you deserve freedom

S1/E13: Tracey Helton - Opening Up Your World

Tracey Helton, featured in the 1999 HBO documentary "Black Tar Heroin: The Dark End of the Street," author of 2016's "The Big Fix" (Seal Press), and San Francisco's "Naloxone Lady" joins me for a discussion about harm reduction, recovery, hardcore music, and the chaos of cats. She is @TraceyH415 on Reddit, TikTok, and Instagram. Check her out.

S1/E12: Kaya Littleturtle - Good Medicine

Kaya Littleturtle is the Cultural Enrichment Coordinator for the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. He also provides community-based recovery support services in the form of talking circles and is a splendid singer-songwriter as well. Come get you some good medicine.

S1/E11: Maia Szalavitz - Expanding the Definition of Recovery

Maia Szalavitz has written or co-written around eight books, including the seminal work 'Unbroken Brain'. Her latest release, 'Undoing Drugs', is the first history of the harm reduction movement. We talk about harm reduction & recovery, music & dancing, and lifting weights & cake! This is my longest episode so far, but I didn't want leave anything on the cutting room floor. Find out what Maia is up to next at Maiasz.com.

S1/E10: Jennifer Nicolaisen - We Can Be The Medicine

Seek Healing co-founder and executive director Jennifer Nicolaisen joins me for a love-filled conversation about the good medicine that is authentic connection and keeping pleasure & playfulness in recovery. Learn more about Seek Healing's mission and services at SeekHealing.org.

S1/E9: Ricky Byrd - Music Is Healing

Rock & Roll Hall of Famer from The Blackhearts, Recovery Coach, & man thriving in 34 years of recovery Ricky Byrd joins me for a super chill conversation about a bunch of things & stuff. We talk about everything from the healing power of music to the chaos of Chrismas decorations. Find out what the Recovery Troubadour is up to at RickyByrd.com. His latest album Sobering Times is bomb. Check it out.

S1/E8: Brian Cuban - Allow Recovery To Evolve

Best selling author Brian Cuban brought us his memoir 'The Addicted Lawyer in 2017, and his fiction thriller 'The Ambulance Chaser' hit shelves today. He's a man thriving in recovery who leverages his story to improve services and increase help-seeking, particularly among those in the legal profession, disproportionately impacted by substance use disorder.

Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative helps local law enforcement agencies across the country to implement non-arrest diversion programs for people experiencing substance use disorder. Executive Director Allie Hunter invited me to say a few words about stigma, language, and advocacy.  

The NC Empowering Youth and Families Program (EYFP) focuses on opioid prevention education for youth ages 10-14 and their caregivers in rural North Carolina.  They asked me to share the role language plays in prevention, treatment, and recovery. Brought to you by North Carolina 4-H, NC State Extension Family & Consumer Sciences Program, East Carolina University, and SAMHSA.

I was so very honored to get an opportunity to holler into the microphone at the FAVOR UK 2019 Annual Conference in Middlesbrough, England. I shared about everything from recovery activism to the emerging global recovery movement to macaroni & cheese versus mushy peas. 

Recovery allies at UNC TV brought together state leaders and local advocates to offer North Carolinians an informative and timely piece on the most deadly public health crisis in American history. They reached out to me to provide commentary on the role stigma has played in creating this problem and how words can get us out of it. 

Novant Health is an heroic recovery ally. Recognizing the role stigma plays in the addiction epidemic, Novant reached out to me to share a message of hope to be included in their opioid online CME training to be  viewed by their 25,000 member staff and partnering physicians. They  further went on to form a stigma reduction committee to address  potential obstacles to wellness in any of their 15 hospitals and over  400 clinics throughout the southeast.