HOME Podcast
119 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 6 years ago - ★★★★★ - 1.1K ratingsHOME Podcast with Laura McKowen and Holly Whitaker takes up the big questions of life through the lens of addiction recovery. Each week, we explore a new discussion about our hearts, relationships, life, love and the universe at large.
Intro and outro music by Radiation City.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Episode 119: Maia Szalavitz
January 17, 2018 00:26 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBThis week, the girls talk to Maia Szalavitz; a neuroscience journalist and author of the New York Times bestseller, Unbroken Brain: A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction. Maia specializes in covering the intersection between brain and behavior and how social factors like inequality get under the skin. She is the author or co-author of six other books and writes for major publications including the Guardian, TIME, the New York Times, Scientific American Mind, the Washington Post, ...
Episode 118: Favorite Thingstagram
January 10, 2018 11:22 - 1 hour - 64.5 MBThe episode where the girls talk about their favorite things right now (books, music, tech, news apps, self-care), but first, talk about the Enneagram and Instagram for an hour.
Episode 117: Happy-ish-Mostly New Year
January 03, 2018 00:34 - 1 hour - 71.5 MBHappy New Year! If the best part about 2018 is that it means 2017 is over, that's enough. In this even-longer-than-usual episode, the girls check-in on their love, sobriety, work, and home lives and do a little hoping and wishing for 2018.
Episode 116: Jeff DeFlavio Returns
December 20, 2017 12:27 - 1 hour - 47.5 MBIn the last episode of 2017, Jeff DeFlavio returns to HOME. Jeff is the founder and CEO of Groups, a company that provides affordable, modernized treatment for opiate use. This episode is a mashup of talk about the opiate epidemic, politics, keeping focus and heart when the battle is so big, and some book reviews (wherein Jeff mistakes Hillbilly Elegy for Dreamland for most of the episode), and more.
Episode 115: The Hawkins Sisters
December 13, 2017 01:34 - 1 hour - 57.7 MBLaura and Holly met the Hawkins sisters (Janet and Julie) at a workshop. When they began telling their story, Laura and Holly immediately asked them to come on the show. In this episode, the sisters beautifully and candidly share their family's story of drinking addiction, their individual and overlapping journeys to sobriety, and the complicated mix of feelings that they've each experienced along the way.
Episode 114: The Let Down Reflex
December 06, 2017 01:11 - 1 hour - 48.8 MBIn this episode, the girls respond to two letters. The first, from a new mom who's worried about how much she's been drinking in the first months of her baby's life while breastfeeding, and the second from a girl grieving the loss of two long friends that don't support her new sobriety. This episode is about the let downs: things we think we "should" be able to do, like choose people we love over alcohol, and the ways our relationships change despite us wishing they wouldn't.
Episode 113: Allison Micco & Anxiety
November 29, 2017 01:30 - 1 hour - 55.8 MBThis week the girls talk to Allison Micco about the "A" word: anxiety. Like so many people, Allison struggled with anxiety long before she knew what it was and at a certain point assumed it was a fault of hers or just something she'd have to learn to contend with forever. In college, she was prescribed a medication to cope with it that she later became addicted to and after years of searching and frustration, she finally got to the root of her anxiety, including its connection to alcohol. All...
Episode 112: Kate Northrup
November 22, 2017 02:00 - 1 hour - 48.9 MBThis week, the girls talk to Kate Northrup. Kate is an entrepreneur, bestselling author, mother, and activist. She's the author of Money: A Love Story, is currently writing her second book, and her work has been featured everywhere from The Today Show to Glamour magazine. The girls talk about privilege, the personal responsibility of activism, the surprising wakeup of motherhood, and the power of seeing our energy, work, and bodies as cyclical. Kate is such a fresh, real, powerful voice and s...
Episode 111: Conversation Starters
November 14, 2017 22:14 - 1 hour - 53.5 MBIt's the 111th episode of HOME, recorded on 11/11! In this ep, the girls mix it up and ask each other 11 random questions from Danielle LaPorte's "Conversation Starters" app. Some answers are full of light and love, and some not so much.
