Recovery Rocks

Following the murders of Rob and Michele Reiner, their son, Nick, has been charged with their killings. Media reports focused on Nick’s long history of substance abuse, oversimplifying what is clearly a more complex situation. Anna interviewed Nick a decade ago with his mother sitting alongside him and while the original interview is no longer online, we are releasing it as part of this episode. W...

We all have them. And guilty pleasures in sobriety are even more fun when we’re able to enjoy them fully, without the blur of alcohol. Anna is on a steady drip of sugar all day long (Dr. Pat Allen told her she was a “non practicing bulimic”). Other guilty pleasures include Love is Blind, Instagram/Threads, the podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me, Hunter Harris and Joel Stein’s Substacks and regular ma...

We talk about how music enhances our sobriety and what our playlists look like. We also talk about sober concerts we’ve loved. Live shows are a revelation, not just because we remember everything, but because we are present in the moment. To Anna, listening to Taylor Swift is the closest she’s come to feeling high (watching The Eras tour movie made her understand why people do ayahuasca). Lisa tal...

Some people love sober anniversaries, some people dread them, and some people don’t keep up with them at all. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. We talk about what counting days and keeping time looks like for us. Anna never misses an opportunity to celebrate herself, from her first soberversary (a karaoke party in West LA!) to her upcoming 25th (a full on 90s party with food trucks and costu...

Our friend Stefanie Wilder Taylor , author of SIPPY CUPS ARE NOT FOR CHARDONNAY and DRUNKISH, and host of the Drunkish podcast,  joins us to talk about being publicly outed as a sober person and what the backlash was like. Stefanie was barely sober when she was thrust into the spotlight as a sobriety expert. We talk about owning our own stories and what anonymity is and isn’t.

The official kickoff of the holiday season, Turkey Day, can be tricky. Especially the first one.  Family, friends, food, and often a lot of booze. What could go wrong? Lisa ended up flat on her back beneath a green bean casserole. Anna spent her first sober Thanksgiving freezing to death in a motorhome in a San Diego parking lot. (True!)

Just because we’re sober doesn’t mean we don’t still want to have fun wherever we hang out. But being comfortable in bars and clubs isn’t automatic. Lisa took a pass for a long time and only goes on rare occasions. Anna spent her first year sober as Premiere magazine’s “Party Girl,” which involved going out every night among the shiniest of people and the most open of bars. Amazingly, the experien...

Legend has it that drugs and alcohol have spawned some great works of art, including books. But evidence shows that numbing ourselves out actually stifles creativity. Anna and Lisa talk about what it was like to first feel that spark and flow of an idea without the booze. Anna was terrified that just sitting in front of the computer was going to trigger cravings and was shocked to discover that wr...

It’s bound to happen. At some point in our early or not-so-early sobriety, something is likely to trigger that overwhelming feeling of anxiety or even panic. Maybe it’s in a situation we’d drink our through or maybe it’s out of nowhere. For Lisa, it was the latter. For Anna, smoking cigarettes eased her newcomer sobriety—until she realized it was only exacerbating the issue.

Our first vacations in sobriety should be occasions to relax and let loose. And ours were! Just not without some pre-planning and flexibility on the fly. Anna found herself abandoned in the woods when she tried to find a meeting in New Zealand while Lisa found sober support in the City of Lights. 

Let’s get straight to it. Sober sex for the first time is a big deal! Some of us had never even done it before. We talk about our experiences – from what we were told to what we expected, and what it was actually like. Lisa had an eventful trip to Utah and Anna, well, let’s just say she ignored all that advice about not dating for the first year.

Picking up where the original Recovery Rocks left off, this next era of the podcast is all about how we make the most of our lives in sobriety. Co-hosts Lisa Smith and Anna David dig into all the beauty, mess, creativity, laughs, tears, and joy of leaving the booze behind.    We’ll kick it all off with some of our own stories, how we bonded ten years ago, and a series on our “sober firsts.”  

What would the last Recovery Rocks episode be without a focus on music? Tawny and Lisa talk all about the role music plays in their recovery and their lives in general. Tawny talks about seeing some of her favorite bands over the summer as research for her next (music-themed!) book project. The ladies extend all their gratitude and love to the listeners over the last seven years. Stick around on t...

