Second Chances

Marisa Peer planned to become a child psychologist but decided to become a hypnotherapist and psychotherapist as she saw how effective results orientated hypnotherapy was. She is now a best-selling author, motivational speaker and leading celebrity therapist and pioneering hypnotherapist trainer. Her books include You Can Be Thin: The Ultimate Programme to End Dieting...Forever, Ultimate Confidence: The Secrets to Feeling Great About Yourself Every Day, Trying to Get Pregnant (and Succeeding) and You Can Be Younger. Her engaging and amusing talks are peppered with anecdotes from an unparalleled career in which she has helped thousands of people to overcome profound personal issues. Marisa’s unique talent is teaching “simple steps that produce dramatic and life-changing results”. She seamlessly brings her one-of-a-kind therapy room techniques to the podium, leaving her audiences both transfixed and transformed. Her acclaimed “Mastermind Your Life” series focuses on the thought patterns and mental habits that c

Chelsea Skidmore is a comedian and is also an actress and director, known for No Leftovers (2017), Leah & Chelsea Have a Sleepover (2017) and Sandy Wexler (2017). She was born and raised in New York and after wasting 6 years in college partying (at a 4-year school) she graduated from Pace University with a BA in Communications. Chelsea is now based in Los Angeles and performs nightly at venues including The Comedy Store, Improv, Laugh Factory and Ice House in addition to touring across the country. She co-produces a monthly stand-up show at The Comedy Store in Hollywood called Home Alone and has a podcast called The Chelsea Skidmore Show.

Todd Zalkins is an interventionist, public speaker, and author, but he hasn’t always been. His past is checkered with sex, drugs, and punk-rock, and Z-Man, as he is known to his friends, spent a lot of time with all three with the band Sublime. In fact, he spent 17 years poisoning his body with opiates. He describes his 15-month detox as Satanic, the cherry on top of which was a bout of insomnia that lasted 44 days. Now clean and sober for 11 years, Z-Man dedicates his life to helping others. Todd Zalkins is also a storyteller, motivator, and thought-leader on recovery who inspires others to not only realize their potential but to live it. His gripping memoir, “Dying for Triplicate” which details his harrowing 17-year addiction to prescription painkillers, through detox and into his first 18 months of recovery, has helped thousands of other addicts find their way into treatment. In addition to his writing, intervening and speaking, he is the Founder and CEO of ALL in Interventions, a state certified Drug &

Alison Arngrim is best known as “Nellie Oleson” from "Little House On The Prairie” and has learned to love being hated. Her past is much darker, though. In addition to the pressures and baggage that comes with being a child star, she is a victim of incest and sexual abuse. Despite the trauma, she is one of the most loving and giving people we know, using her voice for good with causes that address AIDS, hunger, and child protection. Alison is also a comedian and an author. Her one woman show "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch" has now become a world-wide phenomenon and is also a book available on Amazon and Audible. Listen to how “Nasty Nellie” grew up to become an incredible powerhouse for good.

Actor, cinematographer, and martial artist Zack Tiegen tells the story of his first job in Hollywood, which involved delivering marijuana to Dennis Hopper. Zack is also a recovering addict who has lived all over the world. When he was in Thailand, he had a drug-induced, out of body experience and was ready to die. As he literally saw his soul leaving his body, a vision of his life purpose came to him and he took a life-saving breath. That set the tone for the rest his life: getting clean and serving others. Get ready for 1-minute gong meditation led by our guest and see how amazing you feel when you're done.  

Are you an insomniac? Do you have anxiety? This Doc has a solution. Actually, he has a 14-day plan of easy-to-do tasks to help finally relieve your issues. Dr. Mike Dow talks about how stress hormones affect your daily life, disorders and addictions according to your personality type, and what foods help and hurt. His new book, Heal Your Drained Brain, talks about getting the balance you need and is being released in February 2018. This episode blew our minds and changes everything. Mike Dow, Psy.D, is a highly sought-after psychotherapist and the New York Times best-selling author of The Brain Fog Fix and Diet Rehab. Throughout his career, he has hosted several hit television series, served as a go-to expert in brain health, addiction and mental illness, and can currently be heard weekly on Hay House Radio’s The Dr. Mike Show. He is a recurring guest co-host on The Doctors and is a part of The Dr. Oz Show’s core team of experts. In his latest book, Heal Your Drained Brain, Dr. Mike Dow offers a 2-week plan d

