Drunk-ish - A Sobriety Podcast

I talk to Laura Van Antwerp, who once sat on her couch reading a book by the Buddha, candles lit, vibes immaculate -- while doing shots of Sauza Blue tequila with a pineapple back. Her ex-boyfriend walked in and said, "What happened to you?" and she thought he was asking about her day. He was asking about her drinking. Laura tried everything to quit drinking: the wine-only rule, the expensive-wine-only rule, the one-bottle-in-the-house rule, Dry January, even training for a marathon. She talks about how she said she was going to do things but never followed through, and how the...

I talk to Rich Shydner, a standup comic who once performed on acid, had a roast beef sandwich thrown at him on stage by his tripping girlfriend, and thought “I am one with the bugs” while sitting in a stream covered in mosquitoes. So yeah, he’s done some things. He’s also been sober since 1985, which is longer than some of you have been alive, and he's doing great! Rich was part of the original sober comedy crew in LA — the guys who proved you could do the road without a drink.  He also has very strong opinions about microdosing...

In part two with Kristi Tanner, we get into what happened after everything fell apart: the second DUI, rehab, divorce, single motherhood, and the very weird miracle of building a life you actually want to be awake for. Kristi talks about getting sober with four little kids, learning how to be alone without losing her mind, and why her children now think rehab was basically the White House. 

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This week I’m talking to Kristi Tanner, and wow, did we have one of those conversations where you start nodding so hard you practically sprain your neck. Kristi walks me through the long, messy road from party girl to mommy-wine survival mode to full-blown chaos, complete with blackouts, denial, rehab, hiding bottles, and trying to convince herself she just needed better “rules.” We talk about how alcohol can make you feel connected right up until it blows your life apart, and how easy it is to confuse shame with proof that you’re just a bad person. 

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This week I'm talking to Celeste Yvonne, author of It's Not About the Wine: The Loaded Truth Behind Mommy Wine Culture, and I have to tell you — I kept saying "same" out loud while reading her Scary Mommy interview. Celeste grew up watching her dad's Nicolas Cage-level alcoholism and figured as long as she wasn't that, she was fine. Meanwhile, she's hiding bottles and white-knuckling through bedtime. We get into gray area drinking, the lie that is "mommy needs wine," and why online recovery meetings have been a game-changer for moms who can barely get to the bathroom alone. If yo...

This week on Drunk-ish, my friend Kim Evey comes back for a do-over—because last time she was on in 2025, she wasn’t fully telling the story. We talk about what relapse can look like when you’re still saying the right things, still showing up… and quietly sliding into secrecy anyway. Kim gets brutally honest about perfectionism, shame, “sneaky” addiction brain, and how the smallest little off-ramps (skipping meetings, ditching meditation, isolating, even a video game spiral) can add up fast. Plus: pills, gummies, Ambien-hunting, and the moment her kid said, “You’re acting weird.”

I’m joined this week by Sara Kaufman Bradstreet, creator of No More Wasted Days, and honestly we could’ve titled this episode: The Nobel Prize in Making Rules You’ll Break By Tuesday. Sara and I talk binge drinking, brownouts, the fantasy of “I’ll only drink wine and beer,” and the oddly romantic chaos of being drinking partners—until one of you ruins the party by quitting. We also get into her Beachbody era where “I drink beer” was basically a brand pillar and what it’s like to go from alcohol-free to fully substance-free.

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Catherine Gray, best selling author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, is here to talk about her new book Little Addictions, and let me tell you, this one hit close to home. We're talking about all the stuff we do too much of—phones, sugar, procrastination, people-pleasing—basically everything except drinking, which we've already quit. Catherine explains why her journalism friends literally coined the phrase "got Cath'd last night" because of how drunk she'd get, how she ended up topless in a hot tub at a work Christmas party, and why she now obsesses over peppermint tea instead of wine...

This week I'm talking with my friend Vicki Moser about anxiety, complicated childhoods, and how sobriety helped her rewrite the story she'd been telling herself for decades. Vicki shares what it was like growing up painfully shy, caring for her sick mom while still a teenager, and eventually finding herself drinking to cope with all of it. We get into the messy middle of recovery, the freedom that comes from owning our mistakes with our kids, and why "powerful, courageous, sober woman" is the only story she's telling now. Plus, we bond over good hair and no bras on Zoom...

This week I’m talking with Colleen Saldana, a therapist at a recovery center who somehow manages to be both deeply wise and extremely relatable. Colleen got sober at 21, relapsed at 38, and tells the whole “I’ll just have one margarita” story in a way that will make you laugh… and also clutch your water bottle tighter. We get into growing up around alcohol, anxiety, an eating disorder, the way addiction plays the long game, and what finally helped (detox, sober living, sponsorship, and doing the actual program). It’s a big, hopeful, been-there conversation. 

