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Published by Jimmy Thistle
Join Jimmy Thistle for After Hours — the brutally honest, funny and heartwarming podcast that dives deep into alcohol, addiction, and recovery. Each week, Jimmy sits down with real people who’ve faced the highs, lows, and hangovers of drinking culture. Through unfiltered conversation, laughter, and raw honesty, they explore what happens when we start questioning our relationship with alcohol — and what life looks like on the other side. Whether you’re sober, sober-curious, or just wondering if alcohol’s got too much of a grip, this show is for you. Expect real stories, a few laughs, and plenty of lightbulb moments from people who’ve been there. Recorded in the UK and Isle of Man but shared worldwide, After Hours is here to prove that recovery can be real, relatable, and even a little bit funny. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Episode 88 | Steve Smith — Nitro, the Door Handle & the Man Who Quit on a Train Platform Steve Smith grew up in Berkshire, the son of Glaswegian parents — his dad a police officer turned private investigator who joined the force in England because Glasgow wanted him two inches taller. There was always a party. Beers dangled over the garden fence to signal the neighbours. Eventually a bar built into the house, optics and all, pure Del Boy. Nobody got into trouble. It was just fun. That's what Steve learned alcohol was. Then Cocktail came out. He started at the TGI Fridays in Reading, moved into the West End, and became one of the top flair bartenders in London. He went by Nitro. He competed in Dubai and Vegas. He won the World Championships. Free drinks and free entry everywhere he went, because in that world he was a rock star. Managers told the team to down a Bloody Mary before shift to sort themselves out. It wasn't a red flag. It was the job. He drank every single day through his twenties and most of his thirties. He moved into management, then operations, then senior management for big restaurant chains — where the drinking simply changed clothes and became wine tastings and client entertaining. He ran over twenty marathons and used every one as proof he was fine. How could there be a problem? He'd just run 26 miles. At 41, with an eleven-week-old son at home, he fell asleep on a train after a 10am wine tasting and woke up fifty miles from home on the last service with no phone, no wallet and no keys. That was the first time he really sat up. It took another five or six years. There was the morning he woke in agony convinced he'd damaged his liver — and discovered he'd slept on a door handle in his brother's spare room. The GP said he'd strained something. Steve took it as a green light. The end, when it came, was quiet. A night in London where he drank faster than colleagues fifteen years younger, left his glasses behind, and felt like the old boy who couldn't handle it. He woke up and thought: I'm bored of this. A few weeks later, a curry with his brother, standing on a train platform — I think that's it for me. 27th June 2021. He signed up for an Ironman having never done a triathlon. Now he runs 200-mile ultras, coaches dads through their first 90 days, and hosts The Alcohol Free Revolution. One word for his life now: full. Steve is on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/sober.illiant/ His website is: https://www.soberilliant.com The Acohol Free Revolution Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-alcohol-free-revolution-podcast/id1826062887 Alcohol Lied to Me - Craig Beck https://amzn.to/4yxdB5v The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober - Catherine Gray https://amzn.to/3T5XtJg My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 87 | Janey Lee Grace — Wham!, Cola Boy & the Elephant in the Room Nobody Told Her About Janey Lee Grace grew up in Nottingham, got into music in her teens, and somehow navigated the drug-soaked world of touring bands without falling too far in — largely, she thinks, out of fear. She had no safety net. Nobody was coming to pick her up if it went wrong. So it didn't go wrong. Not yet. She toured with Mary Wilson and the Supremes, then Wham! — she's in the documentary, a young woman in her early twenties watching George Michael become a superstar from the wings. She had a top 10 hit in 1991 with Cola Boy, played a warehouse rave in Venice that felt like being Madonna for five minutes, worked with Boy George, Kim Wilde, Matt Bianco, and Chris Evans at BBC London and Virgin Radio. Then she landed at Radio 2, where she'd stay for 23 years. In between all of it, she wrote a book called Imperfectly Natural Woman — 20 years ago — that made her the queen of holistic living. Coconut oil. Soap nuts. Natural deodorant. Organic everything. She talked about it on national radio to millions of listeners. And she stepped around the elephant in the room every single day, because alcohol was her treat. The one thing that didn't fit the brand. The one thing she couldn't touch. She mentioned it to a GP once, on the way out the door, a classic doorknob moment. The GP looked at her, said she seemed fine, suggested an alcohol-free day and a glass of water between drinks. Janey walked out relieved. That kept her stuck for five more years. In late 2017, a producer handed her a copy of Claire Pooley's The Sober Diaries ahead of an interview. She glanced at the back, realised Claire was just like her, and knew. She didn't read it until after Christmas — she didn't want to spoil the holidays. On the 30th of January 2018, she started the book and quit the same day. The first two months were rough. Leg cramps, terrible sleep, emotional chaos, shame she couldn't explain. She told nobody except Claire. She navigated a Radio 2 Christmas party, awards evenings and functions without telling a soul she'd stopped drinking. At two and a half months she sat in a car park outside a Club Soda event for twenty minutes before she dared go in. At three months, on her birthday, she went to a sober rave at the Ministry of Sound at 6.30 in the morning and thought: I get it now. At eight months she posted her coming