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Sober Friends — Comedy
Sober Friends

Ever feel like you’re the only one who thinks this way?

The Sober Friends Podcast is for people who are learning that recovery is about more than quitting drinking—it’s about learning how to live.

Every week, Matt and Steve have honest conversations about the challenges that don’t disappear when alcohol does: anxiety, control, relationships, fear, loneliness, resentment, people-pleasing, and the ongoing work of emotional sobriety.

Because getting sober doesn’t automatically make life easier. It just gives you the opportunity to face life differently.

No gurus. No perfection. No pretending to have it all figured out.

Just two friends with long-term sobriety sharing what they’ve learned, what they’re still learning, and how recovery continues to shape their lives years after their last drink.

Whether you’re questioning your drinking, newly sober, or years into recovery, you’ll find practical insights, honest conversations, and reminders that growth doesn’t end when the alcohol is gone.

New episodes every week.

Matt and Steve are members of Alcoholics Anonymous but speak only from their own experience. This podcast is not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous.

Copyright: © Copyright Blind Side Pods

Latest Episodes:

Service Work in Recovery: You Haven't Been Nominated to Drink Coffee Feb 03, 2026

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Service work in AA recovery isn't about giving back - it's about belonging, commitment, and staying sober.

"I don't even drink coffee."

"That's fine. You haven't been nominated to drink coffee. You've been nominated to make coffee."

Steve heard this exchange at his Thursday night men's meeting, and it might be the greatest line about service work ever spoken. Because that's exactly what service work is - doing something that isn't about you, that gets you connected, that gets you showing up.

In this episode, Matt and Steve dig into service work in recovery - what it is, why people are afraid of it, and why it might be one of the most important parts of staying sober that nobody talks about enough.

Matt opens up about his early motivation for service work, and it wasn't the noble "giving back" thing everyone talks about. It was simpler: "I wanted to feel like I belonged." He shares the story of being a door greeter at the Tuesday night Forbes Street meeting - scared out of his mind, showing up 30 minutes early every week, hugging everyone who walked in. By the end of 5 weeks, he knew everyone in that room. That's the power of service work.

Steve talks about his journey from cleaning ashtrays and taking out trash at his Friday night men's meeting to doing district-level work 15+ years later. But here's what he says: "The most rewarding service work is still at the meeting level - because that's where you meet the new alcoholic, the fresh alcoholic who just came out of rehab or is just looking for a meeting."

We break down what service work actually looks like:

The basics: Putting away chairs, breaking down tables, making coffee
The commitments: Chairing meetings, being treasurer, being secretary
The next level: GSR (General Service Representative), district work
The often-overlooked one: Driving people to meetings

Matt shares the "dirty little secret" about service work: it gets you to go to meetings. When you have a commitment - coffee maker, chairperson, door greeter - you show up. You don't bail because you don't feel like it. You're expected to be there, so you go. And that commitment to the meeting becomes a commitment to your sobriety.

Steve talks about why he keeps taking service commitments even after 15+ years: "It makes me part of that meeting so much more quickly. This Wednesday noon meeting, I've only been going for about a year and a half, and there are people who've been there for 20 years. But taking the coffee commitment puts me in as part of that group way faster than if I just show up and never do anything."

We also tackle the fears people have about service work:

"I'm too new" (Matt's fear early on)
"I'll do it wrong" (Matt's coffee-making anxiety)
"People will judge me"
The truth: The stakes are incredibly low. You can't really screw this up.

Plus: The story of Ted S. filling the entire percolator basket with coffee grounds because he'd never made coffee before (that's one STRONG cup), why the phone weighs 500 pounds but picking someone up for a meeting is huge service work, and Matt's realization that he never volunteered for coffee at the Monday meeting because he doesn't drink coffee there (problem solved - he's volunteering now).

If you're new to recovery and wondering if you should take a service commitment, or if you've been around a while and have been coasting without doing much, this episode is for you. Service work isn't scary. It's not hard. And it might just be the thing that keeps you sober.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

Do You Miss Drinking or Do You Miss the Relief? Jan 27, 2026

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"I love to do things that will give me temporary comfort, that will make me very uncomfortable somewhere down the road."

A woman with 30+ years of sobriety shared this in Steve's Wednesday meeting, and it hit hard. Because that's exactly what drinking was - temporary relief that created long-term pain. But here's the real question: when you quit drinking, what are you actually missing?

In this episode, Matt and Steve dig into what happens when you remove alcohol but don't replace it with anything. Matt shares his painful 10-month white-knuckle attempt at sobriety back in 2001 - going to parties, feeling like hell, not drinking but not actually changing anything. It led exactly where you'd expect: relapse.

They explore the ritual of drinking - not just the buzz, but the physical act of holding a drink in a social setting, being part of the club, that first moment of "ahh, I got my drink" before things went sideways. And why ordering a tonic water with lime to "look like you're drinking" feels so uncomfortable and wrong.