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I love this episode because Danielle Mercier is basically a walking cautionary tale and a motivational poster at the same time. We get into her early “party girl” years, her brief era of thinking Las Vegas was a wholesome alternative to LA (amazing logic), and the moment her drinking finally caught up with her in the most dramatic way possible. From there, Danielle talks about getting sober, finding her people in 12-Step, and building a life so full she actually likes herself now—which is kind of the whole point, right? Also: cocaine on a soap opera set. You’re welcome.

We’re back with Margot Rose for Part Two where Margot takes us somewhere heartbreaking and profound—family, divorce, regret, and the kind of loss that changes the shape of your whole life. We talk about what sobriety looks like when the “easy button” doesn’t exist, how shame can shove people out of the rooms, and why sometimes you do what you have to do just to get through the day. And then—hope: the promise she made, the art she created, and what it means to keep showing up.

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I’m with Margot Rose this week, and let’s just say: if you’ve ever wanted a sobriety parade, you’re among friends. Margot and I go way back—16 years back—and we revisit the era when I was… not exactly a delight in sober spaces, and she was the rock-and-roll, sharp-edged voice I desperately needed. We talk Staten Island Ferry busking, the “white wine and coke” cocktail (please don’t), quitting cocaine but keeping the drinking going, and the extremely slippery slope of meds that are technically “as directed.” Also: we split her story—come back for Part Two. 

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Tamara Mello is back (again… third? fourth? who’s counting), and I’m thrilled because she just hit three years sober with a January 2 sobriety date — which makes this time of year feel extra real. We talk about why “just moderate” can feel like a full-time job, why taking drinking off the table can weirdly bring relief, and how the holidays can either break you… or show you what you’re made of. Plus: sober parties, social anxiety, accidentally sipping the wrong drink, and why drunk people get louder while everyone gets less interesting.

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I'm taking one more week off for the holidays but next week I'll be back with all new episodes! This is a great interview with Kathleen Wilhoite — actress, musician, writer, teacher, and one of the most honest, hilarious, and compelling people I’ve met. We talked about getting fired from a movie before even filming (swizzle sticks in a jean jacket were involved), and finding herself again through songwriting, teaching, and recovery. We also get into what long-term sobriety actually looks like — spoiler: it’s not always serene yoga mornings and green juice. It’s messy, hard, beautiful, and sometimes involves ye...

Tamara Mello came back a few days later to get a little more into dealing with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder along with her sobriety. It was a great discussion and worth bringing back especially right now around the holidays.

We're going back to the beginning with a fan favorite, my friend, Tamara Mello. Tamara is an actress (She's All That, Popular etc.), a mom and a jewelry designer (Grey By Tamara Mello on Etsy) and she's getting real on coming up on 3 years sober.

This week I’m catching up with Tara Motter, and it really does feel like a girlfriend hang… except with microphones and considerably more accountability. We talk about the whole “cool wine mom” era (oops), the way drinking can turn into your entire personality, and Tara’s truly iconic alter ego, T-Rex. Tara also tells the story of the night she hit bottom—yes, there was a taxi situation, yes, there was jail—and how she rebuilt from there with meetings, honesty, and a plan that actually worked. Funny, real, and weirdly hopeful.  

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If you’ve ever wondered whether “drinking is just part of my personality” is a solid life plan, this episode is for you. I’m joined by the hilarious and brutally honest Sean Daniels, a theater director who managed to get fired from his dream job for day drinking, then turned his mess into an Off-Broadway play and a whole nonprofit, the Recovery Arts Project. We talk relapse (so much more common than people admit), brain chemistry, secret Mormon drinking, and why nobody brings you a casserole when you go to rehab. Come for the drunk stories, stay for the h

If you’ve ever Googled “Am I an alcoholic?” at midnight (hi, welcome), you’re going to love this week’s conversation with the author of The Sober Diaries, Clare Pooley. We get into her days as “Sober Mummy,” why she once hid red wine in a coffee mug, the absolute hellscape of dancing in heels sober, and how quitting drinking somehow also led both of us straight into the arms of sugar. Clare’s stories are sharp, hilarious, and painfully relatable. Grab your fancy sneakers and join us.

Clare can be found at her website ClarePooley.com and you can find h...

If you’ve ever taken an “Am I an alcoholic?” quiz and argued with every single question… you’re going to love this one. Writer and mom of two Dana Bowman joins me to talk about growing up with a “dry drunk” dad, becoming the straight-A, teacher-of-the-year perfectionist, and then secretly drinking her face off on the couch. We laugh about wine-mom culture, hiding bottles in boots, and that first meeting where a guy with a spiderweb head tattoo basically saved her life. We also hit relapse, menopause, sugar binges, and her new book on sober menopause. 

