The Drunkalogues

Sometimes, it's amazing to me that with all my privileges and advantages I've still struggled to make it through this life. And yet my next guest is a guy who really had none of that - absentee parents running from their own mess inflicting their trauma on their poorskids. And somehow he found a way through - a way that was aided and abetted by drug and alcohol abuse - but a way nonetheless. He has two books out now The Wisdom of the Rooms and The Twelve Steps: A Modern Hero's journey which the kirkus review called unexpectedly gripping. Won't you please welcome, Michael Z.   Buy his book here:  https://a.co/d/itIECxR

When I was an assistant at William Morris my boss would sometimes hire this masseuse - Steve - to come into the office and give everyone neck and shoulder massages. And he would laugh that my session was always a kind of wrestling match. "Nick, relax," he'd say. "This is meant to be enjoyable!" This next interview feels a little bit like that. We wrestle for a rhythm that works, but somehow get there in the end. My next guest was a drug dealer for decades, ran a recovery film film festival, founded the experience strength and hope awards and has a new book out, now: High From Cannabis to Clarity. Won't you please welcome Leonard Lee Buschel.

Daniel Schwarzhoff discovered pretty late in life that he was not really a Schwarzhoff: that the man he had always considered his father was not his biological dad.  It explained a lot.  At least it gave a shape to the chaos that had marked his early life.  He rose above that chaos with a career on Wall Street but brought a lot of it with him as well. When it eventually became too much, he found a twelve step meeting that really revealed how far gone he'd become.

Patti Clark grew up in Redwood City where she overcame a childhood marked by absentee parents to graduate high school and attend a good college. A sort of divine intervention shaped the trajectory of her life and then a tarot card reader helped her recognize her own addiction.  She spent 13 years sober, determined to raise her own children in a way that was different from her own upbringing, but then - after 13 years sober - started drinking again.  But she's sober now and has a new book out - RECOVERY ROAD TRIP - which is part narrative and part work book - a compendium of weekly exercises to chart a more fulfilling path of your own. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. 

Frank Conniff has been a stand up and writer and producer for many tv shows like Sabrina the teenage witch but he's probably best know for his role as TV's Frank on the Peabody Award winning cult hit Mystery Science Theater 3000 where he also served as a writer. I discovered Frank as one of the many members of my extended clan of Murray-McDonnell cousins. When I started doing standup, everyone in my family asked me if we had met each other so I started following him on Twitter and discovered he was, in fact, sober. I had his email address from a family group email and here we are...

John Machado struggled wiht addictoin for years before a doctor's visit necessseitate a meeting with an addiction specilist who helped get him into rehab to begin a long process to recovery.. They say relapse is a part of the process of recovery but this convesation made me think that maybe the road to recovery is paved with all kinds of experiences some of which form the building blocks of a healthy life.  John has published several books including his most recent works BRONZE JAZZ and JOHNNY BLUE AND THE RIGHTEOUS SPIN.

John Giordano grew up in the Bronx, a child of organized crime and despite joining his first gang at the age of ten managed to save himself from that fate thru his dedication to the discipline of competitive martial arts. But when his recreational drug use spiraled out of control in his twenties, he suddenly found himself on the receiving end of an intervention organized by the same criminals who raised him but also loved him. He made it out the other side, but it was not easy.  And he went on to build a small and innovative business empire in the world of rehab and recovery. He has a new book out called The Kid From the South Bronx Who Never Gave Up.  

I first met David when he was an agent at CAA repping the likes of Oliver Stone and other high profile filmmakers and writers.  He was part of a powerful club I only got glimpses of and boy did it look fun. But it was also addictive, and he shares here the journey to a more measured form of contententmen. 

Nick Jonsson grew up in Sweden where drinking beer was kind of a way of life.  His drinking escalated when he moved to Australia for college and then got out of control when he started working in advertising and PR in Southeast Asia where the ex-pat community thrived in a lively and inexpensive bar scene.  His life was turned upside down after a couple job losses and he soon found himself drinking just to make it through the day. Eventually, he was hospitalized and managed through phamaceutical intervention and twelve steps to get sober.  When a friend and colleague lost his life to suicide, a message Nick posted on line went viral, and he now divides his time between his work running an executive peer support group and his work as a writer and speaker.  He has a new book out, Executive Loneliness, that is available everyhwere.

This episode is largely about addiction to pornography as Powerful Eric struggled for years to overcome his own pornography addiction.  Ultimately, he stumbled on a shift in perspective that helped him get well, and he has built on that shift to create a program for other addicts that shares some of the tools I employ as well.  While this podcast is largely about drug and alcohol addiction, addictive behaviors share so many similarities and sometimes it just gets harder once alcohol has been removed from the equation!

