A Contagious Smile Podcast · Victora Cuore; A Contagious Smile, Who Kicked First, Domestic Violence Survivor, Advocate, Motivational Coach, Special Needs, Abuse Support, Life Skill Classes, Special Needs Social Groups

Addiction, Love, And The Weight We Carry

January 19, 2026·51 min·5 clips

Victoria and Michael start in familiar territory, joking about dinner, old-man naps, their two golden retrievers, and the everyday chaos of being at home together. The tone is loose and teasing at first. Then the conversation pivots into addiction and the weight it puts on a family. They name the fear, the stress, and the gap between what people think they will handle and what actually happens once they are living it. Victoria speaks from experience, describing alcohol addiction in her grandfather and drug addiction in a cousin, and she treats it as something that strains everyone around it. Michael keeps interrupting, correcting, and baiting her in the way that gives the show its rhythm. The two of them do not stay in one lane for long. They slide into a bit about a computer-generated response, then into a story about a new cream-colored golden retriever puppy joining the family in a few weeks. They joke about Valentine’s gifts, chocolate, and whether anyone in the house actually follows through on projects in the promised time. The conversation keeps snapping between domestic comedy and blunt reality. That same pattern carries into a bit about a professional knife maker friend, a handmade knife that got botched, and a running joke about how long simple tasks seem to take. Later they get into pronunciation arguments, from dollar to aluminum to wrestling, and the teasing turns into the kind of couple shorthand that only lands if you know the people saying it. Even there, the episode keeps its family-centered shape: it is about how people talk when they live together long enough to know each other’s weak spots and still stay in the room. The final stretch settles into the sign-off, with the usual affectionate needling and a plug for VictoriaCurie.com. The whole episode feels like a real conversation that does not pretend serious subjects need to be sterile to matter.

As heard by us

A candid, family-centered talk about addiction's strain and the effort it takes to keep going.

The episode centers on addiction and the strain it puts on a family, with Victoria and Michael keeping the focus on the signs, the stress, and the limits of what people can do in real life.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a plainspoken talk about addiction that stays focused on the family fallout.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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