Only One In The Room

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Chad Foster right after the show. Special Thanks to our Sponsors: Savage X Fenty has it all! Get into it and become a new VIP. Get two bras for $29 plus 50% off everything site-wide at savagex.com/ONLYONE Best Fiends: Join us and the millions of Americans who are already pl...

Can you imagine what it’d be like to watch the sunset, or a football game, or even take a picture, knowing that it would be the last time that you could see what was in front of you? Author and inspirational speaker, Chad Foster, was just three years old when he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a disease that gradually robs you of your eyesight. Twenty years later, he was self-medicating w...

Mary Beth O’Connor is a Berkeley Law graduate, a retired federal judge, Board member and secretary for She Recovers Foundation and is a board member of LifeRing Secular Recovery. Mary Beth started using Methamphetamine in high school and was an addict for sixteen years. She was ordered to surrender to a higher power on her first day in rehab, even though she didn’t believe in God. Being an atheist...

My friend Dana lives in Charlottesville, Virginia and was greatly impacted by the events that took place there in 2017. I love this reflective, poignant essay she wrote for Tinhouse about her experience as a Jewish woman and mother during that time and I’m very grateful that she’s allowed me to share it with you. Dana Mich is a Jewish mother and writer living in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her memo...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Emily McCombs right after the show. Special Thanks to our Sponsors: Voyage et Cie: Voyage et Cie's curator Melanie Apple has cultivated a passion for notable moments using the sense of smell. Voyage et Cie is the ultimate luxury blend of travel, fragrance, and design. Each...

Imagine that most of the people who know you, also know that you’re in recovery and that you never drink alcohol or do drugs. When writer and editor, Emily McCombs hit a low point in her life she thought that she couldn’t possibly feel any worse if she drank, so she did. But what would you do if six months after that first drink, you were using cocaine daily and facing financial devastation? Would...

Eating disorders have historically been associated with heterosexual, young, white females, but in reality, they affect people from all demographics of all ethnicities at similar rates. People of color – especially African American women – are significantly less likely to receive help for their eating issues. Today with us we have Shanetta McDonald, a Los Angeles-based creative. After spending mor...

I saw Madeline Grayer perform/read this hilarious essay at a storytelling show earlier this year and I laughed out loud all the way through. Couldn’t wait to share it with you all. Madeline Grayer has written about dating for Cosmopolitan magazine and fashion for InStyle.com. She was a consultant in the writer’s room for HBO’s “Sex and the City”, and is currently writing a collection of humorous p...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Zoe Abbott right after the show. Special thanks to our sponsors: Savage X Fenty has it all! Get into it and become a new VIP. Get two bras for $29 plus 50% off everything site-wide at savagex.com/ONLYONE Best Fiends: Join us and the millions of Americans who are already pla...

Imagine being three hundred pounds, not being able to buckle your seatbelt on planes, and needing two people to push you down into your seat on a rollercoaster. When Financial entrepreneur and mentor, Zoe Abbott, decided to change her life and lose the weight, she was scared that afterward she might look like a deflated balloon. So what would you do if after losing a hundred and fifty pounds, you...

The D.A.R. tried in recent decades to attract members of diverse backgrounds, and in doing so, it had to overcome as many decades of bad press. Because of their reputation, they have historically had trouble attracting African-American members. The Daughters of the American Revolution is an organization with more than 1,000,000 women. They became members to honor their heritage as well as learn mo...

When Sunday Times best-selling author, Catherine Gray asked me to contribute an essay to her new book, Sunshine Warm Sober, I jumped at the chance. When I found out that she wanted my essay to tell the story of what it’s like being Black in white recovery spaces, I knew exactly which story I wanted to tell. Laura Cathcart Robbins is an author, freelance culture writer, and host of the popular podc...

