Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction

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This week on Dopey! Dave battles Long Island summer heat, conquers a dead rat under his porch, rescues Susan's escaped corn snake Noodle, and prepares for the upcoming Dopey Short Film Festival. Along the way he shares a wild voicemail involving fake liquid LSD, sweaty molly, and a hard-earned lesson in not ripping people off.

Did we read this cat shit one before?????

Dave reads listener comments from the beloved Kelly P episode before welcoming recovery legend Brandon Novak back to Dopey. Novak celebrates 11 years sober and dives deep into his journey from heroin addiction and Viva La Bam chaos to running treatment centers and helping others recover.

The conversation gets even better when Novak calls his Dreamseller co-author Joe Frantz, who tells unbelievable stories about Novak stealing his own books from a bookstore signing to buy drugs, disappearing with advances, losing his phone, and the reality of filming during the darkest years of addiction. Together they reflect on Bam Margera, recovery, friendship, forgiveness, and the long road from self-destruction to redemption.

Plus: Grateful Dead stories, funeral plots, methadone and Xanax, treatment philosophy, Joe Biden sightings, and why this might be the greatest Brandon Novak appearance in Dopey history.

AND MORE!!!!!! on a super fun new installment of that good old dopey show!

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Summary

This week on Thursday's Greatest Hits! We open with a Knicks comeback story and ties it to recovery ("you can't quit"), then announces the Dopey Film Festival and shouts out the Baldini family. After reading listener comments and a wild listener email from "Stan the Man" in London (a multi-day cocaine/orgy/LSD bender), Dave plays a Greatest Hits episode featuring Kimber King — a returning guest and harm reduction hotline worker who became known for shooting fentanyl into her neck and calling for help.

Kimber's interview traces her full addiction arc: drinking at 12, Adderall at 14, cocaine with her mom and brother, her brother's brutal murder at 24 (she was 17), heroin at 22, meth in rural Georgia, an Aryan Brotherhood compound, a "magical nasal spray cocktail" of fentanyl/coke/ketamine/Xanax, multiple overdoses, evictions, a blind boyfriend who stole her car, and finally — surrender at a detox intake desk, sobbing and telling the truth. Now two years sober with a baby daughter and her mom living with her, Kimber works in harm reduction and crisis intervention.

ALL THAT AND MOREEEEEEEEEE!

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This week on Dopey Wednesday,!Dave is joined once again by Kevin McEnroe for a powerful, funny, and honest conversation about addiction, recovery, family, tennis, writing, prayer, ego, and the New York Knicks.

Dave opens the episode with listener emails about quitting cigarettes, accidental heroin use, childhood Valium, Dopey Zoom chaos, stickers, socks, and Knicks obsession. Then Kevin McEnroe joins the show to talk about his morning routine, sobriety, teaching tennis, being John McEnroe’s son, and finding peace with his name and his life in recovery.

Kevin opens up about pills, heroin, pancreatitis, isolation, treatment, relapse, his mother Tatum O’Neal’s addiction and stroke, and how service has changed their relationship. Dave shares his own stories about heroin, custody, Klonopin, the Amy Winehouse documentary, AA, and finally surrendering.

Plus: Hells Angels bars, Roxy 30s, fentanyl, Joakim Noah, 21 yogurts, meth recovery advice, and why sometimes you have to try every path until something sticks.

ALL THAT AND MORE! MORE! MORE!

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Heart Attack Doug returns for another Dopey Tuesday as he and Dave revisit the origins of their friendship, the rise and fall of Good Morning Dopey, and the eternal struggle of growing the Dopey YouTube channel.

Plus: Knicks playoff agony, NBA conspiracy theories, June on Long Island, the upcoming Dopey Recovery Film Festival, and a powerful reading of the June 9th Just For Today meditation, "Old Dreams Needn't Die."

Doug talks about selling weed to buy guitars, Dave reflects on addiction and recovery, and together they explore how sobriety can bring old dreams back to life.

And of course: Patreon plugs, listener comments, birthday wishes, and a beautiful listener cover of "Good So Bad."

PLUS MORE MORE MORE!

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SUMMARY

This week on Total Replay! Dave opens with a heartfelt intro about the Total Replay series — replaying all early episodes with Chris O'Connor, Dave's co-creator who died of a fentanyl overdose in July 2018. Dave explains why these replays matter: listeners who came later are getting to know Chris for the first time, and can trace his recovery, his relapse, and his death in real time across 130 episodes. Dave promotes the Dopey Film Festival (June 26, SVA Theatre, NYC), reads Patreon and Spotify comments — including a standout from a listener now 1.5 years sober who used to listen while walking to cop — and recaps the Knicks NBA Finals run.

