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A storytelling podcast from KTLA 5 in Los Angeles. Each week, Aspiring actors, musicians, models, filmmakers and more share their stories and experiences of working to fulfill their dreams in L.A.'s entertainment industry.
KTLA News anchor and reporter Courtney Friel hosts a weekly podcast where she has candid conversations with celebrities and media personalities about their recovery from addiction. With over a decade of sobriety, Courtney hopes to inspire others struggling with addictions and show that recovery is possible, and that life can still be fun and rewarding without drugs or alcohol. Welcome to "Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery!"
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Advocating for the Voiceless with Kiana Dean
22:25
22:25
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Keepin’ it Friel this week is Kiana Dean, a 22 year old foster care advocate, who was born addicted to drugs due to her mom’s meth addiction during pregnancy. As a result of the drugs, the right side of Kiana’s face is paralyzed, she has a heart defect, and has had many surgeries. She bounced around foster homes until a woman she calls her “angel” …
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Hitting Bottom at the Top with Sports & Celebrity Agent Darren Prince
18:22
18:22
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Darren Prince is a prominent sports & celebrity agent whose clients have included Magic Johnson, Hulk Hogan, Carmen Electra and more. He is also the other of the book Aiming High: How a Prominent Sports and Celebrity Agent Hit Bottom at the Top. Darren opens up about his 24-year addiction to opioids. Darren's recovery journey is now going 11 years …
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Detailing Sobriety with Former “Details Magazine” Editor in Chief Dan Peres
21:22
21:22
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Keepin’ it Friel this week is Dan Peres, the former editor in chief of Details Magazine and author of the book “As Needed for Pain”. During Dan’s 15 years in charge at the magazine, he was secretly popping 60 opioids a day, and overdosed several times. He’d doctor shop, call in prescriptions for himself, and drive to Mexico for pills. Dan now has 1…
Laurie Dhue was the first news anchor to work at all three cable news networks. While at Fox News Channel, Laurie’s drinking and cocaine use escalated. She ended up hiring an addiction specialist to help her get clean. Laurie now has 13 years sober, but at the 5 year mark, she attended an off the record dinner and a gossip magazine reporter outed h…
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Inside the opioid addiction crisis with ‘American Fix’ author Ryan Hampton
20:12
20:12
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Spoken Dreams
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Paul Beahan, Maliwu: Malibu Canyon Music Festival
14:39
14:39
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Paul Beahan is an entrepreneur, producer, and the founder of Manimal Records. He was born in San Diego, and was always interested in the music business as a child. He even started his own imaginary record labels as a kid. Eventually he started playing music, and joined up with a few bands around the San Diego area. As his friends and bandmates went…
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Spoken Dreams
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Angela Martini, Former Miss Universe Model/Life Coach
22:05
22:05
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Angela Martini is a former model and Miss Universe pageant title holder turned Life coach, film producer, and author. She was born in Albania after the fall of communism and had an fairytale childhood, but after civil war broke out in Albania and danger grew, the fairytale ended. Angela was forced to leave her mother behind and move to Switzerland …
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Selling Houses and Sobriety with Shelton Wilder
20:39
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Binx is a pop artist originally from South Africa. She grew up in small towns without a lot of venues for entertainment, so people became the entertainment, and Binx found out early on that she loved being in the spotlight. She loved performing for friends and family, and after seeing Britney Spears on television, Binx suddenly knew exactly what sh…
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Overcoming Alcoholism With Therapy with Psychotherapist Bianca Rodriguez | Keepin' It Friel
18:47
18:47
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Rob Koebel on Getting Sober After His Arrest
20:10
20:10
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Manny Garcia is an educator, creative, and clothing designer. He was born in Texas and raised primarily in Michigan. He grew up surrounded by music, which ignited his creativity, but despite that passion, Manny pursued teaching. Later, his ambitions outgrew Michigan, and the desire to give music a shot was too strong to ignore—so he moved to Nashvi…
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Supermodel Sobriety with Jennifer Gimenez
21:34
21:34
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Asha Dahya is a journalist, a Ted X speaker, host, and author. She was born in England, but spent most of her childhood in Australia. Since a young age, Asha has always been talkative and loved performing. She had aspirations to be an actress, but later found that path was not a good fit. Asha began working as a television host, and suddenly found …
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Sports Illustrated Model Genevieve Morton Talks Sobriety
21:21
21:21
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Zara Alexandrova is a stylist and fashion consultant. She was born in Armenia and grew up in Russia. Since childhood, Zara always had an eye for fashion. She loved putting together outfits for school, and was even known to alter her mother’s wardrobe. Zara saw fashion as a means to be “the woman that she wanted to be.” Growing up in Russia, however…
Heather Daughtry is an actress and host from Los Angeles. Heather grew up with a love for the performing arts, and was always seeking ways to be creative. She enjoyed dancing, music, and is even a violinist. But when college came around, Heather decided, like many others, to take a more "practica"l path, and became a communications major. Still, sh…
