Light Hustler: Making Your Mess Into Your Message

Writer and comedian Sara Benincasa is a memoirist, a novelist, a performer, a delight and also completely open about her issues with mental health. After having her first panic attacks as a child, the New Jersey-reared lass managed to later overcome agoraphobia and write a book (currently being developed as a TV show) about it. Here, she and AfterPartyChat's Anna David discuss finding the right medication, whether or not regular therapy is necessary and why remaining grateful while staying confident is the perfect balance to strike, among many other topics.

Comedian, actor, writer and podcaster Dave Anthony is the first non-alcoholic guest as AfterPartyPod opens up to welcome not just addicts but also those who have overcome major life obstacles and can speak about the transition. The son of an active alcoholic, Anthony hit a wall of anger before joining Alanon and while still a bit on the angry side (it's part of what makes him so hilarious), is now a happily married father with a hit podcast who also writes and stars on IFC's Maron. Here, he and AfterPartyChat's Anna David talk about dealing with abusive family members, how humor doesn't work in an Alanon setting and why they were both obsessed with the Woody Allen scandal, among many other topics.

Comedian Eddie Pepitone is a national treasure to the part of the nation that knows him. This was the theme of The Bitter Buddha, the critically acclaimed documentary about his life, and is also occasionally a part of his stand-up act. As a comedian and actor, he's been on WTF and Conan repeatedly, as well as on The Last Comic Standing, The Sarah Silverman Program, Happy Endings, Flight of the Concords, 2 Broke Girls, It's Always Sunny and many more. He's also a sober addict and spiritual seeker (see doc title) and though he's billed as bitter (see doc title), he's also seemingly ever delighted and amused. Here, he and AfterPartyChat's Anna David discuss how he rebels against his sobriety, the various shenanigans of the alcoholic brain and everything and more you might want to know about parking in LA, among many other topics.

Hills and Laguna Beach star Jason Wahler played up his reality star bad boy image to the extreme by getting arrested multiple times (in multiple states!) But when he washed up on the Celebrity Rehab shores, it became clear that he wasn't a bad guy, just a sick one suffering from addiction. Not only is he now sober but he also works full-time in recovery at Northbound, a treatment center in Costa Mesa, California. He and AfterPartyChat's Anna David talked about sneaking off to do cocaine alone, getting arrested by a cop on a horse after an MTV Awards after-party and how to get high naturally, among many other topics.

Bestselling author, ultra-endurance athlete, plant-based nutrition advocate and sober father Rich Roll has been hailed as one of the world's fittest men. He also graduated from Stanford and Cornell Law and built up a successful law practice all while drowning in alcohol. Then, after years of sobriety, he realized he was anesthetizing himself with food the way he had with drinking and what started out as a cleanse turned into—well, one of the world's fittest men. Here we talk about familial expectations, being an alcoholic in New York and the spiritual aspects of recovery as well as the tragic death of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

TV and radio host Riki Rachtman may have the tattoos and rocker guy persona of a tough guy but make no mistake—he's a sweetheart. The host of MTV's Headbangers Ball and former owner of the Cathouse club, Rachtman now hosts Racing Rocks on over 120 radio stations and also lives a life free of drugs and alcohol after a multi-year battle with the substances. (No, he wants to assure you, he's actually been absolutely sober for a lot of the "stupid shit" he's done over the past 20 years.) Here, we talk about what got him sober (a drug that starts with m, ends with h and has et in between), how he lives today and everything in between.

Actress and author Kristen Johnston needs no introduction but we're giving her one anyway: the Emmy award-winning star of Third Rock From the Sun who's now starring on TVLand's The Exes (Wednesdays at 10 pm!), Johnston is also the New York Times bestselling author of Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster, which details her struggle with and recovery from addiction. Here we talk about the nitty gritty details of her stomach exploding (that's what taking too many pills will do to you), the part fame played in her addiction and her plan to start up sober high schools in New York.

Mackenzie Phillips had, from the outside, the most glamorous childhood that could be imagined: the daughter of the Mamas and Papas lead singer John Phillips, she starred in American Graffiti and on the hit TV show One Day at a Time as a teenager, while also hitting every club on the Sunset Strip. But her career was stymied by addiction—until 1992, when she went into treatment. After a bout of long-term sobriety, she relapsed and was eventually arrested with heroin in her while on her way to New York for a One Day at a Time reunion on The Rachel Ray Show. The release of her book, High on Arrival—and the revelation in it that she'd had a 10-year consensual sexual relationship with her father—sent the media (and her family) into a tizzy. Now sober again and arguably as enthusiastic about recovery as anyone in the world, Phillips is the Recovery Advocate for the Pasadena Recovery Center and a sought-after speaker on spiritual matters. You'll see why when you listen to this episode.  

Permanent Midnight author Jerry Stahl is, bar none, this generation's king of junkie lit. Dark and hilarious, Permanent Midnight was an insta-classic that was made into a movie with Ben Stiller as the lead and Stahl has followed it with a succession of other nihilistic novels—including his latest, Happy Mutant Baby Pills. He and TheAfterPartyGroup's Anna David have known each other since Stahl blurbed her first book in 2005. Here they discuss heroin, sobriety, swearing, life coaches, meditation, yoga, writing and so much more.

Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro has been to rehab 31 times. He's also been in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, lived with a whole bunch of crazy addicts in San Francisco and LA, stayed half-awake through an operation when he had a liter of pus extracted from his leg and lived to tell the tale. He and AfterPartyChat's Anna David talk about his newfound sobriety (he was a few days from checking out of a treatment center the day of the interview), his brushes with death, the way his trauma caught up to him and his new book, Dreadknaught: King of Afropunk. 