out video on YouTube. She expected backlash. Every message said welcome to the club. In 2019 she did a TEDx talk called Sobriety Rocks Who Knew. She'd forgotten there'd be a live audience. Five people pulled her aside at the break and said: you described me exactly. Can you help? She founded the Sober Club that September. She's now a sober coach trainer, still doing BBC local radio, still championing the imperfectly natural life — with the elephant finally out of the room. One word for her life now: freedom. You can find Janey on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/janeyleegrace?stkn=MXY1NTJyc3d3MTB2NQ== The Sober Club at: https://www.thesoberclub.com/ And Janey's books: https://amzn.to/4qV1Kvo https://amzn.to/4yIPIIz https://amzn.to/4i9MicG My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 86 | Laura Van Antwerp — The Pinky Promise, the Ski Town & 172 Miles on the Tahoe Rim Trail Laura Van Antwerp is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, public speaker, social media influencer and adventure junkie with a passion for helping people get outdoors and live their best life without booze. As featured in Backpacker magazine, Laura is the Founder and CEO of YSP Adventures, which organizes adventure retreats, courses, and workshops to help sober and sober-curious people build confidence, find connection and HAVE FUN without booze! She is the hilarious personality behind @yoursoberpal on TikTok and Instagram, and the bestselling author of “Your Sober Pal Sobriety Affirmation Deck,” which features 50 funny and motivational cards to uplift and comfort people in their sobriety journey. Additionally, Laura is a backpacking and hiking guide with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, a regular guest speaker at the University of Nevada, Reno, and the recipient of the 2022 Windfeldt Inspire Award. You can find Laura on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/yoursoberpal?igsi=YjA2YjB4NDBidzJy Laura's website is at: www.yoursoberpal.co yspadventures.com Laura's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/yoursoberpal Blackout - Sarah Hepola https://amzn.to/4zLCFHh Recovery Elevator https://open.spotify.com/show/51g2uQIwCFuJ2igFSWxn0P?si=231a2d61c399410f My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 85 | Richard Chapman — £2,000 a Day, a Drug Cartel & the Finance Director Who Got Clean in the Rehab That Saved Him Richard Chapman grew up in Bradford, the youngest of three, with a father who was an HSBC area director, a grandfather who was a West Yorkshire police superintendent, and a home where the tea had better be on the table or things would get thrown against the wall. His dad was beloved by everyone who worked for him. Richard's experience was slightly different. He found his outlet on a rugby field — playing for Yorkshire at fifteen, inflicting as much violence as legally permissible on anyone in front of him — and left school with two O-levels and a desire to work on a building site. His dad sent him to Midland Bank instead. In a suit from Marks & Spencer. At 18. He turned out to be brilliant at it. Which his dad, now area director, deeply resented having to ring and confirm every Friday. At 29, a man with tattoos on his head offered Richard a line of cocaine in a bar in Guiseley. He'd never touched it before. He bought £500 worth the next day, in a Burberry duffel coat, in a pub called the Living Rooms. The man with the tattoos became his best friend for the next seventeen years. By the end, Richard was spending £2,000 a day on cocaine, sitting in Leeds car parks trying to run his banking team through a Blackberry, checking into hotels for the night and ordering seven more grams, laundering money for a drug cartel, defrauding his parents of £150,000, taking a £50,000 mortgage out in his wife's name and walking from his hotel in Scarborough to a drug deal with one flip-flop on and a sock. His 11-year-old son sent him a text from the next room. He drove home. He walked into rehab on the 5th of April 2020 with three grams left and snorted the lot before he walked through the door. Now six years clean. Finance director of Ark House — the rehab in Scarborough that got him well. Five boys. A dog. A view of the sea. One word: peaceful. In-Recovery is on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/in_recovery_podcast You can find them at: https://arkhouserehab.co.uk/podcast/ The Bag Lady Doc: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596767/ Wet House Doc: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF5wNsfKo84 My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 84 | Sarah Rusbatch — Grey Area Drinking, Mummy Wine Culture & the Morning Her Daughter Asked What Happened to Your Face Sarah Rusbatch grew up in Scotland in a household where alcohol was simply part of life — grandma offering sips of wine at nine, her dad's beer froth, men in kilts addressing the haggis on Burns Night. By the time she was fourteen and had moved to five schools in eight years, alcohol was the answer to a question she hadn't quite formed yet: how do I fit in? She went to university in Hull, got deep into the nineties dance scene, moved to London, climbed the career ladder in recruitment — where in 1997 the fourth stage of every job interview was a pub session with tequila shots to see if you could handle your booze. She wore her capacity for alcohol as a badge of honour. She was lit up like a Christmas tree the moment she had a drink, and she didn't stop until the sun came up. Then came the baby, the move to Perth with no friends and no family, the loneliness that nobody talks about when everything on paper looks perfect, and a bottle of wine a night that slowly became the only thing in her toolbox. In 2017, she fell at a party, smashed her face, and was woken the next morning by her five-year-old daughter standing beside the bed asking what had happened to her face. There was dried blood and congealed vomit around her mouth. She did 100 days sober. She went back to drinking. She was back to exactly where she'd been within a month. She tried again. And again. Until 2019, when she finally understood