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This week I sit down with Lisa Smith — author of Girl Walks Out of a Bar and co-host of Sober Living. Lisa and I get into everything from her New York lawyer days (including the part where she fully expected to die at 40) to the weekend routines she hid behind while her drinking spiraled. We talk about early sobriety, inpatient treatment, why some friendships shift and others surprise you, and the strange magic of a recovery community that somehow knows all your secrets before you tell them. 

Find Lisa at LisaSmithAdvisory.com

This is the episode so nice I'm airing it twice!

Comedian and longtime podcaster Greg Fitzsimmons joins me for a candid, hilarious, and deeply honest conversation about his decades-long journey without alcohol—and why he never calls himself “sober.”

From getting drunk behind the bleachers at 13 to quitting after bombing a stand-up set in Boston, Greg opens up about addiction in his Irish Catholic family, dealing with anger, parenting in the age of weed vapes, and how comedy became his salvation. He also talks about his use of mushrooms for healing, his one-night relapse, and why AA was...

I’m joined by the brilliant and hilarious Anna David, who’s (almost) at 25 years sober and has the receipts. We get into the infamous “Fix” headline fiasco, why community laughter can be medicine, and how she accidentally checked into the other Promises—think broken hoop, not Malibu tennis courts. Anna talks getting sober at 30, the power of 12-step, and how EMDR rewired her life. We also compare notes on early motherhood being… let’s say “not a spa day,” and celebrate her new gig co-hosting Sober Living and running Legacy Launchpad Publishing. 

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In this conversation with Rosebud Baker, we trace a line from grief to grace: a political-family childhood near D.C., the loss of her little sister, finding alcohol, and then finding a room where people spoke her language. We talk about the slow work of sitting with feelings, Al-Anon, the beginnings of stand-up and writing, sobriety since 2006, pregnancy loss, IVF, becoming a mom, and the memoir she’s written along the way, Fully Baked. It’s a hopeful map for anyone who needs community, laughter, and permission to start again.

This week I sit down with Jonathan Todd Schwartz, who went from daily sports bets and a secret coke spiral to embezzeling money from his high profile musician clients like  Alanis Morissette. We talk parenting while living a double life, the polygraph that blew everything up, and how it all changed. It's riveting from start to finish.

You can follow Jonathan on IG: @therealjonathanschwartz

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This week on Drunk-ish, I sit down with my friend Kate Anthony—author, divorce coach, and host of The Divorce Survival Guide Podcast. Kate opens up about how playdates with wine turned into nightly drinking, the shame spirals at 3am (“Holy fuck, I can’t believe I drove”  ), and the moment she realized alcohol was the problem, not her. We talk parenting, hitting that “I’m done” wall, what finally helped her quit, and how sobriety gave her the love, career, and life she never thought possible. Funny, heartfelt, and completely relatable, this conversation is one you don’t want to miss.

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This week on Drunk-ish I sit down with Brenda Wilhelmson, author of Diary of an Alcoholic Housewife. Brenda opens up about juggling motherhood, her years of trying to “look perfect on the outside” while feeling wrecked on the inside, and the rocky starts that came before lasting sobriety. We talk about vodka martinis with dissertation-writing cousins, accidentally lighting her hair on fire at an office Christmas party, and the judgment moms face when they admit they’re struggling. Brenda shares how she finally found recovery, what helped her stick with it, and how her life has changed today.

Imagine getting sober before you could drive. That’s my guest this week, Robin Reiser, who checked into rehab at sixteen and never looked back. Well… not willingly, anyway. Robin tells me about being busted by her parents after they found her diary (rookie mistake), what it felt like to think alcohol was her best friend, and the surprisingly relatable “not today” trick she still uses to quiet that little voice saying, “Maybe you could handle it now.” We swap stories, laugh about our old drunk logic, and get real about parenting sober.

Robin's IG @RobinReiser
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Imagine getting sober before you could drive. That’s my guest this week, Robin Reiser, who checked into rehab at sixteen and never looked back. Well… not willingly, anyway. Robin tells me about being busted by her parents after they found her diary (rookie mistake), what it felt like to think alcohol was her best friend, and the surprisingly relatable “not today” trick she still uses to quiet that little voice saying, “Maybe you could handle it now.” We swap stories, laugh about our old drunk logic, and get real about parenting sober.

Robin's IG @RobinReiser
Medium.c...

