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

Rising From The Ashes; Love, Knives, And Courage

February 16, 2026·49 min·3 clips

Victoria and Michael start in ordinary life, fresh from dinner and already teasing each other about who is sleepy, who forgot the rolls, and who actually cooked. The opening drifts into a loose domestic riff about frozen food, Texas Roadhouse rolls from the grocery store, and the usual blame shifting that shows up once the meal is over and the talk can wander. Michael keeps the banter moving. The conversation shifts to old eye-candy crushes and the late-night TV he used to use to stay awake while Faith was younger, with The Blacklist and Raymond Reddington as one of the examples that comes up. That part feels like a peek at how they tell stories: one person reaches for a memory, the other jumps in to tease, and the pair keep building the point through interruption instead of polish. The center of gravity is a recent trip to Atlanta to see the serial killer exhibit, which they say is worth seeing if you can handle the subject matter. They make clear it is not a quick stop. Forty-something rooms, a lot of reading, and a pile of artifacts and crime scene material turn the visit into a long haul that took longer than the advertised 120 minutes. One of them notes seeing Jeffrey Dahmer's actual glasses among the displays. They also talk about lifelike corpses and photographs presented so directly that the exhibit felt, in their telling, very real. The couple's daughter comes up often in the story. She read every word, stayed excited through the whole visit, loved the outing enough to thank her dad, and even wrote him a card that turned the day into a family joke about who really chose the destination. They keep circling back to the practical side too. If you go, they warn, three hour parking may be the smarter bet, because the walk through and the reading will take longer than you think. Victoria is game to go again. Michael says he would go with her, but he would probably end up asleep in the truck rather than repeat the full tour. The final stretch turns more direct and serious. They close by talking about protection, triggers, and the reality that some people may not understand boundaries, then invite anyone who wants to defend abuse to reach out through their website or by email for an actual conversation. That lands as the episode's closing note, turning the hour from playful domestic chatter into a blunt challenge aimed at anyone willing to justify harm.

As heard by us

A candid listen that shifts from dinner banter to a heavy true-crime visit and a pointed anti-abuse close.

The discussion moves from easy couple banter over dinner and TV crushes into a long visit to the Atlanta serial-killer exhibit. The hosts needle each other in the familiar way, then stay with the museum details: the reading, the artifact viewing, the photos, and the rest of the…

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Why you'd press play

Dinner banter, an Atlanta serial-killer exhibit, and a direct challenge to abusers.

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