Talkin' Trash Addiction Recovery Podcast

Smiles all around we merged holiday sized efforts and last-minute additions. The boys welcomed former pro sports announcer, Rod Pedersen who graciously shared his journey of overcoming alcoholism and celebrated 11 years of recovery with us. We were grateful for his time and insight. He reflected on the darkest moments of his addiction and the turning points that led him to recovery. Living the double life of a functioning alcoholic...

A midweek lineup adjustment was required as our frontman was called away for service obligations—true to form for Jim—making the April Fools’ Day timing feel especially fitting for this one hour and fifty-three minute episode. Despite limited preparation, as Tim candidly noted at the outset, the team delivered a solid performance; with eight shows a month, not every episode can be a home run. Will led both the opening and closing w...

The team welcomed Daniel onto the pod tonight and he shared his experience, strength and hope about getting clean and staying sober for over a year. Daniel opened up about growing up in a difficult home environment and how those early challenges shaped many of the struggles he faced later in life. A central theme of the conversation was the role of mental health, with Daniel emphasizing that untreated mental health issues were a pr...

Tonight's show featured a special guest Misty D., who shares a raw and deeply personal account of her journey through substance use, physical abuse, emotional-relapse, loss of control, and ultimately, long-term recovery. Misty opens up about the progression of her addiction, the denial and isolation that kept her stuck, and the turning point that led her to seek help. She reflected on the challenges of early sobriety, the impor...

On tonight’s episode of the addiction recovery podcast, hosts Tim and Brad dove deep into the powerful connection between fear and change in the recovery journey. Drawing from personal experience and conversations within the recovery community, they explored how fear often shows up at pivotal moments—whether it’s the fear of relapse, the fear of facing past mistakes, or even the fear of success and a new identity beyond addiction.

In this episode, we sat down with Richard, who shared his powerful story of getting sober at a young age and navigating the challenges of early recovery. He spoke candidly about the fears, identity shifts, and social pressures he faced while choosing sobriety, and how committing to personal growth transformed his life. Together, we explored the role of codependency in addiction—how unhealthy relationship patterns can fuel substance...

We welcomed special guest Donald B. in a powerful and thought-provoking conversation about “Change in Recovery” and the “Fear of Change.” Together, we explored how growth in recovery often requires stepping into the unknown and letting go of familiar but unhealthy patterns. Donald B. shared honest insights about how fear can keep people stuck, even when they genuinely want a better life, and how embracing change—though uncomfortabl...

We suffered in silence—now we recover out loud. That’s how we roll here on Talkin’ Trash. We’re not ashamed of our afflictions; quite the opposite. We find strength in vulnerability, and staying open-minded breaks down walls we never thought possible. Tonight, we unveiled Trash 2.0—a new look, a new year, and a new cast member. We’re always adapting, always evolving, one day at a time. We handed the mic to Brad tonight, our newest ...

We were joined tonight by special guest Logan Mainil. Logan hails from north of the wall as well in Regina with Jimmy. Jim recruited Logan to tell his story in the making. Logan's just over a year clean and sober and he's doing everything the right way. His attitude is grounded and lets face it, the guy's a pisser. The gang laughed their way through an hour and a half of addiction, sports, sobriety and recovery. As alwa...

In early addiction recovery, resentments can feel loud and relentless, bubbling up from old hurts, broken trust, and the raw unfairness of starting over. When substances are gone, the feelings they once numbed come rushing back, and resentment often becomes a way to protect pain that hasn’t yet found words. These resentments can quietly drain energy, distort perspective, and threaten recovery if they’re left unexamined. Our new Can...

The team was back together for a full episode of fresh original content. We welcomed Colin M. into the fray tonight. We were honored to share in his early recovery and hear how he's overcoming real life, difficult situations. These things ran us back to the bottle or pill or needle and now, what a surprise, things are easier when you're not sabotaging your life. Our very own Jim Leibel celebrated 1,500 days of continuous so...

We kicked off our holiday shenanigans tonight as we gratefully welcomed a recored number in viewership for this show. The Canadian influence continued as we invited fellow brother in recovery, Brad the Canadian. The panel all identified with some part of his story and he had a great way of telling it. Dennis Leary made his yearly appearance. As did Tim's dad. Brad Mansfield from Wawota jumped in the trenches with the guys and told ...

Our 4th season and the guys stumbled and fumbled their way into the New Year's End Zone into the new year in an act of sheer luck, perseverance, motivation... and a touch of class. Spoiler alert: the texting shorthand vernacular for bc is not British Columbia. It was a good show, the team were in rare form after and very long, and very trying bit of peak season podcast. Talkin' Trash runs twice a week. It's a podcast at its baselin...

The team was shorthanded tonight missing a Canadian who will be back in the mix the next show which is just the 3 of us. It feels like our team can still land the plane with engine failure and no gear. Just 2-guys sobriety-and-fries for this trainwreck. The host, Tim, shared his true experience in giving being better than receiving. Will is clearly going stir crazy. Jim made in onto the program while the outro was playing, i think....

Thanksgiving is upon us once again. The holiday's can bring the best out in some people but for addicts they can seem like an added insurmountable weight and sadness is sure to follow. Countless anniversary dates are this time of year. Love, loss, grief, recovery. Each are magnified exponentially and are often triggered by festive lights or music, if left unchecked leaves us one stray thought. Many relapses happened because of a st...

Episode 165 marked show host Tim's 900th day of recovery. We don't count the days, we make the days count. That being said, it's something that says "I'm here for real" and can change the way we look at sobriety and the difference between sobriety and recovery. Two very different things. You ask a recovering addict that's put multiple years together how they did it, all unanimously say, "One day at a time". Speaking of which, we in...

The boys did their thing tonight as we looked at grief in early recovery. Grief isn't just reserved for those who've lost a loved one. You can lament a situation, a relationship, a thing. Grief is about loss and we sometimes grieve for our addiction. We believe the lie that we'll never feel okay again. Even though addiction ruined our lives we still mourn for it as if it were a person lost. We get clean and sober to a l...

The gang was back together (minus a beard) for an emotional episode. Daily Reflections was about curbing rashness. In active addiction, our reactions to situations are automatic. Automatic asshole was our default. We enter recovery and realize that those reactions were a product of the substance and we now have the choice to handle things differently. Words can cut deeper than a knife. We not attempting this recovery thing because ...

All fun and games. Down a Canadian, the team pressed on to seal the "W". Will scored the game winner as the shorthanded Trashers rallied for the win. We talked about sports tonight, how it factors into a balanced framework for successful sobriety, one day at a time. We're not a glum lot, we like action, we're addicts we want that instant gratification. So as long as it doesn't cause harm and you blow off some ...