We don't live by years, months, weeks, days, or hours. We live by moments. Make this one count. Continue the Journey Subscribe to Fishing Without Bait on your favorite podcast player. Support the show and receive ad-free episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/fishingwithoutbait Pick up “Learn to Fish Without Bait: A 365-Day Mindfulness Journal and Adult Coloring Book”: https://www.lulu.com/shop/james-ellermeyer-lpc-ma-ncc-lpc/learn-to-fish-without-bait/paperback/product-6n9rd8.html?page=1&pageSize=4

What does it actually mean to fish without bait? In Episode 529 of Fishing Without Bait, behavioral health therapist Jim Ellermeyer sits down with Producer Mike for a return to the fundamental ideas that have shaped the podcast through more than 500 episodes. At the center of the conversation is a simple relationship between expectations and serenity: “The greater your expectations, the lower your serenity. The lower your expectations, the greater your serenity.” Jim and Mike explore the difference between setting rigid expectations and setting intentions. An expectation can turn life into a pass/fail exercise where anything short of a particular outcome feels like failure. An intention gives us direction while allowing us to remain present, curious, and responsive to what actually happens. That leads to another question Mike asks himself: “What am I working so hard to get to?” Jim's answer is equally simple: “There is no there.” The conversation expands into emotional honesty and the ways people avoid uncomfortable truths. Jim challenges the automatic response of telling everyone we're “good” when we aren't—including situations where honesty with doctors, loved ones, recovery peers, or ourselves could make a meaningful difference. They also discuss the 12-step idea that “it's our secrets that keep us sick,” the discomfort involved in confronting fears and resentments, and the tendency to keep “kicking the emotional can down the road” instead of dealing with what is immediately in front of us. Mindfulness, as Jim and Mike describe it, isn't escaping daily life or spending hours in meditation. It is practical: Paying attention on purpose. It's pausing before reacting. Questioning assumptions. Making choices based on facts instead of beliefs. Recognizing how our words and actions affect others. And allowing our words to pass through three important gates: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? The episode closes by returning to impermanence and non-attachment. Everything and everyone in our lives is shared with us temporarily. Rather than making life meaningless, that understanding can make the present more valuable. We don't live by years, months, weeks, days, or hours. We live by moments. Make this one count. Continue the Journey Subscribe to Fishing Without Bait on your favorite podcast player. Support the show and receive ad-free episodes on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/fishingwithoutbait Pick up “Learn to Fish Without Bait: A 365-Day Mindfulness Journal and Adult Coloring Book”: https://www.lulu.com/shop/james-ellermeyer-lpc-ma-ncc-lpc/learn-to-fish-without-bait/paperback/product-6n9rd8.html?page=1&pageSize=4

DopeyCon Tickets: https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/2216905 Get Discounts and Good Stuff on PAtreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Summary Interventionist, social worker, author and longtime Dopey favorite Joe Schrank returns to record with Dave in person for the first time since the early days with Chris. Joe explains why he believes the traditional rehab industry often confuses compliance with actual healing—and why recovery should be measured by improvement, reduced harm and staying alive, not only perfect abstinence. Dave and Joe dig into Brad Pitt's decision to drink moderately after years of sobriety, whether alcoholics can ever successfully return to controlled drinking, and why celebrities speaking publicly about recovery matters. They also discuss kratom and 7-OH addiction, medication-assisted treatment, cannabis in recovery, mental health care and the danger of treating relapse as a moral failure. Joe shares memories of employing Chris, how he responded to Chris's relapses and the shame Chris carried afterward. Plus: a drug-addled FedEx driver steals a customer's mailbox, Dave's painfully awkward encounter with Seth Rogen, Joe's upcoming book and screenplay, DopeyCon, Andy Cohen, baseball and the possible return of Rehab Confidential. ALL THAT AND MORE!   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send us Fan MailWhy is it so hard to ask for help without immediately feeling like you need to apologize for it?Matt and Steve talk about the shame that can come with needing support, the belief that we should be able to handle everything ourselves, and the fear that struggling will make other people think less of us. They also get into pride, people pleasing, emotional overwhelm, and the difference between actually owing someone an apology and simply being uncomfortable with needing them.Recovery doesn't make the need for help disappear. Sometimes it teaches us how to stop treating that need like a personal failure.Support the show

Patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast DopeyCon Tickets: https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/2216905 Summary: On this Dopey Total Replay, Dave revisits episode 41—the first episode he and Chris recorded with an actual microphone and one of the earliest shows to explore bipolar disorder, mania, drug-induced psychosis and mental illness. First, Jason tells a mile-a-minute story about visiting an escort in a boarded-up Seattle trap house after relapsing on meth. After smoking crack for the first time, he returns from the bathroom to discover that the escort has taken his phone, wallet and keys. She demands $400—including a mandatory $50 tip—and summons a huge man armed with a nine iron. Held hostage and threatened with death, Jason secretly texts his roommate, who sends the police crashing through the door. Then Dave and Chris return in 2016 with their brand-new Yeti microphone. They debate potential sponsors, remember Leonardo DiCaprio completely ignoring Dave, and discuss the grim reality of losing friends to overdoses. Chris tells the story of a longtime friend whose drug use triggered manic and psychotic episodes. After hearing Dave describe Leonardo DiCaprio as “Teflon,” the friend is approached by police while behaving erratically, tears off his shirt and repeatedly screams, “I'm Leonardo DiCaprio!” The conversation expands into bipolar disorder, substance-induced mania, grandiosity, Jesus delusions and the difficulty of getting someone appropriate psychiatric care when they can appear normal for an hour. Dave's friend John then calls with recordings of his frightening former roommate. John survived the living situation by recording every confrontation with his phone—including an incredible argument in which the roommate becomes convinced that John bought a scratched, secondhand toilet seat online. The episode finishes with early Dopey shenanigans: Chris's abandoned mindfulness calendar, Dave receiving weed as a Secret Santa gift immediately after getting sober, and a mysterious half-ounce of marijuana left underneath a table at Katz's. All that and lots more on this new but also old episode of dopey. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