Tawny and Lisa talk with their friend Chris Marshall, the creator of Sans Bar , the first non-alcoholic bar in North America. Sans Bar broke new ground in creating IRL sober spaces and providing support for soberpreneurs. They talk about how getting sober is an act of liberation, and Chris shares how his sobriety has led to all kinds of personal revelations and creativity. They also talk about his...

Laura Silverman, cartographer and creator of Zero Proof Nation , a global map of non-alcoholic bars and bottle shops, joins Tawny and Lisa for a stroll down memory lane. They talk about the non-alcoholic drink movement and how far it has come in the last seven years.    Music Minute features outlaw country music, Emily Nenni and Joshua Hedley   Sign up for Laura’s Substack     Find Laura on Instag...

After seven years and nearly 300 episodes, Tawny and Lisa are saying goodbye to Recovery Rocks. But they’re not going anywhere! Lisa will still be in this podcast feed with a new show, Sober Living, along with OG recovery queen Anna David. And Tawny will be everywhere with her non-al spirit, (parentheses) , writing classes and coaching , and a new book in the works! They look back on the show and...

Tawny and Lisa interview Jill Sirianni, co-host of the podcast Frugal Friends, which aims to change how we think about frugality. It does not mean being cheap. Frugal living intersects with minimalism, simple living and sustainability. Many of us have financial stress, often left over from when we abused substances. They talk about how practicing curiosity around finances can help identify priorit...

Tawny and Lisa talk to Art Alexakis, frontman for Everclear, one of the defining bands of the 1990s, still going strong. Art has almost 35 years of recovery, living very much one day at a time. They talk about recovery and Art’s writing process, including the iconic song, “Father of Mine.” They also discuss what it takes to know when you’re done with drugs and alcohol, to ask for help, and to live...

Tawny and Lisa talk about Tawny’s recent Beyond Liquid Courage newsletter, "People Pleasing is Over."   She learned through years of recovery and therapy that her people-pleasing is tied to her codependency. Lisa learned in early recovery that if she didn’t stop always trying to please others, she wasn’t going to be able to stay sober. People pleasing is more nuanced than just doing something for...

Tawny and Lisa talk about addiction as a family disease. Whether it’s with your birth family or your chosen family (or both!), healing individually and as unit can break cycles of addiction and unhealthy behaviors. They both talk about their experiences with their families and how it’s an imperfect journey that never really ends.   Music Minute features Sister Sledge, Everclear, The Killers and Bi...

Tawny and Lisa talk with Ted Mandell, Associate Teaching Professor at the University of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre. Tawny has been a guest speaker for Ted’s class, “Drunk on Film: The Psychology of Storytelling with Alcohol and its Effects on Alcohol Consumption.” They talk about the reasons kids drink more when they get to college, the persistence of the excessive dr...

Tawny and Lisa talk with Hilary Sheinbaum about her new workbook, GOING DRY: A Practical Guide to Drinking Less and Living More . The workbook takes readers through all phases of a sober or sober-curious journey, ranging from assessing your relationship with drinking to setting realistic expectations to discovering new experiences that bring you joy without booze.  Music Minute features Sabrina Ca...

Tawny and Lisa talk with Lindsay Sutherland Boal, a coach, advocate, and the founder of both The Uncovery App and She Walks Canada, which support women overcoming problematic relationships with alcohol. They chat about gray-area drinking and the concept of “rock enough,” the acknowledgement that you don’t need a “rock bottom” crisis to quit drinking. The Uncovery App is dedicated to the pursuit of...

Tawny and Lisa are taking a summer break from the podcast, but encore episodes will air until they’re back in September. They talk about how it feels to pause and what they’ll be doing. It’s an opportunity for play and a chance to reset and reflect. But giving themselves time off brings up different emotions for both of them. They go deep on their feelings about routines, financial insecurity, and...

City girls love nature, too! Tawny and Lisa talk about the role it plays in their recoveries. Spending time in nature is linked to both cognitive benefits and improvements in mood, mental health and emotional well-being. But you can also bring nature into the home with herbs, plants, flowers or anything that connects with you. And nature is not just the mountains or the ocean – it can be anywhere...