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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 Playlist and Concert Favorites Dec 11, 2025

Show notes

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 talks about the Rolling Stones and Grateful Dead shows.

For all you Swifties, dig into Swift Steps.

Celebrating Sober Anniversaries Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

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 costumes). For Lisa, it’s changed multiple times over 21 years.

Stefanie Wilder Taylor Stops By Nov 27, 2025

Show notes

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.

Sober Firsts: Thanksgiving Nov 20, 2025

Show notes

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!)

Sober Firsts: Bars and Clubs Nov 14, 2025

Show notes

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 experience only enhanced her commitment to sobriety more.

Sober Firsts: Getting Creative Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

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 writing was actually a million times easier sober than high. Lisa felt it straight out of the detox unit.

Sober Firsts: Anxiety and Panic Attacks Oct 31, 2025

Show notes

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.

Sober Firsts: Vacation Oct 24, 2025

Show notes

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.

Sober Firsts: Sex Oct 17, 2025

Show notes

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.

Welcome to Recovery Rocks 2.0! Oct 10, 2025

Show notes

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.”

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