listen without ads and get dopeycon tix discounted at www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Summary: It's Dopey Day—the annual celebration of Chris O'Connor's birthday, his spirit and the strange, loving community that grew around Dopey. Dave explains the meaning of putting the Dopey logo over your eyes: addiction doesn't have one face, nobody truly knows what another person is going through, and recovery happens through connection. After DopeyCon updates, Scott remembers his weed-loving boxer Bailey, and Morgan tells a frightening story about a friend accidentally snorting an enormous line of 2C-B instead of cocaine and spending four hours reliving combat trauma. Then three longtime dopes return to reflect on how their lives—and their ideas about recovery—have changed. OG Dopey Nation legend Matthew Wiedermeier Carroll explains how he found Dopey while strung out on meth, wrote to Chris from prison, and eventually created the beloved “Waiting for Tonight” posts. He recounts stealing beer kegs and copper for drug money, drinking throughout his early involvement with Dopey, returning to cocaine and meth after his son was born, getting thrown out of his house and finally working the Twelve Steps for the first time. Matt also talks about prayer, fatherhood, DJing and the connection that helped him build a real recovery. Next, B. Getz of The Upful Life looks back at discovering Dopey while isolated on Northern California cannabis farms and trying to quit opioids with kratom. He remembers getting expelled from his first weed farm after having pills mailed to him, returning for another chance, and finding community among the international “trimigrants” of the pre-legalization cannabis world. Now married, off opioids and kratom, and raising a new baby, B. explains how Dopey helped broaden his understanding of recovery beyond rigid labels and taught him the value of service. Finally, Colin—who lived with Chris after Mountainside and now co-runs Berkshire Transition Network—joins Dave for a deeper conversation about grief, overdose and the limits of one-size-fits-all recovery. They question the tendency to explain every death by saying the person “didn't want it enough,” discuss whether addiction is a fixed identity or a culturally constructed label, and explore why listening, patience, trust and individualized support may matter more than forcing everyone down the same path. All that plus extra Chris! and More on an all new dopey day 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.

Alex Mann survived severe alcohol addiction, cocaine use, dangerous gambling debts, a seizure, a life-threatening esophageal tear, and involvement with mob-connected bookmakers. Now more than 10 years into recovery, Alex joins Corey Winfield on the 217 Recovery Podcast to talk about the childhood experiences that normalized alcohol, drugs and gambling, the progression of his addiction, the moments that nearly killed him, and why writing his memoir became part of his recovery. Alex is the author of I Did It All to Myself and God's Touch Saved Me. They also discuss faith, purpose, relapse, treatment, alcohol advertising, and why recovery rarely happens the way families expect it to. Recovery support is available at 217Recovery.com or by calling 231-421-1903.Free recovery meetings (in person & online): 217recovery.com/meetings For more recovery resources, visit 217recovery.com Follow us on social media @217recovery If this episode helped you, please share it with someone who might need to hear it.Recovery is possible. You're not alone.

LISTEN WITHOUT ADS on PATREON: Buy discount Tickets to DopeyCon only n Patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Summary On this Dopey Greatest Hits, Dave brings back one of the wildest and most cinematic stories in the show's history: Louie Mandrapilias, author of Flew Too High. First, Dave gives a DopeyCon update and plays a voicemail from Hannah, who manipulated her dog's medical records to build a second Xanax prescription in her pet's name. What began with six bars for an anxious dog eventually became regular prescriptions that Hannah took for herself—until her veterinarian offered to double the dosage and Hannah realized how far the scheme had gone. Then Louie takes us from 1970s New York City to India, Bolivia and Bangkok. A young gay art student arrives in Manhattan, takes MDA, dances at Studio 54, sees Andy Warhol, shoots his first speedball and falls in love with a small-time drug dealer. That relationship sends him to India, where he visits an opium den, joins Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's ashram and begins an unexpected romance with a German woman. When Louie becomes stranded with an unpaid hotel bill, he tracks down an opium-addicted dealer named Tascar and agrees to smuggle pure heroin back to New York inside a condom wrapped in electrical tape and hidden in his body. At JFK, DEA agents strip-search him but somehow fail to find it. Louie sells half the heroin for $50,000—and quickly becomes addicted to the rest. Next comes a trip to Bolivia for a kilo of pure cocaine. Unable to conceal the package the way he planned, Louie divides it between his cowboy boots and skin-tight jeans. This time, the DEA immediately notices. He is arrested, faces federal charges and avoids prison after his father puts up the family home and helps him receive probation. But even that isn't Louie's bottom. After returning to drugs, he joins an elaborate Bangkok heroin-smuggling operation that hides the shipment inside an airplane lavatory for another courier to retrieve on a domestic leg of the flight. By Christmas 1983, Louie is living in luxury but feels completely dead inside. A seemingly minor argument produces a life-changing realization: “You don't have to live like this.” He returns home, kicks heroin and enters treatment on January 1, 1984. A year later, he tests HIV-positive at a time when the diagnosis was widely considered a death sentence. Louie stays sober, builds a creative life, finds an HIV-positive recovery community in Los Angeles—and remains sober 40 years later. All that and more on this brand new yet old Classic 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.

#1 Amazon Bestselling Author and advocate Paige Dearth joins CCAR Executive Director Stacy Charpentier for a powerful conversation about trauma, addiction, family, recovery, and the experiences that have shaped her writing. Paige shares how surviving childhood trauma eventually led her to find her voice and begin writing stories centered on people who are often judged, misunderstood, or overlooked. She also opens up about living alongside a loved one struggling with meth and heroin addiction, including five years, 13 rehab stays, the financial and emotional toll on the family, and her eventual realization that supporting someone and enabling them are not the same thing. Together, Paige and Stacy discuss why addiction affects entire families, the importance of seeing people as more than the labels placed on them, how small acts of kindness can change someone's life, and why healing and recovery are rarely linear. Paige also shares an exclusive first look at her upcoming book and the real-life experiences that inspired its story. This episode includes discussions of childhood sexual abuse, addiction, trauma, human trafficking, and family experiences surrounding substance use. Recovery Matters Podcast is brought to you by the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR). ----Across the Web----

