{"podcast":{"title":"Recovery Elevator","slug":"recovery-elevator-1055558","podcast_index_feed_id":1055558,"rss_url":"https://recoveryelevator.libsyn.com/rss","website_url":"http://www.recoveryelevator.com","image_url":"https://static.libsyn.com/p/assets/6/8/8/0/6880a1a74b64116116c3140a3186d450/2026_Podcast_Logo.png","author":"Paul","episode_count":599,"summary":"It's not a NO to alcohol — it's a YES to a better life! Bestselling author Paul Churchill interviews people who have successfully quit drinking, offering an honest, uplifting look at what an alcohol-free life can really look like. Each week, Recovery Elevator explores sobriety from fresh perspectives — no judgment, no lectures, just real stories from real people. Whether you're sober curious, newly sober, supporting a loved one, or already thriving in recovery, you've found your community. Topics include: how to stop drinking alcohol, alcohol addiction and dependency, whether moderate drinking actually works, what happens to your brain when you quit drinking, the role of spirituality in recovery, whether AA is right for you, tracking sobriety milestones, and whether addiction might be trying to tell you something. If alcohol is making you sick and tired, Recovery Elevator is your invitation to explore what life on the other side looks like — through candid conversations and inspiring guest stories.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-06T16:21:13.576168+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/recovery-elevator-1055558"},"episode":{"title":"RE 579: Don't Question the Decision","slug":"re-579-don-t-question-the-decision","published_at":"2026-03-23T08:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/recovery-elevator-1055558/re-579-don-t-question-the-decision","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/recovery-elevator-1055558","url":"https://recoveryelevator.libsyn.com/re-579-dont-question-the-decision","audio_url":"https://verifi.podscribe.com/rss/p/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/recoveryelevator/RE_579_mixdown.mp3?dest-id=246961","summary":"Today we have Butch. He is 49 years old and is from Indianapolis, IN and took his last drink on November 1 st , 2025. This episode is brought to you by: Sign up and get 10% off: Better Help [02:33] Thoughts from Paul: Paul shares and excerpt from an interview with Steve-O, who has 17 years of sobriety. Steve-O said the worst thing would be to kinda have alcoholism. To kinda have a drinking problem. Because kinda is where people live for 20 years. Kinda is how you blow your 40s. Kinda is how you show up halfway to everything that matters. For your kids, your marriage, your job, your actual life. And then wonder why nothing ever feels real. And while you're busy deciding whether it's really that bad, the years are passing by. The other side of what Steve-O is saying – he isn't just describing a trap, he's describing a clear escape plan. By being here, you have already made the call. Maybe it's still messy and maybe it's still early and maybe some days you're not sure what you're doing. But you are here fully. We are done with \"kinda\". You've made a decision, now don't question that decision. The years that are left are yours, listeners. Now you can show up for them. [07:31] Paul introduces Butch: Butch is 49 and lives in Indianapolis with his wife and their cat named Ezra. For fun he is learning to play the bass guitar and recently started blogging. Butch says he had his first drink in high school and found it helped him cut loose, relax, be funny and he really enjoyed it. His drinking was mostly off and on until he and his girlfriend were out on their own in his early 20s and nobody other than his wife knew he was drinking so much. He had responsibilities but struggled to hold down a job. After about a year and a half, Butch was able to reel it in to just binge drinking…","meta_description":"Today we have Butch. He is 49 years old and is from Indianapolis, IN and took his last drink on November 1 st , 2025. This episode is brought to you by: S…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2046,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/recovery-elevator-1055558/episodes/re-579-don-t-question-the-decision/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/recovery-elevator-1055558/re-579-don-t-question-the-decision.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}