Light Hustler: Making Your Mess Into Your Message

Author Sarah Hepola isn't just a writer but the author of the biggest book about addiction since A Million Little Pieces. Hepola's memoir, Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget, has been written about in seemingly ever publication known to man (including ours), clearly striking a chord among the recovery community and beyond. The Texas-based Salon essay editor has also written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Glamour, The Guardian, Nerve and Slate, among others, and is as modest about her book's success as possibly only a Texan can be. In this episode, she and Anna David talk about the relative coolness of sobriety, crying every day, whether or not Tinder dating profiles should mention sobriety and if a best-selling book can actually make you happy, among many other topics.

Writer and musician John Albert did not have a standard trajectory to literary success—in fact he says he became a writer by accident when he submitted information about his amateur baseball team, which was made up of a slew of misfit former addicts and rebel rousers, to LA Weekly. That information became a story, that story became a cover story and that cover story became Albert's widely praised book Wrecking Crew: The Really Bad News Griffith Park Pirates. This wasn't Albert's first foray into the public eye: he co-founded the cross-dressing band Christian Death and was the drummer in Bad Religion. Now sober over three decades, the husband and father works for a record company when he's not handling the movie offers Wrecking Crew regularly receives (it's been optioned more than four times by various people, including the late Philip Seymour Hoffman). In this episode, he and Anna David discuss having sex with borderline schizophrenics in rehab, the essay on Sober House he wrote for David's reality TV antholo

TV host, writer and producer Steve Goldbloom has done a lot in his 31 years on the planet: the Canadian (dual citizenship, yo) created the PBS Digital Studio comedy series Everything But the News, where he documented his misadventures exploring the tech scene, and which USA Today named Best Web Series. This was after his stint as a correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. He currently produces a weekly segment on PBS called Brief but Spectacular which is, he says, an interview without the interviewer. Now he's launching Intimacy with Strangers, where he speaks with various people about intimacy, for Discovery and for this episode, we did something entirely unprecedented: while I interviewed him for the podcast, he simultaneously interviewed me for Intimacy With Strangers. Did this meta double project work? We'll find out when you listen to this podcast while watching the Intimacy with Strangers episode (that's overly ambitious, I get it; also I have no idea when IWS will air). Since he is neither an addict nor a p

All sober addicts have their stories, some more severe than others. Well, it's safe to say that author and former attorney Joseph Naus checks all the boxes on the "most severe" scale. Born to a heroin addict mother, Naus managed to rise from poverty to become a successful attorney. As this was happening, however, his sex addiction and alcoholism were increasingly controlling his life—causing him to cheat on girlfriends, visit massage parlors and eventually get a DUI. Then came the cataclysmic event that brought him to sobriety: the night when, in a black out, he tried to break into a massage parlor but instead broke into a guy's apartment, stripped naked (thinking he was in the massage parlor) and beat the guy up. He went to rehab and got sober but ended serving time (for attempted murder), was disbarred and has to register every year as a sex offender. Now over a decade sober, Naus chronicled this journey in his memoir, Straight Pepper Diet, and is at work on a second book. In this episode, we talk about the

Author Jason Smith is not a writer who languished in obscurity for years as he tried to make sense of his journey through addiction to recovery. The Northern California based former teacher only started writing a mere year ago because he was on an ankle bracelet due to some legal trouble (more about that in a sec) and was trapped at home. He loaded some of his stories onto Medium (a fabulous site but one where most posts get lost and ignored) and the rest is history. People started reading them. Lots of people. A book deal followed and that book, The Bitter Taste of Dying, is now being hailed as one that leaves the reader "gasping for breath." While Smith's writing is undeniably gripping, he also had a lot of rich history to pull from: he went from trying pills in high school to losing his virginity to the hottest girl in his class that very day. And you could say he spent the next chunk of his life chasing that high, from continent to continent, job to job, high to high. In this episode (where we're joined b

