James Swanwick is a former ESPN anchor, entrepreneur, speaker, and wellness coach from Australia who has been sober for over 15 years. James joins Painful Lessons to share his recovery story and talk about the overall health benefits of living alcohol-free. He shares some interesting trends in the recovery movement, which has grown more widely through celebrity culture, including with Rob Lowe, Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr., and our previous guest Armie Hammer. What do you think is the best way to break through to someone about living alcohol-free? Check out the interview and let us know what you think in the comments below. Thanks for watching!

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James Swanwick official website - https://www.jamesswanwick.com/

0:00 - Introduction to James Swanick

4:11 - James hasn’t had alcohol in 15 years

5:40 - Problems alcohol can cause

8:44 - Recovery solutions other than 12 steps

12:00 - The rise of self-recovery

17:25 - Josh Brolin’s mantra of “punk rock sober”

19:00 - Celebrities celebrating sobriety

24:00 - Uncomfortable reality of sobriety

27:30 - The pink cloud

36:00 - What James tells someone who is about drink and do drugs

43:54 - Tyler’s South Padre Spring Break

48:40 - “Grey area drinking”

53:50 - The benefits of being sober

Today's episode of Painful Lessons features Tyler going solo, albeit with Producer Jerry, talking about some of the latest headlines on the internet and sharing some classic stories, including the Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni controversy, Bill Maher's evolution, crazy laws in Germany, South Park, Thailand, and going poly. Check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments below. Thanks for watching!

Chapters:0:00 - Heather Locklear podcast5:50 - Going Poly at Burning Man9:38 - South Park11:48 - Germany13:04 - Survivor17:07 - Tyler explains rage farming19:00 - Bill Maher30:11 - Tyler’s DUI stories35:24- Thailand44:07 - Blake Lively controversy 59:33 - Art1:14:36 - Outro

Chris Sullivan is an American actor and musician. He's starred in This Is Us, Stranger Things, Guardians of the Galaxy, and has received multiple Emmy nominations for his acting. Chris has also recorded his own music album and performed with musicians like The Avett Brothers, DAWES, Mandy Moore, and many others. Enjoy this fascinating conversation with a very talented person who has a great sense of self-awareness and has been sober for over a decade. Watch the full interview and let us know what you think in the comments below. Thanks for watching!

Dani Druz is an actress, producer, and entrepreneur. She started in casting on the hit television show 'Entourage' and after battling addiction, she's now an advocate and consultant for recovery. Dani stops by Painful Lessons to have a conversation on addiction, recovery, and the chaos of navigating Hollywood—both in and out of sobriety. Coming from an entertainment family and growing up in the world of rehab programs, Tyler and Dani dive into the realities of the recovery industry, the unspoken struggles of mental health in entertainment, and the power of telling stories that actually make a difference. Check out the episode and let us know what you think in the comments below! Thanks for watching!Follow Dani Druz on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danidruz/?hl=enBe sure to subscribe to the Painful Lessons Podcast channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkC06HhkZIfoqk_n1E9MOiA/featured?sub_confirmation=1Chapters:0:00 - Introduction to Dani Druz1:40 - Working on Entourage7:17 - What it was like casting before social media9:19 - Dani became sober after wrapping a Christmas present16:55 - Thoughts on the Israel Gaza conflict20:05 - How Xanax can mess things up24:12 - Dani saved the night at a Leo party33:47 - How to build your sober life40:00 - Zoom meetings make Dani angry43:40 - Health store Erewhon helped save Dani51:18 - Gen Z and Prep53:00 - Dani advocates gene-testing before going sober57:30 - Matthew Perry1:01:21 - Chris Bathum story1:02:07 - Narcissism 1:11:22 - Tyler’s spiritual awakening1:17:12 - Dani’s spiritual awakening1:24:00 - Dani’s To Do List for God mentality1:28:30 - Matthew Perry told Dani about getting his rib broken1:34:48 - Dani’s read on Aziz getting cancelled1:42:26 - Outro

In this episode, Tyler goes solo to share an epiphany he had on a random family movie night a few weeks ago. In a moment of trying to select a movie for the family to watch, Tyler crumbled, and decided he was never going to make that mistake again. So he made a top 10 go-to list of movies for any situation. Check out the episode and let us know what your top 10 go-to movies are in the comments below! As always, thanks for watching!

Walter May is a Los Angeles based Director and Executive Producer known for his directing work for brands such as Toyota, Starbucks, ESPN, Walmart, & Smirnoff. He has directed celebrity talent including Katy Perry, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Serena Williams, & Eminem. Walter's work has won awards, including at Cannes Lion, Webbies awards, and more. He also worked at one of the largest advertising agencies on the planet. Walter joins Painful Lessons to talk about lessons he's learned in life, working with Katy Perry and many other superstar athletes and musicians, and a really interesting discussion on the art industry. Thanks for watching! Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Joshua David Earp is a world renowned entrepreneur, filmmaker, mentalist, musician, producer, and actor. Some of his TV projects include The Bay which has won 23 Emmy Awards and Joshua's film projects have received 64 Academy nominations. Joshua joins Painful Lessons Podcast to talk about his life and share some hard lessons he learned along the way, like getting a felony for operating a DMT lab. In addition to his professional success, Joshua is very passionate about the mind, what the brain is capable of, and mentalism; which is a branch of psychology that studies perception, intuition, and thought processes. Joshua also demonstrates some mentalism effects during the interview. This is a great interview and we appreciate you watching! Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Trek Thunder Kelly is an American artist based in Venice, California. He focuses on performance art and he achieved national recognition with his performance-art candidacy in the 2003 gubernatorial recall election in California. Kelly wore only the color blue for the year preceding the vote, and championed his consistency during the campaign. Trek joins the podcast and shares a lot of lessons he's learned during his travels. He talks about how pain and hardships can help you grow. This is a great conversation and great way to start your Monday. Watch and let us what you think in the comments below! As always, thanks for watching!

Cameron Moulene is an actor and entrepreneur, he is well known for playing Will Armstrong in the MTV series Happyland, and he also founded a startup, Cameron has also experienced some tragic hardships and overcome them to become the sober man he is today. In this interview, Cameron shares about his childhood, fighting Armie Hammer as a teenager, facing some hard tragedies, becoming sober, raising his son, getting help from Robert Downey Jr., and how to launch a successful Pokemon Card mafia. We hope you enjoy this interview as much as we did! Let us know what you think in the comments and be sure to give us a thumbs up! As always, thanks for watching!