Ghosts of ChrisMiss Past; He Left the Hospital Barefoot to Smoke Crack and Fentanyl: Relapse, Survival and Remembering Chris | Dopey Greatest HitsGhosts of ChrisMiss Past; He Left the Hospital Barefoot to Smoke Crack and Fentanyl: Relapse, Survival and Remembering Chris | Dopey Greatest Hits
Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction
Timestamps: 00:00 Dopey cocaine theme song 01:07 Christmas week, Allman Brothers Month and recovery tools 03:34 James D. DeHart nearly buys meth after three years 07:03 Listener comments on the Michael Todd replay 11:23 DopeyCon announcement 13:09 Greatest Hits replay begins 14:05 Remembering Chris and the creation of Dopey 17:54 Why listener stories and reviews mattered to Chris 19:07 Episode 100: Dave and Chris imagine their future 21:35 Dave and Chris discuss what relapse might look like 25:13 The painful, prophetic meaning of that conversation 27:19 Regretting the times Dave interrupted Chris 29:43 Dopey legend DJ joins the show 31:20 Remembering Chris and confronting another relapse 34:07 Kratom, Suboxone and secrecy 38:57 Why dishonesty destabilized DJ’s recovery 41:13 A new career and relationship replace recovery 44:32 Moving from Los Angeles back to Detroit 47:25 Attempting to drink like a “normal” person 50:39 Feeling dishonest and disconnected in meetings 53:04 Returning to his old Detroit dope house 55:26 Smoking crack and fentanyl after nearly two years sober 57:52 Falling out while supposedly protected by Suboxone 01:00:17 His girlfriend discovers the relapse 01:03:41 Trying to detox at home 01:05:05 Precipitated withdrawal: tequila, gummies and Ativan 01:07:27 Leaving the hospital without shoes or proper clothes 01:09:52 Barefoot, blacked out and using drugs in Detroit 01:12:20 Family finds DJ after the all-day disappearance 01:14:45 Treatment, heartbreak and rebuilding 01:19:25 Recovery requires action, connection and service 01:24:07 The parallels between DJ’s relapse and Chris’s death 01:27:40 Recovery is slow—but relapse and death can happen fast 01:31:13 Closing DJ’s relapse story 01:33:37 Classic Dopey: Dave and Chris attempt to secure advertisers 01:38:08 “Mountainside is the best treatment center in the world” 01:39:18 Dylan remembers sponsoring Chris 01:41:15 Shame, debauchery and helping other addicts 01:44:00 What Dylan’s recovery looks like after fourteen years 01:47:25 Anger over losing decades of friendship with Chris 01:49:38 What made Chris magnetic and authentic 01:52:21 What happens when a sponsee returns to drinking? 01:57:27 Can someone remain connected without abstinence? 01:59:50 Psychedelics, ayahuasca and recovery 02:04:32 Can a psychedelic breakthrough create lasting change? 02:09:09 Remembering how Chris wanted to live 02:12:21 A tale of four dopes: Chris, DJ, Dylan and Dave 02:13:54 “Good So Bad” and the closing tribute to Chris
2:16:25•23 Jul 2026
Relapse, Ghosts and Dark Laughs: Remembering Chris on Dopey
Episode Overview
- Relapse usually starts long before the first hit, with small choices like skipping meetings and keeping secrets.
- Honesty about slips, meds and cravings matters more than looking spiritually "together".
- Work, romance and success can quietly replace recovery as the main priority, raising the risk of relapse.
- Support from partners, family, sponsors and community can pull someone back even after a very serious binge.
- Humour, music and shared stories help people sit with grief while staying connected to recovery.
“Dopey, I love it when dopey's fun, but it can't always be fun. Life can't always be fun.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This Greatest Hits Christmas special from *Dopey* pulls together some of the show’s most loved voices and toughest lessons, all wrapped around the memory of Chris, who died after a relapse in 2018.
You’ll hear Dave talk frankly about his own patchy meeting attendance, the simple tools he’s leaning on — “restraint of pen and tongue, patience, not taking things personal” — and why recovery can’t just be jokes and theme songs, even though he clearly wishes it could. An email from long-time contributor James D.
DeHart lands hard, as he admits almost buying meth after three years off hard drugs and says, “It made me realize I’m not as spiritually armored as I thought I was.” If you’ve ever thought you were “bulletproof” after a bit of clean time, this will feel uncomfortably familiar.
The centrepiece is DJ (also known as Don) walking through his recent relapse in shocking detail: leaving a hospital barefoot in too-tight hospital trousers, spending hundreds on crack and fentanyl, and very nearly dying with “literally everything but alcohol” in his system. He talks about coming back on to Suboxone, the shame of lying to his girlfriend, and the slow, boring graft of early sobriety at around 60 days clean.
Later, fan favourite Dylan reflects on sponsoring Chris, the anger and grief of losing him, and why he thinks Chris was so compelling: funny, curious, resistant to bullshit, and absolutely himself. There’s also some honest chat about psychedelics in recovery, without any neat answers. The tone swings from absurd dark humour to gut-punch honesty, often in the same breath.
If you want something that laughs at addiction while taking relapse deadly seriously, this might be exactly what you put on next — are you ready to be that honest with yourself?
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