it wasn't a her problem. It was alcohol. Now seven years sober, Sarah is one of Australia's leading grey area drinking coaches, the author of Beyond Booze, and the host of Stronger Bolder Wiser. She works with women aged 40 to 65 who are ready to change their relationship with alcohol — and she does it with a directness and warmth that makes this one of the best conversations we've had on the podcast. You can find Sarah on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/sarahrusbatch Sarah's other links here: https://www.instagram.com/sarahrusbatch Sarah's 100 things to do instead of drink: https://www.instagram.com/sarahrusbatch Sarah Rusbatch - Beyong Booze: https://amzn.to/3U1EHmo Sarah's Stronger, Bolder, Wiser - Podcast https://open.spotify.com/show/0NgeQwAek802stoj6ZfzYm Soberful Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Xll4Cyn6m18n5p24FXdhE My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 83 | Sarah Drage — The Doctor, the Car Keys & What Happens When You Finally Get Your Dad Back and then lose him again... Sarah Drage grew up in West Yorkshire, the eldest of three daughters to a man who was, by her account, genuinely ahead of his time — forward thinking, emotionally open, taking his girls to business meetings in the nineties, teaching them to be independent and articulate and to challenge the world around them. He also drank. Not obviously at first — whiskey, a glass here and there — but enough that Sarah noticed, from a young age, that there were two versions of her dad. The one she adored. And the one she tried to avoid. By the time she was a teenager she knew what it was. She tried everything. She poured his drinks down the sink and topped bottles up with water — not knowing that removing the alcohol from a physically dependent person could trigger a fatal seizure. She tried confrontation. She tried tough love. She tried overachieving, becoming the first in her family to go to university, as if her own success might give him a reason to stop. In 2015, after a family holiday where he arrived drunk and volatile, she gave him an ultimatum: rehab or no contact. He agreed. He detoxed. He got sixteen months sober — the best sixteen months the family had had in years. She got her dad back. Then his father died. And within four months so did he. Thirty hours after being admitted to A&E, at 59 years old — one week before his sixtieth birthday — Steve Drage was taken off life support. He didn't recognise Sarah in the wheelchair. He asked if she had his car keys because he wanted to check the girls were okay. Sarah is now a NACOA ambassador, a social media manager and one of the most honest voices on what it means to grow up in the shadow of a parent's addiction. This episode ranges from the mechanics of alcohol dependency to social media addiction, emotional resilience, the manosphere, and why she now believes stigma was never really the problem. You can find Sarah on Insta at: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_drage You can find Nacoa at: https://nacoa.org.uk/ The Lancet report by Professor David Nutt (2010) https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61462-6/abstract Inside the Manosphere - Louis Theroux https://www.netflix.com/watch/81920687 My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 82 | Michael Kiernan — The Wrong Number, the Guinness World Record & the Cold Water That Changed Everything Michael Kiernan grew up in Crosshill, a small town where everybody knew everybody and especially knew your family. Good childhood, strong women, a mum and a gran raising him — and then a stepdad who came into his life at eleven and whose surname he briefly took on. He got his first job, met the wrong crowd, had his first drink at seventeen — a bottle of Thunderbird downed at a party — and promptly fell asleep. It barely registered. What registered was the weed he was introduced to at work shortly after, and the week in Blackpool in 1991 that changed his personality permanently. One disco biscuit on a dance floor in Sequins, every night for a week, washed down with everything else going. He came home a different person. His first full-blown panic attack sent him to bed for months, cost him his job, introduced him to beta blockers and codeine. And in codeine, he found something. An opiate that was socially acceptable, prescription-grade, and brilliant at making everything stop. For the next thirty years, Michael was what he calls the undercover addict. Always had heavier users around him to compare himself to. Still holding down jobs, still keeping up appearances, still the driver because his substance of choice wasn't alcohol. Weed to start the day. Speed to stay up late. Valium to get to sleep. Codeine for the pain — first from arthritis in his hips, then for everything else. At his worst he was 22 stone, eating two tubs of Ben & Jerry's a night, binge eating fruit and veg to lose weight while still medicating everything with pills, not caring whether he woke up in the morning. Then COVID. Made redundant. No pretence of going to work. Forty to fifty dihydrocodeine a day. And one afternoon outside a health centre, rattling, out of prescription, running through his options — he scrolled to H on his phone meaning to call someone he knew who used heroin. He called his mum instead by accident. And he stayed on the line. Now in recovery. Guinness World Record holder — two hours and five minutes buried in snow in shorts at Glenshee. Founder of Flowstate Experience, a cold water and ice therapy community in Scotland. Partner, radio show host, ice bath evangelist. One wrong number from a completely different life. You can find Michael on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/michael_flowstate_experience_ His website: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/19YCYLESpp/?mibextid=wwXIfr And the radio show: https://www.instagram.com/michael_flowstate_experience_?igsh=MXZ5MXFrOG5lenB0aw== Links to the 2 Flowstate films that inspired Michael: https://youtu.be/dftQD_EEcgg?si=e2o95sFcmuRnHWtU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvuCViWPlZY My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 