Before we dive into today's Scott Talks, we would like to share with you an honest spoken-word piece by the talented Blu Nyle. We love spoken word and the imagery and honesty it evokes. We hope you enjoy it as much we do. More about Blu Nyle: BLU NYLE IS A Musical Artist, Poetess, Artivist, Actor, Speaker, Writer and Healer! Blu is a Reiki Master and Transformation Coach. Her Company is ROOTED IN...

Picture this if you will, your father is THE brilliant, iconic filmmaker, actor and revolutionist, Melvin Van Peebles. And when you are just thirteen years old, he gives you a pivotal role in a movie that will change the way the world looks at black men and women forever. Mario Van Peebles, actor, eco-activist, director and producer, took that role, playing the younger version of his father, Melvi...

What if, while looking to adopt, two babies stole your heart, one white and one Black. And when you looked at them, you just knew that they were both your daughters. William Fitzsimmons, singer, songwriter and producer, adopted his two daughters with his now ex-wife, knowing that as a White man, it would be important to learn to take care of his Black daughter’s hair and educate himself about her...

To continue our celebration of Pride month, today I am reading the deeply personal essay, The Definition Of Brave by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor.  Stefanie Wilder-Taylor is a guest from season one of The Only Only One In The Room (an OG!) She is the author of five books, including the best-seller, Sippy Cups Are Not For Chardonnay. She’s been seen on NickMom hosting her humorous talk show Parental Disc...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Esera Tuaolo right after the show. Don't miss our new Friday series On My Nightstand. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theonl...

What if you were known as the NFL player with the voice of an angel and your reputation for making the ladies swoon was rivaled only by your reputation for making big plays on the football field?   Esera Tuaolo, proud Samoan, Hawaii native, Superbowl winner and contestant on The Voice, had everything that he’d ever dreamed of: A career playing the sport he loved, the ability to support his family...

All Black Lives Matter came on my radar last week after it was painted down the center of Hollywood Blvd here in Los Angeles. The issue on the table is that black queer people in this country have been hit twice. Being black and queer in America can be seen as a double threat and not necessarily in a good way. Many black members of the LGBTQ+ community feel like a people without a country. They ex...

Today’s reading is an excerpt from chapter seven, Guilt and Gods by the critically acclaimed writer and editor, Hari Ziyad. Hari Ziyad is a cultural critic, a screenwriter, and the editor-in-chief of RaceBaitr. They are a 2021 Lambda Literary Fellow, and their writing has been featured in BuzzFeed, Out, the Guardian, Paste magazine, and the academic journal Critical Ethnic Studies, among other pub...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Nick North right after the show. Don't miss our new Friday series On My Nightstand. Be sure to join our Facebook Group for the most up-to-date info on guests, episodes and more. You can also DM us on Instagram @theonlyoneintheroom or email us via the website at www.theonlyo...

Imagine you were assigned female at birth, but nothing ever quite felt quite right. And you found yourself wondering over and over, why you couldn’t just be a boy like all the other boys? Brand strategist, Nick North lived as a woman and married a man, giving birth to four beautiful children before meeting Catherine, the love of his life. But what would you do if you came to understand that you we...

Tara Reed is the CEO and founder of a million-dollar tech startup called Apps Without Code. After running marketing initiatives at Google, Foursquare and Microsoft, Tara branched out to launch her own startups using unconventional techniques. Her online school has trained over 85,000 entrepreneurs across 14 countries, and teaches people how to build their own apps, validate their business ideas, a...

Today’s On My Nightstand reading is the essay, May 29, 2021, by Holly Whitaker. Holly is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, Quit Like A Woman, a memoir/self-help book about her own recovery. She is the founder and CEO of Tempest (formerly Hip Sobriety), the first female-focused recovery program. With years of experience in the fields of healthcare and tech, she created a human-centered r...

Scott Slaughter co-host and producer of The Only One In The Room has a short and casual, yet deep conversation with our guest Dedee Pfeifer right after the show. Special thanks to our Sponsor Betterhelp: Start living a happier life today! As an Only On In The Room listener, you’ll get 10% off your first month by visiting our sponsor at Betterhelp.com/One. Join the over one million people who have...