A Contagious Smile Podcast

Bölümler

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  Hair, Boundaries, And Hard Truths 14.09.2026 36dk

  Send us Fan Mail A gross joke turns into something unexpectedly honest: what does it look like to take your life back when people have spent years trying to manage how you look, what you share, and even what you’re allowed to call “normal”? We talk about cutting off long hair as a line in the sand, body autonomy after trauma, and why self-expression can be a real mental health reset, not a shallow makeover. From there we get into the daily reality of disability and chronic pain and the gap b...
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  Living One-Handed And Refusing To Shrink 07.09.2026 37dk

  Send us Fan Mail Something as “small” as a haircut can crack open the real conversation: what happens when your body changes and the world thinks it gets a vote. We get personal about scars, body dysphoria, and why hair, looks, and other surface stuff should never be the deciding factor in love or respect. We also say the quiet part out loud: the most attractive person in the room can become ugly fast when they open their mouth, and the kindest person can feel flawless because you can see the...
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  Claude Racine Velinsky Explains How She Rebuilt Her Life After Postpartum Depression 04.09.2026 52dk

  Send us Fan Mail Postpartum depression doesn’t politely arrive with a warning label. It can hit like a trapdoor, and our guest Claude Racine Velinsky names the parts many people are afraid to say out loud: the panic, the grief for your old life, and the terrifying question of whether you just ruined everything. Claude’s story is uniquely sharp because she comes from a world built on discipline, performance, and constant “what’s next” energy. After years as a dancer and choreographer working ...
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  From Dancer To Mother: Breaking Hustle Culture And Finding Peace with guest Claude Racine 03.09.2026 52dk

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  Grace By Night And The Cost Of Hope with Victoria Cuore and Antonio Sabato Jr 28.08.2026 41dk

  Send us Fan Mail Grace By Night made us stop, breathe, and feel everything, so we brought Antonio Spider Jr back to talk about what it takes to tell a story that honest. We get into why the film hits like a roller coaster of love, sorrow, and redemption, how a great screenplay and a fearless director can unlock a career defining performance, and what changes when you are making independent films with no money and no time. When you do not have the luxury of endless takes, you learn to show up ...
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  Shot In The Line Of Duty With Ret. Sgt. Eric Kocheran, Victoria Cuore and Michael Solomon 24.08.2026 44dk

  Send us Fan Mail A five minute stop at the office becomes a fight for survival. Retired deputy Eric Cochran answers a knock at the back door of his sheriff’s office and ends up shot through his lung, diaphragm, and liver, facing transfusions, a medically induced coma, and a long road back. The physical scars are obvious, but the episode goes where most stories stop: what it feels like to take a life in a suicide by cop scenario, to replay the footage, to question faith and purpose, and to rea...
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  Faith And Fire with Victoria Cuore and Antonio Sabato Jr. 20.08.2026 40dk

  Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever felt like the world is getting darker while your own hope gets thinner, this conversation is a jolt of light. We’re joined by Antonio Sabato Jr, who shares what it looks like when faith becomes a real, personal relationship with God, not a public image and not a transaction. He talks about seasons of anger, doubt, and brokenness, then the shocking moment when you realize you were being strengthened the whole time. We also get concrete about healing: self-love,...
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  How Dancing And Self Love Break The Dark Cycle with Victoria Cuore and special guest Antonio Sabato Jr 20.08.2026 40dk

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  The Math Shirt Moment 18.08.2026 41dk

  Send us Fan Mail The fastest way to understand our show is to hear us do what we do: laugh hard, pivot fast, and still land somewhere real. We start with a brand-new side business and a T-shirt that probably should not be worn around polite company, then we slide into the kind of honest marriage banter that only works when there’s trust underneath it. Along the way, we share a recovery check-in after spinal surgery, talk about visible bruising weeks later, and how a bold hair change becomes a...
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  From 9/11 Responder To Patient Advocate And Trauma Coach with Michael Mackniak, Victoria Cuore and special guest Craig Sotkovsky 16.08.2026 58dk

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  Daniel Ryan Cotler, Victoria Cuore and Michael Mackniak Explains Why Narcissistic Abuse Leaves No Bruises 10.08.2026 57dk

  Send us Fan Mail Abuse does not have to leave a mark on your skin to change the way you think, remember, and trust yourself. We sit down with Daniel Ryan Cotler, author of *Voiceless No More* and founder of the Heal Loudly movement, to name what so many survivors struggle to explain: coercive psychological abuse that feels like love at first, then turns into confusion, isolation, and relentless self-doubt. If you have ever wondered why smart, capable people stay, or why the pain gets dismisse...
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  Real Talk On Respect with Victoria Cuore and Michael Solomon 10.08.2026 44dk