81 | Ashley Baker — Rocket Fuel at 13, Death Metal in Dubai & 17 Years Sober His Own Way Ashley Baker was born in the UK but never lived there. He grew up in Dubai in the late seventies and eighties — before it was trendy, when it was still mostly desert — the only child of an English mum who'd stayed after his dad left when he was four. She tried to take her life twice before he was old enough to understand why. He grew up with four languages, an Arabic school, a private English school, and by thirteen, a can of Fosters nicked from his parents and a plan to be the coolest kid on the 31st floor of the Hyatt Regency. The plan involved rocket fuel — everything in the drinks cabinet mixed into a 1.5 litre water bottle, downed on a dare in front of his friends. He fell into the pool, woke up the next day still drunk, got on the school bus, and everyone applauded. That was it. He was the man. He never really stopped drinking after that. At seventeen his family moved to Germany, where he discovered that you could buy alcohol in supermarkets at sixteen and that every death metal bar in Stuttgart was open until dawn. He got an apprenticeship as a chef — the one job in the world where drinking before a shift was not just accepted but culturally expected — and spent the next fifteen years being the best and worst version of himself simultaneously. By thirty-one he was drinking two bottles of wine before he could get out of bed, going to his neighbours to ask if they had any wine left, and shaking so badly he had to medicate the withdrawals with more alcohol just to get upright. He went to rehab twice — the first time he left after two weeks and was back drinking within a week. The second time it stuck. Seventeen years sober. Fully tattooed. Qualified addiction counsellor and sober coach in Stuttgart. Completely at peace. And still listening to death metal. You can find Ash on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/ashleybaker.sobercoach?igsh=dnJobnFnZXdsNHRn and his Linktree at: https://linktr.ee/ashleybaker.sobercoach The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle https://amzn.to/4gZ0eWs Boiling Point - Stephen Graham https://amzn.to/4pPYWiL My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 80 | Scott Murdoch — Four Cans in the Fridge, the Marathon des Sables & Running to the First Minister Scott Murdoch grew up on the schemes of Loch Lomond — grey houses, young teams, a school that got burnt down so they learned in caravans — and moved at thirteen to a nicer part of town where he suddenly realised other people's parents had Ferraris. His gran died of alcoholism at 58 looking about 80. His dad drank every day. His mum put up with it because she'd grown up in it too. As a kid, Scott knew that if his dad had four cans of beer in the fridge at home, the evening would be okay. If he went to the pub with his friends, it was best to hide under the covers and wait for it to pass. He left school with a C in PE and a C in Music — both on performance marks alone, because he never bothered sitting the written exams. Drank in the park, caused trouble, got himself a reputation and wore it as a badge of honour. At 21, something shifted. He made two Google searches on the same day: being the child of an alcoholic, which is when NACOA appeared. And what is the toughest race on earth, which is when the Marathon des Sables appeared. Six marathons across the Sahara Desert in five days, 50 degree heat, sandstorms, a medical tent where people's feet were degloved from the sand. Scott decided he was going to do both. It took him eight years. He went back to college, got straight A's, went to university, got straight A's again and won the court medal — the highest academic award for business at his university. Retrained, found a job he believed in, started working with NACOA, ran the Marathon des Sables in April last year for the charity, then ran 100km from Glasgow to Edinburgh through the night without sleeping to hand a letter from a grieving child to John Swinney, Scotland's First Minister. Now 60 days out from attempting a Guinness World Record — two marathons in two time zones on the same day in Samoa — with Callum Best, Ian Stringer and Josh Connolly, all children of alcoholics, all NACOA ambassadors. The goal: to fund a national schools education programme so that children like Scott never have to count cans in silence again. You can find Scott on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/scott1murdoch and you can donate to his Chasing Yesterday Marathons here: https://www.instagram.com/scott1murdoch?igsh=MWhkMG01OTltdmo4OA== My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 79 | Paul Drayton — Ride or Die Trying: Beach Blanket Babylon, Two Brain Operations & the Love Story at the Heart of It All Paul Drayton grew up in Sunderland — doors unlocked, family holidays, a dad who ran his own petrol station, a childhood he describes as idyllic. His first real taste of alcohol was chocolate liqueurs at his grandmother's, and he loved the feeling from the start. Not that he became a big drinker early — quite the opposite. As a teenager he was the designated driver, ferrying his friends to gay bars in his little box Astra while they drank cider and he listened to Erasure. Then came London. Drama college. Beach Blanket Babylon, where the tips sometimes came in wraps and the shift ended at 3am and the mornings brought in with Bloody Marys to take the edge off. The trendy bars of the nineties. A life built around parties, people and performance. And somewhere in the middle of all of that, a relationship that would define the next decade of his life — with a man who became, over time, one of the most recognisable faces in Britain, while Paul quietly built everything around him and slowly stopped being Paul. By 2015 he was at home alone with the dogs, self-medicating sciatica with alcohol, going to neighbours' houses to ask if they had any wine left. The drinking went from functioning to dependent. A drink driving incident that Paul still doesn't believe tells the full story ended up in court and in the tabloids. Two lots of brain surgery for a