Best-selling author and therapist Dr. Allen Berger is a wonder to behold. Not only is he nearly 45 years sober (though he looks no older than 45) and one of the more articulate dudes out there but he's written many of the classic books about recovery, including 12 Stupid Things That Mess Up Recovery, 12 Smart Things to Do When Booze and Drugs Are Gone and 12 Hidden Rewards of Making Amends. He also has made a series of audio recordings that analyze Bill Wilson's 1956 letter on emotional sobriety and videos while maintaining a very full private practice. But a million times more impressive than any of this is the guy's manner and way of articulating the nuances of addiction and recovery while opening up about the 60+ truances he had in school, shooting barbituates while in the navy and how losing his dad at an early age still causes him to choke up today. In this episode, we discuss the way he practices therapy (in particular his use of the shuttle technique), why procrastination is always about perfectionism

Mortified creator Dave Nadelberg is the guy behind—yes—Mortified, a "cultural phenomenon" (per Newsweek) that consists of a live show in cities around the world (from Austin, LA and New York to Amsterdam, London and Guadalajara), two books, a TV show, a documentary and now a podcast. The Mortified concept, in short, is this: people take diary entries, letters and any other ephemera from their childhoods and read them on a stage (the books featured collections of some of them, the TV show had Nadelberg going through personal artifacts with celebrities, the documentary documented the entire project and the podcast consists of recordings of live shows accompanied by interviews with the performers). As the guy who created a project that gives adults a chance to connect with their old selves while taking the shame out of previous, potentially ludicrous, thoughts and feelings, Nadelberg is a thoughtful soul. Though he's not an addict, he's worked through his own share of issues over the years, all of which we get i

Vice writer and editor Mitchell Sunderland is what they mean when they talk about wunderkinds and also what they mean when they talk about human miracles. Okay, so the wunderkind fact: he's 23 and already the Managing Editor of Broadly, Vice's forthcoming women's interest channel. Now for the second part: he grew up in Florida which, according to him, is traumatic in itself. He comes from a family where his mother would fall asleep at the wheel while on Ambien. She also breastfed him until he was five. Then, last year, he discovered that the man he'd always thought was his father was not. So there's been some stuff to work through. It wasn't all disastrous though; Sunderland's brilliance, humor and charm saw him through and he became the party throwing king of his high school, charging the jocks who'd once been mean to him $10 a head as an entrance fee. But things came to a head after he spent his junior year of college in England and Sunderland, inspired by previous podcast guest Alexis Neiers, ended up gett

Reel Recovery Film Festival creator Leonard Buschel has become an advocate for recovery in ways that no one else has—by creating Reel Recovery, which screens movies relating to addiction in Los Angeles, Manhattan, San Francisco and Ft. Lauderdale, among other cities. Every festival features live Q&A's with either well-known recovery advocates or people involved with the films; previous participants include Ben Stiller (for the screening of Permanent Midnight), Ed Begley, Jr. and Duran Duran's John Taylor. In his 20+ years of sobriety, Buschel has also created Writers in Treatment, which helps anyone who works with the written word into rehab, and hosts the annual Experience, Strength and Hope Awards. In this episode, we talke about forgoing the Rockettes in order to smoke pot, so-called casual crack smoking and how finding a treatment center with an 800 number can help launch you into recovery, among other topics. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or listen to it on Soundcloud or Stitcher. Find Leonard B

Writer Amanda Fletcher is more than just a sober warrior. A breast cancer survivor who also manages to remain cheerful about having broken her neck and worn a cervical halo for four months, Fletcher is a brilliant and hilarious writer who has also been a crucial part of the AfterParty editorial team. In addition to being a 2012 PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Fellow, Fletcher is a breathwork practitioner who teaches writing in the recovery community, was a flash fiction finalist for the Orlando Prize and has performed for Tongue and Groove, the Dirty Laundry Lit and Roar Shack reading series. Sorry, not done here. Her writing has appeared in The Writer’s Tribe Review and The Orange County Register as well as on this very site. And hey—as part of a new format we’re trying out for the podcast, our last guest, fellow AfterParty writer Tracy Chabala, joined us for a three-way conversation. In this episode, we discuss being hung over from nights of over sharing, getting hooked on meth and whether or not we all get

