It’s great to love books and the written word and seeing new worlds open up through a writer’s work is thrilling. We know our lives can be transformed through a good book.

Friends - meet Branden Collinsworth, someone who has taken those ideas, and turned them up to eleven. 

Branden Collinsworth is a Nike Master Trainer, Yoga Teacher, Human Performance Coach and Humanitarian. He describes his life as a journey “from the streets to the skies.” He comes from a seriously tough upbringing, and also emanates a thrilling love of life and service for others.

One of the major things he credits as shaping his life is his love of reading. So much so he took on a challenge to read 1,000 books because he knew it would help him unlock a world beyond the streets and generational trauma. 

Branden’s journey of curiosity has shaped him into a man of extraordinary empathy and joy for life and it comes through in our conversation. There is something in the way he talks about his mother - the clarity of his presence that makes us so excited to welcome him to Tell Me Something True.

If you care about these kinds of conversations, we hope you’ll become a TMST Plus member.  

Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/59-branden-collinsworth-on-lessons-learned-from-1000-books

Spotify playlist for this episode: 

Here’s the transcript: 

me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/branden-collinsworth-on-lessons-learned-from-1-000-books/transcript">https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/branden-collinsworth-on-lessons-learned-from-1-000-books/transcript

Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club.  Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

People tell Mary Laura Philpott that her writing is like having a conversation with her. 

We can say that is 100% true. She’s an utterly captivating writer AND conversationalist.

You may have first heard about Mary Laura Philpott through her first book, “I Miss You When I Blink.” Her new memoir in essays is “Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives.” It was named an Editor’s Choice by the New York Times Book Review and one of the Best Books of 2022 by NPR. 

“Bomb Shelter” had Laura laughing and crying and nodding her head as another woman (and mother) who is solidly in mid-life.

There are almost no places left where contemporary authors can sit down and discuss their work. It’s really important to me, and everyone, at TMST that we hold this space. If you care about these kinds of conversations, we hope you’ll become a TMST Plus member.  

Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/58-mary-laura-philpott-on-the-joy-and-dread-of-being-human

Spotify playlist for this episode: 

Here’s the transcript: me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/mary-laura-philpott-on-the-joy-dread-of-being-human/transcript">https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/mary-laura-philpott-on-the-joy-dread-of-being-human/transcript

Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

Being human means sometimes we feel deeply alone. Cut off from other people. For most people, it passes quickly.

For others, especially those who also suffer from addiction, that feeling of isolation is persistent. It’s a low hum that follows a person everywhere. Part of the reason why some drink is to numb that feeling and turn down the voices that whisper why we’re alone.

Chris Marshall knows these feelings well and he’s here today to share how listening to those voices have almost killed him on several occasions. And how he’s developed a support network to make them less loud. Chris learned how powerful the experience of connection can be and it, literally, helped to save his life. It led him to create Sans Bar, a community connection space that specializes in serving extravagantly amazing, zero alcohol cocktails.

You may know Chris if you’re a member of The Luckiest Club, the sobriety support community Laura founded where he’s one of the meeting leaders.

BONUS: Chris and Laura recorded some material just for TMST Plus members. Become a TMST Plus member to hear some of his top tips and secrets for creating an inclusive space, his favorite drink for the hottest summer day and the TWO WORD genius answer to “Do you want a drink?” and “Why aren’t you drinking?”

Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/57-chrismarshall-on-how-connection-can-save-your-life

Spotify playlist for this episode: 

Here’s the transcript: me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/chris-marshall-on-how-connection-can-save-your-life/transcript">https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/chris-marshall-on-how-connection-can-save-your-life/transcript

Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

HANDS UP if knowing what you want, and standing up for it, has not always been welcome.

Imagine being hit with that - and you’re America’s top-selling female group of all time!

Marissa Moss has a lot to say about powerful women, making their own rules, and finding solidarity when the world is pitting them against each other. This TMST is a  conversation about how women are being true to themselves and reshaping culture, while building huge, diverse audiences. 

In the book, “Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Never Were Supposed to Be,” Moss weaves together The Chicks, Shania and Loretta, and the new generation like Maren Morris, Kacey Musgraves and Mickey Guyton.

The stories she shares in our conversation are gripping, and gut churning. And…. she’s going to explain to us the veiled threat that still exists today - you don’t want to get Chicked, do ya?