chronic subdural haematoma. A divorce. A month in rehab. And through all of it — all of it — he stayed sober. The book — Ride or Die Trying — is at its heart a love story. Paul talks about the dogs who kept him honest, the 274 days that ended with champagne at a wedding, the ADHD diagnosis that finally made his whole life make sense, and what it means to finally be somebody again on your own terms. You can find Paul on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/pauldrayton1 His website: https://pauldrayton.co.uk and you can buy his book, Ride or Die Trying here: https://amzn.to/4pguaPP My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Nigel Jones is the founder of the 9KM BY 9AM health and wellbeing platform, an accredited life coach, sober coach, hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner, and the author of the best selling QUIT DRINKING book Walking Back To Happiness: The Secret To Alcohol-Free Living & Well-being. After recently reaching 2,000 alcohol-free days, Nigel has become known for his practical, no-nonsense approach to personal transformation and identity change. In this episode, he shares how stopping drinking wasn't the biggest challenge - rebuilding himself was. We explore why alcohol promises what sobriety delivers, the power of small habits, how to break free from old versions of yourself, and why lasting change happens when you stop focusing on willpower and start changing your identity. Drawing on his own journey and his work with thousands of people looking to improve their wellbeing, Nigel explains why becoming alcohol-free is about far more than removing alcohol. It's about creating a healthier, calmer, more authentic version of yourself and building a life you no longer want to escape from. LINKS Website - https://www.9kmby9am.com/ My Book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DLPH36R3/ Alcohol Free Coaching Programmes - https://www.9kmby9am.com/coaching/alcohol-free-coaching/ Coaching Testimonials - https://www.9kmby9am.com/coaching/coaching-testimonials/ Newsletter - https://www.9kmby9am.com/latest-news/newsletter/ Professional Bodies https://general-hypnotherapy-register.com/nigel-jones/ Professional Bodies - https://anlp.org/members/nigel-jones Feel Good Hour - https://www.feelgoodhour.com Podcasts - https://www.9kmby9am.com/about-nigel/podcasts/ TRY MY AI LIFE COACH https://www.9kmby9am.com/about-nigel/ai-coach/ My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 77 | Dan Sheridan — Big Dan Stella in a Straight Glass: Cirrhosis, a 20% Chance & the Liver That Changed Everything Dan Sheridan grew up in Harwell, Oxfordshire — a village with five pubs and a club, a dad who was his hero, and a first attempt on his own life at 22 that he talked his way out of in front of a psychiatrist and never went back to. He became a dad at 19 to a woman sixteen years his senior, never found his footing, and spent the better part of two decades hiding behind a personality so large that the people who loved him genuinely couldn't believe he was suffering. Big Dan. Stella in a straight glass. Never drunk in public — just absolutely hammered at home at two in the morning, singing Adele, dancing to Happy Hardcore and hoping his eyes wouldn't open again. When his liver finally gave out the signs were there for years — size fourteen shoes on a size twelve man, legs that were just blocks of water, blood in places blood shouldn't be. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis in 2019 and that night went on Facebook Live to announce he was going to be the first person to cure the condition. Then bought 18 tins of Stella. In 2020, during COVID, he had a catastrophic GI bleed and decorated his house in blood. He was given a 50% chance of surviving the night. He was thinking about the lager in the fridge. The next morning a doctor told him he had a 20% chance of making it through the next hour — then the ward doors burst open and he went down fast. He woke up in ICU unable to remember his address. What followed was three years of transplant lists, stomach drains, weekly breathalyser tests, encephalopathy so severe he rang friends to tell them he was playing Ronnie O'Sullivan at Twickenham while using a fork to call Domino's. Then a TikTok video. Then a comment. Then a message. Then a phone call. Then Claire. On 1,111 days sober, he got a call on a Saturday — we don't normally ring patients on a Saturday, Dan, but we've got a liver for you. Three years ago on the 4th of June. He thanks that man every single day. You can find Dan on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/danman147 On TikTok at: https://www.tiktok.com/@mrssheridanshusband Mum, can you Lend me Twenty Quid - Elizabeth Burton-Phillips MBE https://amzn.to/4vDciB7 Basketball Diaries https://amzn.to/4wfkB63 My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 76 | Brad McLeod — The Million Dollar Man: Running from everything, Drug Trafficking & the Moment Everything Shifted Brad McLeod was born in Canada, one of twins, to a sixteen-year-old mother still living with her own parents. By the time he was six the family had relocated to Waco, Texas, and the stability he'd known at his grandparents' hands had gone. The anxiety started early. The ADHD diagnosis followed. The suspensions. The arrests. The psychiatrists, the counsellors, the pharmaceuticals — Prozac, Wellbutrin, Adderall, all of it. By sixteen he was in a lockdown treatment unit in Knoxville, Tennessee — transported there by a private security company after refusing to go voluntarily, running through a beehive and a barbed wire fence at a highway rest stop on the way. He did a year in that program, came out the other side with a college acceptance and a car his parents had scraped together to buy him. Six months later he was sitting at a poker table when someone pulled out a pain pill and asked if he wanted to try it. He didn't know what an opiate was. He found out fast. The pills ran dry and the heroin came. He got robbed at gunpoint. He lost the apartment, the car, the college place. He got arrested again — drug trafficking charges — and when he stepped off a plane to visit his