They Call Heroin Dog Food! Crack in Gordon Heights! Celebrating 6 Years Sober with Handsome EvanThey Call Heroin Dog Food! Crack in Gordon Heights! Celebrating 6 Years Sober with Handsome Evan
Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction
Timestamp Notes 00:00 – Dopey Wednesday intro song 01:03 – Dave is sick, welcomes everyone, and talks Knicks/Cleveland 02:00 – Knicks community makes Dave think of Dopey Nation 02:40 – Dopey Zoom, recovery solidarity, and staying connected 03:05 – Dopey stickers and Dave’s old sticker arrest 03:24 – Rest in peace Rob Base 05:40 – Rest in peace Sonny Rollins 06:56 – Sonny Rollins, heroin, jazz, and Saxophone Colossus 08:00 – Handsome Evan preview: six years sober 08:35 – Sarah’s listener email: broken feet, 7OH/Kratom, no insurance, housing crisis 11:43 – Dave responds to Sarah and recommends meetings/connection 12:35 – Patreon comments from Skinny Vinny episode 14:05 – Spotify comments: drug dreams, Canadian bacon, Tom Shoes, Patreon tiers 16:28 – More comments: AI therapy, JD voicemail, peptides, home invasions 17:25 – Dopey Recovery Short Film Festival plug 18:00 – Handsome Evan joins Dave in the car by the bay 18:48 – Evan’s second son was born on his six-year sobriety anniversary 20:00 – Dave talks meeting politics, losing respect, and walking out with Doug 21:06 – Dave and Evan talk needing people to like them 22:15 – Anthony Spaghetti and Prince Spaghetti Day 24:35 – The Prince Spaghetti song 25:35 – Dave asks Evan to reflect on six years sober 26:00 – Jewishness, AA meetings, and Dave being called Shlomo 30:57 – Evan’s early crack story: raves, trailer parks, Gordon Heights 33:17 – “You got hard?” and meeting crack dealers 34:10 – Evan drives a dealer around for crack 35:40 – Evan lends his car to a dealer; cops show up after a chase 38:19 – Evan’s worst addiction moments: stealing, pawning, trading shoes for crack 40:42 – Evan stealing checks and lying to his parents 42:56 – Evan says the bottom didn’t get him sober 43:45 – Suboxone, weed, and becoming a counselor 45:15 – Shame, guilt, and claiming recovery while still smoking weed 46:45 – Mexico relapse: Ritalin, booze, coke, MTV Spring Break 48:35 – COVID, Zoom counseling, coke, and running a group high 50:03 – Evan’s wife catches on 51:00 – Fireball, Xanax, coke, meeting his stepdaughter, and rehab 52:17 – Weed, harm reduction, and why it didn’t work for Evan 53:30 – Evan finds the meeting during COVID 55:35 – OCD as both defect and asset 57:15 – Nurse practitioner school, new baby, new house, fear and stress 59:14 – Sponsees calling, Anthony, Bill, and Doug getting called out 1:01:00 – Dave explains reading Spotify and Patreon comments 1:03:57 – Evan talks happiness, recovery, fear, and bills 1:07:30 – Emails about SR-17 / SR-1718 and opioid withdrawal 1:13:00 – Ketamine, ibogaine, MDMA, psychedelics, and sober curiosity 1:16:35 – Anthony Spaghetti appears live 1:17:41 – Anthony explains Prince Spaghetti Day 1:20:00 – Evan’s family resentment with his sister 1:22:30 – Evan’s parenting fears and anxiety about autism 1:24:20 – Dave prepares to speak for Evan’s anniversary 1:25:50 – Closing: stay strong and toodles for Chris 1:26:17 – Closing song
1:29:31•27 May 2026
Crack, Dog Food and Six Years Clean: Handsome Evan Comes Clean
Episode Overview
- Bottoms don’t always create change; Evan’s worst crack and heroin days came years before sobriety finally stuck.
- Trying to look “recovered” while secretly using—like counselling clients while vaping weed and doing coke—can fuel crippling shame and guilt.
- Consistent 12-step involvement, including meetings and sponsorship, became the practical structure that actually supported Evan’s six years clean.
- OCD and anxiety can both help and hinder recovery: they drive routine and discipline, but also obsessive fear, especially around money and children.
- Life in sobriety still brings family conflict, financial stress and self-doubt, but staying honest and connected beats going back to dog food and crack.
“"Full-on crackhead. Stealing my parents’ stuff, taking the shoes off my feet for a ten-piece… and that still wasn’t what got me sober."”
What are the common struggles and victories in addiction recovery? This Dopey Wednesday instalment follows host Dave as he checks in with "Handsome Evan", who has reached six years without crack, heroin or booze, but still admits that life and sobriety can feel messy.
You’ll hear Evan describe, in blunt detail, how bad it once got: trading Ray-Bans and even the shoes off his feet for rocks in Gordon Heights, driving a crack dealer around for payment in drugs, and pawning family heirlooms. As he puts it, he was a "full-on crackhead" long before recovery ever stuck.
Yet that wasn’t what finally pushed him to change; what really shifted things was the shame of working as a counsellor while secretly smoking weed and later relapsing on coke, ritalin and booze. The chat keeps its trademark Dopey mix of gallows humour and honesty.
Dave jokes about his own ADHD, his need for people to like him, and the bizarre anti‑Semitism he’s faced in meetings, all while steering Evan back to what’s actually kept him clean: regular meetings, sponsorship, daily routines and a willingness to feel uncomfortable without reaching for a substance. Evan also talks candidly about parenting in recovery—fears about his children’s health, money worries, and resentment and family tension around his sister.
He admits, "I feel less sober than I did my first couple years," but Dave pushes back, reminding him that nobody has it all together and that the point is to keep showing up, not to be perfect. There’s plenty here for anyone who’s ever thought, "I’m sober, so why is life still hard?" If you’re juggling recovery, family, anxiety and that nagging imposter syndrome, you might find yourself laughing, wincing and nodding along in equal measure.
How are you looking after your sobriety when real life piles on?
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