Episode 110: HoLo HEYYYYYYY
November 08, 2017 04:58 - 1 hour - 52.8 MBIn this ep, the girls catch up on their love lives, sobriety, home life and work, including a tricky discussion about serving alcohol at parties (or not), lessons that just keep repeating themselves and digging less chaos.
Episode 109: Good Shit
November 01, 2017 02:47 - 1 hour - 49.8 MBIn this episode, the girls riff on the very best stuff that has happened to them in sobriety. From quitting their jobs to paying bills to sober sex, this episode pulls us out of the darkness and into the "fuck yes" moments.
Episode 108: Megan Peters
October 25, 2017 00:30 - 1 hour - 56 MBThis week, the girls talk to Megan Peters (aka @crazybananas). They brought her on to talk about how she balances activism, motherhood, blogging, marriage, and sobriety (and all the other roles she seems to occupy) and while they get into a bit of that, the conversation took them elsewhere. Megan generously and candidly talks about how her marriage shifted when she got sober four and a half years ago: from the early days when she wasn't sure it would withstand the change, to today. It's a con...
Episode 107: How To Begin
October 11, 2017 03:09 - 1 hour - 48.2 MBIn this episode, the girls give their top tips for getting started in sobriety. From meditation to sweating to talking to God, they talk about what worked for them and what they've seen work for others in the first days.
Episode 106: Touché
October 04, 2017 00:26 - 1 hour - 72.4 MBIn this episode, the girls revisit the Episode 16: "What We Know for Sure" (say it in the booming Oprah voice, for suuuuuuuuuuRRRRRRE!) and talk about what they know for sure these days.
Episode 105: Jordan Bach
September 27, 2017 14:45 - 1 hour - 69.6 MBThis week, the girls talk to Jordan Bach! You may know Jordan from his incredible videos and social media presence, where he masterfully cuts through the noise and addresses both universal, human themes, as well as the issues of our time. The girls ask him about this particular superpower of his, which leads to a conversation ranges from politics to dharma to Jesus. Jordan Bach is an American life coach and inspirational blogger recognized as one of the most influential teachers on the conte...
Episode 104: Holly and Laura Are Gross
September 21, 2017 00:25 - 1 hour - 49.6 MBIn this episode, the girls do a standard catch-up about love, work, home, and sobriety and respond to a listener's claim that they're gross.
Episode 103: AA-volution
September 13, 2017 02:33 - 2 hours - 124 MBIn this week's show, the girls take a long, in-depth and candid walk through the evolution of Laura's relationship with AA: her beliefs when she started, how it's evolved, and where she stands now at nearly three years sober.
Episode 102: Point A
September 06, 2017 21:01 - 1 hour - 89.1 MBIn this episode, the girls go back to the roots of the show and answer two letters from readers. The first is from a woman who's wondering how to begin the work of getting sober (and if it's as much work as she imagines), and the second is from someone asking if she has to lose everything to drinking before she learns.
Episode 101: Veronica Valli and AA
August 30, 2017 14:50 - 2 hours - 83.1 MBThis week, the girls talk to Veronica Valli, author, therapist and recovery coach. The interview was sparked by a comment Veronica left on Holly’s Facebook page in response to her article Why We Need to do Away with Ego-Deflation and Humility in Women’s Recovery and the girls talk about that comment and everything behind it, including Veronica’s history with AA, how she views feminism, humility and her recovery from co-dependence. More about Veronica can be found at www.veronicavalli.com and...
Episode 100: 100
August 23, 2017 11:35 - 1 hour - 76.2 MBIt's the 100th episode of HOME! The girls catch up on what's happening in our country right now and talk about how HOME began two years ago plus their favorite moments and interviews.