What does it actually mean when someone tells us to “be like the Buddha”? In Fishing Without Bait Episode 527, Jim Ellermeyer sits down with longtime co-host and Producer Mike to explore Buddhism not as an unreachable ideal, but as a practical way of approaching everyday life. Being awake doesn't mean being perfect. It means noticing what is happening around us, recognizing what is happening within us, and becoming more intentional about what we do next. That leads Jim and Mike into a discussion about living on autopilot. Jim even brings up the longtime Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel as a playful connection to the idea of “sleepwalking through life.” How many days do we simply go through the motions without really participating? Learn more about Asleep at the Wheel: https://www.asleepatthewheel.com/ The conversation moves through compassion, boundaries, time, emotional reactions, expectations, and the Buddhist “middle path.” Jim reminds us that compassion does not mean becoming a doormat. We can care about other people while still deciding where our time, effort, and resources belong. Jim and Mike also explore non-attachment and the expectations we place on our future. Wanting a new job, a different career, a bigger house, or another version of life isn't inherently wrong—but suffering can begin when we convince ourselves that those outcomes must happen. That discussion leads Mike back to the spoken-word track “Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen),” a piece that has stayed with him since his teenage years. He reflects on its message about the role chance plays in our choices: sometimes things work, sometimes they don't, and we don't have to spend our lives regretting a road that didn't lead where we expected. Listen to “Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI Throughout the episode, Jim and Mike return to one central idea: mindfulness creates a space between what happens and how we respond. In that space, we can make a choice instead of reacting automatically. The challenge for this week is simple: stop trying to become perfect. Work on becoming more awake. Observe. Describe. Participate. And take the next step. Subscribe to Fishing Without Bait on your favorite podcast player. Support Fishing Without Bait and receive ad-free episodes: https://www.patreon.com/c/fishingwithoutbait Pick up “Learn to Fish Without Bait: A 365-Day Mindfulness Journal and Adult Coloring Book”: https://www.lulu.com/shop/james-ellermeyer-lpc-ma-ncc-lpc/learn-to-fish-without-bait/paperback/product-6n9rd8.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Recovery isn't the break between training. Recovery IS training.In this episode, CTS Head Cycling Coach Adam Pulford explains how he structures recovery blocks with everyone from beginners to elite athletes. Learn why recovery doesn't always need to last a full week, how to know when you've earned one, and why the athletes who recover best often perform best.If recovery weeks make you anxious, this episode is for you!HOSTAdam Pulford has been a CTS Coach for nearly two decades and holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology. He's participated in and coached hundreds of athletes for endurance events all around the world.​​Free Cycling Training Assessment: https://trainright.com/cycling-training-assessment-welcome/Interested in working with a coach? Schedule a free consult: https://trainright.com/coaching/cycling/Self-coached athlete? Check out our TrainRight Membership: https://trainright.com/membership/Find more free resources here: https://trainright.com/blog/Resources:https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3905295/https://trainright.com/coaching-consultation/Recovery Podcast with Christie Aschwandan: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trainright-podcast/id1494799053?i=1000722793917 Regulation of Muscle Glycogen Repletion, Muscle Protein Synthesis and Repair Following Exercise - PMC

Listen without ads and buy DOPEYCON TICKETS ONLY ON SALE ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on Dopey! On a sprawling new episode of Dopey, Dave celebrates recovery, remembers members of the Dopey Nation who have died, and welcomes Good Baklava founder Roy Donk for an unbelievably chaotic conversation about drugs, Phish, entrepreneurship and sobriety. The episode begins with Australian Dope Maddie B celebrating one year without alcohol after years of severe alcoholism, seizures, psychosis and repeated attempts to stop. Her message about continuing to try leads into a remembrance of Annie Ellie on the anniversary of her death. Dave plays Annie's old recording about discovering Dopey while she was still using and how Dave, Chris and the Dopey Nation helped make recovery feel possible. Dave also explains Dopey Day, the annual social-media tribute honoring Chris, Todd, Annie, Brian and the other dopes the community has lost. Taylor checks in with a darkly funny voicemail about why Dopey's willingness to laugh at addiction, death and other painful subjects still matters. Dave then reads responses to the Christmas episode with Chris O'Connor's former partner Annie, including messages about grief, relapse, lost loved ones and the idea that grief never disappears—we gradually build a larger life around it. Minnesota Matt contributes the episode's first major drug story: after spending days smoking crack alone, he wakes up naked, bloodied and bruised beside a broken guitar and realizes he overdosed while playing along with the Allman Brothers. A tape recorder captured the collapse, but after listening to the evidence, he loads another crack pipe and continues smoking. California Miles then sends an update about the end of his 38-year marriage and his attempt to replace self-pity with acceptance and the Serenity Prayer. The featured guest is Roy Donk, founder of Good Baklava and the Knicks fan who became a viral presence outside Madison Square Garden. Roy recounts growing up Orthodox Jewish in New Jersey, smoking K2, stealing cologne, dropping out of high school, working bizarre Hasidic jobs and eventually discovering Phish and psychedelics. His story escalates through cocaine dealing, life in a San Diego drug house, a dog accidentally eating acid, selling drugs on Phish tour and getting arrested at Mohegan Sun after doing ketamine at the slot machines while dressed in a Phish robe. Court-ordered rehab initially fails to convince Roy that he is an addict, and he quickly returns to nitrous, cocaine, ketamine and touring. During the pandemic, he moves to Mexico and maintains a remote marketing career while using heavily. A Tulum work trip becomes a massive binge, culminating in Roy accidentally uploading uncensored photographs of the debauchery to his employer's shared drive. After losing the job, Roy walks into an English-speaking AA meeting in Mexico and begins working with a sponsor. He eventually admits that he cannot control his drug use, returns to Phish tour sober and discovers that recovery doesn't require surrendering the music or community he loves. When he needs a legal way to make money on tour, he buys three containers of grocery-store baklava and sells them at a show. That spontaneous hustle eventually becomes Good Baklava, importing unbaked baklava from Turkey and building a growing business from New Jersey. All that and more, more, more, more on a sweet phishy new dopey 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.

