In the fourth grade, Paulina Pinsky was cast as Miss Piggy on Ice. At eight, she was praying to Elvis before skating competitions. By her twenties, she was smoking weed every day and telling everyone it was medicine.
Now she's almost five years sober, writes the Substack newsletters Newly Sober and Process Over Product, and she's our newest Sober Curator contributor, bringing something we haven't covered enough: marijuana addiction. Alysse and Tamar talk with her about Muppets, Graceland, and the rhetoric that kept her high.
In this episode:
- Miss Piggy on Ice, and Alysse's family link to Miss Piggy's wardrobe
- The TCB necklace, lost for 15 years and found the day before we recorded
- "Weed took me down": why Paulina says the public was lied to
- Dependence vs. addiction, and why the label matters less than the habit
- The one question to ask about any substance: is this helping or harming me?
- Nostalgia in sobriety, The Artist's Way, and getting your inner child back
CHAPTERS
00:00 Miss Piggy on Ice
01:48 Alysse is Muppet royalty
03:51 Muppet Recovery
04:47 An 8-year-old obsessed with Elvis
09:29 A word from our sponsor: Aura House 1
0:17 "Paradise" and a Graceland plot twist 13:53 Elvis, performance, and addiction
16:56 The TCB necklace, lost and found
21:51 "Not a doorknob": picking a higher power
22:37 Dollywood, Diet Coke, and cinnamon bread
29:13 Welcome to the contributor family 30:16 "Weed took me down"
36:50 What weed costs you
37:58 Dependence vs. addiction: does it matter?
42:31 "Never Enough" by Dr. Judith Grisel
48:35 Is this helping or harming me?
51:17 Nostalgia, sobriety, and 50 going on
13 53:08 The Artist's Way and coming back to yourself
56:07 Why do you think you have to be high to be yourself? 1:00:17 Where to find Paulina
Sober Shots:
"Why do you think you have to be high to be yourself?" (Paulina Pinsky)
"I just appreciate it's not a doorknob, personally." (Alysse Bryson)
Mentioned in this episode:
Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more.
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Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice.
Music: TSC S2 theme "Sober Shots" created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno's commercial license.