family, the police were waiting. A year in jail. Deportation. A lifetime ban from the United States. He came back to Canada with a suitcase on his brother's floor, walking two hours each day to collect his methadone prescription, earning ten dollars an hour cash doing yard work for his parents just to cover the script. It was watching a girl's face light up to see him as he sat handcuffed in the back of a police car that finally made something shift — not the arrests, not the jail, not the deportation. Just one face in a car park. Now sober, Brad runs the Sober Motivation Instagram, hosts his own podcast and has built one of the most active recovery communities online. His grandfather used to call him the million dollar man — for all the money spent trying to fix him. These days Brad's spending it differently. You can find Brad on Insta at: https://www.instagram.com/sobermotivation Brad's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/Sobermotivation The Podcast: https://shows.acast.com/sobermotivation The Website: https://www.sobermotivation.com and the App! https://www.sobermotivation.com/?fbclid=PAVERFWAShEIpleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAaeM4yWqIsLZX4WK2KIXxKLT_V16Zhy9KUX7HmMZpj2VYfL9IZKO_NUeosKkGw_aem_uLKEHdE2U-8PLJXYvYoGeQ Dreamseller - Brandon Novak - https://amzn.to/4guPmz3 My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 75 | William Porter — Alcohol Explained: Iraq, Cointreau at Dawn & 12 Years on the Other Side William Porter grew up in Raynes Park, South West London — fine childhood, nothing dramatic — started drinking at 14 in a park with a friend and a bottle from the off-licence. It was a non-event. But the culture of the 90s, the lads, the music, Oasis, TFI Friday, all of it normalised getting absolutely hammered as a personality trait. By the time he’d done university in Cardiff, law school in Guildford and landed a paralegal job in London, drinking was simply what you did. Then at 26, half drunk on the sofa watching TV, an advert for the Territorial Army came on. He joined the Parachute Regiment reserve, quit drinking for three months to get through P Company selection, and passed. Then in 2005 he got mobilised and deployed to Iraq. In the build-up training, wracked with anxiety about what was ahead, he found the one thing that made the terror go away — a half cup of coffee filled up with Cointreau each morning, then drinking steadily through the day whenever he wasn’t training. Iraq itself was completely dry for six months. He came back thinking the enforced detox had fixed it. It hadn’t. By his early thirties — married, two young sons — the pattern was drinking heavily from Friday lunchtime through the weekend, waking at 3am to drink himself back to sleep, dragging himself into work Monday and doing nothing, then cramming the week’s work into three days. In February 2014 he crawled out of five days of constant drinking and made the decision to stop. Cold turkey, three days of hell, and then — slowly — the realisation that what he’d thought was him at 100% was actually him at 60%. He wrote Alcohol Explained in 2015, one of the most widely read and recommended books in the sobriety space, explaining the science, psychology and mechanics of alcohol addiction in plain language. Now 12 years sober, running three miles every morning, and navigating a difficult divorce without reaching for a bottle. You can find William on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/alcoholexplained?igsh=MXU1NGk1bGdhMW9sZw== Check out his website at: https://alcoholexplained.com Demon Coperhead - Barbara Kingsolver https://amzn.to/4uFt026 The Outrun - Amy Liptrot https://amzn.to/4fQ2ApO The Outrun - Film https://amzn.to/4ede45t Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/43HL3Zy My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 74 | April (Sally Sober) — From Whistler Snowboarder to 42 Days in Hospital: The Full Story April grew up in London, Ontario — good grades, scholarship to university, full of creative ambition. She was the weird middle kid who painted her nails black and hung out with the art kids, and found her first real confidence at 19 when she discovered alcohol above the campus pub. What followed was a decade that looked brilliant from the outside: five years in Whistler snowboarding six days a week, a ska band in Vancouver, a career in travel sales, nightclub promoting. Work hard, play hard — always in balance, always functioning. Then COVID happened. Locked down with a partner who also drank heavily, no job, liquor stores open from 7am, the balance tipped. By the time things opened up and the relationship ended, April was drinking alone to fall asleep and waking up at 2am to do it again. Loneliness was the trigger — it always has been. When a family member flew out and saw what her life had actually become, that was the moment things had to change. What followed was a two-year cycle of getting sober, hitting a milestone, telling herself she’d been sober long enough to have just one — and relapsing. Four times. Each time the withdrawal was harder because she knew what was coming. Then this February: almost five months sober, Valentine’s Day, her friend cancelled at the last minute, a bottle of wine at home, a long weekend, the old crowd, and eventually — through a chain of events she can’t fully discuss for legal reasons — 42 days in hospital with emergency surgery. She lost her job. She couldn’t eat or drink anything for two weeks. A nurse left a bottle of water on the counter and she lay there staring at it, lips cracked, not allowed to touch it. Now two months back and 111 days sober, April — who started her account as Sally Sober before going by her real name — talks about finally knowing who she is without a drink, the opposite of addiction being connection, and why this time genuinely feels different. You can find April on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/sobergalproblems?igsh=MTY1OHRtaW04ZmR3MA== My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 73 | Ross Powell — Jersey, Ketamine & Running Ultras: How £100K, a Van Crash & 18 Hours in a Cell Finally Broke Through Ross