Talkin' Trash Addiction Recovery Podcast

A midweek lineup adjustment was required as our frontman was called away for service obligations—true to form for Jim—making the April Fools’ Day timing feel especially fitting for this one hour and fifty-three minute episode. Despite limited preparation, as Tim candidly noted at the outset, the team delivered a solid performance; with eight shows a month, not every episode can be a home run. Will...

On tonight’s episode of the addiction recovery podcast, hosts Tim and Brad dove deep into the powerful connection between fear and change in the recovery journey. Drawing from personal experience and conversations within the recovery community, they explored how fear often shows up at pivotal moments—whether it’s the fear of relapse, the fear of facing past mistakes, or even the fear of success an...

In this episode, we sat down with Richard, who shared his powerful story of getting sober at a young age and navigating the challenges of early recovery. He spoke candidly about the fears, identity shifts, and social pressures he faced while choosing sobriety, and how committing to personal growth transformed his life. Together, we explored the role of codependency in addiction—how unhealthy relat...

We welcomed special guest Donald B. in a powerful and thought-provoking conversation about “Change in Recovery” and the “Fear of Change.” Together, we explored how growth in recovery often requires stepping into the unknown and letting go of familiar but unhealthy patterns. Donald B. shared honest insights about how fear can keep people stuck, even when they genuinely want a better life, and how e...

We suffered in silence—now we recover out loud . That’s how we roll here on Talkin’ Trash . We’re not ashamed of our afflictions; quite the opposite. We find strength in vulnerability, and staying open-minded breaks down walls we never thought possible. Tonight, we unveiled Trash 2.0 —a new look, a new year, and a new cast member. We’re always adapting, always evolving, one day at a time. We hande...

Get it while it's hot. Spotify is randomly pulling episodes for copyright nonsense so this show could disappear over the next few days. We're appealing everything, just takes time. Meanwhile, our content is readily available and chronologically organized on YouTube, Facebook and X. So that's that. We welcomed our new friend Brad to the team tonight. Much like Jim, Brad's a natural...

Final show in October and we went full sleepy hollow on this tricky treat. Moving forward, 1 of our 8 shows a month will be an addiction medicine specialty episode. For tonight's kick-off, former show host and LPN, Mike Oxley brought a fellow nurse-friend to the podcast. Krystal was amazing. Her experience, strength and hope will put you in check or at the least shed light on family dynamics a...

We were joined tonight by special guest Logan Mainil. Logan hails from north of the wall as well in Regina with Jimmy. Jim recruited Logan to tell his story in the making. Logan's just over a year clean and sober and he's doing everything the right way. His attitude is grounded and lets face it, the guy's a pisser. The gang laughed their way through an hour and a half of addiction, spo...

In early addiction recovery, resentments can feel loud and relentless, bubbling up from old hurts, broken trust, and the raw unfairness of starting over. When substances are gone, the feelings they once numbed come rushing back, and resentment often becomes a way to protect pain that hasn’t yet found words. These resentments can quietly drain energy, distort perspective, and threaten recovery if t...

The power came back on an hour before the show and the crew rallied to pull together ill prepared. It didn't hurt that we had one of our favorite friends on the show for the fourth time. When you make real connections in this line of work they're real, regardless of race, creed, identity, it doesn't matter. We all share the same affliction of addiction. We meet on this level playing fi...

The team was back together for a full episode of fresh original content. We welcomed Colin M. into the fray tonight. We were honored to share in his early recovery and hear how he's overcoming real life, difficult situations. These things ran us back to the bottle or pill or needle and now, what a surprise, things are easier when you're not sabotaging your life. Our very own Jim Leibel cel...

We kicked off our holiday shenanigans tonight as we gratefully welcomed a recored number in viewership for this show. The Canadian influence continued as we invited fellow brother in recovery, Brad the Canadian. The panel all identified with some part of his story and he had a great way of telling it. Dennis Leary made his yearly appearance. As did Tim's dad. Brad Mansfield from Wawota jumped in t...