The replayed episode is #30 — a two-hour classic with Dave, Chris, and a special guest called only "Jay," a musician from a prominent 90s band who remains anonymous. Jay gave Dave his first bag of weed in 1994. The episode covers: Jay's origin story (karate → weed → crack senior year of high school → speedballing → 20+ years of heroin); kicking dope in Jerusalem while on tour; copping in Austin at South by Southwest while sick on fake methadone; Dave's multiple arrest stories including being arrested twice in one day on the Lower East Side, getting jumped and pistol-whipped, buying drugs at Barnes & Noble, and getting arrested sober for putting up a sticker and giving his hoodie to a teenager in jail. Closes with Jay's 16 years of sobriety and how getting clean made him a better performer, plus a deep discussion of Syd Barrett, AA traditions, Under Earners Anonymous, Sex and Love Addicts, and a listener email from Scott — a truck driver 7 weeks clean.

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This week on Dopey! We check in from deep inside Knicks playoff mania, tackles a listener email about dating in early recovery, and shares some hard-earned thoughts on relapse, relationships, and protecting your sobriety at all costs.

Then we reconnect with fellow Mountainside alum Kelly P, who was in treatment alongside Dave and Chris back in 2011. What follows is a truly classic Dopey story: childhood trauma, smoking weed at 12, cocaine by 17, dealing pills, getting hooked on oxy and heroin, robbing her own supplier, catching a federal indictment, getting arrested by the DEA, doing time in federal prison, finding love behind bars, and eventually surviving years of heroin, fentanyl, crack, and total chaos.

Kelly takes us through decades of addiction, crime, incarceration, heartbreak, motherhood, and redemption with brutal honesty and surprising humor. From federal prison relationships to fentanyl addiction and near-total self-destruction, Kelly's story is a powerful reminder that recovery is possible even after the darkest chapters.

Now approaching three years sober, Kelly reflects on forgiveness, family, recovery, and the gratitude that comes from building a life she never thought she'd get to live.

PLUS: Knicks obsession, 2C-B puke stories, listener mail, Patreon drama, Narcan, recovery resources, cocaine relapse talk, and plenty of classic Dopey nonsense on a brand new episode of the podcast on drugs, addiction, and dumb shit.

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Dave opens the show emotionally wrecked after listening to Sublime’s “Pool Shark,” reflecting on Bradley Nowell’s addiction, the pain embedded in the song, and memories of his late friend Todd, who loved Sublime as much as he did. He talks Knicks euphoria, recovery gratitude, the upcoming Dopey Short Film Festival, and reads listener emails, Patreon comments, and Spotify reactions about the late Ryan Leone—sparking a conversation about storytelling, addiction, truth, exaggeration, and loss.

The heart of the episode is a powerful interview with Jakob Nowell, son of Bradley Nowell and current frontman of Sublime.

Jakob tells the story of growing up without his father, who died from a heroin overdose when Jakob was just one year old. He describes a chaotic childhood surrounded by drugs, violence, sex work, addiction, and instability, while also carrying the impossible weight of being “Bradley Nowell’s son.” He talks about feeling like an outsider, escaping into fantasy, music, books, video games, and eventually drugs.

Jakob shares how he started smoking weed at 12, escalated into pills, meth, alcohol, and speed, got kicked out of high school, moved to Long Beach, started playing music, and spiraled into severe addiction. He recounts suicide attempts, waking up in detox after a blackout, struggling through early sobriety, and ultimately finding recovery through AA and service.

Dave and Jakob have an unusually honest conversation about identity, legacy, addiction, and recovery. Jakob discusses the burden of being compared to a father he never knew, the strange expectations people placed on him growing up, and what it feels like to now stand onstage singing Sublime songs with Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson.

The interview also explores Bradley’s own attempts at recovery, the impact his death had on the family, the mythology surrounding rock-and-roll addiction, and the difference between glorifying substance abuse and surviving it. Jakob reflects on how sobriety gave him opportunities he never thought possible, including leading Sublime into a new chapter while continuing to build his own project, Jakob’s Castle.

Along the way they talk about Coachella, Gwen Stefani, punk rock, recovery culture, resentment, storytelling, mythology, and why “Pool Shark” remains one of the most accurate songs ever written about heroin addiction.

The episode closes with Jakob Nowell performing “Pool Shark,” ALL THAT AND MORE MORE MORE MORE!

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COULDNT RESIST AN EMERGENCY KNICKS EP! Here are AI notes:

This emergency Dopey episode is Dave and Kevin McEnroe going full Knicks sicko mode on the day of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. They talk about Addicted to the Knicks, the idea of “KA,” Knicks fandom as church, childhood obsession, superstition, dads, recovery, and why caring about the Knicks feels weirdly connected to getting sober.

