Recovery Rocks
Ever wonder what it’s like to go on your first sober date? Or survive a wedding without liquid courage? How about dancing stone-cold sober or dealing with your first breakup without wine?
If so, you’re in luck because you can join bestselling authors and longtime sober friends Lisa Smith and Anna David as they talk to guests—and each other—about addiction and recovery, including all the “firsts” that come with sober living. From awkward to amazing, cringe-worthy to surprisingly poignant, they’re discussing what it’s like to experience life without substances.
Anna wrote the novel Party Girl, which has been widely credited as having sparked the early “Quit Lit” movement, while Lisa is the author of the award-winning memoir Girl Walks Out of a Bar. Together, they explore the real-life moments behind the kinds of stories that shape how people understand recovery.
Whether you’re newly sober, sober-curious or just want to hear some honest stories about recovery, Recovery Rocks is here for all of it.
Because as it turns out, when you can remember everything that happened, life gets a lot more interesting.
New episodes weekly. Real stories, real recovery, real talk.
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Recovery Rocks
Ever wonder what it’s like to go on your first sober date? Or survive a wedding without liquid courage? How about dancing stone-cold sober or dealing with your first breakup without wine?
If so, you’re in luck because you can join bestselling authors and longtime sober friends Lisa Smith and Anna David as they talk to guests—and each other—about addiction and recovery, including all the “firsts” that come with sober living. From awkward to amazing, cringe-worthy to surprisingly poignant, they’re discussing what it’s like to experience life without substances.
Lisa is the author of the award-winning memoir Girl Walks Out of a Bar, while Anna wrote Party Girl, a comic novel about addiction and recovery in the vein of Rachel’s Holiday and Postcards From the Edge. Together, they explore the real-life moments behind the kinds of stories that shape how people understand recovery.
Whether you’re newly sober, sober-curious or just want to hear some honest stories about recovery, Recovery Rocks is here for all of it.
Because as it turns out, when you can remember everything that happened, life gets a lot more interesting.
New episodes weekly. Real stories, real recovery, real talk.
How Do You Say, “I’m Just Not That Into You”?
Getting rejected is awful. But as Anna and Lisa discovered, rejecting someone isn’t exactly a joy, either.
Lisa talks about the first time she had to fire an employee, why she called her sponsor before and after the conversation and the Disney version of “you’re fired.” Anna shares the story of breaking up with a guy who responded by writing about her in Elle magazine—which, in hindsight, made it abundantly clear she’d made the right decision.
What starts as a conversation about rejection turns into something much bigger: the realization that not everyone is your fit. Whether it’s a relationship, a job, a sponsor or a sponsee, trying to force something that’s wrong usually hurts a lot more than letting it go.
And in Petty Resentments, Anna has a message for people who somehow manage to occupy three parking spaces with one car.
In this episode:
· Why Lisa called her sponsor before firing someone
· The breakup that became an Elle magazine article
· What Disney employees hear instead of “you’re fired”
· Why “rejection is God’s protection” isn’t just a cliché
· How recovery changes the way we think about saying goodbye
July 17, 2026
July 10, 2026
July 3, 2026
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Meet Your Hosts - Lisa Smith and
Anna David
Lisa Smith is the author of the acclaimed memoir, Girl Walks Out of a Bar. The book recounts her descent into and recovery from “high-functioning” alcohol and cocaine addiction in big New York City law firms. Lisa’s story launched her to the forefront of the movement to advance wellbeing in the legal profession. Lisa was named one of the New York Law Journal‘s 2020 “Trailblazers”.
Anna David is the New York Times bestselling author of eight books, founder of Legacy Launch Pad Publishing and host of the Behind the Book Cover podcast.
Sober for over 25 years, Anna is the author of the addiction recovery novel Party Girl. Similar in tone and style to Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes, My Fair Junkie by Amy Dresner and How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell, Party Girl is in development as a feature film.
The Sobees Podcast Score: 4.5 out of 5
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