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

Surviving Abuse, Exposing Cover-Ups, Rebuilding A Life

·1 hr 1 min·4 clips

Victoria says one in four women are abused, and the reported numbers may leave many cases unseen.

Victoria and Michael start by needling each other about sleep. He has only been up a few hours. She needles him about video games, dogs, and breakfast in bed. The banter is loud, petty, and clearly theirs. Victoria also jokes about being fired. She says FMLA apparently does not matter to some corporations. Those same companies still claim to be family oriented. From there she pivots into a harder memory. An abusive man used to show up at her office without warning. He wanted the photographs arranged exactly how he liked them. She had to keep the dog tags visible under her suit. The ring had to be visible too. He pushed past her assistant and walked in anyway. Victoria calls that a God complex. She says the behavior is not something she can understand. She also says men can be abused too, while making clear she is speaking here about women. The point widens to emotional, financial, psychological, and physical harm. She keeps coming back to the same idea: abusers are miserable creatures. Her grandparents' line about revenge served cold becomes a lesson about success as the best revenge. The episode ends by snapping back to promo jokes, the Academy, overexertion, vitamin D, and a hard good-night.

As heard by us

A blunt account of abuse set against domestic banter and a steady moral line.

The episode moves from easy domestic chatter into a harder story about control, and that shift lands. Victoria and Michael start with sleep schedules, frozen waffles, dogs, and work stress, then get into an abusive man who showed up at the office, fussed over how pictures were…

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Why you'd press play

For when you want an abuse survivor story braided with household bickering and deadpan jokes.

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