Steve opens up about the difference between his first attempt at sobriety (physically beaten down) and his second (morally, spiritually, emotionally spent). How he realized he couldn't just replace alcohol with running 10 miles or hitting the gym seven days a week. He needed something internal to change - which is where the 12 steps came in.

We talk about:

Why white-knuckling doesn't work (and what actually does)
The ritual you lose when you stop drinking - and what replaces it
Steps 4 & 5 as the real game-changers (not just Steps 1-3)
Transferable addictions: when is the gym healthy and when does it become destructive?
That uncomfortable feeling of being the only one not drinking (and when it finally goes away)
The difference between missing alcohol and missing the escape it provided

Plus: Why Steve now happily orders his wife a glass of wine without needing to order himself anything, Matt's take on why mocktails feel like "perverted versions of alcohol," and the relief that comes from replacing the bar ritual with the breakfast ritual.

If you've ever tried to quit drinking on your own and couldn't make it stick, or if you're wondering what the hell you're supposed to DO when you're not drinking anymore, this episode is for you.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

Outcome vs. Journey- The Control Freak's Guide to Sobriety Jan 20, 2026

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Ever feel like you're doing everything "right" in recovery but still find yourself pissed off when things don't go your way? Steve opens up about his biggest struggle even after 15+ years sober: the control freak mindset that gets shit done but also sets him up for resentment, anxiety, and dangerous thinking patterns.

In this episode, we dig into the difference between being outcome-focused (expecting specific results because you did the work) versus journey-focused (trusting the process without demanding a particular ending). Steve shares raw moments from his week—including a family reunion where "normal people" went straight to the bar while he dealt with buried resentment—and how he's learning to recognize when his need for control is actually putting his sobriety at risk.

We talk about:

Why alcoholics make great control freaks (and why that's both a strength and a problem)
The dangerous cascade that starts with disappointment and ends with "maybe I should just drink"
How expecting certain outcomes because you "earned them" leads to resentment
Why being a caretaker amplifies these expectations
The skills that keep you from that relapse that starts three weeks before it actually happens

Whether you're brand new to sobriety or decades in, if you've ever thought "I did everything right, so why do I still feel this way?"—this episode is for you.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

Lowering the Bar - Why 'Just Staying Sober' is a Championship Win Jan 13, 2026

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It’s mid-January, the "Pink Cloud" of New Year’s resolutions has evaporated, and for many in the Northeast, we are staring down a "marathon of dark, cold, and gloomy days". In this episode, Matt and Steve get honest about the "January Gloom" and a phenomenon many newcomers face but rarely understand: Anhedonia.

If you feel numb, bored, or like life has lost its "charm" since the holidays ended, you aren't doing recovery wrong—your brain is simply healing. We discuss why trying to "fix everything at once" (the gym, the diet, the 5:00 AM wake-up call) is often a recipe for relapse, and why sometimes, the greatest victory you can have is simply putting your head on the pillow sober.

What We Discuss:

The Dopamine Gap: Understanding Anhedonia—the temporary inability to feel pleasure while your brain chemistry recalibrates after years of "instant gratification" drinking.
The Danger of the "Great Reset": Why piling on too many new habits in January can burn you out and why you should "lower the bar" for your own success.
The Default Plan: Steve shares his "built-in default" for when life gets stressful and why a meeting is his safe haven even when he doesn't feel like going.
Sobriety in the "Muck": Dealing with physical setbacks like Lyme disease and surgery recovery, and learning to prioritize rest over "hustle".
Tuesday Morning Clarity: The power of "playing the tape" and how sobriety allows us to show up for our families in ways we never could while drinking.

Key Resources Mentioned:

Podcast: Sober Powered with Gill Tietz (for a deep dive into the science of addiction).
Book: Never Enough by Judith Grisel (on the neuroscience of the addicted brain).
Book: Living Sober.

"If you're in your first 30 days and you didn't drink today—that's a lot. That's damn good. Lower the bar, baby." — Matt J.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

You Can Still Be Sober and Have Bad Days Jan 06, 2026

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You can be sober and still have bad days — and that doesn’t mean you’re doing recovery wrong.

In this episode, Matt and Steve talk honestly about what it looks like to stay sober through anxiety, physical pain, holidays, and emotional discomfort. Matt shares his experience recovering from surgery, navigating anxiety, and using prescribed pain medication safely without triggering old behaviors. Steve reflects on how holidays and stress at home can still bring up difficult feelings — even with long-term sobriety.

Together, they explore an important truth: sobriety doesn’t remove life’s challenges, but it gives you tools to face them. From meetings and step work to walking, writing, acceptance, and simply sitting with uncomfortable feelings, this conversation focuses on practical ways to get through hard days without picking up a drink.

If you’re struggling, feeling restless, anxious, or frustrated — especially around holidays or physical setbacks — this episode is a reminder that you don’t have to be “okay” to stay sober. You just have to stay connected and take the next right action.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

When Not Drinking Feels Louder Than Drinking Dec 30, 2025

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Have you ever been at a party, wedding, or holiday gathering holding a soda and felt like everyone noticed you weren’t drinking?