Episode 99: Money, Part 2 of 2
August 16, 2017 00:26 - 1 hour - 61.8 MBIn Part 2 of the money series, the girls talk about how their money story has changed in sobriety and what their best teachers and favorite tools have been along the way.
Episode 98: Money, Part 1 of 2
August 09, 2017 17:53 - 1 hour - 54.2 MBThis week, the girls decided to talk about something a little lighter than usual, so naturally, they chose money. This is the first of a two-part series and in this first episode, they talk through what their beliefs were about money growing up and what their money situations looked like pre-sobriety. In Part 2, they'll talk about how their money story has changed since getting sober.
Episode 97: Scott Stabile
August 02, 2017 03:01 - 1 hour - 66.4 MBScott Stabile is back -- and this time we're talking about his upcoming book, BIG LOVE, which comes out September 7 (pre-order link below!). Scott is a favorite of HOME because he's funny, oh-so lovable, charming, kind, all around wonderful, and--as the girls' learned from reading his book--fascinatingly weird.
Episode 96: Summer Bottom
July 27, 2017 14:26 - 1 hour - 50.5 MBThey're back! After an unplanned (and potentially permanent) hiatus from recording, the girls return and talk about what happened.
Episode 95: Dr. Ruth Potee on Addiction and The Brain
June 20, 2017 19:06 - 1 hour - 58.6 MBThis week, the girls talk to Dr. Ruth Potee a board certified Family Physician and Addiction Medicine Physician in Massachusetts. She speaks of the shame and stigma that still surrounds addiction in the American medical system, substance abuse and the brain, the normalization and rise of alcohol use in women in the past twenty years, and how far this conversation has come in just the last three years.
Episode 94: Narcissus
June 08, 2017 17:21 - 1 hour - 53 MBThis week, the girls talk about their respective journeys through the man-maybe-daddy-issues-original-wound-thing-that-wont-leave-you-alone stuff: where they were a few years ago, what happened, and how it feels now.
Episode 93: Nikki Myers
June 01, 2017 16:46 - 1 hour - 53 MBThis week, the girls talk to Nikki Myers a yoga therapist, teacher and somatic experiencing practitioner who founded CITYOGA School of Yoga and Health in Indianapolis, IN. She launched Yoga of 12-Step Recovery in 2004 based on her own personal struggles with addiction. She talks about how she came to pair the 12-steps and yogic philosophy, what her long-term recovery looks like, and co-dependency.
Episode 92: Everything Is Difficult
May 26, 2017 21:32 - 1 hour - 51 MBYou know the Louis C.K. line, "Everything is amazing and nobody's happy?" This episode is something like that, except more like, "Everything is amazing and nobody's had enough sleep and it's all difficult." In this episode, Holly and Laura do a catch up on work, love, sobriety and home life after a bunch of travel, way too much junk food, and no sleep.
Episode 91: Rob Bell
May 16, 2017 16:57 - 1 hour - 44.2 MBRob returns to HOME! He talks to the girls about his newest (incredible) book, "What is The Bible? How an Ancient Library of Poems, Letters, and Stories Can Transform the Way You Think and Feel about Everything" which is now out in the wild as of...today! www.robbell.com
Episode 90: Everything All The Time
May 10, 2017 15:44 - 1 hour - 52.9 MBOn the heels of the first She Recovers event in New York City, the girls recap the event including their favorite speakers, moments, and takeaways.
Episode 89: Rebecca Campbell
May 03, 2017 19:05 - 1 hour - 67.7 MBThis week, Rebecca Campbell, best-selling author of Light is The New Black and Rise Sister Rise joins HOME. Rebecca is a spiritual teacher, mentor, and soulful guide who has led thousands of women to listen to the callings of their soul and create a life that is completely aligned to them. She talks to the girls about her the path that led her to quit her job as an award-winning creative director to follow her call to spiritual service, how she relates to the divine feminine, and what she thi...
