Welcome to the Small Bow Podcast. I’m your host, A.J. Daulerio. This is a show about expanding the definition of recovery, where we talk to writers, entertainers, recovering addicts, recovering jerks, and even the occasional normal person about their struggles with love, sex, money, loneliness, shame, grief, drugs, alcohol, ego, identity, fame, and other fun things.
In addition to this podcast, the Small Bow is a newsletter and recovery community that I started in 2018 to chronicle my own path toward sobriety and sanity following multiple rehab stints and a very public ordeal in which I was a co-defendant in Gawker's groundbreaking legal trial against pro wrestler Hulk Hogan. A Florida jury voted in favor of Hogan and awarded him $115 million, which bankrupted the company and torched my former life. Good times.
But out of all that grew the Small Bow. If you like what we do, consider subscribing to our newsletter and joining our community.
The Small Bow
From “rebel” musician to a present and grateful father, Langhorne Slim joins The Small Bow to talk about his road to recovery and the insights he’s gained along the way. From an irreverent look at how schools fail creative kids, to the petty resentment of not being the #1 notable person on his hometown’s Wikipedia page, Langhorne shares why he’s grateful for the relapse that proved substances could never fulfill him, and how his life has authentically fallen into place.
Watch the full episode here 👉 https://youtu.be/0HdTlPjUtjE
#LanghorneSlim #GretaVanFleet #PickleDad #Stillness #SobrietyStories #SustainableSelfEsteem #TheSmallBowPodcast
7 hours ago | [YT] | 0
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The Small Bow
On this week’s episode, Dave Manheim, the host of “Dopey”, stops by to talk about the paradox of being ambitious in recovery. Whether it’s the burden of creative control or the addictive nature of success, Dave and AJ discuss how leading with love is typically a fail-safe. Sometimes it takes a $60 million “dream come true” to realize that external validation is a moving target.
Listen to the full episode with Dave Manheim here: https://youtu.be/5Z6Q6V-1V9I
#DopeyPodcast #DaveManheim #Recovery #Friendship #Dopey #Comedy
1 week ago | [YT] | 1
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The Small Bow
Publicist Mitchell Jackson explains the reality of crisis management, from using physical lockboxes to stop celebrity tweet-storms to firing billionaire clients who want to break the law. He reveals how his "Mean Mitchell" persona helped him avoid bullying and how a chaotic childhood in Florida prepared him to manage professional meltdowns.
AJ and Mitchell chat about his sobriety during the drug-heavy VICE Media era and his theory that “cancel culture” is a choice at this point.
Learn how he manages the chaos.
Watch the full interview here: https://youtu.be/MSHflEadrDE
New episodes of The Small Bow drop every Wednesday.
#TheSmallBow #VideoPodcast
#CrisisPR #MitchellJackson #CancelCulture #BillionaireProblems #Recovery #Alcoholism
2 weeks ago | [YT] | 0
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The Small Bow
Comedian Blair Socci joins The Small Bow this week for a raw and insightful look at making profound pain “useful” after the sudden loss of her brother. She and AJ joke about an uncomfortable green room incident and discuss her strict professional rule that humor must always come before a trauma dump.
Blair shares her litany of lockdown spiritual certifications and the transition from a tough family dynamic to the radical vulnerability of Al-Anon rooms. The conversation explores the “absolute terror” of being truly witnessed and how she eventually found healing.
Watch the full episode here: https://youtu.be/OO82m63ptEg
#BlairSocci #TheSmallBow #ComedianInterview #Healing #Grief #AlAnon #StandupComedy
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 2
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The Small Bow
From drinking Manhattans during 11 AM movie screenings to waking up at 4 AM for morning prayers, “actor-writer comedy guy” Michael Strassner has seen the highest highs and lowest floors of the entertainment industry. In this episode, AJ and Michael discuss the beauty in the mundane moments of recovery.
Michael and AJ connect on learning the “adult skills” they don't teach you in the rooms (like paying your Wayfair bills before they turn into a $2,000 debt), and how rejection can sometimes foster the greatest changes.
Watch the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/XT9TjNm0Yl0
New episodes of The Small Bow drop every Wednesday.
#thesmallbow #newepisode #michaelstrassner #celebrityinterview #soberlife
4 weeks ago | [YT] | 0
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The Small Bow
What happens when a tough guy finally breaks? For Jeremy Luke, he listened to his Staten Island mother and “got the dog”. Soon, his dog helped him understand a “higher power” of unconditional love and acceptance. In this episode of The Small Bow, he and AJ discuss how dogs are the ultimate sober sidekick, mourning the person you used to be, and finding love again–dog love, that is.
Check out the full episode in our feed now 🏹🏹 https://youtu.be/OxMWph7Sk2k
#rescuedogs #barknbitches #jeremyluke
1 month ago | [YT] | 0
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The Small Bow
Alex Winter joins The Small Bow this week to discuss why he and Keanu Reeves bickered more as time-traveling teenagers in Bill & Ted than they did during their grueling existential marathon of Waiting for Godot on Broadway. We explore the surreal struggle of 90s fame, the reality of performing from a tiny dressing room, and why being a talented child actor usually means you were likely a total headache. From the short-term high of sabotaging toxic workplaces to the hard-won search for a stable headspace, this conversation gives you a candid look at the creative grind without the self-help cliches. New episode streaming now.
#thesmallbow #alexwinter #keanureeves #billandted #waitingforgodot #broadway
1 month ago | [YT] | 0
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The Small Bow
Chris Witaske (The Bear) describes the exact moment his life shifted—not in a therapist’s office, but during a chaotic mushroom trip at a Phish show. AJ and Chris touch on the “Golden Retriever” myth, the moving goalposts of Hollywood success, and the archetypes we adopt to hide our flaws. It’s a conversation about identity, sensitivity, and why we all reach for an escape from sitting in our own skin. Watch the full episode now.
1 month ago | [YT] | 0
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The Small Bow
Elizabeth Gilbert joins AJ to discuss why being a global icon doesn’t exempt anyone from the inner work of recovery. This conversation explores the choice to prioritize a spiritual lifeline over a public persona and what it looks like to stop using other people to regulate internal chaos.
↣ They cover why Eat, Pray, Love was actually a diagnosis
↣ Why a “boundary” is often just a pause, and the freedom in saying “no”
↣ Navigating the active resentments in her inventory while trying to be a “nice person”
Visit our feed for the full conversation. New episodes of The Small Bow drop every Wednesday.
#smallbowpodcast #authorinterview #podcastclips #interview #elizabethgilbert #slaa
1 month ago | [YT] | 0
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The Small Bow
This week, AJ sits down with Jerry O’Connell to pull back the curtain on the hidden internal mechanics he uses to stay grounded. Jerry goes into his “sit on your hands” upbringing, the nightmare of the media in the midst of public loss, the weight of childhood legacy, and how he keeps things “simple” in a town wired for chaos.
From grieving the “lightning bolt” of a mentor he found in his Stand By Me director Rob Reiner to the professional jealousy he still experiences, Jerry and AJ get real about how a Hollywood veteran contends with his own worst instincts.
Watch the full conversation now 👇
#recoveryreality #smallbowpodcast #jerryoconnell #standbyme #sobercelebrities
2 months ago | [YT] | 0
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