Who this episode is for:

• Anyone who’s lost someone they couldn’t save
• Those navigating addiction—from the inside or from the sidelines
• Siblings who’ve had to be the strong one
• Moms who’ve done everything and still blame themselves
• Anyone who’s ever made a mess of their life

Episode 25 – “Jordan, Jack in the Box, and the Shit We Carry”

Pondoff’s Anonymous is brought to you by:

• McKelvey Insurance – Real humans, no bullshit. Whether it’s personal or commercial coverage, they work with over 30 companies to find the best rate without screwing you over. Call or text 618-623-0080 or hit the site: https://mckelveyins.com
• LightSource Psychotherapy – Based in Belleville, IL, they offer individual, family, and group therapy. If you’re struggling with addiction, grief, mental health—or just life—check them out: https://findyourlightsource.com

Chris and Jeff are holding it down while Jakob’s on vacation (he’s not sipping margaritas, he’s probably still waiting on his bag at Lambert with a virgin piña colada in hand).

Joining the show is Karissa Jones, a civilian, a sister, and someone who knows the long, brutal road of loving an addict. Her brother Jordan died at 27 after years of battling heroin addiction, bipolar disorder, and the rehab-relapse rinse cycle that so many families know too well. This episode goes deep—into grief, guilt, mental illness, and the kind of trauma that doesn’t let you sleep.

No sugarcoating. No easy answers. Just honesty, dark humor, and some much-needed humanity.

⏱ Timestamp Breakdown

• 0:00 – 6:00 – Chris plugs McKelvey Insurance (https://mckelveyins.com) and LightSource Psychotherapy in Belleville, IL (https://findyourlightsource.com), then drops us right into it.
• 6:01 – 15:00 – God, grief, and all the ways people try to spiritualize survival. Buddhism, Jesus, and why Chris built a “wisdom team.”
• 15:01 – 25:00 – Childhood chaos, stolen cars, Jack in the Box, and Jordan showing up on a mini bike to shut it all down.
• 25:01 – 35:00 – Karissa opens up about finding Jordan’s first suicide notes at 16.
• 35:01 – 45:00 – Attempt two. Karissa becomes the cleanup crew. 20 suicide videos. “I’m not glad I’m alive.”
• 45:01 – 55:00 – Bipolar disorder, self-medicating, and meds that mess you up worse than the illness.
• 55:01 – 1:05:00 – The Florida rehab shuffle. Jordan’s final texts. The relapse days before Thanksgiving.
• 1:05:01 – 1:15:00 – Facebook messages. The worst phone call imaginable. Karissa breaks the news to her mom.
• 1:15:01 – 1:25:00 – The detective confirms it. Karissa holds her mom together while falling apart herself.
• 1:25:01 – 1:35:00 – Why Jordan? Why not Karissa? The questions that never get answered.
• 1:35:01 – END (~1:53:00) – Chris brings it home: “The darkness never extinguishes the light.”

Mentioned in This Episode:

• McKelvey Insurance – https://mckelveyins.com
• LightSource Psychotherapy (Belleville, IL) – https://findyourlightsource.com
• Illinois Recovery Center – https://illinoisrecoverycenter.com

🚨 Trigger Warning:

This episode includes frank and emotional discussion of childhood sexual abuse, addiction, relapse, hospitalization, and incarceration. It’s raw, real, and may be triggering for listeners with past trauma. We don’t hold back—because healing doesn’t either. Listener discretion is strongly advised.

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Who this episode is for:

– Anyone who’s ever looked in the mirror and thought, “What the actual f*ck am I doing with my life?”

– People buried in addiction or dragging themselves out of it with broken fingernails.

– Survivors of trauma who are sick of pretending they’re fine.

– The families still standing by, hoping for a miracle that doesn’t come in a straight line.

– And those not in recovery who can’t look away from a comeback story that punches you in the gut and somehow still makes you laugh.

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🎙️ Episode Title: Kelly, Kevin & the Magic of Mayhem

Chris and Jakob sit down with Kelly and Kevin—two beautifully wrecked humans with a love story that starts in relapse, crashes through jail cells and hospital beds, and somehow circles back to spiritual magic.

Kelly was 9 years sober… and then wasn’t. Kevin was the “do-not-call” guy she called anyway. There’s vape smoke, ER visits, dead grandmas, addiction-fueled lies, and somehow, still… hope. This one’s rawer than a sunburn, funnier than it should be, and way too real to be fiction.

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⏱️ Timestamp Breakdown:

0:00 – 5:27

Chris kicks it off with a warning: this one’s gonna hit hard. Jakob’s smiling like he knows we’re all about to cry. Kelly and Kevin introduce themselves and the chaos begins.

5:28 – 14:12

Kelly talks about relapsing after nearly a decade sober. Kevin’s the guy from her past who walks right into the storm. Jakob asks the questions we’re all too afraid to ask.

14:13 – 24:37

Hospitalizations. Jail. A Vegas wedding that shouldn't have worked but somehow did. Kevin shows up when Kelly’s at rock bottom, and the story shifts.

24:38 – 32:00

Grandma’s jewelry box becomes a full-blown spiritual metaphor. Chris gets choked up. Kevin didn’t plan on being anyone’s savior—he just wanted to get laid.

32:01 – 44:55

Vape pens and half-truths. Jakob introduces the word “magic.” Everyone tries to laugh through the pain. Kelly's in and out of consciousness. Kevin’s showing up even though he’s not all there himself.