Richard Taite is back for part two, and this time we go deep into what parents really need to know about kids and drugs today. Richard explains how fentanyl shows up in everything from fake Percocet to weed, and how to have the hard conversations with our kids. We also talk about parenting through addiction, whether sending a teen to rehab for weed is overkill, and why he believes early, honest talks can save lives. And because it’s Richard, we still manage to laugh while comparing rehab to choosing between the Four Seasons and Motel 6  .

Richard Taite might be the only guy who can tell me about running into Charlie Sheen in a crack-fueled hallway at 3 a.m., slam the door on his own intervention because “nobody gets sober on a Thursday,", and then casually mention founding one of the most successful rehabs in America. On this episode, Richard and I laugh (because sometimes you have to) about his six-month drug runs fueled by Big Macs, what it felt like to land in a top bunk in sober living, and how sobriety gave him back his kids. Spoiler: he’s still alive to tell it.

Kim Evey is here, and let me just say: when your sobriety story includes Bartles & Jaymes in a high school bathroom, 99¢ store wine tastings, and accidentally peeing in your suitcase on Ambien… you know it’s going to be a good episode. We laugh about the “math” we used to do to justify three martinis before driving home  , the art of hiding booze in the kitchen cabinets  , and how motherhood makes “just one glass” an absolute scam . This one’s equal parts hilarious and terrifying, which pretty much sums up the experience of getting sober.

IG: @KimEvey

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This week I sit down with my friend and working medium, Jane Morgan. Jane and I go way back to the days when she looked like the serene mom who had it all figured out… until she collapsed on the floor saying, “would someone take this baby? Because I’m freaking out." That’s when I knew we’d be friends for life. In this episode we talk about everything from family booze trees to postpartum meltdowns, driving drunk like “Starsky and Hutch” and why sobriety birthdays sometimes feel more important than the real ones . It’s messy, it’s funny, and it’s al

Jaime Hrobar is back, and this time we get into the relapse, the chaos, and the miracle of finding her way out. From salivating over a martini before the olive even hit the toothpick , to realizing beer at breakfast isn’t a marriage-saver , Jaime’s honesty about rock bottom is as sharp as it is funny. We talk Hot Tamales (yes, the candy that tried to kill her) , parenting through her son’s four-and-a-half-month hospital stay , and what it takes to surrender without giving up. Somehow, through the wreckage, she built a new life, complete with love, laughter, and a God be...

This week on Drunk-ish, I sat down with Jaime Hrobar, who has one of those “you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up” drinking stories that starts with champagne at age eight and somehow ends with guzzling vodka out of a Smurf mug. Jaime takes us through her wild ride from college bingeing to DUIs, marriages that didn’t survive the chaos, and the messy middle of trying to parent two kids—including a son with profound autism—while her drinking spun completely out of control. We laughed, we cried, we bonded over blackouts and bad decisions, and we found the thread of hope that keeps us all going...

This week on Drunk-ish, I sit down with Sarah Rose Hyland — and no, not the one from Modern Family. (She’ll explain how that mix-up once scored her a year’s supply of whitening strips.) Sarah takes us from growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, feeling like she never fit at any cafeteria table, to finding her people in art, sports, and unfortunately, the party crowd . She shares her early drinking, a DUI that didn’t slow her down, and how she finally got sober at 23.

Sarah's IG: @SarahRoseHyland
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This week on Drunk-ish I sit down with Vanderpump Robs podcaster Rob Schulte, who proves that sobriety stories come in all flavors. Rob grew up surrounded by bar culture in Missouri, lost his brother to alcohol, and still found himself drinking more in college instead of less. We talk about the long nights, the terrifying mornings, and the moment he realized he was about to throw away the biggest opportunity of his life. From parenting and relationships to lockdown drinking, rock-bottom wake-up calls, and finding his way back to himself, Rob’s story is funny, messy, and so easy to con...

I’m reunited with my old friend Greg Behrendt to talk alt-comedy nights, getting sober in the 90's, the curveball of cancer and pills, and the decidedly un-glamorous work of repairing family. Greg shares how opiate withdrawal felt “worse than the cancer,” why stand-up still keeps him sane, and what it’s like parenting now-grown kids while staying true to the comic inside. We also revisit the Sex and the City writers’ room and the “he’s just not that into you” moment that changed everything. Funny, bruised, hopeful—and very Greg.

Guess who’s back? Suzanne Warye returns to Drunk-ish—and this time she’s got a book to promote and a lot more stories to spill. We cover everything from college drinking disasters to the very classy illusion of mom-wine culture (spoiler: it’s not classy, it’s just boxed wine in stemware). Suzanne talks about the caution tape her husband once put around the living room, the night she blacked out with a baby in the house, and how she finally said goodbye to moderation. We laugh, we cringe, and we remind ourselves that sobriety doesn’t make you boring—it jus...