Musician and actor Michael Des Barres has had many lives: he's been in bands with John Taylor and Steve Jones, performed at Live Aid, co-written hit songs ("Obsession," which Animotion made famous, and which Des Barres admits is about cocaine), had memorable appearances on TV shows from WKRP in Cincinnati through Melrose Place and Nip/Tuck (as well as many in between and since) and is now, at 65, hosting The Michael Des Barres Show for TRadioV. He and AfterPartyChat's Anna David met over a decade ago, before she was sober—when he called the fact that she was doing cocaine "so very 80's." Here they discuss Michael's childhood in an English boarding school, his time doing drugs (with several shout outs to Quaaludes) and the fact that he's been sober since 1981. Also in there: singing! Reminiscing about the date they once had! And more.

Comedian Jake Fogelnest was more successful at 14 than many of us will ever be: his public access TV show, Squirt TV, had a cult following that included The Beastie Boys, the guys from They Might Be Giants and many more; within a few weeks, he was fielding calls from superstars who were declaring themselves fans. While Squirt TV went to MTV and Fogelnest has gone on to have a busy career that includes multiple Sirius radio shows, a podcast (The Fogelnest Files), TV writing gigs and much more, he also became addicted young and struggled to find sobriety. Here, he and AfterPartyChat's Anna David discuss how finding success at a young age can contribute to addiction, his amazing Twitter joke about Banksy and the most important topic of all: cats.

Actor and director Josh Leonard (though he'd introduce himself to you as Joshua) launched into the spotlight as one of the stars of The Blair Witch Project. After a bit of a wayward youth (getting in trouble for having alcohol and Playboys at school, time spent in a boys home and legal emancipation) followed by a bit of a wayward next-phase-in-life (culminating in heroin addiction), Leonard was only a few months into sobriety when the indie movie he'd made in two weeks became the Next Big Thing. In the years since, he's done time on many a TV series (including Hung and The United States of Tara) before 2009's Humpday put him back in the indie spotlight. Also a successful director, Leonard has done both music videos (Morcheeba, Fitz and the Tantrums) as well as feature films (2011's The Lie). He's also maintained not only his sobriety but also his humility, which wasn't so easy in the beginning (stick around for the white limo story, which comes hear the end). Here he and AfterPartyChat's Anna David talk about

Author Carrie White has lived many lives. The first female hairdresser to the stars, White tended to the tresses of everyone from Ann Margaret and Elvis to Sharon Tate and Elizabeth Taylor. And she did it all on rollerskates (it was the 70s, people). But her high-flying life—which included three husbands and five children—was masking a crippling drug addiction which eventually left her curled up in the fetal position outside her dealer's door. Now sober for multiple decades, White built her hairdressing business back up and published a best-selling memoir, Upper Cut, about the entire thing. Here she talks to AfterPartyChat's Anna David about bottoming out, coming back, and how getting sober but continuing to smoke is like switching seats on the Titanic. 

Actress and reality star Jennifer Gimenez first worked as a teenage model before acting alongside Johnny Depp in Blow and Cameron Diaz in The Sweetest Thing. But many first came to know her when she was the house manager on Sober House—a job she got after she went from being one of Dr. Drew's nightmare clients to one of his miracles. Here she and AfterPartyChat's Anna David talk about the drug dealer they used to share, how they first got sober together back in the early 2000s and whether or not Gimenez would use her real name if she was a drug dealer.

Comedian Danielle Stewart will say anything any time, anywhere. And so her conversation with AfterPartyChat's Anna David covered addiction, yes, but also jealousy, hope, Facebook, sex addiction and more. Arguably NSFW or the conservative.

Writer and editor John DeVore was a great drunk, as AfterPartyChat's Anna David well knows, since she logged many (sober) hours with him while he was still boozing and the two were living in New York. Now sober over three years and settled in Los Angeles, he and David discussed the difference between drunks and alcoholics, how he once saw how bored she looked at a party and what a really famous architect had to say about LA—among many other glorious topics. Follow John Devore on Twitter here.

Comedian and Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast host Paul Gilmartin is, to some, the affable longtime co-host of TBS' Dinner and a Movie. But to others, all that he's done in comedy (which includes Comedy Central specials and spots on Politically Incorrect and The Craig Ferguson Show) pales in comparison to the amazing feat he's accomplished in getting his guests to address distressing issues like depression, addiction and abuse on his much-lauded podcast. He talks to AfterPartyChat's Anna David here about addiction, abuse and the relationship between the two. Check out the site for The Mental Illness Happy Hour here.

Prolific television producer and former actress Claudia Lonow has been the force behind Rude Awakening, How To Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) and more. She's also 28 years sober and met with AfterPartyChat's Anna David back when David wanted to be a TV writer and had cocaine drip going down the back of her throat. The two discuss that meeting, David's potentially disturbing obsession with her, losing everything in sobriety, why even one night can set off a relapse and much more. Follow Claudia on Twitter here.

Actor and meditation teacher Jeff Kober has been in every TV show you've ever seen (China Beach, Star Trek, Law and Order, Sons of Anarchy and trust us, that's only the beginning) and is one of LA's most revered meditation teachers. Here he talks to AfterPartyChat's Anna David about huffing ether, detoxing in a San Diego hotel room and realizing the big movie role wasn't going to change anything. Sign up for Kober's Meditation Thought For The Day on his site.