Individuals enduring chronic mental strain often experience severe sleep disturbances, ranging from insomnia to hypersomnia, which further drains physical resilience. When combined with a common tendency toward poor nutritional choices, physical inactivity, or substance reliance as coping mechanisms, the body's overall vitality rapidly deteriorates, transforming mental suffering into a complex, multi-system physical illness.Simple daily practices for mental health recovery are small, intentional actions integrated into your routine that actively lower cortisol, stabilize mood, and stimulate the brain's natural healing processes. Rather than demanding massive lifestyle overhauls, these habits focus on consistency and accessibility. They include foundational behaviors like mindful breathing, short walks in nature, regular sleep schedules, and nourishing the body with whole foods. By engaging in these manageable acts, you systematically shift your nervous system out of a chronic “fight-or-flight” survival mode and into a state of rest, repair, and emotional recalibration.The true power of these daily rituals lies in their ability to compound over time, effectively rewiring neural pathways and accelerating mental health recovery. Practicing gratitude, engaging in brief physical movement, or reaching out for a brief social connection triggers the release of neurochemicals like dopamine and serotonin. These micro-moments of relief act as a counterweight to the erosion caused by stress and depression, gradually restoring cognitive function and emotional resilience. Ultimately, these practices transform mental wellness from an abstract, distant goal into a tangible, self-directed daily reality.

Listen to The Big Episode at www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on the free Dopey Tuesday teaser, Dave wakes up at 5:41 in the morning feeling restless, spiritually shaky, and completely lost without meaningful Knicks news. After discussing the Allman Brothers, boring NBA rumors, Lena Dunham, and the dangers of listening to books by people he can't get on Dopey, Dave attempts a brand-new guided meditation.   In the first-ever Dopey garbage can meditation, we gather up our regret, inadequacy, self-hatred, financial anxiety, childhood bullshit, belly fat, and fear about the future. We throw it all into a dumpster, strap the dumpster to a rocket ship, and launch the entire fucking thing into the sun.   Then Lauren B. delivers an instant-classic “socks for stories” voicemail. During the early days of COVID, when she and her boyfriend were so broke they were smoking cigarettes off the ground, Lauren spotted what she thought was a receipt beside a puddle. Instead, she found an entire ounce of real heroin in a ripped plastic bag that appeared to have been hidden inside somebody's ass. The heroin kept them from hustling for several days—but after it ran out, Lauren bought something different and suffered her first overdose.   Dave also reads the Spotify and Patreon comments from Heart Attack Doug's birthday episode. The Nation debates whether Doug needs to reveal more of his recovery story, whether his defensive shtick is wearing thin, and why he may still be the perfect Dopey cohost. Plus: gluten-free chicken parmesan, Billy Joe Shaver, James Brown, decriminalization, grief, relapse, losing beloved dogs, and finding a way back when life wears you down. The episode closes with a heartfelt and imperfect cover of “Good So Bad,” a song that helped inspire a Dopey listener to get clean. The full Reddit Roundup with the great Cormac and difficult Selby is available exclusively on Patreon. plus more   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send us Fan MailToday's topic is The Committee in Our Head: The Critic w/ Patrick Fagan

Listen without ads: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Katie starts at 32 minutes in! This week on Dopey! BEFORE KATEY: We help a young philadelphian struggling with substances - and we celebrate the instant-classic Dopey appearance of Ben Croxton; reads Patreon and Spotify reactions; and announces DopeyCon at the SVA Theatre on October 3!  Dave sits down with actor, musician and recovery legend Katey Sagal for an expansive conversation about addiction, show business and nearly four decades of sobriety. Katey traces her story from growing up in Southern California and discovering music as her first escape from social anxiety to being prescribed amphetamine diet pills at 14. What began with pills, weed and alcohol gradually progressed into street speed, cocaine, freebasing, Percocet and a daily need to remain medicated. She remembers singing with Bob Dylan as a teenager, going to dinner with him while he wore no shoes, working with Bette Midler and Etta James, and navigating a music industry where heavy drug use was accepted as long as you made it to the gig. She also discusses her first husband's heroin addiction, experimenting with heroin herself, driving with ounces of cocaine in her trunk and continually placing herself in dangerous situations to stay loaded. Katey explains how she entered AA while searching for a boyfriend named Spider, stayed sober for several months, relapsed while working in New York and finally got sober for good on August 6, 1986. Only months into recovery, she began playing Peg Bundy on Married… with Children. She talks about telling someone on set that she was sober, working the Steps immediately, and maintaining her recovery as the show became a cultural phenomenon. The conversation also covers Futurama, Sons of Anarchy, meeting Kurt Sutter in a Twelve Step meeting, sponsorship, service, gratitude, Al‑Anon and why addiction continues to surface through food, shopping, control and obsessive thinking—even after the drugs are gone. Before Katey joins the show, Dave responds to a 23-year-old listener struggling with pyrazolam, kratom, marijuana and alcohol; celebrates Ben Croxton's . The episode closes with Jake from West Virginia performing a banjo cover of “I Wanna Be Good So Bad,” complete with an original third verse. All that and MORE! on a brand new episode of dopey! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

FULL SHOW NO ADS ON PATREON: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Episode Summary This week on Dopey's Greatest Hits! What may be the greatest Dopey episode of all time: the unbelievable story of tattoo artist, punk-rock survivor, bank robber and Dopey legend Shane Enholm. Before the replay, Dave announces that DopeyCon is officially happening October 3, celebrates the publication of his kratom piece in Rolling Stone, and reads a listener's story about Bristol's open heroin market. Then Shane's story begins. Raised by an addicted mother, arrested alongside her at 12 and homeless as a teenager, Shane hitchhiked across America before finding punk rock in late-1970s Los Angeles. He crossed paths with Darby Crash and the Germs, became involved with Crash's former girlfriend Casey, developed a devastating heroin addiction and began robbing pharmacies. After entering adult prison at 18, Shane escaped a Synanon-style treatment program and returned to heroin, cocaine and crime. When Shane and Casey lost custody of their children, he robbed his first bank with a toy gun. Over the next six months, he became the FBI's “Ponytail Bandit,” robbing 29 banks—including one $36,000 score—while financing an enormous heroin habit. Shane describes robbing banks with his children in getaway cars, a dye pack exploding inside a taxi, his arrest in San Francisco and the eight years and 23 days he subsequently spent in federal prison. Inside, he developed another heroin habit, dealt drugs, swallowed and concealed balloons of heroin, and survived the violent racial politics of high-security federal institutions. After prison, Shane found his daughters living in horrific conditions, regained custody and slowly attempted to rebuild his life. He survived hepatitis C, cirrhosis and bacterial endocarditis, found stability through methadone, recovery, tattooing and art, and eventually became a respected historian of antique tattoo machines. The episode ends with Shane performing “Making Mud Pies,” the heartbreaking song he wrote in prison about Casey, followed by Trinity's cover of “Good So Bad.” Plus more! more! more! on the new 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.

