The Small Bow Podcast

thesmallbow.com
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  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
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The Small Bow Podcast

The Small Bow Podcast is a recovery show – part interview, part storytelling – hosted by A.J. Daulerio, and based on the recovery newsletter thesmallbow.com. A.J. created TSB after he got out of rehab and wanted to hear stories about sobriety, mental health, and spirituality that he couldn’t easily find on the internet.  We talk about recovery from all kinds of things: car crashes, identity crises, drugs, alcohol, ego. And even if you’re not in recovery, these stories and conversations have things to teach. Most people equate recovery with redemption – the part where people who’ve quit drugs or alcohol then tell you how they did it and how good their lives are now – but TSB focuses less on the beginning and ending of rock bottoms, and more about the middle part, making it through the woods.  Join A.J. as he speaks with writers, entertainers, social workers, magazine editors, recovering addicts, recovering jerks – people – about how they made it through hard things and got better because of it. Maybe some of this will help you get better too.

  1. FEB 14

    Defective Character Limits

    NYT’s writer and author Kate Conger lets us know how she’s holding up since her once humble beat covering a billionaire troll who builds rockets and purchased Twitter has become much more intense, important, and crazy since he’s become a very active member of the Trump administration.  Show Notes: Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter Kate’s recent NYT’s stories

    50 min

  2. FEB 7

    Joy as an Act of Defiance

    Writer Heather Havrilesky comes on to discuss her creative process and how doing super-vulnerable activities like her Zoom singing lessons helps her grow as a person. Sometimes, our greatest joys come from the process, not the results. As the world continues to fail us, we need more joy; we need more process.  Show Notes: Ask Polly Columns:  “Passion Requires Slow Cultivation”  “Reckoning With This Vicious World” Death, Sex, and Money: “The Transcendent Power of Low-Stakes Art”

    48 min

  3. JAN 23

    Joan As Human Woman

    Joan Wasser, AKA Joan As Policewoman walks us through her 20 years of sobriety, how her creativity has evolved, what defects remain, and the path of processing grief.  Show Notes: Buy Joan’s Music and Merch Sober Oldster Interview

    1h 4m

  4. JAN 17

    All Meat Rots

    Peaceful John returns to the pod just in time for the new year and we discuss how vanity and ego never go away, personal needs, and are friendships you develop inside recovery rooms real friendships? Plus, the usual sonorous laughter and deep-ass breaths found in all Peaceful John episodes.  Notes: TSB Newsletter

    50 min

  5. JAN 10

    You Are F*cking Amazing!

    This is a super Dopey episode of The Small Bow, where we speak with Dave Manheim about whether heroin addicts celebrate Dry January, our future ambitious plans for our respective projects, Dave’s book idea, and more.  Show notes: Dopey Podcast TSB Newsletter Gabby Bernstein

    1 hr

  6. JAN 1

    It’s Okay If You’re Not Ready

    We revisit an old Small Bow essay about my first New Year’s Eve sober—all the feelings of self-pity and loneliness almost drove me to a very bizarre and off-putting relapse. Sobriety didn’t give me the peace of mind and the results I wanted right away. I beat myself up about it, but you don’t have to.  Show notes: The Small Bow’s Newsletter Search Engine episode featuring A.J. Daulerio about Dry January [Swamp Dogg]

    18 min

  7. 11/15/2024

    The Fleeting Joys of Parenthood with George Bilgere

    I talk to my version of Taylor Swift, Cleveland poet George Bilgere, whose writing and distinctive voice have influenced my post-sobriety writing (and parenting) more than anyone else. It's a time when a lot of new things come and go, and I want to figure out how to be okay with that. Show notes: Poetrytown.com Georgebilgere.com TSB story featuring George’s work.  Writer’s Almanac Poems “Cheap Motels of My Youth” featured on Rattle In this episode: 00:38 Hello and Welcome 05:47 The interview begins 10:32 How to be light and dark, Tony Hoagland 18:50 "I forgot to say goodbye" 26:29 Thinking about death and other endings, Billy Collins 32:32 Children: Believe the hype! Grieving ahead of time 34:35 Sources of Inspiration, Bilgere as aberration, Diaper moments 40:45 How much should we micro-grieve? 52:06 Is this Home? 58:01 Preparing for the world

    1h 10m

  8. 11/08/2024

    Notes from the American Schoolyard with John Devore

    Today we talk about how a lack of personal safety as little boys taught us how to be drunk, angry, impotent men. It’s about bullying and Bukowski and desperation and an inability to show love for ourselves and accept love from others. Usual shit.  Show notes: John's book Theatre Kids: A True Tale of Off-Off Broadway. Swamp Dogg's record. In this episode: 01:24 - Keep on trying 06:06 - Curtains up, Beard ASMR, Daily Carry Bros 08:57 - Military & Theatre 15:20 - Meeting via Maxim, the Black Table 21:20 - Bonding over 'party fouls' 23:16 - The Email and the party 26:21 - The language of toxic masculinity 30:19 - Calling from the wreckage, John's advice to A.J. 36:46 - The little old lady 40:26 - Confronting fear in early sobriety 47:51 - Jane Fonda's Toxic Masculinity Observation 51:12 - Shakespeare on Masculinity, Back to Buk' 55:48 - Kid Stardust on the Porter House 1:00:22 - Trying to feel safe and loved 1:03:33 - Live from the boxing gym, losing fights, mano a wall 1:07:14 - Anger as an indicator 1:09:43 - Revenge fantasies 1:11:56 - How to become a villain 1:18:56 - Schoolyard: 1 Bukoski: 0, Swamp does CCR

    1h 26m
See All (42)

4.8
out of 5
111 Ratings

About

The Small Bow Podcast is a recovery show – part interview, part storytelling – hosted by A.J. Daulerio, and based on the recovery newsletter thesmallbow.com. A.J. created TSB after he got out of rehab and wanted to hear stories about sobriety, mental health, and spirituality that he couldn’t easily find on the internet.  We talk about recovery from all kinds of things: car crashes, identity crises, drugs, alcohol, ego. And even if you’re not in recovery, these stories and conversations have things to teach. Most people equate recovery with redemption – the part where people who’ve quit drugs or alcohol then tell you how they did it and how good their lives are now – but TSB focuses less on the beginning and ending of rock bottoms, and more about the middle part, making it through the woods.  Join A.J. as he speaks with writers, entertainers, social workers, magazine editors, recovering addicts, recovering jerks – people – about how they made it through hard things and got better because of it. Maybe some of this will help you get better too.

Information

  • Creator
    thesmallbow.com
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2025
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    2024 The Small Bow © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from The Small Bow
  • Show Website
    The Small Bow Podcast

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