AfterParty contributor Tracy Chabala not only writes a good, um, 85% of the stories that are now appearing on the site but her work has also appeared in The LA Times, The LA Weekly and Salon. She holds a Masters in Professional Writing from USC and is working on a memoir about her journey through the sausage fest of fine dining kitchens (based on her history as a pastry chef). Among the topics she's covered on the site are escaping from a scary rehab, life in a mental ward and being 13th-stepped. If anyone is a testament to surviving most anything and then thriving, it is this girl. And—surprise!—this episode featured a special guest: Danielle Stewart, who appeared on the podcast so long ago that the sound was terrible and who has written even more for the site than Tracy (she's also an AfterParty editor and all-around problem solver around here). In this episode, we discuss getting 13th stepped and then being the 13th stepper, drinking Kombucha in sobriety and speaking openly about being in AA, among other t

Journalist, author and editor Richard Rushfield is a man of many hats and even more opinions—most of them about relationships. A contributor to Vanity Fair, author of three books and former editor at The LA Times, Gawker, Buzzfeed, Yahoo and more, Rushfield is now the Editor-in-Chief of HitFix. As AfterPartyPod veers into a direction of focusing not just on recovery from addiction but also on developing healthier relationships, Rushfield came in to school me (and you) on how to both find and then maintain romance. He claims that he comes by this knowledge by having worked on the TV show Blind Date as well as by his friendship with author Robert Greene (author of The Art of Seduction, among many other bestselling books). But the spin he gives is all Rushfield-ian (he is, it's worth mentioning, married to the brilliant and lovely journalist Nicole LaPorte and they have two kids). In this episode, he and AfterParty's Anna David discuss ways to seem desirable (ask to borrow someone's phone and then leave them sit

Radio host, actor, TV personality, author and artist Shadoe Stevens possesses one of the most recognizable voices in the world, having hosted American Top 40 from 1988-1995. He was also the announcer on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and has been the voice of numerous award shows, including the Emmy's and the Grammy's. Oh and hey, he also created three top radio stations, including KROQ. Other hits along the way: being a regular on Hollywood Squares and guest starring on Beverly Hills 90210, Baywatch and The Larry Sanders Show, among many others. There's also a spate of children's books and a career as an artist, not to mention a happy marriage and three kids. Though some of the success came early on, Stevens attributes the majority of it to his 30 years of sobriety—an anniversary that was documented last year on Oprah's network. In this episode, he and AfterParty's Anna David talk about the people in the bushes that talk to you when you're on coke, the large amygdala all addicts seem to have and bel

Model, actress and Celebrity Rehab star Amber Smith is far more than just a pretty face (and words can't describe how) spectacular body. Rather than perpetuating the image that seemingly ever model alive does by pretending that her life is as beautiful on the inside as it is on the outside, Smith took the courageous step of appearing on Celebrity Rehab and showing the entire world that she was a full-blown opiate addict. This, after she'd appeared in the Sport's Illustrated swimsuit issue and on the covers of Vogue, Elle, Cosmo and Marie Claire as well as in such seminal films as L.A. Confidential and American Beauty. But there she was on Celebrity Rehab, sharing about and recovering from her 16-year struggle with painkiller abuse, after which she appeared on Sober House and Sex Rehab. Now that she's sober, Smith has dedicated her life to helping others (check out the speakers bureau she's established with previous AfterPartyPod guest Jason Wahler) and developing healthier relationships. In this episode, she

This one was a long-time coming. Dr, Drew Pinsky, the board certified internist/addiction medicine specialist and one of the kindest men in the world, graces the podcast this week. The co-host of Loveline since its 1984 inception, Pinsky currently hosts Dr. Drew On Call on HLN; previous gigs include hosting Lifechangers on the CW and, of course, producing and hosting Celebrity Rehab and its off-shoot shows. He’s appeared on roughly a million other shows, including Dawson’s Creek and Big Brother, written bestselling books and even had asteroids named after him (yep; Google it). But far more important than his massive array of accomplishments is what he’s done for the recovery movement—a role that has earned him more than his share of controversy. In this episode, he and AfterParty's Anna David talk about how a bullshit meter is crucial when working with addicts, the anxiety he used to suffer from and the queen of GHB (nope, it wasn’t me), among many other topics.  