Listen without ads at: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast On a brand-new Dopey Wednesday! Dave announces that DopeyCon is officially happening October 3 at the SVA Theatre, presented by Mountainside—and reveals the game-show-inspired concept for the event. Legendary Dopey storyteller Mick Popham calls in from New Zealand with a brutally dopey story about stealing oxycodone, Valium and dihydrocodeine from an elderly cancer survivor—then replacing her pain medication with laxatives. Later, writer and recovering addict Kevin McEnroe returns for a wide-ranging conversation about the Knicks championship, watching his father John McEnroe celebrate with Larry David, and the strange emotional power of finally seeing the Knicks win. Kevin also opens up about growing up with his mother, Tatum O'Neal, during her addiction; addiction and resentment within a famous family; caring for his mother following her stroke; sobriety, forgiveness, service and the possibility of becoming a father himself. He and Dave compare the challenges of traveling sober, attending alcohol-soaked weddings, missing meetings, resentment toward their wives and learning to show up for other people. Plus: Farrah Fawcett in Playboy, Dave's deeply unfortunate first masturbatory experience, teaching tennis as “chop wood, carry water,” Dave's new Rolling Stone kratom piece—and a potentially great new book idea for Kevin. All that and more on the new new new wednesday!   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Send us Fan MailToday's topic is Common Misconceptions About Therapy w/Patrick Fagan

Listen without Ads on Patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast SUMMARY: This week on the Dopey Total Replay: Dopey goes back ten years to Episode 38, a strange cult-classic featuring Dave, Chris and comedian Modi. Before the replay, Dave remembers recording in his old Lower East Side apartment, reads early listener comments and shares an email from a former member of the Real McKenzies whose life moved from crystal meth and touring to cocaine dealing, opiate addiction and a suicide attempt. Dave also talks about briefly considering buying weed at the Great South Bay Music Festival, announces that DopeyCon is likely happening at SVA on October 3, and revisits listener reactions to the early Chris episodes. Then the original episode begins. Modi immediately destroys Dave's apartment, fish tank, furniture and primitive podcast equipment. He shares his first experiences with marijuana and ecstasy, explains the growing market for kosher Sabbath edibles, and talks about performing at a Caron recovery event and appearing on The Sopranos. Chris tells the story of his father discovering his crack pipe—and then recognizing it while the family watched The Sopranos. The guys discuss Artie Lange, Greg Giraldo, sober comedians, AA, Al-Anon and whether everyone has some form of addiction. A convicted bank robber named Shamrock writes from an illegal marijuana farm in Maine, and Dave finally tells the legendary “blue cheese” story: a misunderstanding involving a Mexican man in detox, John Belushi and speedballs. The episode concludes with an old-school New York weed story involving Sheep Meadow, a paranoid elderly dealer, brown paper, a fake payment and an incredibly unlucky subway encounter.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Disclaimer: Today's episode is sponsored by Nurp. Content is for educational purposes only. Not advice. Results discussed have not been vetted. Claims made by the guest have not been verified. The views expressed by the guest do not reflect those of the host or this show.—

Send us Fan MailAs long as Matt wasn't drinking like his father—and Steve wasn't as bad as the people he grew up around—they could tell themselves they weren't really alcoholics. There was always someone who had lost more, drank more, or looked more like the stereotype.In this episode, Matt and Steve talk about how comparing your drinking to someone else's worst consequences can keep you stuck. You don't have to lose your job, your family, or everything you own before you're allowed to admit alcohol is hurting your life. The better question isn't whether you look like an alcoholic. It's whether drinking has become a problem for you.Support the show

Listen without ads on patreon - www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast SUMMARY This week on the Dopey Total Replay, Dave returns from his summer hiatus and previews the family's Pacific Northwest adventure, the upcoming Patreon Zoom, and the big decision facing DopeyCon: Friday night at the SVA Theatre or Saturday at the old church.   Then we travel back to Dopey Episode 37 for a classic conversation with Dave and Chris. They talk about sponsorship, working the steps, honesty, spirituality, and the strange miracle of one addict helping another. Dave tells the story of Jerry Garcia using a radio interview to summon drugs after the Grateful Dead's package went missing in Philadelphia, plus tales of John Lennon's psychedelic excess and Paul McCartney's alleged plan to smuggle Owsley acid inside camera equipment.   Things get progressively dopier as Dave remembers stealing fried chicken and vodka at a company party, while Chris describes shooting cocaine in Anguilla, hallucinating benevolent Rastas hiding in the bushes, chasing an imaginary car around an abandoned house, and eventually being rescued from Saint Martin by his brother.   Finally, Dave recounts smuggling six bundles of heroin into Jamaica, burning through nearly everything, passing out on Valium during a press trip, and repeatedly sneaking into first class while withdrawing on the flight home. Beneath all the insanity, Dave and Chris reflect on the possession of addiction, the freedom of sobriety, and the strange comfort of no longer needing drugs to feel safe.   Stay strong, Dopey Nation, and fucking toodles for Chris.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Listen without ads on patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on Dopey! We open the show with a deep dive into Lou Reed's classic junkie anthem "Waiting for the Man" before reading incredible listener stories involving MDMA-assisted therapy, smashing open a safe with an axe for OxyContin, smoking crack in an airplane bathroom, a horrific flesh-eating abscess, and surviving Antabuse mixed with opioids. Then legendary author Jerry Stahl returns for one of the funniest and deepest conversations Dopey has ever had. Jerry shares never-before-heard stories about writing for Twin Peaks, working with David Lynch and Ben Stiller, learning from Hubert Selby Jr., meeting William Burroughs' son, Oprah admitting she loved crack, surviving heroin addiction, and why kindness matters more than bitterness. The conversation ends with Dave pitching Jerry his outrageous action movie idea: Die Hard... at Katz's Delicatessen. PLUS MORE MORE MORE on a brand new yet timeless 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.

