What happens when your primary addiction isn't just alcohol, but escape itself?

In this deeply honest, hilarious, and profoundly moving share, Tristen Michael ("TJ Starter the Third") explores growing up with impossible standards, learning to perform a version of yourself that everyone else could accept, and discovering that recovery isn't about becoming a better person, it's about finally becoming an actual person.

From hiding candy in the lining of a rehab bag and smuggling coffee grounds behind paintings, to unpacking gender identity, family expectations, trauma, rage, shame, and the exhausting pursuit of perfection, this episode is a masterclass in self-compassion without sentimentality.

This is a story about authority issues, emotional survival skills, queer identity, learning to live in your own body, and discovering that recovery isn't about fixing what's broken.

It's about learning that you were never broken in the first place.

What if sobriety wasn't something you achieved once, but something you tended every day?

In this deeply personal share, Raven takes us from a childhood marked by abandonment, through addiction, grief, abusive relationships, loss, chronic pain and repeated attempts to rebuild a life worth living. Along the way she discovers that recovery isn't about finding the perfect spell, but about tending a daily practice.

As a Pagan witch in a secular recovery community, Raven offers a unique and deeply human metaphor: sobriety is like a cauldron. It needs community, gratitude, patience, meetings, honesty, grace and constant attention. Left unattended, it spoils. Carefully tended, it becomes the very thing that keeps us alive.

Whether you're in recovery yourself or simply interested in resilience, this episode is a moving reminder that healing isn't magic. It's showing up, one day at a time, to stir the pot.

When He Withdrew, He Drew | Malcolm's Story

Long before he understood why, Malcolm learned to retreat into art. As he puts it, when he withdrew, he drew. What began as a childhood refuge would become one of the threads running through a life marked by trauma, addiction, resilience and recovery.

In this episode, Malcolm traces the path from an abusive home and undiagnosed ADHD to the club scene, cocaine addiction and, eventually, rehabilitation and sobriety. Along the way, he shares stories that are by turns funny, unsettling and unexpectedly profound.

There are memorable observations throughout: discovering that other people saw him very differently from the lonely outsider he believed himself to be; learning from a mentor that some people complain about problems while others solve them; and his wry conclusion that finding the right therapist can be difficult "when you're smarter than the therapist."

What emerges is not a neat redemption story, but the account of someone slowly making sense of himself. Malcolm speaks about reaching bottom, finding support where he least expected it, and finally confronting burdens that had been sitting in the dark for decades.

His favourite metaphor captures it best. Life had been like living in a house with all the lights switched off. Recovery wasn't about becoming somebody new. It was about finally finding the switch, seeing what had been there all along, and beginning the work of cleaning up room by room.

This is Malcolm's story.