Home Podcast

HOLLY IS BACK! She spent 10 days at a silent meditation retreat and lived to tell about it. She talks about why she’d do such a thing and what the best, worst and most surprising moments were. Highlights include visits from Yogi Bahjan, missing God, the wisdom of no escape, sharting, and knowing vs. Knowing. Music by Radiation City.

They say don't ever meet your heroes, but in this case, they turned out to be wrong! Augusten Burroughs is the author of ten books, including NYT Bestseller-turned-movie "Running with Scissors," "Dry," which tracks his journey through addiction and sobriety "This is How," his foray into self-help and his most recent memoir (released TODAY!), "Lust and Wonder." He talks with the girls about his new book, moving out of NYC, finding the capital T Truth, sobriety, his feelings about AA, and the day he started writing instead of drinking. Music by Radiation City.

Scott Stabile is an author, screenwriter, speaker and love spreader. At 14, Scott lost his parents tragically and later lost his brother to heroin overdose. He takes us through the impact of these losses, and how addiction - both his fathers and his brothers - shaped his life, and his path to becoming a champion for forgiveness, compassion, humor and love. Scott's website: www.scottstabile.com. Scott's Facebook community www.facebook.com/ScottFrankStabile. Music by Radiation City.

In the second of this three part series, Holly and Laura talk to Gina Lorenzo, a Holistic Health Counselor and certified Gabby Bernstein coach. Gina talks about her own experience recovering from disordered eating and alcohol and how she coaches others through these things. Ironically, Holly was severely constipated while recording this and Laura was suffering from an extreme emotional hangover.

In the second part of this series, Holly and Laura talk about how the label "alcoholic" has evolved for them and whether or not they use it now and why. T-Spring shirts are available until March 15! Get "Awkward 'Til I Die," "Sorry I'm Late I Didn't Want to Come" and our personal favorite, "Teetotaler." Visit www.hipsobriety.com or www.lauramckowen.com to purchase. Music by Radiation City.

Rob Bell is a bestselling author, teacher, speaker and an all-around uniquely inspiring and lovable human being. His books include The New York Times bestseller Love Wins, along with What We Talk About When We Talk About God, The Zimzum of Love, Drops Like Stars and many others. In 2011 he was profiled in Time Magazine as one of their 100 most influential people and has toured with Oprah herself. Holly and Laura had big questions for him. Like, why wear the label "pastor"? What is God? Can you recover from addiction without spirituality? What is an addiction, anyway? And how does someone get past the shame that addiction carries? In his trademark way, Rob talks us through some of the biggest and most touchy subjects with grace and humor.

In the first episode of this two-part series, Holly and Laura explore the label "alcoholic." They each discuss what the label meant to them before they got sober, how it's evolved for them through sobriety, and if they use it now and why (or why not). They also read a letter from a reader who makes an open plea to find a better label for sober folk. Ideas? LIMITED TIME T-SHIRT CAMPAIGN! Until March 15, in the spirit of claiming our own labels, we've created a t-shirt campaign to raise money for the HOME podcast. All proceeds will go to upgrading the podcasting equipment to improve sound quality and editing. Visit www.lauramckowen.com or www.hipsobriety.com for details and to purchase. Podcast music by Radiation City.

Rayya Elias is the author of the incredible memoir, Harley Loco: A Memoir of Hard Living, Hair, and Post Punk, from the Middle East to the Lower East Side. She's a musician, filmmaker, hair artist, and all around awe-inspiring human being. She talks to the girls about scaring off ghosts, her relationship with her best friend, Elizabeth Gilbert, emotional sobriety, living on the streets, forgiveness, what recovery looks like for her now and the NFL. Learn more about her at: www.rayyaelias.com. Music by Radiation City.

Holly and Laura talk about what their social lives looked like pre-sobriety, in early sobriety and how they look now. They cover social anxiety, whether they go out to bars anymore, how they answer the question, "ARE YOU DRINKING?," how to deal with pushy people, and offer three tips for the newly sober. P.S. If it sounds like we wanted to kill each other in this episode, we did. Ironic, we know. P.P.S The sound isn't the best because I was at a hotel room in San Jose before the Super Bowl. Music by Radiation City.

In part one of this three part series, Holly and Laura share their own experience with disordered eating and the crossover with addiction. The next two parts of the series will focus on recovery and treatment, including interviews with a doctor of clinical research in eating disorders at Harvard Medical School and a Holistic Nutrition Coach.