We celebrated Christmas Eve together by having a fun episode and looking at "The art of Losing". As we get older, we learn how to fall gracefully. The art of losing is about how we land. Whether we have a good landing or not is all about how we fall. It's not a matter of if , it's a matter of when , and when we fall are we prepared for the landing? It's all about having a good landing. Minimize th...

Our 4th season and the guys stumbled and fumbled their way into the New Year's End Zone into the new year in an act of sheer luck, perseverance, motivation... and a touch of class. Spoiler alert: the texting shorthand vernacular for bc is not British Columbia. It was a good show, the team were in rare form after and very long, and very trying bit of peak season podcast. Talkin' Trash runs twice a...

The team was shorthanded tonight missing a Canadian who will be back in the mix the next show which is just the 3 of us. It feels like our team can still land the plane with engine failure and no gear. Just 2-guys sobriety-and-fries for this trainwreck. The host, Tim, shared his true experience in giving being better than receiving. Will is clearly going stir crazy. Jim made in onto the program wh...

Tonight we took a look at where our respective recovery journey's started. Were we forced in? Did we go voluntarily, had you finally had enough? As a team we stress mental health in recovery and sometimes that doesn't mean just diagnosis and prescription, albeit just as important. Sometimes to plan for the future, we have to learn from the past. We keep that door cracked so we can revisit our mist...

Thanksgiving is upon us once again. The holiday's can bring the best out in some people but for addicts they can seem like an added insurmountable weight and sadness is sure to follow. Countless anniversary dates are this time of year. Love, loss, grief, recovery. Each are magnified exponentially and are often triggered by festive lights or music, if left unchecked leaves us one stray thought. Man...

December the twenth. Jim took the cotton batting out of his ears and we moved forward professionally. The boys did their thing despite a late call-out. We blew the dust off the board games and we played some Recovery Jeopardy™ for posterity sake. Jim took the win 1,100 to 600 enzymes. An absolute instant classic barn burner. Great discussion on real time sobriety.

Episode 165 marked show host Tim's 900th day of recovery. We don't count the days, we make the days count. That being said, it's something that says "I'm here for real" and can change the way we look at sobriety and the difference between sobriety and recovery. Two very different things. You ask a recovering addict that's put multiple years together how they did it, all unanimously say, "One day a...

The boys did their thing tonight as we looked at grief in early recovery. Grief isn't just reserved for those who've lost a loved one. You can lament a situation, a relationship, a thing. Grief is about loss and we sometimes grieve for our addiction. We believe the lie that we'll never feel okay again. Even though addiction ruined our lives we still mourn for it as if it were a person...

The gang was back together (minus a beard) for an emotional episode. Daily Reflections was about curbing rashness. In active addiction, our reactions to situations are automatic. Automatic asshole was our default. We enter recovery and realize that those reactions were a product of the substance and we now have the choice to handle things differently. Words can cut deeper than a knife. We not atte...

All fun and games. Down a Canadian, the team pressed on to seal the "W". Will scored the game winner as the shorthanded Trashers rallied for the win. We talked about sports tonight, how it factors into a balanced framework for successful sobriety, one day at a time. We're not a glum lot, we like action, we're addicts we want that instant gratification. So as long as it doesn'...

Kajsa's home and welcomed with open arms as her absence was clearly felt. We talked a bit about the 72nd Regina Roundup and Kajsa's trip to Canada to spread the message with Jim. She shared her story as the keynote speaker and it was an hour of experience, strength and hope. Will fell asleep in his hot tub behind the trailer and missed the show. Hot tub safety, people... Just can't str...

Kajsa made it home safe and sound from the great white north. Jim, as always, was first class. He made sure our girl wanted for nothing and had all the comforts of home. The culinary experience was legendary. As Kajsa said "if I ate any more poutine it was gonna' come out my. nose" and had the pictures to prove it. Everyone involved with this experience was touched on a very personal...

Our theme tonight was "Making Your Comeback". Anybody who's in recovery, we've all written a comeback story (or you're working on the next chapter). Everybody loves an underdog and if you've decided to live a life of recovery, you don't start out on top. Our guest tonight reminded us of just that. It doesn't matter where you are or who you are, addiction does not...