Listen without ads at 8$ a month or up on patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast SUMMARY This week on Dopey Greatest Hits, Dave officially declares July to be Allman Brothers Month and revisits one of his favorite interviews—with Duane Betts, guitarist, songwriter and son of the legendary Dickey Betts. Before the interview, Dave talks about his lifelong love of “Blue Sky,” reflects on a difficult Patreon Zoom and reminds himself of one of recovery's hardest lessons: restraint of pen and tongue. Papa Smurf contributes an incredible story about selling mushrooms in an Allman Brothers parking lot, getting grabbed by undercover cops and escaping after an oblivious hippie accidentally distracts them. A listener named Jeff also shares a disastrous Phish adventure involving craft beer, moonshine, cocaine, getting lost outside the venue while “Maze” played in the distance, wandering through a locked campground and receiving a possession charge that ultimately introduced him to AA. Then Dave sits down with Duane Betts for an intimate and wide-ranging conversation about growing up inside the Allman Brothers family, touring with his father, living at Cher's Malibu home, learning guitar on the road and finding his own musical identity. Duane opens up about Hodgkin lymphoma, discovering Dilaudid after surgery, the Malibu party scene, Molly, cocaine, crack, black tar heroin and a gram-a-day opiate habit. He recalls smoking heroin-and-cocaine speedballs, flipping a car after scoring drugs, waking up beside a friend who had overdosed and nearly dying after a massive cocaine hit. He also describes arrests, drug court, treatment, Suboxone, relapse, touring with Dawes and eventually finding lasting recovery. Now more than seven years sober, Duane talks about meeting his wife in Jackson Hole, staying grounded through music, hiking, yoga and connection, and continuing the Allman Brothers legacy through his solo work, Palmetto Motel and the Allman Betts Family Revival. It is a story about rock-and-roll history, inherited addiction, devastating loss, recovery and finding a life filled with music, gratitude and purpose. Allman Brothers month continues!   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Listen without Ads for $8 a month on patreon(plus other benefits)! www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on the Wednesday Dose of Dopey, We kick off an unofficial "Allman Brothers Month" with acclaimed music journalist and author Alan Paul, whose books One Way Out, Brothers and Sisters, and Texas Flood have become essential reading for fans of Southern rock and rock history.   Before the interview, Dave plays a hilarious voicemail from Australia about a first DUI, drinking gin while delivering food, accidentally racing an unmarked police car, and finishing the remaining booze in front of the cops. Dave also dives into listener emails about 2C drugs, psychedelic chemistry, his latest obsession with air fryer chicken thighs, and his fantasy "ultimate junkie cocktail"—before quickly reminding everyone how grateful he is to be sober.   Then comes a fascinating deep dive into the lives of Duane Allman, Greg Allman, Dickey Betts, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Crosby, Jerry Garcia, and the complicated relationship between genius, addiction, recovery, and music.   Alan shares remarkable stories about Stevie Ray Vaughan's dedication to Alcoholics Anonymous, how his recovery inspired countless musicians to get sober, the Allman Brothers' heroin use, the infamous Scooter Herring drug trial that nearly destroyed the band, Duane Allman's opposition to shooting heroin despite using it himself, and Greg Allman's controversial testimony that fractured relationships throughout the rock world.   The conversation also explores psychedelic culture, the legendary mushroom logo, Eat a Peach, Dickey Betts' complexity, Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead, and why some of rock's greatest musicians remain endlessly fascinating decades after their deaths. ALL THAT AND MORE MORE MORE MORE on a new Allman based episode of that good ol dopey podcast!   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

FULL EPISODE ONLY ON: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast   STRAIGHT AI SUMMARY: This week on Dopey Tuesday, Dave checks in fresh from another brutally sweaty workout with his new trainer, who thankfully traded emo music for N.W.A. and Biggie. Dave talks about embracing the Dopey fitness challenge, surviving leg day, walking miles in the summer heat, and learning a little humility while trying to get back into shape.   Since he's banking episodes before heading out on vacation, Dave changes things up by reading the Just For Today meditation on humility and reflects on what it means to accept getting older, staying teachable, and laughing at himself.   Then come the classic Dopey stories. James D. Hart sends in an unforgettable tale from his crack-smoking days in Cleveland, where his favorite dealer—nicknamed "400"—fronted him more and more drugs until James eventually disappeared owing him exactly $400, making for one of the funniest addict coincidences imaginable.   Dave follows with a voicemail from longtime Dopey Nation member Amy, who recalls taking what she thought was cocaine after a night of ecstasy at a Lower East Side club, waking up alone after closing time, and walking across Manhattan as the sun rose—one of those strange, lonely New York mornings only addiction can produce.   Finally, Dave teases an exclusive Patreon interview with Workit Health's Max, diving into medication-assisted recovery, recovery stigma, and why the conversation around Suboxone and recovery still needs to evolve.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Listen without ads on patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on Dopey! We kick things off catching up with Dopey Nation, talking recovery, life, and the strange little community that's grown around this dumb podcast on drugs, addiction, and dumb shit. We dive into a listener voicemail about loving an addict, codependency, and the painful reality that sometimes helping someone means stepping back. As always, there's plenty of laughter, honesty, and reminders that none of us have to do this alone. Then Ben Croxton sits down and tells one of the wildest stories we've ever featured. Ben grew up homeschooled in rural Alabama before drugs completely hijacked his life. What started with weed turned into pills, OxyContin, cocaine, meth, and eventually heroin. He talks about getting kicked out of homeschool for smoking weed, discovering drug culture while working at Outback Steakhouse, stealing anything that wasn't nailed down, shooting cocaine at eighteen years old, smoking meth out of homemade light bulbs, surviving overdoses, watching friends get murdered over meth deals, and somehow waking up every day to do it all again. Somehow, it doesn't end there. Ben eventually finds recovery, rebuilds his life one day at a time, and becomes one of the people behind the scenes helping Dopey grow into the community it is today. It's funny, heartbreaking, completely unfiltered, and a reminder that no matter how far things go, recovery is still possible. PLUS MORE! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This episode is a REPLAY!If you've been telling yourself, "Next time will be different," or "Maybe I can learn to drink in moderation," this episode is your reality check.In this episode of the Sober Vibes Podcast, Courtney explains why alcohol problems rarely get better with time, why moderation keeps so many people stuck, and how quitting drinking opens the door to clarity, self-trust, and lasting freedom.If you're tired of negotiating with alcohol, this conversation will help you stop bargaining and start moving forward.In This Episode, You'll Learn why moderation often fails once alcohol has become a problem  the hard truth about why alcohol doesn't get better with time  how sobriety helps rebuild self-trust and confidence  why your brain bargains at 60 days, 90 days, one year, and beyond  how alcohol intensifies stress, grief, and heartbreak instead of relieving them  why protecting your sobriety should come before trying to change everything else Sobriety isn't about giving something up.It's about getting your life back.Grab Your Free Gift:30 Day Calendar Day & Night RoutineReady for Support? Here Are 4 Ways to Work With Me:Stop Starting Over ProgramPerfect for the self-guided woman who wants a step-by-step roadmap to quit drinking, break the moderation cycle, and build a strong sober foundation at her own pace.Sobriety CircleFor the community girlie who thrives with accountability, connection, monthly coaching, and ongoing support from women who truly understand the journey. Use code "soberjuly" at checkout to save $10 off your first month.1:1 Sober CoachingFor the woman who wants personalized support, deeper transformation, and a customized plan to stop drinking, manage cravings, and build a sustainable alcohol-free life.The After (Emotional Sobriety Program) The next chapter after quitting drinking. Once you've built your sober foundation, it's time to do the deeper work—healing emotional patterns, rebuilding your identity, strengthening self-trust, regulating your nervous system, and creating a life where you no longer need alcohol to cope.Grab My Masterclass:Free access to my $47 masterclass when you leave an Apple review-Gain access to my Masterclass by submitting a review on iTunes. Email me at sobervibes@gmail.com with a screenshot of the review, and I will send you the code to unlock my Masterclass for free!Thank you for tuning in!Thank you for listening! Help the show by Rating, Reviewing, and/or Subscribing to the Sober Vibes Podcast.Connect w/ Courtney:InstagramJoin the Sobriety CircleApply for 1:1 CoachingOrder the Sober Vibes Book