Vida Ghaffari is an actress originally from the Washington, D.C. area. Her father was a scientist and her mother, an artist and art teacher. Vida is of Iranian descent and grew up during a time where anti-Iranian sentiment was prevalent in the United States. She was bullied in school, and therefore felt most comfortable on the stage exploring diffe…
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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A New Way of Life with Activist Susan Burton
19:30
19:30
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Greg Maness is an actor and aspiring writer. His father was in the military, so while he was born in the Netherlands, his family moved around every couple of years. Because of this, Greg found it difficult to put down roots and make friends. His family finally settled in South Carolina, where Greg would attend college and first discover acting. Ini…
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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From Homeless to Hopeful with Guitarist Billy Morrison
19:46
19:46
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AyseDeniz Gokcin is a concert pianist and composer. She is originally from the city of Ankara, Turkey. AyseDeniz was almost quite literally born into music. Much of her childhood was spent seated at a piano, and by 5-years-old she was already taking formal lessons. By age 6, she was considered a child prodigy in Turkey, and was accepted to Julliard…
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Sarah Scheper Opens Up About Her Struggles With Alcohol Abuse & Eating Disorders | Keepin' It Friel
19:20
19:20
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Keepin’ It Friel this week is Sarah Scheper, star of VH1’s “Love & Listings” and an LA power real estate agent. For many years Sarah struggled with alcohol abuse and eating disorders. She finally quit everything after passing out and then waking up in a stranger’s moving car. She is now 9 years sober and hopes her past experiences will help others …
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Former KTLA Reporter Brandon Lee Shares Hope For Recovery
22:12
22:12
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Keepin’ it Friel this week is Brandon Lee, a main news anchor in Phoenix, AZ, and the author of “Mascara Boy.” While Brandon was working as a reporter at KTLA 5 News, he hit rock bottom by overdosing twice in one week on booze, meth and GHB. He’s now coming up on a decade sober and enjoys spreading a message of hope towards recovery.…
Keepin’ It Friel this week is Megan Holiday- a popular DJ on two radio stations: KROQ (Los Angeles) and ALT 105.3 (San Francisco). After getting fired from her job, becoming “high-class” homeless, and entering a psych ward due to her alcohol, cocaine and heroin addiction, Megan finally surrendered on 1/13/16. She’s coming up on four years clean and…
Nick Dardes is originally from the small town of Beaufort, South Carolina. He describes himself as an aspiring writer, but also says he’s the guy who is willing to do just about anything in the entertainment industry. His love for film began after watching the first Spider-Man movie in 2002. By middle school, he was making short films and by high s…
Keepin It Friel this week is reality TV star Jason Wahler, from MTV’s “The Hills,” “Laguna Beach” and “Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab.” Jason has been to more than a dozen rehabs and even attempted suicide. He’s been honest about his past relapses and is now coming up on a year sober. In this episode, Jason discusses recovery, and brings on a special g…
Keepin’ it Frielthis week is Amy Dresner, a former stand up comic and author of the book “My Fair Junkie”. It took Amy many years to quit booze, blow, and crystal meth, but she’s now coming up on 7 years sober.
Goldie Chan is a storyteller, strategist, and writer. She grew up in Oakland among several diverse communities, which informs the types of stories she aims to share now. Having always been a creative, Goldie marches to the beat of her own drum—and much the success she has now comes from the fact that she makes her own rules. For instance, her life …
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Overcoming Alcohol and Drug Addiction with Pat O'Brien
16:44
16:44
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Pat O’Brien proves it’s never too late to quit alcohol and drugs. The popular host of “CBS Sports”, “Entertainment Tonight” and “The Insider” started his sobriety journey at 60 years old after his agents and bosses surrounded his bed and forced him to go to rehab. Pat discusses his infamous voicemail that made headlines, and how he would do cocaine…
Lexx Fusco is a writer originally from a small suburb outside Philideplphia, Pennsylvania. She grew up an outsider. Not having many friends in her town, Lexx made friends with the characters she watched on TV. The television shows she fell in love with influenced her growth as a writer, and she eventually went to college to study screenwriting so s…
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Finding Spiritual Alignment with Gabby Bernstein
18:55
18:55
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Keepin' it Friel this week is New York Times best-selling author and motivational speaker Gabrielle Bernstein. At 25 years old, Gabby weighed 98 pounds and was addicted to cocaine and alcohol. She realized she could either die as an addict or choose another path. Gabby is now 14 years sober and has published 7 self-help books, including her latest,…
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Keepin' It Friel: Conversations on Recovery
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Sobriety Rebound with Former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams
24:11
24:11
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Former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams’ life was thrown off course by drugs and alcohol. He says it all started after his uncle force-fed him liquor at age 8, then raped him. Williams served time in jail for the 2002 accidental shooting death of his limo driver. He’s now coming up on four years sober and is passionate about helping others recover at h…
Keepin it Friel this week is former Korn guitarist Wes Geer. Now 11 years sober, Wes had longtime addiction with meth, heroin, weed and alcohol. He’s now a huge meditator and is the creator of “Rock to Recovery,” a program that’s bringing music into treatment centers.
