Ever been through something difficult? Think you might someday? Then this is the podcast by you. Tune in for messages of hope and healing on various topics, as well as a sense of community for when shit hits the fan. Welcome to Suckville!

Live From Suckville

1: Welcome to Suckville

Join my guest, Jacob Shannon, and your host for a wise and hopeful conversation on everything from Calvin Klein to the curious nature of grief. Warning: This episode might just leave you feeling optimistic.

2: How to Climb the Wall of Grief

What do cold water and freedom from addiction have in common? A lot more than you'd think, actually. Join me and my guest, Julie Shanks, for a riveting conversation on addiction, how to heal ourselves, and much more. Warning: This episode may leave you feeling mighty curious.

3: How to Go Cold Turkey (Emphasis on the "Cold")

As humans, we live with paradoxes all the time, right? The world seems at once a horrible place filled with war and famine, and a lovely place full of beautiful natural spaces and warm-hearted people. We, too, are paradoxes... Maybe we are the types that devour both multi-colored donuts AND organic, free range, antibiotic-free chicken. Our families can also be paradoxes full of loving people who are messed up by big problems like addiction. My Uncle Shawn was one of these wonderful, complicated humans. He was also the father of my darling cousin, Brittni Smith Staufer, who joins us this week to discuss her big paradox: how the painful loss of losing him ultimately brought positive changes into her life.

Live From Suckville 

11: How To Let Trauma Be Your Teacher(A Convo With the Child of Two Alcoholics)

Every crisis is an opportunity, according to Chiara Dal Borgo. She's a professional dancer, but not only: she is also an incredible, strong women. A converter of so-called failures into growth, injuries into self-awareness, and life into a curious and creative dance. Chiara told me during our interview that dance has taught her so much about life. It's only fitting then that during this interview, she teaches us how to dance through the twists and turns of our own lives. Join us for this candid and inspiring talk that might just leave you looking for your own pair of dancing shoes.

13: How to Dance Through Every Twist and Turn (A convo with a professional dancer)

Need healing? Why not take your vintage sailboat across the Atlantic? That's what came to mind for veteran Thorfin Skullcrusher. Back from Afghanistan and diagnosed with PTSD, up until then his life had been all about being a warrior. The boat adventure changed all that, and set him on a completely new course (pun intended). Join us for this extraordinary tale of courage, adventure, and the latent but potent power we all have to heal ourselves.

15: How to Make Ordinary Magic (One veteran's unique healing journey)

Do you know what the secret to true happiness is? Being yourself, unapologetically. In a world that often tells us we should be a certain way, it takes courage, grit and vulnerability to be yourself anyway. And yet, that's what my guest today, Wayne Fleming, did. He came out to a world that told him he shouldn't like men, and that men were supposed to be something other than how he is. Join us today for a moving chat that celebrates the glorious diversity that is humanity.

16: How to Be Unapologetically You (A convo about coming out in South Africa)

We all know that breaking up is hard to do... But what if our endings don't always have to leave huge scars? Is there a way to ensure that no matter how things end, we can walk away with love? My guest this week, Becky Prokova, is here to tell us that the answer is yes. Join us to discover new ways to honor your endings in this empowering and hopeful chat about conscious uncoupling.

17: How Splitting Up Can Keep You Together (A conversation on conscious uncoupling)

When something bad happens, we always ask ourselves, "Why me? Why now?" The cause of our suffering is a debate as old as time. What if I told you that not only is suffering a part of life, but it's THE part of life that brings you directly to your own healing and wholeness. In other words, you must suffer in order to heal. Join me today as we dive into this concept in the introductory episode of season three.

18: Why Suffering Is Ultimately the Key to Your Healing

A conversation I had at a pizzeria last week got me really fired up... And thus a new episode was born! Yes, we are here to rant against the patriarchy this week--but not only. Other than my own recent and not-so-recent experiences, you'll hear from other women about the trials and tribulations they have come up against, and the powerful lessons that came out of them. You're not going to want to miss this timely and moving discussion on what it really means to be authentic and equal--and what we can do to help others feel the same.

22: How to Stop Culturally Sucking (An International Women's Day special)

❤️‍🩹If you feel like your healing is a constant work in progress, you're certainly not alone. Join me and my guest, Katie MacDonald as we finish what we started in episode 4: wisdom and advice collected along an ongoing journey of healing through codependency. It's not about perfection and hindsight, but more about vulnerability and honoring the path itself. Come along with us and find new ways to honor YOUR own journey.

❤️‍🩹Katie MacDonald works at a treatment center for people experiencing addiction and has a private counseling practice. She can be found at www.katiemacdonaldcounselling.com.

23: How to Turn Your Trauma Into Your Medicine (Part 2)

Blending the wisdom of the earth, the animals and plants with myths and real stories of overcoming adversity and trauma to create original tales that heal the land and the humans who live on it.

11: How To Let Trauma Be Your Teacher(A Convo With the Child of Two Alcoholics)

Magic, Medicine and Mayhem

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