NO ADS on PATREON: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on Dopey! Dave opens in a reflective mood before vacation, trying to practice gratitude while also admitting how ridiculous and uncomfortable it feels. He gives thanks to the Dopey team, Dopey Nation, the people who helped with the film festival, and talks about being sober, scrambling to get shows done, House of the Dragon, and crying on the Long Island Railroad while watching the Knicks finals mini movie. Then Dave gets into revenge, resentment, recovery, redemption, and the dangerous romance of “getting back.” He plays a wild voicemail from a Scottish Dopey listener coming off opiates, who tells a story about buying a house, snorting heroin before move-in day, doing coke, champagne, and Ritalin while moving furniture, crashing a van, watching his friend get arrested, and then finishing the move on a days-long stimulant binge. Then it's a classic Dopey replay with Michael Todd, former bassist of Coheed and Cambria. Michael tells the story of going from prescription painkillers on tour to OxyContin, heroin, shooting coke and dope, leaving the band, rejoining clean, relapsing, smuggling heroin across the country in Gobstopper boxes, robbing a pharmacy in Massachusetts, getting arrested, losing the band for good, dealing with cancer, shame, probation, relapse, Suboxone, and surviving a suicide attempt. It's one of the rawest Dopey conversations ever: rock stardom, addiction, shame, survival, recovery, and Dave's newly coined phrase — radical gratitude. PLUS MORE!!!! MORE! MORE!   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Listen without ads on patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast DopeyCon looks like 10/2 This week on the Wednesday Dose of Dopey! Dave opens the show with Ben Croxton's classic DopeyCon song before sharing updates on planning DopeyCon 7 and asking the Dopey Nation to help make this year's event the biggest one yet. Along the way, he plays a listener voicemail about an unforgettable acid trip at Minnesota's Jungle Love festival, talks about psychedelic-assisted recovery, patience, tolerance, and the importance of keeping your mouth shut in sobriety, reads one of the darkest emails ever sent to the show, and follows it up with a hilarious listener story about drunken newspaper deliveries and sibling chaos. Then actor, interventionist, and recovery advocate Dominic Cianese Jr.—the son of Sopranos legend Dominic Chianese (Uncle Junior)—joins Dave for an honest conversation about growing up in Brooklyn, discovering drugs through the punk rock scene, heroin addiction, relapse, recovery, and the intervention that ultimately changed his life. They dive into behind-the-scenes stories from The Sopranos, James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli, acting, stand-up comedy, and why helping other addicts has become Dominic's life's work. It's a funny, emotional, and deeply hopeful conversation about addiction, family, redemption, and building a life beyond your wildest dreams.  All that and more or less another summer hiatus dopey show! Thoughts? write us at dopeypodcast@gmail.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

whole episode only on patreon : www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Dave and special guest are back for another gloriously ridiculous Dopey Tuesday. This week they celebrate Christmas in July with a twisted holiday song before diving into heroin poppies, opium tea, Bob Dylan rumors, Andy Warhol, Basquiat, and Dave's latest Hollywood masterpiece: Christmas at Katz's. They also kick off a conversation about the first-ever Dopey Short Recovery Film Festival before the paywall comes crashing down.   To hear Ray's full review of the film festival, the birth of "The Dopeys," listener emails, Zoe's voicemail, Elvis, and a whole lot more dumb shit, head over to Patreon and join the Dopey Nation Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

