Anger is a Rational Response with Gemma Hartley

Lisa chatted with Gemma Hartley, a freelance journalist, writing coach, speaker and author of No One Loves an Angry Woman. Her previous book, Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women and the Way Forward, sparked national conversations about the hidden, underappreciated and exhausting mental work that so many women experience. We talk about the lasting impact of the purity culture and patriarchy from her childhood. Drinking was socialized and it helped her to shut down feelings of overwhelm and anger, until it didn’t. Gemma learned to embrace her rage and see it not as a moral failing, but as a rational response to injustice—and a potential catalyst for change.

What is Recovery Rocks?

Ever wonder what it's like to go on your first sober date? Or survive a wedding without liquid courage? How about dancing stone-cold sober or dealing with your first breakup without wine?

If so, you're in luck because you can join bestselling authors and longtime sober friends Lisa Smith and Anna David as they talk to guests—and each other—about addiction and recovery, including all the “firsts” that come with sober living. From awkward to amazing, cringe-worthy to surprisingly poignant, they’re discussing what it’s like to experience life without substances.

Lisa is the author of the award-winning memoir Girl Walks Out of a Bar, while Anna wrote Party Girl, a comic novel about addiction and recovery in the vein of Rachel's Holiday and Postcards From the Edge. Together, they explore the real-life moments behind the kinds of stories that shape how people understand recovery.

Whether you're newly sober, sober-curious or just want to hear some honest stories about recovery, Recovery Rocks is here for all of it.

Because as it turns out, when you can remember everything that happened, life gets a lot more interesting.

New episodes weekly. Real stories, real recovery, real talk.