Episode 88: The First 100 Days
April 27, 2017 18:49 - 1 hour - 72.4 MBHolly and Laura talk about the weird, glorious, difficult, out-of-body, out-of-mind time that was the first 100 days of sobriety. They recap what life was like the week before and the week after their final quit dates, what it was like learning to walk on new legs in a new world, and a few memories that most stand out from that time.
Episode 87: Elena Brower
April 19, 2017 16:47 - 1 hour - 61.1 MBThis week, Elena Brower returns to HOME to catch up with the girls on work, some of her upcoming projects, the importance of simplification, her teachers, and what her life looks like at over two years sober. She also spontaneously shares her latest spoken word piece, which she'll be giving at the She Recovers conference in NYC in May. Elena is an internationally recognized author, speaker and yoga teacher. She is the author of Art of Attention, and the creator of Teach.yoga, a virtual home...
Episode 86: All Growns Up
April 12, 2017 22:50 - 1 hour - 66.7 MBThis week marks Holly's 4-year sober anniversary and one year since Laura quit her fancy corporate job. In this episode, they reflect on those milestones and do the traditional catch-up convo on love, work, sobriety and home life.
Episode 85: Ann Dowsett Johnston
April 05, 2017 18:27 - 1 hour - 66.9 MBAnn Dowsett Johnston, bestselling author of Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Woman and Alcohol returns to HOME to catch up with the girls about writing her second book, dating and not dating in relationships, the second half of life, depression, and writing her second book. "Drink" was named one of the top 10 books of 2013 by the Washington Post and is one both Holly and Laura's go-to picks for understanding women and addiction. Ann is an award-winning journalist and former Vice-Princ...
Episode 84: Karla Mosley
March 29, 2017 19:17 - 1 hour - 74.7 MBKarla Mosley is an LA-based actress and producer who currently plays Maya Avant on "The Bold and The Beautiful." Karla met Holly at a silent meditation retreat in 2016 and (once they could talk) they immediately bonded as women in recovery, among other things. In this episode, Karla talks to the girls about her eating disorder history, her ongoing recovery, and what it's like to go through these things as someone in the public eye. http://karlamosley.com
Episode 83: Intromission
March 22, 2017 18:09 - 58 minutes - 40.2 MBThis week's talk is an introduction to an episode that turned into an entire episode about men, dating, the suckstorm of repeating the same patterns, and the mission to grow and heal.
Episode 82: Never Would I Ever
March 15, 2017 16:12 - 1 hour - 64 MBThis week, the girls play the old school drinking game "Never Would I Ever", listing some of the big things they never thought they'd do, and then did, while or because of drinking. With La Croix in place of booze, obviously. Grab your favorite NA beverage(s), take a deep breath, and join in.
Episode 81: Stephanie Snyder
March 08, 2017 15:28 - 1 hour - 51.5 MBStephanie Snyder is a mama, a master yoga teacher, the founder of Love Story Yoga studio in San Francisco, and a fellow recovery warrior. She’s also one of Holly’s primary teachers from Episode 63: Teachers. She talks to the girls about her addiction and recovery story, yoga as a foundation in her recovery, and finding her dharma as a teacher. Love Story Yoga: www.lovestoryyoga.com Stephanie's Website: www.stephaniesnyder.com
Episode 80: Worthy Obsessed Introverts
March 01, 2017 05:35 - 1 hour - 62.5 MBHolly and Laura riff on random subjects including feeling un/worthy, obsessing about men (aka "Laura's Second Sobriety"), and the evolution of introversion. Holly also tricks Laura into talking about their relationship dreams.
Episode 79: Aidan Donnelley Rowley
February 22, 2017 19:56 - 1 hour - 69.7 MBThis week, the girls talk to their friend and novelist, Aidan Donnelley Rowley. Aidan is an NYC-based mama of three, who quit her job as a lawyer in her 20's and decided to pursue writing. In 2011, Aidan started bravely questioning her relationship with alcohol on her blog, Ivy League Insecurities, where she documented "A Year Without Wine." She talks to the girls about this, and the winding path that ultimately led her to choose sobriety last year, as well as family, grief, writing, anxiety ...