PATREON IS HERE: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on Dopey! We kick things off with the aftermath of the first-ever Dopey Short Recovery Film Festival—Dave's post-event crash, gratitude, Knicks withdrawal, listener emails, Dean Moda Patreon comments, meth-sex insanity, Monkey Man research, and a wild voicemail about shooting someone up for the first time. Then Dr. Reef Karim comes on! They explore why Dopey works as an underdog podcast, creativity in recovery, building an addiction treatment center that blended psychiatry with spirituality, and why storytelling may be one of the most powerful recovery tools available. Reef opens up about walking away from a successful career in medicine after severe burnout, chronic pain, and anxiety led him to question everything. That journey eventually took him into the Amazon with Gabor Maté for an unforgettable ayahuasca retreat, where he experienced terrifying visions, confronted years of accumulated trauma, and ultimately found a new direction for his life. Dave and Reef also dive into ketamine, ibogaine, psychedelics in addiction treatment, authenticity versus attachment, cognitive flexibility, recovery as a lifelong process, and whether there's ever such a thing as being "fully recovered." Plus Dave closes the show with updates on the family road trip, DopeyCon planning, Safe Spot overdose prevention, and more. ALL THAT AND MORE! On this less than completely dopey new episode of the good old dopey show! Excelsior! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Patreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on Dopey's Greatest Hits, Dave looks back on one of the most unforgettable interviews in the show's history with Miami nightlife legend Ingrid Casares. Before the classic conversation begins, Dave recaps the incredible success of the inaugural Dopey Recovery Short Film Festival, from a nearly sold-out crowd and appearances by James Frey, Kevin McEnroe, Aaron Carr, Ray Brown, Pete the Plumber, and more, to his early morning appearance on Good Day New York. He thanks everyone who attended, promises an even bigger festival next year, hints at a future DopeyCon in the same theater, reads listener emails and Patreon comments, debates Tesla versus ska music, and shares plans to keep releasing daily episodes while his family heads out on vacation. Then comes one of Dopey's all-time greatest recovery stories. Ingrid Casares tells the unbelievable story of growing up in Miami, discovering cocaine in the early 1980s, repeatedly trying rehab before she was ready, stealing an ounce and a half of cocaine from a college dealer, becoming a drug mule between Miami and North Carolina, freebasing across the Southeast, surviving terrifying cocaine paranoia, and eventually finding recovery. She explains how sobriety led her into the music business, introduced her to Sandra Bernhard and Madonna, and eventually helped launch the legendary Miami clubs Liquid, Bar Room, and Joy, helping transform South Beach into an international nightlife destination. Along the way she shares stories involving Sean Penn, Whitney Houston, Donald Trump, the Versace era of Miami, celebrity excess, relapse, prescription opioids, alcohol, and ultimately finding lasting recovery after decades of chaos. It's one of the wildest cocaine stories ever told on Dopey—and one of the most honest conversations about relapse, reinvention, fame, and recovery.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

JOIN PATREON: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on The Wednesday Dose of Dopey! We talk the spiritual axiom, stress, anger, and trying to stay connected when recovery feels stale. He reads an intense email from Justin about quitting 7-OH, including brutal withdrawals, relapse cycles, and the strange misery of coming off something marketed as harmless. Then DJ Fat Tony returns to Dopey to talk about his new book, Recover Me, and the deeper recovery work he found after nearly 20 years sober. Tony opens up about trauma therapy, childhood sexual abuse, sex addiction, toxic relationships, Grindr, shame, ego, meetings becoming “The Tony Show,” and how he had to step back from meetings to actually work the program again. Dave and Tony dig into sex addiction, apps, cruising, recovery addiction, resentment, prayer, honesty, father wounds, and why real recovery has to keep evolving. They also celebrate Tony's global campaign to reclaim the word cunt, because of course they do. All that and much more on this Wednesday Episode of Dopey!   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Full Episode at www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Summary   This week on the free Tuesday teaser of Dopey, Dave and Ray welcome editor Britta before reading Patreon comments from last week's Doug episode and laughing about everything from personal trainers to Doug's famously "accentuated shaft."   Then the mood shifts as Dave reads an incredibly honest email from Carson, a young trans man struggling with addiction, alcohol, trauma, eating disorders, loneliness, and recovery. Ray responds with compassion, encouraging Carson to seek help and reminding listeners that no one has to do this alone.   After that... the conversation heads behind the Patreon paywall, where Dave promises to spill the rest of the story.   Join us at Patreon.com/DopeyPodcast for the full episode. PLUS MORE! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lst chance for Film Fest tickets: https://buytickets.at/thedopeyfoundation/2216905 PAtreon: www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast This week on Dopey, Dave opens the show with a meditation on the Rolling Stones' “Monkey Man,” junkie music, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, and the impossibility of legally buying an MP3 in 2026. He also gets hyped for the first Dopey Short Recovery Film Festival, talks about bringing big ideas into reality through recovery, and reminds listeners to reach out for Narcan, fentanyl test strips, treatment help, stories, and voicemails. Then Dopey Nation delivers some truly insane listener stories: Danny B writes in about smoking crack and accidentally pulling a red-hot cherry through his stem into the back of his throat; JD D. Hart tells an all-time bath salts story involving paranoia, hiding drugs in his ass, a stuck vial, friends rescuing it with surgical gloves, and somehow winding up with hepatitis A, E, and C; and another listener shares a meth-fueled poop-in-a-bowl story that ends with shattered glass and hard poop in the basement. Dave also reads Patreon and Spotify comments on the Mishka Shubaly episode, including reactions to resentment, God, Trump, Mark Lanegan, liquid meth, the Bailey Dopey theme song, and whether Mishka came off as brilliant, annoying, or both. Then Dave sits down with beauty creator, recovery advocate, and Moda Smile founder Dean Moda for one of the most powerful and intense interviews in Dopey history. Dean talks about growing up in Brooklyn with Trinidadian and Panamanian parents, being gay, getting bullied, discovering weed, FIT, early sex work, squatting in Bushwick, and eventually being unknowingly introduced to crystal meth during a traumatic hookup that ended in sexual assault. Dean shares how that night opened the door to years inside New York's chemsex scene, where crystal meth, sex, shame, danger, and trauma became impossible to separate. He talks about meth psychosis, paranoia, hallucinations, PCP-laced joints, treatment attempts, relapse, Greenhouse Treatment Center in Texas, Crystal Meth Anonymous, and the moment he finally understood that one hit would always lead to more. It is a brutal, funny, honest, deeply vulnerable story of trauma, addiction, identity, survival, and recovery — plus somehow, teeth whitening. PLUS MORE MORE MORE! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.