TV host, podcaster, mini mogul and wunderkind Kevin Pereira isn’t only potentially the sweetest man alive but also one of the more accomplished. He started working in tech at the age of eight (!) (not a typo) (not a child labor situation—listen to the episode and you’ll get it). He joined the G4 network as a PA and eventually rose to host of Attack of the Show. He and AfterParty’s Anna David met when she joined the cast as the relationship expert in 2006 and worked together for the next three years. Since then, he has hosted the syndicated quiz show Let’s Ask America and launched his ever-popular Pointless podcast in 2012. That pod is one element of his Supercreative production company, which has a number of other podcasts as well as some highly entertaining web shows (exhibit A: The Real Housewives of Horror). He’s currently hosting TruTv’s Hack My Life and doing about a million other things—including being a guest on this podcast. Faithful listeners will note that Pereira is a unique guest as he’s not an ad

Author and musician Mishka Shubaly isn't only the author of seven bestselling Kindle Singles. (If you don't know what these are, Google Kindle Singles, where you'll also learn that almost all the publications who have written about them, from The New York Times to The Atlantic, focus on Shubaly. This is because he's been the most successful Kindle Single author of all time). His writing is fierce, honest and funny—not an easy trifecta to pull of—and much of it focuses on alcoholism and sobriety. While Shubaly's path to recovery is controversial, he's never shy about saying it works for him but doesn't suggest others follow in his wake. In this episode, he and AfterParty's Anna David talk about how the world is trying to make him into a hippie, why taking mushrooms doesn't interfere with his sobriety and how his non 12-step-ness never stops him from recommending it to others, among many other topics.

Relationship expert and licensed Marriage, Family and Child counselor Dr. Pat Allen has been a legend in the psychology field for over three decades. She's the author of the longtime bestseller Getting to I Do (now in its 32nd printing and about which, she jokes, sells so well because women are so initially horrified by its "50s mentality" that they throw it away and later have to buy it again). She's written numerous other books, appeared repeatedly on Oprah, Geraldo, Blind Date and many more and is also a certified addictions specialist. In her twice-weekly Los Angeles seminars, she walks women and men through her communication techniques that result in romantic unions. She's also been sober from drugs and alcohol for several decades and abstinent from sugar for 11 years. In this episode, she and AfterParty’s Anna David talk about how she started drinking at the age of five (!), ways women can be "men" in the workplace and "women" in their personal lives and marrying a man who used her own courting techniqu

Actress, comedian, solo show performer, writer and healer (yep, you read that right) Katie Rubin is no ordinary hyphenate. Not only has she toured the country with her one-woman shows and performed repeatedly on the stage but she also coaches performers in stand up and solo show making and has done numerous commercials and voice-over jobs. And then there's the healing work, where she offers clearing sessions, access consciousness and more. So how did she get to the point where she could offer this, you ask? Well, at seven years of sobriety, she hit a wall. None of the tools she'd learned that were supposed to help her worked anymore. Then, through a Byzantine set of circumstances, she ended up studying Sufism at a school in Northern California for three years. In this episode, she and AfterParty's Anna David discuss what it means to move from your head to your heart, how she knows who's calling her before she looks at her phone and why she should be the female Jon Stewart, among other topics.

Comedian Ritch Shydner isn't exactly just a comedian. Yes, he's appeared on The Tonight Show, Letterman and Leno a bunch of times. Sure, he's had HBO specials. Yep, he played Al Bundy's coworker on Married With Children. And of course he's been a working comic for decades. But there's a bunch of other stuff: writing gigs on Roseanne, Titus and The Jeff Foxworthy Show. A book on comedy. And the you-need-to-go-watch-right now documentary I Am Comic where he's the star and folks like Sarah Silverman, Nick Kroll, Jeff Foxworthy, Roseanne and Margaret Cho have cameos. And now for the substance abuse stuff: Shydner boozed it up for years, dabbling in drugs too, and only stopped when he saw that all the drinking and drugging was sabotaging his comedy career. He got that career back but then, years into sobriety, decided to give up the stage so he wouldn't have to always be on the road away from his family. I Am Comic focuses on his decision to get back on the comedy circuit—a decision that allowed him to get off the