Kevin talks about being hooked on the Knicks before drugs, his first brutal Knicks memory — leaving the Garden early and hearing Reggie Miller’s eight points in nine seconds from a cab — and how addiction made him lose interest in everything, including basketball. Dave tells his legendary story of sneaking into Madison Square Garden during a Knicks/Bulls playoff game through a Calypso festival and a stoner kid in concessions.

They hit Anthony Mason, John Starks, Patrick Ewing, Knicks Tape, David Lee, Nate Robinson, Brunson, KAT, Wemby, Mitchell Robinson, Tibbs, Mike Brown, and the insane feeling of New York City actually coming together around the Knicks.

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This week on the Wednesday Dose!

The episode kicks off with a classic hippie Dopey email from listener MB, who recounts a spectacular Phish tour nitrous disaster. After days of ketamine, booze, overpriced cocaine, and lot balloons at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Colorado, MB face-plants into the dirt while clutching multiple nitrous balloons, destroys his glasses, spends a miserable flight home dry-heaving and hallucinating, and somehow survives a concussion-level experience. The story ends on a positive note with nearly ten months clean and sober and a request for dream guests Gibby Haynes and Jason Isbell.

Dave then dives into Patreon and Spotify comments, including continuing fallout from the Dopey Sticker Contest. Selby files an official election challenge, claiming the contest was stolen and accusing Dave of failing to refresh Patreon before announcing a winner. Dave doubles down, insisting Felix Heads remains the champion despite accusations of voter suppression, corruption, and sticker fraud. Along the way listeners discuss ADHD, religion, Knicks fandom, kratom recovery, Long Island stories, and the eternal mystery of white crack dealers.

The heart of the episode is an incredible interview with Michael Muniz, a 69-year-old Brooklyn native with 36 years sober. Michael tells a quintessential New York story that stretches from Brownsville gangs, schoolyard fights, and witnessing the neighborhood transformation of Brooklyn in the 1960s and 70s to marijuana, acid, cocaine, crack addiction, homelessness, Rikers Island, and ultimately recovery through Phoenix House.

Michael shares stories about seeing his deceased father’s face in the clouds during an LSD trip, discovering crack in the Cypress Projects and instantly becoming obsessed, losing everything while sleeping on subway trains and wandering New York’s tunnels, robbing his mother, surviving violent encounters, and eventually finding his way into Phoenix House. What began as a plan to simply get clean long enough to save money and return to crack eventually became a lifelong recovery journey.

The conversation explores therapeutic communities, recovery philosophy, family loyalty, homelessness during the crack epidemic, the culture of Brooklyn neighborhoods, Rikers Island in the 1980s, and the power of second chances. Michael also describes a dramatic courtroom moment where, facing serious federal charges, he convinced a judge to give him probation instead of prison after speaking honestly about recovery and wanting a different life.

By the end, Michael reflects on his 36 years of sobriety, his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, acting career, and belief that recovery is a lifelong process. Dave and Michael bond over drug dreams, gratitude, family, and the reality that while the desire to get high may never fully disappear, a meaningful life in recovery is infinitely better.

The episode closes with Michael from the band Good Kid performing a live version of “Good So Bad,” 

All that and MORE MORE MORE on the Wednesday dose of that good old Dopey Show!

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Dave welcomes Heart Attack Doug back to Dopey Tuesday on his birthday, though he's not exactly feeling celebratory after waking up groggy from NyQuil and discovering that his daughter forgot it was his birthday. Doug immediately notices Dave's low energy, launching a conversation about birthday expectations and disappointments.

The bulk of the opening centers around a heated debate about the season finale of Euphoria. Dave argues that the show abandoned its core characters and became an entirely different series, while Doug enthusiastically defends it and praises the acting. The two argue over Nate's storyline, Rue's fate, Ali's character arc, and whether the show has any future after its finale.

The conversation shifts into prison talk when Montana's latest letter arrives from a Texas prison. Montana shares updates about college classes, Toastmasters, prison job training officers, losing his dog, and staying sober. This leads Doug to speculate about how Dave would survive prison, suggesting he'd either join a gang or become part of a strange collection of intellectuals, misfits, and recovery people. Dave insists he'd survive through entertainment value and his connection to recovery.

Dave also reflects on a recent doctor's appointment and how grateful he is not to be regularly drug tested anymore. The conversation spirals into stories about fake urine, the Wizinator, and the absurd lengths addicts go to avoid failing drug tests.

The guys read Patreon and Spotify comments, discuss the upcoming Dopey Short Film Festival, promote Patreon, and eventually prepare to reveal the results of the Dopey Sticker Contest.

JOIN PATREON FOR THE CONTEST!

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