I came across Tom Vaughan on twitter and started following him for his helpful screenwriting tips, and then one day he tweeted something about his sobriety and I reached out to see if we would be interested in coming on the pod.  He graciously agreed, and I imagined some sort of quasi-scholarly discussion about story structure and sobriety.  Little did I realize, Tom and I had crossed paths in my most formative Hollywood years and shared so much in common... not least of all being our penchant for pre-pubescent car theft!  You can tune into his many screenwriting resources at storyandplot.com     

Ryan King moved to Los Angeles as a toddler when his father, Commodores co-founder William King, moved here for work.  He was a pretty straight arrow through high school earning himself a coveted spot in the highly competive baseball program at Long Beach State.  But booze became his way of belonging and soon his undoing as his alcoholo habit compounded a case of the "yips" that kept him from throwing the ball to first base!  Things got slowly worse from there, and he skidded along the bottom without ever hitting it until a relapse on his honeymoon changed everything forever.

Paul Summers grew up in Las Vegas Nevada where he had a "eureka" moment at an early age which made him realize that all he wanted to do with his life was play guitar, write music and perform for live audience, and for a while…. That's exactly what he did. But booze and meth and oxy led him off his path, and it was only when his ex-wife disappeared with his toddler daughter that he realized everything had to change. He has now written a new memoire HIDE and SEEK a Dad's journey from soulless addiction to sole custody that chronicles his efforts to clean up and regain custody, and we talk here about his journey back to music and the challenge of putting your so-called faith into action

Clancy Martin is the author of the recently published, highly acclaimed memoire - HOW NOT TO KILL YOURSELF - which is also an enlightened and practical guide to suicide prevention.  Clancy speaks from experience as he is the survivor of at least ten attempts to take his own life.  And as a recovering alcoholic, he looks at suicide - at least in part - through the lens of addiction.  I found the book revelatory and - as someone who regularly contemplates taking his own life - wildly helpful.  And I also think the wisdom Clancy shares in this conversation alone could save lives.

I met Jono Hart when we were both climbing the Hollywood ladder in the 90s, and we traded small talk and jokes at innumerable cocktail parties before both getting sober at about the same time.   And while I have used the 12 steps as a model, he has largely followed his own heart. Weirldy, both paths share a lot of similarities. We recently re-connected over our shared love of the mountains and he has been invaluable in getting me and my kids back into the wilderness. You can support this podcast at Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/thedrunkalogues

Sean grew up in Long Beach where he was the son of a single mom and absentee dad.  He discovered crack and meth at an early age, and when he graduate from high school he went off and joined the circus - Bread and Puppet - the experimental theater group based in Glover, VT. The skills he picked up at Bread and Puppet led to a very successful career in light design, but his crack and meth habit gave way to heroin and speedballs.  He soon found himself mired in several disfuntional relationships when - almost by chance - he stumbled into a twelve step meeting and just kept coming back.  He's so funny and honest and - as I've gotten to know him - full of wisdom.   You can support this podcast at Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/thedrunkalogues

I've fantasized about having every guest back to catch up with them and hear how they've changed and how their recovery has evolved, but it hasn't yet happened... until now!  Annie appeared on an early season of the podcast to talk alcohol recovery, and now she is back - 4 and a half years later - to talk about her journey through sex and love addiction.  They say if you've been sober long enough and you're not in another 12 step progam, you're just not being honest with yourself. Well, Annie is being very honest with herself and you can learn more about her journey through sex and love addiction on her own podcast SEX AND LOVE IN RECOVERY.    You can support this podcast at Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/thedrunkalogues

The daughter of Inidan immigrants, Sonia grew up in Toronto and went on with her husband of 18 years to form and expand a multi-location orthodontic practice.  But when they realized their dream of selling the business, Sonia had to ask herself: what next. The first thing she did was quit drinking, but when her husband then suddenly left her she had to really re-evaluate who she was and what she wanted from life. She has gone on to form a curated peer support group for people struggling with addiction - EverBlume - and we talk here about what it really means to set your own self-worth.

Marci Hopkins grew up in an alcoholic home where she was the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of her step-father. While she managed to escape that world and chart a successful path for herself in television, she suffered from a persistent sense of victimhood that she treated with alcohol abuse. When a DUI finally forced her to re-evaluate her choices and get sober, she reinvented herself completely - dispensing with her old notions of perfection and prioritizing fulfillment. She is now the author a recent memoir - Chaos To Clarity: Seeing The Signs and Breaking The Cycles as well as an award winning TV host and Creator of Wake Up With Marci. Won't you please welcome marci Hopkins.   You can support this podcast at Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/thedrunkalogues

I heard Adam K share the tiniest snippet of what it was like to grow up as a child of deaf adults (CODA), and I just wanted to hear more. His parents were not saints: they were all too human, and he struggled from an early age under the weight of the immense responsibility they thrust on him to care for them.   Growing up in West Covina as the only jew in an ethnically diverse community, Adam eventually found an escape in pot and rap music and like so many stories in recovery a chance encounter changed everything.   You can support this podcast at Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/thedrunkalogues