Episode 78: Melissa Febos
February 15, 2017 19:59 - 1 hour - 76.9 MBMelissa Febos is the author of the memoir, Whip Smart, about her life as a professional dominatrix, and the essay collection, Abandon Me, coming out February 28th. In this episode, she talks to the girls about the subjects she so eloquently covers (read: both Holly and Laura's minds were both totally blown on this book) in Abandon Me: obsessive love, addiction, mental illness and recovery from all of it. Melissa's award-winning work has been published in the New York Times, Salon, The Kenyon...
Episode 77: Hero's Journey
February 08, 2017 18:50 - 1 hour - 72.1 MBThe hero's journey was introduced by Joseph Campbell, and is the common template of a broad category of tales that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and then comes home changed or transformed. In this week's episode, the girls talk about a few of the key moments they knew they were on a hero's journey.
Episode 76: Is This Thing On?
February 01, 2017 03:15 - 1 hour - 48 MBSince there's not much else going on in the world, the girls do a check-in this week on the big four: work, love, home and sobriety. Vagina is only mentioned once. Men may be mentioned a couple times. God bless us all.
Episode 75: Azita Nahai
January 25, 2017 04:45 - 1 hour - 78.6 MBThis week, the girls talk to Dr. Azita Nahai, a Kundalini Yogi, scholar, speaker and therapist. She is the founder of Trauma to Dharma™ ~ an experiential methodology that integrates a mind, body, spirit approach to healing trauma and transforming one’s pain into purpose. Azita walks the girls through the abusive relationship in her 20's that led her to seek recovery, and ultimately find her life's work. www.azitanahai.com
Episode 74: Isabel Foxen Duke
January 18, 2017 03:52 - 1 hour - 76.9 MBWe're talking about food again! This week, the girls talk to Isabel Foxen Duke, a fixture, and leader in the body-positive movement and creator of Stop Fighting Food, a training program for women who want to "stop feeling crazy around food." After years of trying to overcome emotional eating, binge eating and chronic weight-cycling, Isabel discovered some radical new ways to overcome "food issues" once and for all. She shares her story and talks about how she now leads women to shift their mi...
Episode 73: Hell Is Other People
January 11, 2017 19:56 - 2 hours - 86.4 MB"Hell is other people" -Jean-Paul Sartre. In this episode, Laura and Holly talk straight about one of the hardest parts about getting sober: other people. They walk through the most challenging, frustrating and downright confusing reactions, interactions, and conversations they had as they were trying to get sober and stay that way.
Episode 72: Sarah Roberts & Sugar
January 05, 2017 02:35 - 1 hour - 82.2 MBThis week, the girls talk to Sarah Roberts, author of The 28 Day Kick The Sugar Challenge and author of the popular blog, SarahTalksFood.com. Laura, Holly and their right-hand woman on HOME, Megan, all did the Challenge and they talk to Sarah about their different experiences. Sarah shares her story of addiction and recovery and how she was led to her current work, which is to help people see the powerful connection between what they eat and how they feel.
Episode 71: HoLo's New Year's Revolutions
December 28, 2016 05:45 - 1 hour - 47 MBIn the last episode of 2016, Holly and Laura talk about New Year's Eve past and present--what they used to look like, and what they look like nowadays. They talk about the idea of setting resolutions, and why they don't do it, but instead share the core themes they're focusing on in 2017. We're talkin' 'bout a revolution... Happy New Year, everyone! Thank you for making this a big, exciting year. Onward!
Episode 70: Lara Frazier & Love Addiction
December 21, 2016 02:17 - 1 hour - 56.6 MBIn this episode, Holly and Laura revisit sex (and love) addiction with their dear friend, Lara Frazier. While Lara was in treatment for chemical addiction, she was labeled a "love addict" and a "sex addict" and told she needed to seek treatment for both. She shares her story leading up to and through recovery.