The Modern Meeting
A podcast about addiction, recovery, and mental health — with a focus on gambling, alcohol, and substance use.
Hosted by Adam Lyons, a compulsive gambler in recovery, The Modern Meeting shares real stories, support, and strategies for anyone impacted by addiction.
🎧 New episodes every Tuesday.
If you’re struggling, supporting someone who is, or just looking for connection, this is for you.
Episodes
112 episodes
Ep. 112 - We Cannot Do This Alone | Gambling Recovery in Real Time
I still have zero urge to gamble, but in the last few months I went from one meeting a week to four. And it's been awesome. This week I share not just what I've been learning in those rooms, but what I've been contributing — including a differe...
Ep. 111 - A Ferrari With No Brakes | Edgar Jones’ Story
On December 1st, 2012, his birthday, Edgar Jones' teammate took his own life and his girlfriend's life outside the Kansas City Chiefs facility. The team played the next day. Edgar played. And then he spent years trying to outrun everything he f...
Ep. 110 - The Geographic Cure: Why Moving Never Fixed My Gambling
I've moved 18 times in almost 25 years. Every single time, I convinced myself the new place would fix things. New city. Fresh start. Maybe this time I wouldn't gamble. It never worked. Because I took myself with me every time.In this epi...
Ep. 109 - Therapy Did What Meetings Couldn't | Jacob's Story
Jacob grew up in England, moved to Australia, and spent 15 years losing everything to sports betting. He tried GA meetings. They helped, but only so much. What actually saved him was therapy. Nearly 100 sessions later, all with the same therapi...
Ep. 108 - I Would Have Lost Every Bet I Made That Day
On this episode I share a life update - Moving back to Rhode Island and very excited about it. I also recap the latest conference in Illinois where I made my first keynote and heard some amazing things from others in attendance. A last minute R...
Ep. 107 - The Storm Is Coming | Abdullah Mahmood on Ohio's Gambling Crisis
Abdullah Mahmood is back. The gambling coordinator at Maryhaven in Columbus, Ohio returns to The Modern Meeting for a conversation about what might be the most significant piece of gambling legislation in the country right now. The Save Ohio Sp...
Ep. 106 - I'm Becoming Who I Thought I'd Be
I almost didn't record this one. Friday episodes are tough. I was ready to skip the episode entirely. And then the Monday meeting happened. The topic was: what did gambling give you — and who are you without it? What followed was one of the mos...
Ep. 105 - 53 Years, 4 Marriages, and 1 Friday the 13th
Larry K went to his first Gamblers Anonymous meeting at 16 years old in 1973 — not because he was ready, but because his grandmother paid him $100 to go. What followed was 53 years of compulsive gambling, multiple relapses, four marriages, and ...
Ep. 104 - I Negotiated With God at a Slot Machine
This week we're getting specific. After pleading my case on the importance of lived experience stories, I tell five stories from my gambling that I've either never mentioned on this podcast or have only glossed over. From the debt collection ca...
Ep. 103 - Come All The Way In, Sit All The Way Down
Mandy S hadn't placed a bet in 917 days when she sat down for this conversation with Adam. She wasn't a sports bettor or a casino gambler. What kept her gambling for many years was scratch tickets. She hid her addiction in plain sight. She didn...
Ep. 102 - The F**k It Phase
I was supposed to release this episode on Friday. Instead, I didn't start recording until Sunday night. Four years into recovery, the "f**k it phase" is still very much a part of my life. The procrastination, the putting things off, the feeling...
Ep. 101 - Two Moms, One Mission with Kim Freudenberg & Linda Uphoff
If your child has a gambling problem, where do you even start?That's the question Kim Freudenberg and Linda Uphoff couldn't answer when they needed it most. Kim's son Kurt started gambling at age 11 — on video game skins and offshore cas...
Ep. 100 - Alright Hey Everybody, Episode 100 of The Modern Meeting!
Episode 100 of The Modern Meeting.This is a chronological look back at the first 99 episodes — clips that show how the conversations and perspectives have evolved over time. Different voices, different experiences, but all centered aroun...
Ep. 99 - Build it Up, Burn it Down with Louis Ruggiero (Part 2)
In Part 2, Louis Ruggiero picks up where he left off - sober from drugs and alcohol but deeper in his gambling addiction than ever. From betting $40,000 on UFC fights to losing $600,000 on a sports betting app in months, Louis reveals how compu...
Ep. 98 - Louis Ruggiero: Everything to Lose — And He Did (Part 1)
Louis Ruggiero grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Private school. Three sports. By most measures, he had every advantage. At 14 — he turned $200 into $9,000 at a blackjack table in the Bahamas and lost every penny before checkout. By ...
Ep. 97 - Back in the State Where it All Ended
Oklahoma was the last place I ever gambled in a casino. WinStar. January 31st, 2022. This is my first time back.We cover a lot of ground this week — bad flights, great food, a statewide conference on problem gambling, and a number that s...
Ep. 96 - Meeting People Where They Are in Louisiana with Meagan Dunham
Adam sits down with Meagan Dunham, a licensed master social worker and Gambling Program Monitor for Louisiana's Metropolitan Human Services District (MHSD) serving the Greater New Orleans area. Meagan didn't come to this work through lived expe...
Ep. 95 - Are You Actually Ready to Stop Gambling?
I'm taking a break from talking about meetings and connection. We know that's important. But this week I want to talk about something different. The cold hard truth that most people struggling with gambling don't want to hear: wanting to stop a...
Ep. 94 - I Paid For My Seat with Sal Guarino
Adam sits down with Sal Guarino, co-founder of The Recovery Partners, an online coaching program for gambling recovery. In a conversation that covers nearly 40 years of living with a gambling addiction, Sal and Adam dig into what keeps people g...
Ep. 93 - What's the Excuse Now?
In this episode, I talk about finally sending the Venmo for a gambling debt that had been sitting in my head for seven years, why procrastination still shows up in my recovery, the anxiety that creeps in when life starts going well, and how I’m...
Ep. 92 - Addiction By Design with Kate Seselja
Adam sits down with Australian recovery advocate and founder of The Hope Project Australia, Kate Seselja. Kate shares her lived experience with gambling addiction — from early wins that pulled her in, to years of secrecy, shame, and financial l...
Ep. 91 - The Final Days of My 20 Years of Gambling
After 91 episodes, we made it to February 8, 2022. Adam has his first viral clip and recaps Noah's wedding weekend, what inspired him to start the Friday episodes, and how he's never going to stop telling his story.
Ep. 90 - Multiple Addictions, Multiple Attempts at Recovery with Malik Keene
Malik Keene’s addiction story spans decades — from gambling on card games as a teenager to casino markers, alcohol abuse, drug addiction, and multiple DUIs. What began as bullying and insecurity turned into a lifelong search for validation thro...
Ep. 89 - Nostalgia, Identity, and Recovery in Las Vegas with Ted Hartwell
It's a matter of weeks before Adam surrenders in Texas. Adam sits down with Ted Hartwell, Director of Storytelling at the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling and someone approaching 19 years away from his last bet. Ted’s relationship with gambli...
Ep. 88 - Inside the Rise of American Sports Gambling with Danny Funt
Adam and the Botelho family discuss a variety of topics while snowed in. Danny Funt is an investigative journalist and the author of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Betting. In this episode, we talk about how sp...