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Recovery Rocks — Health
Recovery Rocks

Ever wonder what it’s like to go on your first sober date? Or survive a wedding without liquid courage? How about dancing stone-cold sober or dealing with your first breakup without wine?

If so, you’re in luck because you can join bestselling authors and longtime sober friends Lisa Smith and Anna David as they talk to guests—and each other—about addiction and recovery, including all the “firsts” that come with sober living. From awkward to amazing, cringe-worthy to surprisingly poignant, they’re discussing what it’s like to experience life without substances.

Lisa is the author of the award-winning memoir Girl Walks Out of a Bar, while Anna wrote Party Girl, a comic novel about addiction and recovery in the vein of Rachel’s Holiday and Postcards From the Edge. Together, they explore the real-life moments behind the kinds of stories that shape how people understand recovery.

Whether you’re newly sober, sober-curious or just want to hear some honest stories about recovery, Recovery Rocks is here for all of it.

Because as it turns out, when you can remember everything that happened, life gets a lot more interesting.

New episodes weekly. Real stories, real recovery, real talk.

Latest Episodes:

Sober Firsts: Making Amends (When “I’m Sorry” Gets Complicated) May 01, 2026

Show notes

It’s the dreaded 8th Step in 12-Step recovery - making amends to those we have harmed. Anna and Lisa talk about their first experiences with it, as well as what “living amends” look like. And when an amends turns into a bitch session for the other person, we take it in stride, and maybe even have a laugh years later. Plus: how do you make amends to a no-longer-living grandmother you tricked into shoplifting against her knowledge?

Sober Firsts: Learning to Love a Boring Saturday Night Apr 24, 2026

Show notes

What does the first Saturday night you stay home sober look and feel like? Just the prospect of it can send shivers down a newly sober spine. Lisa remembers a sense of relief, tinged with some envy knowing that her friends were out partying. Anna learned that boring wasn’t always bad and that maybe those people who’d been watching Saturday Night Live while she was out tearing it up were onto something.

Ann Dowsett Johnston Wrote the Book on Women and Alcohol—Then Started Over Apr 17, 2026

Show notes

We catch up with Ann Dowsett Johnston (anndowsettjohnston.com), the author of the groundbreaking bestseller, DRINK: THE INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WOMEN AND ALCOHOL. Published in 2013, it will be mass-market re-released in the fall. In her 60s, Ann got brave again, followed her heart and became a psychotherapist. We dig into all of this, plus the return of Ann’s popular memoir writing course, “From Memory to Memoir.” For women only, it’s an eight-session live-on-Zoom course, and it takes participants from the elements of finding voice and story to getting an agent. Classes start at the end of April, so register now: anndowsettjohnston.com/workshops

How a Little Becomes a Lot with Eric Zimmer of The One You Feed Apr 10, 2026

Show notes

Eric Zimmer went from homelessness, heroin addiction, and facing prison at 24 to inspiring global audiences with his podcast, The One You Feed, and his new book, How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life. Eric and Anna discuss how Eric’s podcast grew, why he didn’t focus it solely on recovery and what it took for him to decide on the book he wanted to write.

Sober Firsts: Networking Without the Wine Apr 03, 2026

Show notes

Business dinners often come with the expectation of drinking to loosen things up and get everyone feeling chummy. Defying that expectation can feel uncomfortable, but it doesn’t have to. Anna spent her first nine months of sobriety among the open bars of the most fabulous Hollywood events as Premiere magazine’s “Party Girl” columnist while Lisa’s nights out with her colleagues taught her a lot about the way other people drink.

Sober Firsts: Going Home to a House That Still Drinks Mar 27, 2026

Show notes

Who says you can’t go home again? You can. Sometimes it’s a choice, and sometimes it’s not. Lisa went home to her family straight out of detox and immediately faced the reality that she might have left the world of drinking, but it hadn’t left her. Anna learned what can happen when a family member asks if you mind if they drink, you say you do and they get mad. The ladies also veer into discussing going home to an apartment that had previously been a den of inequity and starting fresh (and clean).

Sober Superpowers in the Work World with Toni Will Mar 20, 2026

Show notes

Being a sober woman in a male-dominated corporate world can be challenging, to say the least. Toni Will, General Manager and Governor of a men’s professional hockey team, knows all about it. So do Lisa and Anna. They talk about how their sobriety gives them an advantage in dealing with the demands and frustrations of work, as well as going public with their sobriety.

Learn more about Toni here.

Sober Firsts: Running into an Ex Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

It was bound to happen - an ex from our pasts would pop up out of nowhere. Lisa ended up rekindling an old flame that was more fun sober. And Anna found herself face-to-face with her first love. We talk about crazy run-ins, finding closure, and the universe bringing people back into our lives.

Hanging with the Former “Meth Queen” of Waikiki Mar 06, 2026

Show notes

After dropping out of college, Nikki Mammano was an “it girl” kingpin in Waikiki’s drug trade. When it all fell apart, she landed in prison and then on the street, thieving and hooking to survive. Flash forward to today – Nikki is a PTA mom of two daughters living in the burbs. How did this happen? Her memoir, BREAKING GOOD, tells the tale and we are here for it!

Find Nikki’s book and more on her website.

Why Does Rehab Fail So Often? Ask Jimmie Applegate Feb 27, 2026

Show notes

If rehab worked the way it’s supposed to…why do so many people end up right back where they started?

After more than 30 years in the trenches of addiction treatment, Jimmie Applegate has some theories.

In his recently released book Addicted to Failure: Why the Rehab System Doesn’t Work and What Must Change, he pulls back the curtain on the myths, blind spots and outdated models that keep people stuck.

We talk trauma, brain rewiring, why “just go to rehab” is wildly oversimplified and what real, lasting recovery support should actually look like. This one is part wake-up call, part hope for something better.

Learn all about Jimmie’s work here.

Lisa Smith is the author of the award-winning memoir Girl Walks Out of a Bar. Anna David is the author of the novel Party Girl, as well as multiple nonfiction books. Together, they bring the honesty of lived experience to conversations about addiction, sobriety and the messy, meaningful truths at the heart of recovery.

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