In this episode of Sober Friends, Matt and Steve talk honestly about what it’s like to be the only sober person in the room—especially early on. They dig into why sobriety can feel uncomfortable in social settings, why it’s not really about the alcohol, and how losing that “social lubricant” can make everything feel louder and more exposed.

They explore the spotlight effect, identity shifts, guilt and shame from past behavior, and why being around heavy or sloppy drinking can still feel unsettling—even with time sober. Most importantly, they share practical tools that actually help: making phone calls, having an exit plan, taking action when your mind starts spiraling, and learning skills that make social situations manageable instead of overwhelming.

If you’re navigating parties, holidays, weddings, or work events without alcohol—and wondering if you’re doing sobriety “wrong”—this episode is for you. You’re not weak. You’re not broken. And it does get easier.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

I Tried for Three Days and I Couldn’t Cope Dec 23, 2025

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Pete Axthelm once said he tried to quit drinking for three days — and couldn’t cope. He died at 47, convinced that life without alcohol wasn’t survivable. That sentence stopped me cold, because for many of us, it’s painfully familiar.

In this episode, Steve and I talk about why quitting alcohol feels less like a choice and more like standing at the edge of a cliff. We explore the uncomfortable truth that for many alcoholics, alcohol wasn’t just the problem — it was the solution. It was how we coped with anxiety, fear, anger, and everyday life.

We unpack what actually happens in the brain when alcohol is removed, why early sobriety feels unbearable, and how alcohol lies by convincing us we can’t cope without it. We also talk about why trying to do this alone can be dangerous, when medical help may be necessary, and why the feeling that “this is how I’ll feel forever” isn’t true.

Most importantly, we talk about learning to cope over time — not instantly. The 12 steps, meetings, and fellowship aren’t about willpower or perfection; they’re a slow, imperfect way to build real coping skills after years of numbing. One day at a time. One step at a time. Sometimes just borrowing someone else’s confidence until you find your own.

If you’re standing at the edge, wondering how you’re supposed to live without alcohol, this conversation is for you.

Check out the referenced article, highly recommended about Pete Axthelm in Sports Illustrated back in 2021.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

Progress, Not Perfect Sobriety Dec 16, 2025

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There’s no such thing as perfect sobriety.

In this episode, Matt and Steve explore why learning from mistakes is part of the process — not a failure. They talk about comparison in recovery, changing needs over time, and how wanting things to “click faster” can quietly work against us.

This is an honest conversation about patience, humility, and staying willing — even when you realize you’re still a present-day alcoholic doing the work one day at a time.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

You Don’t Have to Hit Bottom to Quit — Here’s What That Really Means Dec 09, 2025

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What does “rock bottom” actually look like — and do you really have to hit it before you get sober? In this episode, Matt and Steve break down the biggest myth in recovery: that you need a dramatic collapse, a lost job, a destroyed marriage, or a trip to the ER to justify getting help.

We talk about how comparison keeps people stuck (“my story isn’t as bad as theirs”), why so many of us lie to ourselves about how bad things really are, and how easy it is to miss the quieter signs that alcohol is running your life. Matt shares how his bottom wasn’t a crisis but a moment of clarity, and Steve talks about the years he spent ignoring warning signs because he wasn’t “that bad.”

You’ll hear:

Why comparing your drinking to others can keep you sick
How subtle “off-ramp moments” can be the real bottom
What it means when someone tells you, “You might have a problem”
Why sobriety isn’t about subtracting alcohol — it’s about adding tools, people, and freedom
The truth about mood regulation and why we drink when we’re “too happy” or “too sad”
Why you never need a catastrophe to decide you’re done

If you’re sober-curious, questioning your drinking, or wondering if it’s “bad enough,” this episode will hit home. You don’t need to lose everything to get your life back.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

Secrets, Shame, and Sobriety: Emily Redondo’s Story in Wife Mother Drunk Dec 02, 2025

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What happens when the picture-perfect life hides a private hell? In this episode of the Sober Friends Podcast, Matt J sits down with Emily Redondo, author of Wife Mother Drunk: An Intergenerational Memoir of Loss and Love. Emily takes us inside her raw and unfiltered journey through addiction, motherhood, and the generational trauma that shaped her story.

From pumping and dumping breast milk in rehab to uncovering family secrets that spanned decades, Emily shares what it’s like to live two lives—one for the world and one in the shadows. We talk about the shame that keeps us silent, the lies we tell ourselves, and the courage it takes to break free.

If you’ve ever wondered what recovery looks like when everything feels impossible, this conversation will hit home. Emily’s story is messy, real, and full of hope.

Listen now for a brutally honest look at addiction, resilience, and why telling the truth might be the most radical act of all.

Click here for Emily's book at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and from Emily's website.

Fit, Healthy & Happy Podcast
Welcome to the Fit, Healthy and Happy Podcast hosted by Josh and Kyle from Colossus...

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

📫 Get more honest conversations about sobriety delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to The Sober Friends Dispatch, our weekly newsletter where we go beyond the podcast to share real strategies for alcohol-free living. Join our community by clicking here.

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