From Homeless to Mansion

"Josh, HELP ME!!!"

We're back after a way-too-long break with more drama!

If you've ever had to ignore a parent's cries for attention because you know all they bring with them is trouble, then this episode is for you.

I'll be taking you through some insane conversations, if you can call them that, I've had with my mother over the last couple of years, including a wild 911 call.

Then we're going to do a deeper dive on some stuff we talked about way back at the end of last season: what...

"They were brother and sister and they were doing things they definitely should not have been doing."

This week's episode is all about the things we do when we should know better. Whether as children or adults, sometimes we do things that we know we shouldn't. Or maybe we don't know we shouldn't. How do you know the difference between right and wrong when you've been taught that the wrong things are okay your entire life?

The journey continues as we explore life after my mother's release from jail...

What happens if the only constant in your chaotic world is abruptly removed... in handcuffs?

This is the night everything changed.

The adults were upstairs getting high, so it began with another night of trying to sleep in a car. The red and blue lights lit up the night to rescue a neglected kid. Did it really save me, though? Or did it just throw me from the frying pan to the fire?

I take you straight into that moment. Raw, real and unfiltered.

The terror of being woken up by...

Poverty doesn't just mean having less money – it creates an entire ecosystem of experiences that shape how a child views the world. This raw, unflinching episode takes listeners into the realities of growing up with constant instability, from roach-infested motels to sleeping on mattresses stuffed into closets.

The haunting details of motel life paint a vivid picture: drug deals happening just outside, used condoms on the floor and roaches crawling everywhere. These weren't just temporary accommodations, but actual homes for weeks or months at a time. Perhaps most devastating is how these living conditions created a second la...

"These people just want to use you for whatever they can get out of you."

The behaviors we learn in childhood follow us into adulthood in ways we often fail to recognize. Growing up in extreme poverty taught me financial and social patterns that lingered long after I escaped those circumstances. This raw, reflective episode examines the subtle yet powerful ways parental failings shape who we become.

The most insidious lessons came from watching how adults in my life manipulated others. My mother and her circle perfected the art of getting what they wanted without...

The house was burning down around us, but I had already lost most of my stuff, so what did I care?

It was time to be on the move again, this time with no destination in mind. We had left Lexington with a car full of our stuff and we were heading back with no more than could fit in our trunk.

After some nights sleeping in our car, we settled on a tobacco farm. Despite being just ten years old, I was handed a hatchet and sent into the fields to work.

...

On the run from the cops, we settled down into our new life in the country.

Our housing situation shifted constantly and taught me early-on that nothing was permanent: not my living situation and not my family; creating a sense of perpetual insecurity.

Perhaps most damaging was witnessing the increasing substance abuse in my home, creating an environment where I couldn't depend on my caregivers.

Childhood experiences of poverty and instability create lasting impacts that shape people's attitudes, behaviors, and relationships well into adulthood and my experiences were only just beginning.

...

The Uncomfortable Truth About Sexual Exposure Across Class Lines

Welcome to the first episode of Side Notes: a raw companion series where I explore topics that didn't quite fit into the main podcast.

Today I'm going more in-depth with personal stories about inappropriate childhood sexual experiences that were common in my upbringing. I examine how these experiences contrast dramatically with those of children from middle and upper-class backgrounds.

I question how this early exposure shapes future outcomes, including the higher rates of teen pregnancy in disadvantaged communities. Is it because these kids don't...

Check out ReComOut: https://recomout.com/

Growing up in extreme poverty means living in a constant state of impermanence. Everything in your life - homes, possessions, even relationships - feels temporary, disposable. I learned this lesson repeatedly as a child, packing up my meager belongings into a single box while watching my mother and her boyfriend prioritize their next drink over stability.

This episode takes you into the very beginnings of the chaos that would become my new normal. The devastating betrayals and Faustian bargains I had to make as a child still in single-digit...

Today we're talking about young love and toxicity that leaves a permanent stain on the lives of everyone it touches.

We have our first big move that starts everything spiraling brutally downward.

What was once just a lower-class life quickly collapses into the unstable life that would haunt me for the rest of my childhood.

Click here to send me a message! There's no way for me to respond unless you give me your contact info, but I will absolutely read it and may even feature it in the next episode!

Join me as I talk about my early childhood experiences, some mundane and some jaw-dropping. Though traumatic, if nothing else, it makes for a good story.

Click here to send me a message! There's no way for me to respond unless you give me your contact info, but I will absolutely read it and may even feature it in the next episode!