From Homeless to Mansion

Today we're talking about young love and toxicity that leaves a permanent stain on the lives of everyone it touches.

We have our first big move that starts everything spiraling brutally downward.

What was once just a lower-class life quickly collapses into the unstable life that would haunt me for the rest of my childhood.

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Growing up in extreme poverty means living in a constant state of impermanence. Everything in your life - homes, possessions, even relationships - feels temporary, disposable. I learned this lesson repeatedly as a child, packing up my meager belongings into a single box while watching my mother and her boyfriend prioritize their next drink over stability.

This episode takes you into...

The Uncomfortable Truth About Sexual Exposure Across Class Lines

Welcome to the first episode of Side Notes: a raw companion series where I explore topics that didn't quite fit into the main podcast.

Today I'm going more in-depth with personal stories about inappropriate childhood sexual experiences that were common in my upbringing. I examine how these experiences contrast dramatically with those of children from middle an...

On the run from the cops, we settled down into our new life in the country.

Our housing situation shifted constantly and taught me early-on that nothing was permanent: not my living situation and not my family; creating a sense of perpetual insecurity.

Perhaps most damaging was witnessing the increasing substance abuse in my home, creating an environment where I couldn't depend on my caregivers.

Chil...

The house was burning down around us, but I had already lost most of my stuff, so what did I care?

It was time to be on the move again, this time with no destination in mind. We had left Lexington with a car full of our stuff and we were heading back with no more than could fit in our trunk.

After some nights sleeping in our car, we settled on a tobacco farm. Despite being just ten years old, I was handed a hatche...

"These people just want to use you for whatever they can get out of you."

The behaviors we learn in childhood follow us into adulthood in ways we often fail to recognize. Growing up in extreme poverty taught me financial and social patterns that lingered long after I escaped those circumstances. This raw, reflective episode examines the subtle yet powerful ways parental failings shape who we become.

The ...

Poverty doesn't just mean having less money – it creates an entire ecosystem of experiences that shape how a child views the world. This raw, unflinching episode takes listeners into the realities of growing up with constant instability, from roach-infested motels to sleeping on mattresses stuffed into closets.

The haunting details of motel life paint a vivid picture: drug deals happening just outside, used condoms on...

What happens if the only constant in your chaotic world is abruptly removed... in handcuffs?

This is the night everything changed.

The adults were upstairs getting high, so it began with another night of trying to sleep in a car. The red and blue lights lit up the night to rescue a neglected kid. Did it really save me, though? Or did it just throw me from the frying pan to the fire?

I take you straight in...

"They were brother and sister and they were doing things they definitely should not have been doing."

This week's episode is all about the things we do when we should know better. Whether as children or adults, sometimes we do things that we know we shouldn't. Or maybe we don't know we shouldn't. How do you know the difference between right and wrong when you've been taught that the wrong thin...