{"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 590: Are You Broken?","slug":"re-590-are-you-broken","published_at":"2026-06-08T08:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/recovery-elevator-1055558/re-590-are-you-broken","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/recovery-elevator-1055558","url":"https://recoveryelevator.libsyn.com/re-590-are-you-broken","audio_url":"https://verifi.podscribe.com/rss/p/pscrb.fm/rss/p/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/recoveryelevator/RE_590_mixdown.mp3?dest-id=246961","summary":"Today we have Stef. She is 39 years old, lives in Truckee, CA, and took her last drink on March 24 th , 2026. This episode is brought to you by: Sign up and get 10% off: Better Help Bozeman 2026 – August 12 th -16 th , 2026 If you're wondering what you can expect in your first seven days alcohol free, well, we just created a FREE 7-day guide for your first seven days. [02:00] Thoughts from Paul: Yes, we are all broken. Not because of a drinking problem, but because all 8 billion humans on the planet are perfectly imperfect. While a drinking problem breaks you, it can be alchemized or transformed into your greatest strength. The transformation that someone makes when stepping into an alcohol-free life is hard to describe. Imperfection, brokenness, and flaws are not failures, but rather essential openings for growth, understanding, and hope. \" There's a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in.\" – Leonard Cohen \"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places...\" – Ernest Hemingway Kintsugi – the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending cracks with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. [06:10] Paul introduces Stef: Stef is 39 years old, works in property management and has two dogs. Stef was socially awkward growing up, but when she had her first drink, she says she felt at home. She loosened up and her personality came out. Rules were restrictive at home, so she didn't have a lot of opportunities to party until she was kicked out. She says she floated around and did a lot of partying at that point. When Stef was in her early 20s, her boyfriend passed away in a drunk driving accident. Stef says the only way she knew how to cope with things was to drink and forget it. It wasn't long after that s…","meta_description":"Today we have Stef. She is 39 years old, lives in Truckee, CA, and took her last drink on March 24 th , 2026. This episode is brought to you by: Sign up a…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2641,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/recovery-elevator-1055558/episodes/re-590-are-you-broken/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-590-are-you-broken.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}