44:56 – 1:00:33

Kelly wakes up in the hospital and Kevin is by her side. Jakob calls it divine. Chris just yells “That’s God!” a few times. Everyone agrees it’s something.

1:00:34 – 1:19:45

Kevin talks about his past—dealing, stealing, manipulating—and how recovery didn’t start until the lies stopped. Kelly opens up about the real reason she relapsed: buried trauma, including childhood sexual abuse, that she had never fully faced.

1:19:46 – 1:34:10

They break the cycle. Or try to. Kevin starts meditating. Kelly glows. Chris throws down a sermon about grace. Jakob drops mystical wisdom bombs.

1:34:11 – 1:52:18

Listener questions come in hot. Kelly: “I thought if I got sober again, I’d have to feel.” Kevin talks about rebuilding trust brick by painful brick.

1:52:19 – END (2:13:45)

Final reflections. Jakob says something that makes everyone pause. Kelly and Kevin are raw, redeemed, and still healing. The room is wrecked. But nobody’s alone.

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🎤 Guest Titles:

Kelly – Recovery Queen with Battle Scars & Spiritual Bling

Kevin – Ex-Dealer Turned Meditating Miracle-Man with Vape Breath

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📌 Mentioned in the Episode:

📚 Magic Is Real – Jakob’s spiritual holy grail, a book that dives into spirituality through the lens of addiction and mental illness:

https://www.amazon.com/Magic-is-Real-1-book-series/dp/B087JM8W38

💰 Sponsored by:

🛏️ Illinois Recovery Center – https://illinoisrecoverycenter.com/

🛡️ McKelvey Insurance – http://mckelveyins.com/

• Those addicted to drugs and/or alcohol
• Anyone who's ever woke up not knowing what city they're in (or why there's a meth pipe under their pillow)
• People who thought Goldberg from The Mighty Ducks just "fell off"
• Fans of 90s nostalgia with a side of real-life wreckage
• Anyone who's ever made a mess of their life (and wants a way out)

You think you know Goldberg? Think again. Shaun Weiss joins the pod and rips the mask off the chaos, the meth, the mugshots, and what it really took to crawl out of hell. In this raw and unflinching episode, Chris, Jeff, and Jakob sit down with actor, comedian, and walking resurrection story Shaun Weiss—aka Goldberg the goalie from The Mighty Ducks franchise. You probably saw his mugshot a few years back and thought, "Damn, what the hell happened to Goldberg?" Well, he's here to tell you.

Shaun dives into his brutal addiction spiral, shady rehab scams, and rock bottom moments that nearly killed him—meth binges, jail cells, and stolen needles. This isn't a Lifetime movie; it's gritty truth with a shot of hope.

But there's redemption, too. Shaun breaks down how he got sober, the spiritual tools that actually worked for him (spoiler: not rehab horses), and how he's now turning that wreckage into a new life—including stand-up comedy, public speaking, and a whole new mindset powered by joy, not just survival. He even plugs Isha Kriya meditation from Sadhguru: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwQkfoKxRvo.

From Ducks memories and Dawson's Creek near-misses to hiding AA meetings inside bullshit treatment centers, this episode is equal parts hilarious, horrifying, and healing.

Oh, and yeah, Goldberg had the hots for Julie the Cat. We said what we said.

• 0:00 – Egyptian Workspace Partners ad
• 1:03 – Shaun drops bars, Pondoff fanboys out
• 2:37 – The Mighty Ducks legacy + Shaun's hockey conversion
• 5:45 – Duck teammates and NHL connections
• 6:38 – Dawson's Creek almost-casting and 90s commercials
• 7:42 – Royalty checks and childhood acting perks
• 8:45 – The real start of addiction
• 11:01 – Body brokering and how rehab became a racket
• 13:02 – Scholarship to rehab via Ducks nostalgia
• 14:01 – Mugshots, surrender, jailhouse awakening
• 17:01 – What really flips the switch in recovery
• 19:03 – Shaun's spiritual moment
• 22:28 – Booze and a 12-pack-a-day hellscape
• 25:40 – Opioid spiral + Vicodin chemistry
• 28:45 – CVS scavenger hunts
• 30:42 – Meth benders and shadow people
• 34:06 – Losing everything ($20K in 3 months)
• 35:13 – Shoplifting + Disney star fails
• 36:58 – Stand-up comedy and speaking truth
• 38:20 – Why addicts chase 1200s in a world of 100s
• 41:45 – Sadhguru + Isha Kriya meditation
• 44:03 – Joy in the small stuff
• 46:42 – Letting go of trauma
• 47:16 – Sobriety date and Kobe
• 49:13 – Rehab centers that don’t want the truth
• 51:36 – Underground AA meetings
• 53:58 – Why 90 days in sober living matters
• 56:36 – Meth addict to miracle
• 58:01 – Why this work beats any high
• 59:16 – Healing the whole family
• 1:00:13 – Losing his father, his fiancé, and his will to live
• 1:01:16 – Sharing needles and rock bottom
• 1:02:15 – What are we really numbing?
• 1:03:03 – Bringing Shaun to St. Louis
• 1:03:48 – NHL trades + Ducks nostalgia

Sponsored by:
Illinois Recovery Center
Egyptian Workspace Partners
McKelvey Insurance