  Send us Fan Mail Somebody can be laughing with you one minute and quietly fighting shame the next and that whiplash is real. We start with our usual marriage banter (dogs, treats, and a brand-new tattoo), then slide straight into the bigger topics people dodge: weight loss, body dysmorphia, and what it feels like to step out of a 20-year comfort zone and finally wear the clothes you avoided out of fear. From there, we talk about respect in public and why “checking someone out” can turn...
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  This Is What It Takes with Michael Mackniak and Victoria Cuore with Special Guest Alison Graham 05.08.2026 56dk

  Send us Fan Mail “Bounce back” sounds motivating until you’re living with chronic pain, a major diagnosis, or a life event that permanently changes the map. We sit down with speaker, author, and resiliency expert Alison Graham to talk about what resilience looks like when the old path is gone and your capacity is stretched thin. If you’ve ever felt burnt out, stuck, or quietly overwhelmed while still trying to perform, this conversation gives you language and tools that actually match real li...
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  Cup Of Mud with Victoria Cuore and Michael Solomon 03.08.2026 36dk

  Send us Fan Mail “A cup of mud” turns into a whole philosophy tonight. We start with the messy, funny reality of married life: coffee orders that confuse strangers, typing versus dictation, getting roasted by our kid, and yes, losing at bowling even when the lane has every possible advantage. It’s light, it’s chaotic, and it’s us. Then we pivot into something heavier: what happens when post-op care feels rushed, inconsistent, or flat-out disrespectful. We walk through a follow-up appointment...
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  This Is What It Takes with Mike Mackniak and Victoria Cuore. With Special Guest 3-time World Record Holder, John GrahamPanic Attacks And Presence 31.07.2026 46dk

  Send us Fan Mail He could memorize a shuffled deck of cards in 21.5 seconds, compete on a massive Chinese TV stage, and beat world-class opponents with pure focus. Then he found himself calling 911, convinced he was having a stroke or a heart attack. That contrast is what makes our conversation with three-time USA Memory Champion John Graham so gripping: elite performance is not the same thing as inner safety, and the tactics that win trophies can also feed anxiety and panic. We dig into the...
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  When A Hospital Visit Feels Like A Ticket Line 27.07.2026 37dk

  Send us Fan Mail A six-hour ER wait time shouldn’t come with a text message like you’re waiting for a table, but that’s exactly where we found ourselves and what happened next still doesn’t feel real. After we send love to Jessie Tyler Williams as she shares the devastating loss of her daughter to overdose, we shift into a raw, unfiltered talk about addiction, grief, and what families carry when the worst call comes through. Then we tell the story of a hospital visit that turns into a front-...
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  We Break Down How Peer Support Builds Trust 23.07.2026 31dk

  Send us Fan Mail We start with the kind of married banter you can only have when you know each other too well, then we turn toward something bigger: what it means to show up for people’s mental health in a way that is real, affordable, and grounded in lived experience. Along the way, we celebrate major milestones like an Evergreen Award for our contribution to the mental health space and exciting book news, but we also say the quiet part out loud about being taken advantage of and why boundar...
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  What If The Real Boundary Is Love 20.07.2026 44dk

  Send us Fan Mail Some people don’t just accept kindness, they consume it. We’re candid about what it’s like to be the kind of person who will give time, energy, money, and care without keeping score, and how easily that generosity can attract people who take advantage. We also wrestle with the protective side of love: as spouses, how do we shield each other from being used without hardening our hearts or turning into someone we don’t recognise? Then the conversation turns to family, es...
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  This Is What It Takes with Michael Mackniak and Victoria Cuore with special guest Daniel Ryan Cotler. Healing Loudly After Narcissistic Abuse 16.07.2026 56dk

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  Somebody Has To Say It Podcast: Are Our Words Making Us Meaner Than We Think with Mike Macknaik and Victoria Cuore 14.07.2026 49dk

  Send us Fan Mail “Literally” might be the most abused word in the English language, but our real problem is bigger than a few annoying phrases. We start out laughing about the modern lexicon that drives us nuts, from “also too” to “no worries” to the oddly formal “have a great rest of your day,” and then we follow the thread to what’s underneath: when language gets lazy, our thinking gets sloppy, and our empathy can shrink right along with it. From there, we dig into the labels that people t...