Elena Brower is a mama, teacher, speaker, and co-author of Art of Attention. She’s been teaching yoga and meditation since 1999 and has taught all over the world. She’s also recently celebrated a year clean and sober. As someone who was by all measures already a success and a teacher to so many, she talks about how her life has truly opened up since choosing sobriety, the insidiousness of pot addiction, and the path that brought her here.

It's another "check-in" episode, and this one is long and probably too juicy. They dish on life: home, work, looooove and sobriety. Holly shares about the big shifts in her love life post-Rome, including a recent stand up by a man now forever named "Shit," hitting her 2 year anniversary of quitting pot and moving to LA. Laura gives in to peer pressure and shares about her love life and talks through a big decision she recently made. They both practice the yodel-ay-hee-hooo.

In the early episodes of HOME, Holly and Laura made a snarky joke about spirituality in recovery (not their coolest moment). Catherine Gray, today's guest and an atheist, rightly called them on it. A series of beautiful and enlightening conversations ensued, culminating in this episode's discussion with Catherine. They talk about what it means to be an atheist in an AA-centric recovery world, how believers and non-believers share the path and learn from each other, and Holly and Laura get to ask some basic, burning questions like: "How do you not believe in a bigger...SOMETHING? Catherine walks through her path to sobriety, her mixed experience with AA, and generally woos us all with her lovely way.

Laura and Holly talk with Annie Grace, author of “This Naked Mind: Control Alcohol. Find Freedom, Rediscovery Happiness and Change Your Life?” Sounds like everything, right? Annie’s story is like so many young, successful, professional women, but her path to sobriety was not. We talk about her drinking life, what drove her to write this book and her hopes for the way we treat and view addiction. We dig into some heated topics like the difference between “normal” drinkers and “addicts,” the label of “alcoholic,” and the importance of addressing the grey area in addiction. Holly and Annie also confess their mutual girl crushes. “This Naked Mind” is available on Amazon. Music by Radiation City.

How can we eat to best support our bodies in recovery? What about sugar? And COFFEE? In this episode, we talk to Mary Vance, our resident nutrition guru here at HOME. We talk to Mary about a few topics that come up most often: coffee consumption, best tips for supporting new recovery, and vaginal steaming (ok, that never comes up, but we had to talk about it). Mary will be part of Hip Sobriety School, which starts January 7, 2016. For more info go to www.thehipsobrietyproject.com. Music by Radiation City

Unicorns abound! Holly and Laura define what miracles and angels mean to them and how they've materialized in their own lives, both in life before sobriety and after. Image Illustration by Jeremy Enecio for Fortune Music by Radiation City

"The world opens when you begin to tell your own story and others come forward." -Ann Dowsett Johnston. Ann is an award-winning writer, journalist, public policy advocate, and the author of the stunning book "Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol." She's also one of the most gracious women Holly and Laura have ever met. In this interview they talk about Ann's personal and professional path, including her gains and losses in sobriety, her relationship with her son, heartbreak, depression, dating and her incredible work on alcohol policy. Music by Radiation City.

Apparently “The Shocker” is a sexual position, or so Holly’s friends tell her. This episode will make you cringe in the first half and cry in the second as Holly and I each share three “shockers” from our drinking days and three from sobriety. From driving in a blackout to nearly choking to death to doing “Molly” alone to drinking your friends’ expensive wedding gift, we recount some of the horrific places drinking took us. Things have changed, though, and we also get into the really, really, really amazing stuff that has shocked us in sobriety, too. Music by Radiation City.

In the first interview episode ever, Laura and Holly talk to Sarah Hepola, author of the New York Times Bestseller "Blackout: Remembering The Things I Drank to Forget." Sarah's essays on culture have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Elle, The New Republic, Glamour, The Guardian, Slate, The Morning News, and Salon, where she was a longtime editor. Laura and Holly talk to her about the science of blackouts, what it was like to come out to the masses, dating in sobriety, and what's next. Photo credit: Zan Keith. Music by Radiation City.

The holidays are upon us! Holly and Laura talk about what the pre-sobriety holiday scene looked like and what's in store for this year. They each lay out their top five tools for staying sober, sane and (maybe even?) happy through this season. Music by Radiation City.