grew up on Jersey — nine miles by five — in a house where his dad drank heavily from Friday to Sunday and family life happened around arguing and alcohol. There was no one kicking a ball about with him, no male figure showing up for things. So Ross found his people outside, got easily led, got into trouble at school, and by 13 was paralytic at a New Year’s Eve party wondering why people kept telling him the next day about a version of himself he didn’t recognise. That version, he’d eventually realise, was his dad. Through his twenties he worked as a maintenance carpenter, drank every weekend to blackout, and smoked weed daily. Then after COVID he inherited £100,000. Within 16 months it was gone — all of it snorted or drunk, surrounded by people who appeared when the money did and vanished when it didn’t. He had over 30 Monday no-shows at work in a single year. Ketamine became his midweek go-to. He crashed a van while on it with friends in the back, tried to do a runner, got caught, and spent 18 hours crying in a cell. The fine cleared his bank account. He was close to prison. What pulled him back was running. He went from never running in his life to a sub-four-hour marathon in four months — then an ultra of 100K in Austria. Each time he cleaned up something would bring him back: a funeral wake, a friend saying you’ve done so well, the cogs of the old life turning again. Three pints at a pub and he felt nothing but shame. He left with his mum. Now approaching a year sober on Jersey, training for ultras, in a relationship with a woman who used to take drugs just to try and fit in around him, Ross talks about what sobriety actually is: not becoming a better person, but stripping back to your raw, honest self with nowhere left to hide. His word for life now: magical. Ross is on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/rosspowell__?igsh=MWliZHk0aDd5M2N4Mw== The Daily Stoic - Ryan Holiday https://amzn.to/4vduoZF Can't Hurt Me - David Goggins https://amzn.to/4vmeXyD TOMU - The Open Mic Unfiltered Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tomu-the-open-mic-unfiltered/id1822149303 My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Send us Fan Mail Episode 72 | Jessica White — Sexier Sober: The San Diego Coach Who Quit Without Trying & Never Looked Back In this bright, sharp and genuinely thought-provoking episode, Jimmy sits down with Jessica White — sober coach, host of the Sexier Sober podcast, and professional organiser based in Carlsbad, California — whose story of growing up in a high-functioning drinking household, nine years of blackout drinking, and a moment of quiet moral clarity that ended it all without drama or rehab is one of the most distinctive the podcast has featured. Jess grew up in San Diego in a well-meaning, loving family where both parents had substance issues — managed, high-functioning, never chaotic — but emotionally distant. She absorbed drinking as the normal currency of connection: football parties, family gatherings, the way adults loosened up and let go. A sensitive, neurodivergent kid who felt something was always slightly wrong with her, she couldn’t wait to find what would finally make her feel okay. At 14, she found it — blacked out the first time, threw up, and couldn’t wait for the next one. For nine years, Jess drank hard and largely had fun — social, energetic, the life of every party. She chose UC San Diego deliberately, a school full of serious students, because some part of her knew she needed that counterweight. She graduated with good grades. But outside the library, Thursday through Sunday, she was blacking out consistently, waking up with no memory of whole nights, doing things she’d never do sober, saying things she’d never say, sleeping with people she’d never have chosen — and rationalising every single time that next time she’d moderate. The moment that broke it wasn’t dramatic. It was a Tuesday night, Taco Tuesday, with a younger colleague who looked up to her as a role model. Jess had two or three drinks, remembered nothing, lost her phone, was driven home drunk by the person who called her a mentor. The shame wasn’t about the hangover. It was about the profound split between who she was performing herself to be and who she was actually showing up as. Out of alignment. Out of integrity. Done. That was July 8th 2020 — two weeks before Jimmy’s own sober date. She never craved it again. What makes Jess’s story distinctive is the path she took before that date. Three years of internal work — meditation, journaling, visualisation, studying how she worked. Six months of treatment at Rogers Behavioral Health for depression and anxiety — not for alcohol. A growing circle of people who were living differently and reflecting back to her what was possible. By the time she put down the drink, the work was already done. The alcohol just stopped fitting the life she was building. Now nearly five years sober, Jess runs Sexier Sober — one-to-one coaching, a podcast, and a community membership — built around the radical idea that sobriety isn’t the goal. The goal is becoming so clear on who you are and who you want to be that alcohol simply stops making sense. Effortless sobriety, she calls it. Not easy. Just inevitable. You can find Jess on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/jessmariewhite?igsh=MTdhMnJpeTE2cWdmbA== And her Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jess My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://a.co/d/0854fIb6 This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://a.co/d/0gy6mT9Z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://a.co/d/0jdcIjGb Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Send us Fan Mail Episode 71 - Simon In this episode, Jimmy sits down with Simon, a 36-year-old Glaswegian stonemason and business owner who grew up in the drinking culture of the West of Scotland. Simon shares his honest journey from teenage blackouts and festival benders, to using alcohol as a stress coping mechanism when launching his own business — and how his wife Katie’s gentle nudge finally pushed him toward lasting sobriety. Now 10 months in and doing