Speaker "Meeting" with Raquel A.

We’re always trying to think of topics that are compelling to our listeners, but the heart of every show is our guests and their recovery stories.  Everyone who participates on the show is a volunteer, whose willingness to honestly share their experience, strength, and hope helps keeps us all sober.  

So this episode is an open format episode in the style of a speaker/discussion meeting, where one guest shares their recovery story.   We are thrilled to welcome Raquel A. to the show!  Raquel will share her experience, strength and hope with us.

Listen below, or click on the link above to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes!  

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Meet the Creators of "I Am Not Anonymous"

Did you know that there are over 23 million people in recovery in the US alone?  Organizations like "I Am Not Anonymous" are working to break the stigma of addiction, and share peoples' stories of recovery to help others who are suffering and feel they are alone.

From the "I Am Not Anonymous" website: 

"For years, those suffering from addiction have done so in silence as a result of the negative stigma surrounding it. The truth is, people DO recover. Our mission is to bring the SOLUTION into the conversation in hopes of helping the millions of people who remain untreated and help the world understand that addiction is not a moral failing. It is a powerful disease and the stigma associated with it is just as deadly as the disease itself."

On this show we are so excited to welcome the Creators of "I Am Not Anonymous", Tom and Kate.  Through the power of story and photography, Tom and Kate are at the forefront of the ever-increasing movement to break down the stigma of addiction. We will talk to them about their own journeys in recovery (Tom) and loving sommeone in recovery (Kate), as well as learn more about the project and the impact it is having on the stigma of addiction.

Listen to the show below, or click on the link above to subscribe to our podcast: 

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Speaker "Meeting" with Dayna B.

We’re always trying to think of topics that are compelling to our listeners, but the heart of every show is our guests and their recovery stories.  Everyone who participates on the show is a volunteer, whose willingness to honestly share their experience, strength, and hope helps keeps us all sober.  

This episode is an open format episode in the style of a speaker/discussion meeting, where one guest shares their recovery story.   On this episode we are thrilled to welcome Dayna B to the show!  Dayna is coming up on one year of sobriety, and she shares her experience, strength and hope with us.

Listen through the widget below, or click on the tab above to learn how to subscribe to our podcast!  

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Interview with Sherri VandenAkker - Creator of the Film "My Name Was Bette"

On this episode, we interviewed Sherri VandenAkker and her sister, Krystyn White.

Sherri is the creator of the film My Name Was Bette:  The Life and Death of an Alcoholic. This stunning documentary offers a shocking yet moving look at women's alcoholism.  The film chronicles the progression of the disease in Sherri and Krystyn's mother, Bette VandenAkker -- a nurse, wife, and mother -- who died in September, 2007.   The film, which was also created by Josh WE Hays, employs interviews, family photographs, medical records and graphics, and court documents to provide a personal and detailed look at the physical, emotional, and mental toll of alcoholism.  The film also also offers hope to those affected by the disease who seek to heal their pain and strained relationships.

On this show we will talk with Sherri and Krystyn about their personal journeys with their mother's alcoholism, as well as discuss what it was like to create the film.  If you have ever loved someone who struggled with alcoholism, you understand the challenges of loving someone with this disease.

Sherri, who is  Co-producer, Director, and Writer of the film -- was raised in central Massachusetts.  She now lives north of Boston.  She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she earned her doctorate in English.  She is a Professor at the Springfield  College, School of Human Services, Boston.

This film is avaialble to rent on Amazon; to view the film click HERE.  Visit the film's website by clicking HERE.

Listen to the show below, or follow the tab above for how to subscribe to our podcast!  

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Special Guest: AnnMarie McCullough, Faces & Voices of Recovery, Canada

AnnMarie McCullough

What image comes to your mind when you hear the term 'alcoholic'? A man with a bottle under a bridge?  A woman with smeared lipstick who drinks every day, can't hold a job and doesn't take care of her kids? Unfortunately, our society has created this stigma for alcoholics and it's simply NOT true.  There are more people like us than not, but many people don't get help because of this stigma and they are dying. 

On this episode of The Bubble Hour we talk with our very special guest AnnMarie McCullough, co-founder of Faces & Voices of Recovery Canada, about what the face of an alcoholic really looks like and why it's so important that we change the way society treats this disease. 

Recovery advocate Ann Marie McCullough is a maven of reinvention with a serious social conscience and a need to give back. A certified Project Manager with over 20 years experience in a variety of roles within the Healthcare and IT sectors, she now works as the Director of Communications and Community Relations at the Orchard Recovery Center.  AnnMarie combined her background in project and event management with her passion for recovery to help launch the REEL Recovery Film Festival in Vancouver and initiate the first RECOVERY DAY in Canada. Her latest projects: co-hosting Vancouver's first Recovery Radio show and co-founding Faces and Voices of Recovery Canada.

