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Summary

This week on the Wednesday Dose! Close Friend of the show, legendary tattoo artist, punk-rock outlaw, former bank robber and federal prisoner Shane Enholm returns to Dopey with a frightening update: after surviving hepatitis C and end-stage liver disease decades ago, he has been diagnosed with cirrhosis again.

Shane retraces a life built around heroin, prison, tattooing and survival—from having an ounce of fentanyl inside federal prison in 1990 to being forced onto methadone after his release. He talks about becoming a prison pull-up champion, the FBI operation that ended his smuggling connection, the shame directed at people receiving medication-assisted treatment and why service—not recovery righteousness—ultimately helped him stay off heroin for 22 years.

The conversation turns emotional as Shane remembers musician Bruce “Spider” Middleman, his close friend and former partner of Katey Sagal. Shane recalls reviving Spider after one overdose, watching him immediately ask to get high again and discovering his body after the fatal overdose that followed.

Plus: getting kicked off Instagram over a message to a teenage tattoo apprentice, quitting unfiltered cigarettes after 46 years, the dangers of today’s fentanyl and tranquilizer supply, pain treatment, drug legalization, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor and whether Shane may eventually need a liver transplant.

The episode opens with a wild collection of listener stories involving a stolen handgun used in a convenience-store robbery, smoking crack during an unexpected 69 and getting robbed at gunpoint by a dealer named Dead Man.

PLUS A GIANT WEIRD LOOKING PENIS ON FIRE ISLAND! and more.
 

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Summary

Dave recounts a family expedition through the Balloon Museum, Little Italy, and the black-market handbag scene on Canal Street before reading an incredible listener story from the early-’90s Grateful Dead tour.

Despite barely caring about the band, Tom follows the tour for its parking-lot wonderland of drugs, hippies, and chaos. Completely broke, he finances the trip by repackaging truck-stop speed and selling it as ecstasy. Along the way, he encounters Persian heroin, a motel-wide fireworks war, a filthy grilled-cheese dealer carrying bundles of New York heroin taped to his stomach, and an extraordinarily forgiving Nebraska police officer.

All that and still more on a tiny teaser of the tuesday show - listen to the full ep only on PATREON! www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast

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Episode summary

Dave celebrates Labor Day with a replay of one of the most polarizing early Dopey episodes: “The Structured Episode.” Before the classic show, Dave runs through the growing DopeyCon lineup—including Hank Azaria, Brandon Novak, Hamilton Morris and possible appearances from Joey Diaz, Jeff Ross and Artie Lange—and shares a spectacular listener voicemail involving blue ketamine, Stinky Pete and an alarming box of dildos.

Then Dave and Chris attempt to impose actual structure on Dopey using handwritten topics, Siri and a series of timers. It immediately collapses into exactly the kind of rambling that made the show what it was. They investigate drug songs, play everything from the Velvet Underground to James Brown, revisit Chris’s teenage DXM obsession, compare nitrous stories, discuss inhalants and eventually stumble into an unexpectedly meaningful conversation about AA, growing in recovery and what might happen if Dopey ever became successful.

All that and MORE! On a heart felt brand new yet 10 year old episode of that good old dopey show!

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Episode summary

Leah Martin—farmer, Deadhead, Phish fan and recovering addict—joins Dopey for a story that begins with the Beatles, weed and an acid trip at a Tool concert before descending into Perc 30s, heroin, crack, fentanyl and absolute chaos.

Leah recalls failing out of college, selling drugs, taking half-gram lines of cocaine while driving and joining a crew of “magnificent hippies” who followed Furthur across the country. She lived in Golden Gate Park, trimmed weed in California and supported herself on tour by selling water—only to return home between runs and fall deeper into opioid addiction.

After getting sober for four years, Leah met Brian through the recovery and jam-band community. They fell in love, moved to the Atlantic City area and eventually relapsed together during COVID. What followed included pressed fentanyl pills, crack runs, repeated overdoses, approximately ten Narcan reversals apiece and an unbelievable arrest in which Leah slipped out of her handcuffs, stole her confiscated crack from the police evidence bag and fought the cops—earning seven felonies and eight misdemeanors.

The story turns heartbreaking when Leah recounts waking up after her own overdose and finding Brian dead in their living room. She talks honestly about grief, trauma treatment, another relapse, more overdose deaths and finally building a sober life through therapy, community, farming and helping others process loss.