the inner work through therapy, Simon’s story is a powerful reminder that sobriety isn’t about white-knuckling it — it’s about understanding yourself. Simon is a stonemason living in Glasgow. For most of his adult life, he found himself drifting into moments where he’d imagine a sober life. He always wanted to get there, but never quite knew how. How would he fit in? How would he function without a drink? In 2020, he started his own business. That became the final straw that broke the camel’s back. His drinking had been creeping up for years, and things were starting to unravel. Work, relationships, life, all of it felt heavier. In July 2023, at the end of a music festival, he told his wife he’d had enough. Since then, he’s had periods of sobriety, some longer than others. But now, 8 months in, something feels different. Alongside therapy and a deeper understanding of himself, this time feels real. You can find Simon on Instrgram at: https://www.instagram.com/simon.is.sober?igsh=MThzNml6NjJ3N3Judw== Simon’s Just Giving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/page/katie-simon-arran?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=WA&fbclid=PAVERFWARixVhleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAaceN9IlkXqO6zmeAbDJlraesiRvBGZeXdBDA45sp5-SC65n0lD-tw2x2aHh3Q_aem_zA-QpmtZqZzd2eVvYm5G8A Andrew Huberman - Podcast Episode https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/huberman-lab/id1545953110?i=1000744781362 My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://a.co/d/0854fIb6 This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://a.co/d/0gy6mT9Z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://a.co/d/0jdcIjGb Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 70 - Abi King In this powerful episode of After Hours Guys, Jimmy sits down with Abi King, a sober coach and host of the Sober Connection Podcast, now based in New Zealand. Abi opens up about her journey from teenage binge drinking in 1990s England to four years of hard-won sobriety — and everything in between. Abi is originally from the UK, but now lives in New Zealand. Mum to 3 teenage girls, she spent most of their childhood buying into the 'mummy wine' culture, rushing bedtime so she could get to the couch and her bottle of wine (or 2). After one of her daughters told her they didn't like the sound of her voice when she was drinking, Abi decided to quit, thinking it would be easy. It took 4 years of constant stop-starting but she got there in the end. Now over 4 years sober, she's finally become the mum she always knew she should be. She now educates people on alcohol-related issues through her 1:1 coaching and her own podcast, The Sober Connection. You can find Abi on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/levelup.withabi?igsh=MTdmbTBlN3k0NzM1bA== 30 Days to Freedom by Abi King https://subscribepage.io/30-days-to-freedom-reset The Sober Connection Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-sober-connection/id1809595582 Mrs D is Going Without - Lotta Dann https://amzn.to/4dUyOOk Boing Point https://amzn.to/4wXOlFJ The Virtues https://amzn.to/3PMbiuQ My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://a.co/d/0854fIb6 This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://a.co/d/0gy6mT9Z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://a.co/d/0jdcIjGb Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episode 69 - Emma Newman In this deeply honest episode, Jimmy sits down with Emma Newman, a 10-year sobriety veteran who got sober in 2015 — before sober coaching existed, before quit-lit flooded the shelves, before Instagram accounts made recovery feel possible. Emma’s story is one of the most relatable on the podcast precisely because there was no dramatic rock bottom. No intervention. No ultimatum. Just a quiet, growing certainty that alcohol wasn’t serving her anymore. Emma quit drinking over ten years ago, long before sobriety became a trend or a wellness choice. Back then, choosing not to drink often raised eyebrows, and the only visible routes were AA or rehab. Emma chose neither, instead carving out her own path—without quit lit, podcasts, or a sober community to lean on. By day, she’s a mum to two teenagers (and two cats) and works for a disability charity. In her spare time, she’s become a passionate advocate for alcohol-free drinks, supporting the category from its earliest days. Today, Emma is a regular judge of alcohol-free categories and writes about non-alcoholic drinks, bringing both lived experience and a sharp critical palate to a category that’s come a long way since she started. You can find Emma on instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/emma_sobersonic?igsh=MXVhY2JraXdodWhzbw== And Emma’s linktree at: https://linktr.ee/emma_sobersonic Love Sober Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/love-sober-podcast/id1379018341 The Outrun - Amy Liptrot https://amzn.to/4wZI4JB Wild - Cheryl Strayed https://amzn.to/3RTyLuy Dry - Augusten Burroughs https://amzn.to/3PU8T19 Wintering - Katherine May https://amzn.to/4wOYPqK My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://a.co/d/0854fIb6 This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://a.co/d/0gy6mT9Z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://a.co/d/0jdcIjGb Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ My Instagram is: https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy And you can find all my other links at: https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle Buy me a coffee… https://buymeacoffee.com/afterhourswithjimmyt Alcohol Explained - William Porter https://amzn.to/4uMmkyB This Naked Mind - Annie Grace https://amzn.to/4eC6L6z A Million Little Pieces - James Frey https://amzn.to/44jOV3i Donate: https://motiv8.im/donate/ https://nacoa.org.uk/get-involved/donating/donate/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Ranking source
Apple Podcasts rankings via the Mato Topic Intelligence Platform.
Observed September 15, 2026. Cached outside the daily freshness window; the positions keep the date they were taken on.
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