In long-term recovery herself since 2008, she inspires with her energy and enthusiasm, embodying hope for others who struggle with addiction.

Please listen below, or see the tab above for how to subscribe to our podcast!

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Rebroadcast: The Power of Truth & Story ... Drinking and Shame

One major issue that keeps people stuck in the cycle of alcoholism, even when they know they have a problem, or a niggling doubt that their drinking is getting worse, is SHAME.

On this episode we will hear from six women who are brand new to sobriety, have had more than one Day One recently, but who are still out there swinging, talking to people, becoming part of community, and telling their story - bravely - to offer hope to others and to help heal themselves.

The antidote to shame is truth.

Through the power of story we share our truths; we're not trying to give answers, or how-to's.   They are sharing their stories to demonstrate that the only thing anyone can do wrong is not try at all, not reach out for help, not love yourself enough to face their drinking head-on.

You can listen through the widget below, or look in the tab above to find out how to subscribe to our podcast!   

Thank you!  

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Special Guest - Greg Williams, Creator of the Documentary Film The Anonymous People

We were very excited to have Greg Williams, Filmmaker and Creator of the documentary The Anonymous People as a special guest on our show! Greg is a person in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drugs since age seventeen. He is a health policy advocate, and documentary filmmaker who specializes in the creation of compelling and purposeful content. At age 29, The Anonymous People, is Greg’s first independent feature-length film. His new film is bringing lasting solutions to the screen for one of America’s top health problems.

The Anonymous People is a documentary film about the over 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction. Deeply entrenched social stigma have kept recovery voices silent and faces hidden for decades. The vacuum has been filled with sensational mass media depictions of people with addiction that perpetuate a lurid fascination with the dysfunctional side of what is a preventable and treatable health condition. Just like women with breast cancer, or people with HIV/AIDS, a grass roots social justice movement is emerging. Courageous addiction recovery advocates have come out of the shadows and are organizing to end discrimination and move toward recovery-based solutions.

The moving story of The Anonymous People is told through the faces and voices of citizens, leaders, volunteers, corporate executives, public figures, and celebrities who are laying it all on the line to save the lives of others just like them. This passionate new public recovery movement aims to transform public opinion, engage communities and elected officials, and finally shift problematic policy toward lasting solutions.

You can learn more about the Anonymous People and this recovery movement by going to their brand new Facebook page, Many Faces 1 Voice HERE. On their site you can watch amazing videos from people telling their recovery story, as well as learn more about the film and how to take action.

If you have not yet seen the trailer for the ground-breaking film, please watch it here:

Please listen to this important show in the widget below, or look in the tab above to see how to subscribe to our podcast: 

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Getting Sober When You're Young - Featured Guest Devin Fox from Young People in Recovery

Getting sober when you are young is amazing in many ways - you get to be present for most of the major milestones in your life.  It also presents it's own challenges, with the pervasiveness of drugs and alcohol abuse in today's culture.

We are thrilled to Welcome Devin Fox as a featured guest on our show, along with other inspiring young people who will share their experience, strength and hope about what it's like to be young and sober.

Devin is Executive Director of Young People in Recovery, which is a movement that is united at all levels to empower young people to find and sustain recovery.  Their Facebook page can be found HERE.

YPR uses voices and lived experiences to advocate, educate, and collaborate. Young People In Recovery envisions a world where all young people in or seeking recovery have the opportunity to reach their maximum potential.

The conversation about recovery and addiction is changing, and young people in recovery are at the forefront of this exciting movement.   If you want to become more involved please visit YPR's website to find out more!

Please listen to this important show!  NOTE:  we had some technical difficulties towards the end of the show where three people dropped suddenly and there is about ten seconds of silence - but the show DOES go on so please keep listening!  

You can listen live through the widget below, or follow the instructions in the tab above for how to subscribe to our podcast!

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Milestone! Over 1,000 Downloads/Listens!

We are excited to announce that the word is starting to get out there about The Bubble Hour.

We have already reached over 1,000 listens/downloads, and received feedback from people who say listening to the episodes during tougher hours of the day - especially those in early sobriety - has helped.

That is the primary mission of The Bubble Hour - to be part of someone's bubble - and we are so pleased it is growing!

Anything you can do to help us spread the word is always appreciated.

We're also looking for some input (some of you have already give a couple of suggestions on our Facebook Page ... please "like" that if you haven't already, or follow us on Twitter - these are two great ways to help spread the word) on show topics you'd like to hear!  So please leave any ideas or suggestions in the comments below (and you can comment anonymously, too).

I know some of you are fearful to actively spread the word about a site that deals with addiction, and we completely understand this; we've been there, too.  But LOTS of people support and follow this site who are not addicts or alcoholics, but people who like to support a good cause or have been indirectly touched by addiction in some way in their lives.  Please bear that in mind as you consider telling more people about our show - you never, ever know who you might be helping.

Thanks, everyone, for being part of something we think is going to be really special!