Veronica Valli & Chip Somers
437 episodes listed below
Straight talk for staying sober.
Soberful treats sobriety as more than not drinking. Through solo teaching and guest conversations, it connects addiction, trauma, health, culture, parenting, travel, smoking, and emotional regulation to the practical work of recovery.
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Soberful treats sobriety as a full-life project, not a finish line. The show returns again and again to the difference between simply stopping drinking and actually becoming well. Veronica Valli gives recovery language a practical shape, explaining ideas like emotional sobriety, dry-drunk behavior, self-regulation, and the need to stay stopped without turning them into slogans. The register is everyday and direct. It is also comfortable with heavier material. Recent conversations bring in heroin addiction, smoking and vaping, trauma, alcohol policy, older adults, gut health, travel, parenting, isolation, and the uneasy way modern culture teaches people what to want. The show often starts with a personal story or a guest’s background, then moves toward a principle listeners can use. Eric Zimmer’s conversation links small changes, mimetic desire, and meaningful life choices to recovery. Lauren Burnison’s episode frames sober travel, single motherhood, South Korea, and loneliness as part of rebuilding a life with adventure still in it. Dr. Judy Rosenberg’s visit treats nicotine as a serious addiction rather than a side issue. Polly Kaiser’s conversation points toward an underserved reality: alcohol, trauma, aging, research gaps, and stigma around older people. Mike Marshall brings the lens wider, connecting individual sobriety to alcohol’s effects on policy, families, culture, and society. Samantha Lander’s appearance turns attention to the body after drinking, including nutrition, gut issues, and long-term self-medication. Solo episodes keep the spine of the show clear. They ask why stopping can be simple while staying stopped is so difficult. They also insist that recovery has emotional work at its center: learning to like oneself, regulate feelings, and stop outsourcing relief to substances. Soberful is strongest when it repeats an idea from several angles until it feels usable. It is warm, but it does not soften the stakes. The show speaks to people who need sobriety explained without performance, shame, or clinical distance. It offers language for the messy middle of recovery, where insight has to become daily practice.
Made for: Soberful is for people living alcohol-free, trying to stop drinking, or making sense of long-term recovery. It also suits recovery-minded listeners who want plain language around addiction, trauma, health, and emotional change.
What sets it apart: The show stands out for connecting recovery theory to concrete, lived examples without losing warmth. It moves easily between personal sobriety, guest expertise, culture, health, and the emotional work beneath addictive patterns.
Veronica Valli and Chip Somers are experts on recovery. Chip Somers was most recently described by Russell Brand in his book 'Recovery' as a 'right social liability.' Together they have been sober for almost 50 years and have a LOT of stories, messes, experience and occasionally helpful advice to share on living in sobriety. They bring all of that (and more) to the Soberful podcast. This podcast is for anyone who wants to live an alcohol-free life, is struggling to get sober or who is in long-term recovery.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Soberful makes long-term recovery practical by connecting abstinence with emotional habits, everyday choices and the slower work of changing perspective.
Soberful treats sobriety as a continuing practice, with Veronica Valli moving between solo guidance and guest conversations. Alcohol recovery remains the center of gravity, while discussions of nicotine dependence, aging, travel and gradual behavior change show how that work…
Sobriety grows roots here, so you can stop treating not drinking as the whole job.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A reflective conversation about desire, recovery, and the small changes that can reshape a life.
Eric Zimmer's new book, Lot: How a Little Becomes a Lot, gives the conversation its center as it moves through small changes, recovery, and the way outside influences shape what people want.
A grounded sober travel story about making sobriety fit travel, parenting, and everyday life.
Lauren Burnison's conversation on Soberful frames recovery as something shaped through movement, parenting, and the small decisions of daily life.
A grounded look at nicotine's grip and the personal reasons people finally decide to quit.
Dr. Judy Rosenberg and the host treat smoking as the stubborn addiction it is, and the piece is strongest when it stays close to everyday fallout.
A clear look at older-age addiction, trauma, and the gaps in recognition.
Soberful focuses on addiction and trauma in the over-65 population, with Polly Kaiser making the case that alcohol in later life deserves more attention.
Sobriety lasts when perception changes, not just the drinking.
The episode treats sobriety as a rebuilding process rather than a single choice that solves everything. Its main thread is simple: stopping drinking matters, but the harder work is changing the beliefs and emotional habits that can make alcohol feel necessary in the first place.
Jonquilyn Hill chases one listener question per episode to the experts who can answer it.
Three hosts and psychologist Dr Emily talk vulnerability, therapy, and imperfection with guests.
Fearne Cotton interviews guests like Boy George and Bryony Gordon about mental health and identity.
Dr. Joy Harden Bradford pairs therapy insight with Black TV recaps, maternal health, and history.
Soberful host Veronica Valli interviews Eric Zimmer, creator of The One You Feed podcast, about his new book 'Lot: How a Little Becomes a Lot: The Art of Small Changes for a More Meaningful Life.' Zimmer describes his rock bottom at 24: homeless in a van with a dumpster couch, weighing 100 pounds, jaundiced from hepatitis C, and facing a prosecutor's estimate of 50 years in prison.
Veronica Valli talks with Lauren Burnison about sobriety, travel, and raising a young child.
Dr.
Polly Kaiser joins Soberful for a conversation about addiction and trauma in older adults.
This episode features an interview with Mike Marshall from the U.S.
Host Veronica Valli interviews functional diagnostic nutritionist Samantha Lander about her journey to sobriety and how nutrition can aid recovery.
Veronica Valli explains the concept of emotional sobriety and how to achieve it as part of ongoing recovery.
Veronica Valli explains the concept of a 'dry drunk' and why stopping drinking is easier than staying sober.
Hosts Veronica Valli and Chip Somers interview Brenda Zane about her Hope Stream community for parents of children struggling with substance use.
Veronica and Chip discuss blackout drinking and its implications for those in recovery.
She argues that sobriety has to put down roots.
A podcast host discusses celebrating 41 years of sobriety and its importance for personal recovery, family, and inspiring others.
Kate Lewis shares her personal journey with alcoholism and recovery, including her experiences from high school through college and studying abroad in London, as part of a discussion on her books about addiction recovery for women.
This episode features an interview with Suzanne Warye about her journey as a sober mom, her book 'The Sober Shift', and how she rebrands sobriety as a positive lifestyle choice through her podcast and social media.
Hosts Veronica Valli and Chip Somers interview marriage and family therapist Kate Gray about codependency and its impact on relationships, aimed at those seeking an alcohol-free life.
Host Veronica Valli interviews Melissa Stolji about her book 'Drunk Love: A Marriage Under the Influence' and her journey to sobriety.
Hosts Veronica Valli and Chip Somers interview Britney Davis about the Emily Program, discussing the link between eating disorders and substance use addiction.
Host Veronica Valli interviews Millie Mackintosh about her journey to sobriety and her new book.
Hosts Veronica Valli and Chip Somers interview Stephanie Marquezano, founder of the Harris Project, about co-occurring disorders and her mission to transform treatment systems after her son's overdose.
An interview with a former Mormon drug dealer who shares his journey to sobriety and redemption.
Hosts Veronica and Chip discuss dealing with consequences after getting clean and sober, sharing personal experiences and insights on recovery.
This episode features an interview with Jonathan Schwartz, a former Hollywood financial manager who embezzled millions from celebrity clients due to drug and gambling addictions, discussing his downfall and path to redemption.