Episode link: https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/56-marissa-moss-on-not-getting-chicked

Spotify playlist for this episode: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0hJwhPHQzuqT9OgiAnpAhQ

Here’s the transcript: me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/marissa-moss-on-not-getting-chicked/transcript">https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/marissa-moss-on-not-getting-chicked/transcript

Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

====

TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

When was the last time you got real about jealousy or envy?

In this episode, Laura brings the heat, digging into how jealousy and envy have shown up in her life. She explores the ways they’re different and the ways we use them to blow ourselves up.

This is no trail of tears, though! We’ll take a look at what social psychologists and researchers have identified as the purpose of these emotions. And then we explore ways to help work through these feelings when they rise up and want to take charge of our lives.

If you’re a TMST Plus member, the members-only episode features a bonus conversation Laura had with her friend Christie Tate, the NY Times Bestselling author of Group, which was about her experience in group therapy. The two of them have spent a lot of time delving into these gross, uncomfortable feelings, and you can be a fly on the wall as they explore it.

SUPPORT: Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

You can find the transcript for this episode me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/laura-mckowen-on-jealousy-envy/transcript">here.

We are never more than one connection away from a veteran or first responder.

They are the ULTRA helping professions. During the pandemic, many were the first line of protection and care. Over 20 years of The Global War of Terror, many have experienced repeated deployments with an anodyne “thank you for your service” and a bad country music song as their only Thank You.

But how many of us have asked how we can be part of THEIR solution network?

Meet Dr. Kate Pate, a neurophysiologist who is looking at the ways our brains impact our bodies, and how we heal both in harmony. Kate is laser-focused on the health and healing needs of our veterans and first responders, which means she’s focused on matters that impact our entire society.

Her perspective is grounded in healing and is relevant to all of us because we’re connected to these folks or need similar healing. She gets the role recovery plays in the equation and she brings true illumination to things like, “what’s a trigger?” and “is this PTSD?”

Dr. Kate Pate is one of the most impressive and insightful people we’ve ever met and you are going to love her.

Dr Kate Pate’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/doc.pate/

Episode link:  https://www.tmstpod.com/episodes/54-dr-kate-pate-vets-first-responders-being-triggered

Transcript: me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/dr-kate-pate-on-vets-first-responders-and-why-being-triggered-is-more-complicated-than-you-think/transcript">https://tell-me-something-true.simplecast.com/episodes/dr-kate-pate-on-vets-first-responders-and-why-being-triggered-is-more-complicated-than-you-think/transcript

Spotify playlist for this episode:

Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. There are no corporations or advertisers backing this community. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

====

TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.

Rollercoasters are a fun diversion, but they’re no way to live. That’s why the whipsaw experience of being on an emotional rollercoaster is one of the things folks are most happy to see leave their life. Those radical highs and lows aren’t confined to the times when people are using - they often extend well into sobriety. Usually driven by hyper-sensitivity and, to be honest, a lot of self-absorption.

And that’s where today’s guest comes in…. As we mark the beginning of Year Two for Tell Me Something True, we’re revisiting a conversation with Veronica Valli on emotional sobriety.

We get into how emotional sobriety does and doesn’t relate to abstinence from substance or process addictions. What emotional sobriety actually means, why it’s something everyone has to do (not just people in recovery) if they want healthy relationships, because no matter what, “the hardest thing any human being has to do is deal with other people.”

In addition to being a dear friend, Veronica is a woman in long-term recovery, a therapist, a sobriety coach, founder of the Soberful program, a co-host of the Soberful podcast, and the author of three books, the most recent of which, Soberful: Uncover a Sustainable, Fulfilling Life Free of Alcohol.

Veronica has genuine encouragement to share about the comfort and relief that comes from living an integrated life. As happens every time we talk, after this conversation, we felt more grounded, clear, and hopeful, and hope this has the same effect for you, too.

• Veronica’s website
• The Soberful podcast

SUPPORT: Tell Me Something True is a 100% independent podcast. We are 100% funded by the TMST community. Become a TMST member today so you can hear the uncut interviews, attend private events with Laura and help keep TMST ad-free.

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TMST is hosted by Laura McKowen, the bestselling author of We Are The Luckiest and founder of The Luckiest Club. Follow the show and Laura on Instagram.