Plus: a dog eats weed-infused chocolate espresso beans, Lauren explains bell ringers and “dragon’s breath,” Zach shares a powerful recovery message, Dave reacts to the Hunter Biden episode comments and more more more on a brand new yet seriously old school new episode of that good old Dopey Show!

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She Shot Heroin in Her Neck and Overdosed on the Phone: The Call That Saved Kimber’s Life

This week on Dopey's Greatest Hits!

A woman named Kimber leaves rehab, returns home alone and prepares to inject what she believes is heroin—probably fentanyl—into her neck. Knowing her tolerance has disappeared, she calls the Never Use Alone hotline. Nurse Jessie stays on the phone, urges Kimber to use less and collects her location. Moments after injecting, Kimber stops responding. Jessie calls for help, and paramedic Stephen Murray arrives in time to revive her with Narcan.

The episode expands the extraordinary story first told on This American Life. Stephen describes his own addiction, recovery and unlikely path from finance and drug use to firefighting, emergency medicine and harm-reduction work. He explains how the Massachusetts Overdose Prevention Hotline became the country’s first government-funded overdose hotline and why it offers anonymous, judgment-free support to anyone using drugs alone.

Kimber then tells her side of the call: getting expelled from rehab, shooting cocaine all night, buying heroin after 40 abstinent days and waking up surrounded by emergency workers. The overdose did not immediately stop her addiction—she returned to treatment, entered a rehab romance and continued using for another two years. Now twenty months sober, she works for the same hotline that saved her, answering calls from people using alone and giving them the connection, companionship and protection she once needed.

Truly one of our all timers!

And More!
 

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This week on the Dopey Dose! Dave opens the Wednesday Dose of Dopey with gratitude, recovery reflections and a reminder that it is possible to restart your day at any moment. A Canadian listener recounts ceremonially burying—and urinating on—his remaining cocaine while tripping on acid, while Northeast Ohio Bob remembers the drug-fueled chaos of Nelson Ledges Quarry Park.

Then Stephanie Wittels Wachs joins Dave to discuss her new book, Last Day, and the death of her brother, beloved Parks and Recreation writer and comedian Harris Wittels. Stephanie remembers growing up and experimenting with weed, mushrooms, acid and whippets alongside Harris, his obsessive love of Phish and the moment his casual drug use became an urgent dependence on pills and heroin. Harris admitted spending $4,000 a month on pills while his career was exploding, entered treatment twice and died from an overdose shortly afterward.

Stephanie explains how losing Harris transformed her into an advocate for harm reduction, overdose prevention and drug-policy reform. She and Dave discuss SafeSpot, Kimber and Stephen Murray, supervised consumption sites, the shame that forces people to use alone and the importance of keeping people alive without demanding that they become sober on someone else’s timetable.

The conversation closes with an honest discussion of grief, therapy, purpose and gratitude. Stephanie describes how writing and caring for her daughter gradually helped her build a larger life around the permanent loss of Harris.

All that and more on the brand new Wednesday Dose of Dopey!

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On the teaser! Dave celebrates eleven years of recovery, asks whether Dopey qualifies as art and reminds everyone that DopeyCon is coming October 3. He reads a listener’s Rolling Stones dream, considers the impossible mission of getting Mick Jagger or Keith Richards on Dopey and discusses potential episodes involving Anthony Bourdain, Mark Lanegan and legendary rock journalist Nick Kent.

Dave also reads the overwhelming response to the recent Patreon episode about his own history and the possible Dopey documentary. Finally, he previews his intense Los Angeles conversation with Christopher, who describes growing up as one of eleven brothers amid abandonment, violence and abuse—before sharing his larger story of addiction, sex work and redemption exclusively on Patreon.

All that and somehow still - MORE!

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Episode summary:

This week on Dopey Total Replay! Dave circles back to Dopey Episode 42—the first appearance of his lifelong friend Devan. Before the replay, Dave celebrates eleven years in recovery, reflects on acceptance, gratitude and friendship, makes amends for sharing too much about a sponsee, and responds to listeners inspired by the Hunter Biden interview.

