Follow Matthew Handy on Instagram @matthew.handy.17

Episodes

Dec. 23, 2025

Life After Splitting a Cop’s Head Open and Getting Dumped in a Desert Wilderness Camp at 15

Seeing him on this podcast for the first time in 13 years, Matt admits to his old friend Austin York that he robbed him during the chaos of their using days in Southern California. Like Matt, Austin got into trouble very youn...
Guest: Austin York
Dec. 17, 2025

Life After Beating Bulimia, Escaping an Abusive Alcoholic Marriage, and Repeated Exposure to Black Mold

After Cynthia was molested in childhood, she used food as a coping mechanism, developing bulimia and extreme body dysmorphia. As a teenager, vaccinations triggered hormonal and immune imbalances, causing mood changes and hive...
Dec. 10, 2025

Life After Burning 13 Holes in My Leg & 2 in My Junk, and Escaping a Life Sentence, and Killing Myself in the Hospital

Chris grew up in Odessa, Texas, in a home where alcohol and drugs were part of everyday life. At 15, he altered his birth certificate to work in the oil fields. By 19, he was drilling, and by 25, he was running crews—building...
Guest: Chris Hopper
Dec. 3, 2025

Exposing the Dark Side of Kratom. Is This “Natural” Supplement Fueling Addiction?

Kratom is a plant-based substance that’s easy to find in smoke shops, gas stations, and even health food stores. Marketed as a natural remedy for pain, energy, or opioid withdrawal, it’s gained a reputation as a “safe” altern...
Nov. 26, 2025

Life After Pawning My Wife’s Wedding Ring To Buy Coke and Running My Multimillion Dollar Company Into the Ground

Growing up in Spring, Texas, Jordan was a standout student and star athlete. Raised in a supportive, yet strict household, he excelled in sports and academics, graduated near the top of his class, and was inducted into his hi...
Guest: Jordan Hase
Nov. 20, 2025

Life After Skid Row at 19, Going to Treatment 60 Times, and My Dog and My Truck Getting Stolen by a Woman I Met in Detox

At the age of 17, Robert entered treatment for the first time for heroin, painkillers, and Dilaudid addiction. Over the next few years, he cycled through nearly 60 detoxes and programs across the country, spending several yea...
Nov. 13, 2025

Life After Losing My Mom at 21, Marrying an Abusive Alcoholic, and Going to Jail for Defending Myself

Rachel grew up in Louisiana in a family marked by loss. Her older sister died of leukemia at age seven, leaving deep grief that shaped her childhood. At 13, she experienced sexual abuse, and by 21, she lost her mother to untr...
Nov. 6, 2025

Life After Losing My Voice to Thyroid Cancer, Using a Karaoke Microphone To Speak for a Year, and Drinking During Drug Interdiction Missions

Ted was sent to military school, later joined the Navy, and served during the Gulf War, stationed in Jacksonville and working drug interdiction missions off the coast of Venezuela. During his Navy service, he drank heavily, a...
Guest: Ted Broomes
Oct. 30, 2025

Life After Losing My 3 Children, My Sister, and My Parents, Moving in With My Dealer, and Living Under a Bridge With My Husband

Candice grew up surrounded by addiction and loss. Both parents drank heavily, and by 11, she had lost her mom. Her dad died soon after, and by 19, most of her family was gone, including her sister, who was killed in a murder-...
Oct. 23, 2025

Life After Childhood Sexual Abuse, 15 Years in Prison for Organized Crime, and Relapsing With a Weapon While on Parole

Brandon grew up in Houston with an abusive, alcoholic father and experienced trauma from sexual abuse at ages eight and 10. By 11, he had his first sip of alcohol, and by seventeen, he was charged with organized crime and beg...
Guest: Brandon White
Oct. 16, 2025

Life After Having 2 Kids by 17, Losing My Brother to a Xanax OD, and Living In My Car

Karen married young and became a mom at 15. By 17, she had two children, and by 36 she was a grandmother. Her brother’s overdose from Xanax and alcohol at age 19 propelled her toward addiction recovery work, determined to hel...
Oct. 9, 2025

Life After Homelessness, 2 DUIs, Too Many Jail Stays, a Baker Act Crisis, and a Prison Sentence

From Jason’s first drink at 17, his life spiraled into addiction, prison, and homelessness. He tried AA, NA, and church, but staying in recovery was tough, and a string of DUIs and prison sentences made things harder. While h...
Guest: Jason Pullin
Oct. 3, 2025

Life After My Ex-Wife’s Death From Addiction Tore My Family Apart

Rune never directly struggled with substance abuse, but grew up surrounded by it and then married into it. His father battled alcoholism and eventually died. Later, his ex-wife also lost her life to addiction after multiple a...
Oct. 1, 2025

Life After Flunking Out Of College, Multiple Inpatient Psych Stays, And The Murder of My Best Friend

Andy grew up in Houston and started drinking in high school, escalating in college. After getting kicked out and switching schools, she eventually graduated while trying to keep her drinking under control. But when she enter...
Guest: Andy Hartman
Sept. 26, 2025

Life After Losing a Full Ride to UCLA, Becoming a Meth Head Dirtbag, and a Fentanyl Wake Up Call

Raised in a solid, loving family, Danny was a standout athlete with a full ride to UCLA for golf. His future was golden, but the lure of partying and a fast lifestyle spiraled into meth and heroin addiction, multiple jail sti...
Guest: Danny Dalton
Sept. 24, 2025

Life After Becoming a Doctor, Being Forced Into Sober Living, and Discovering the Real Reason People Relapse

Dr. Kamal Shah’s perspective on addiction recovery is both deeply personal and scientifically informed. Addiction isn’t just behavior. It’s the brain, trauma, and the emotional patterns that keep people stuck. Over a decade ...
Sept. 22, 2025

Life After Planning My Own Death, Sleeping in a Stolen Car, and Withdrawing in Jail

Scott’s last relapse ended with him withdrawing in jail, where for the first time since age 13 he made it past five days sober. Facing probation, restitution, treatment and childhood trauma, he found purpose through service w...
Guest: Scott Kindel
Sept. 15, 2025

My Last Relapse

My Last Relapse explores what everyone is thinking but no one is saying about addiction and recovery through conversations with those whose lives have changed. For anyone disillusioned by traditional recovery approaches and s...