Then Dave, Chris and Devan revisit their teenage years in New York City, including Dave and Devin’s first acid trip at a Grateful Dead show, the pug that looked like an alien, a disastrous baby-powder fight and their organized campaign to steal CDs from HMV. Chris remembers Surfer Mike, addiction before the drugs and his dangerous childhood experiments with model rockets. Finally, an Australian listener tells the insane story of an overdosed friend who was dumped in a phone booth—only to wake up hours later and call the people who left him there.

All that and MORE on the total replay episode of the good old dopey show!

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Episode summary

Hunter Biden joins Dopey for an unusually raw conversation about trauma, grief, addiction and recovery. He explains why alcohol initially worked for him, how drinking progressed from manageable binges to vodka hidden around the house, and how the death of his brother Beau preceded his descent into crack addiction.

Before Hunter arrives, Dave contemplates his recent resentment problem after an argument over Susan’s ice cream, reads a letter from a listener currently using cocaine and vodka, and shares stories involving LSD dropped into someone’s eyes, a handful of Xanax swallowed during an arrest and a first meth experience that turns into full-blown DEA psychosis.

Following the interview, Dave reveals that the Santa Monica studio looked like an “OnlyFans crack den.” After listening to the conversation, the studio operator disclosed that he was only five days free from crack and alcohol. Hunter embraced him in what everyone recognized as a genuine recovery god shot.

All that plus much much much more!!!!!! 

https://www.workithealth.com/dopey/

https://substack.com/@hunterbiden

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Summary

Dopey Greatest Hits: Actor and storyteller Ned Van Zandt returns to promote his one-man show, Lost in Dell Valley, and revisit his astonishing life in addiction and recovery. Ned describes being recognized in jail by the leader of the Texas Aryan Brotherhood, who traded him protection and OxyContin for acting lessons using scenes from Lost and Prison Break.

The episode then replays Ned’s original Dopey appearance: doing heroin with Andy Warhol’s circle, living at the Chelsea Hotel alongside Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, eating Burger King with Sid on the day Nancy died, and being in their room hours before her murder. Ned explains why he believes Sid was innocent and identifies the drug dealer he suspected may have been involved.

Ned also recounts driving a cab while addicted to heroin, getting slashed during a robbery, buying drugs on the devastated Lower East Side, descending into meth addiction in Long Beach, and knowing dealers who smuggled exotic birds. After nearly 13 years clean, one glass of wine led to a cocaine overdose four days later and another seven-year run. His final arrest, time in jail, and a trip to treatment in Hawaii ultimately gave him another chance—although he arrived with Valium, Vicodin and OxyContin sewn into his clothes.

Today, Ned has nearly 20 years clean, works at Transcend NYC, and performs all 19 characters in Lost in Dell Valley.

Way More on the New Episode!

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Summary / show notes

This week on Dopey Wednesday! We open the Wednesday show with DopeyCon updates, listener comments and a voicemail from Oskar in Sweden. After leaving rehab with no intention of staying clean, Oskar returns home to ten grams of heroin, begins injecting with a friend and saves that friend from a potentially fatal overdose using naloxone.

Poet/writer/'clinician' addict Zach Frank returns to discuss anxious attachment, fear, resentment and the difficulty of responding thoughtfully when emotions take over. He remembers passing out on heroin while running a bath, flooding his mother’s house and destroying his brother’s Xbox before the damaged ceiling collapsed in front of his grandmother.

Zach then takes Dave inside the jam-band drug scene. On his way to a Dominican Republic festival, he convinces a cab driver to find cocaine, stops at a pharmacy for a huge box of Xanax, absorbs liquid LSD through his palm, urinates in the ocean fully clothed and later smokes a “silly stick”—a joint containing marijuana and DMT—during a Disco Biscuits set.

He also describes his final festival before recovery: obtaining cocaine and Xanax, taking ketamine and powerful MDMA pills, and eventually reaching complete spiritual exhaustion. He calls his mother crying, returns to New York and enters treatment.

Dave and Zach discuss the painful gap between becoming abstinent and genuinely feeling well, the first moments of peace that make recovery worthwhile, and why addicts sometimes need to hold on through weeks or months of discomfort. They celebrate Dave’s 11 years sober and compare the Knicks’ championship comeback to the seemingly impossible transformations found in recovery.

The episode closes with listener comments and Dave’s heartfelt—and musically questionable—tribute to Dolly Parton.

All that and MORE!

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