Melanie Vesey began dancing at the age of 5 in Michigan and is now a successful businesswoman and comedian. Between all of that, she got addicted to drugs, got kicked out of Juilliard, realized she was a lesbian, got shot by a New York City police officer, lived with a drug dealer, got sober, had a baby, moved to Los Angeles, got married…did we mention she got shot? Listen to her incredible story full of highs and lows. It’s amazing. Melanie Vesey is an accomplished comedian, actress, filmmaker, and dancer. Trained at the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center, Stella Adler Conservatory in New York City, and The Interlochen Arts Academy, she has a strong foundation for her body of work. The highlights of her acting career include co-starring with Jim Carrey and Courtney Love in Man on the Moon directed by two-time Academy Award winner Milos Forman, working with Hal Hartley and Parker Posey in Henry Fool, and being on stage with Elizabeth Ashley and Sam Trammell in the Off Broadway run of If Memory Serves. In addi

Comedians ANT and Greg Baldwin talk about the year that was 2017, their guests and how the podcast got started. Enjoy! A special thanks to all of our guests: Margaret Cho, Jay Westbrook, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Perez Hilton, Stephanie Shullman, Hugh Sheridan, Eric Lampaert, Ian Harvey, Joey Feldman, Rocco Stowe, Paul Casey, Ritch Shydner, PJ Stahl, Gerry Feltman, Elaine Hendricks, Terri McDonald, Alex Plank, Jimmy Shin, Carnie Wilson, Greg Cope White, Cort McCown, Mary Carey, Maury Sterling, Jamie Kennedy, Anna David, William Constantine, Amy Dresner, Willie Aames, Tony Tripoli, Alishia Ochse, Elissa Rosenthal, Bobby Lee, Greg Behrendt, Mara Shapshay, Devin Mann, London Brown, and Miles Szanto. Also a special thanks to all who have helped to spread the word about the show and who have supported us throughout the year: Paul Lander, Mike & Liz Murphy, Miles Szantos, and Elissa Rosenthal. Finally, a hearty hurrah to Executive Producer Matty Staudt and our workhorses behind the scenes: Audio Editor Joey Marchini, W

A working actor since age 8, Miles Szanto saw two sides of life—the privileged life of a working actor and the concrete walls of jail. His parents were addicted, then clean, then addicted, trafficking, in prison…he felt ashamed of his blood and felt unsafe, but acting saved him, and keeps saving him. The greatest lesson he is learning now is to not let external forces validate how he feels about himself; that he has worth no matter what happened in the past or what he is working on. Miles has been working professionally as an actor since he was a child. He completed extensive training at the Australian Theatre for Young People, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy on a scholarship, Steppenwolf Theater West and was later invited to attend David Mamet & William H Macy’s prestigious Atlantic Acting School in New York City.  He has appeared in the stage production and the Australian cast record of The Wizard of Oz and then went on to perform in the Sam Mendes production of Oliver The Musical(Cameron Maci

Born and raised in Los Angeles, London Brown is a trained actor, dancer, comedian and impressionist (his Denzel Washington is epic).  He talks with ANT and Greg about growing up in the hood, humor saving lives, becoming famous and the death of his baby brother, which shook his world. London Brown is one of LA's hottest up and coming comedians. but he is also much more than that. London is also a trained actor, dancer, and impressionist. He stars on the HBO series "Ballers" as the character Reggie opposite Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. Previously he was the lead role of "D" in "The Hustle" for The Fuse Network which was created and produced by Prentice Penny. In his first two years as a comedian, London Brown hit some of the most legendary stages. Those stages include the The Comedy Union, The Improv, The Comedy Store, and Gotham Comedy Club. He was also the winner of the first ever Robin Harris Rising Star award as well as Best International Comedian for 2013 Black Comedy awards in the UK. He has shared stages w

Devin Mann is an agent at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, but isn’t your typical talent agent. His personal life has thrown him curve balls that would crush anyone. Having disabled twins, the grief of losing one at age 2, and divorcing his alcoholic wife were all devastating, yet Devin still learns, adapts, and shines. Devin comes from a family of writers and grew up surrounded by politics in Washington, DC. As a student at Columbia University, he was influenced by music and got into the art scene. In 1992, Devin moved to Los Angeles to get into the film business. With no connections, he struggled and took a job selling children’s books (which he admits to being terrible at). He got his break when he was hired at Island Records, then moved on to a commercial production company, then eventually to freelance work. After considering his options, he took an inventory of his skills and decided that he was best at speaking for people who didn’t have a voice. He applied to 100 agencies landing a job as an age

Mara Shapshay is a cute little Prada-wearing Jewish girl who is a mental health advocate who bakes nut-job nutter-butters and schizophrenic snickerer-doodles. Oh, and she is a comedian. In 2005, Mara hit a bottom and checked into rehab. Upon leaving rehab Mara was fired from her job, going through a divorce and was homeless. Carrie Fisher took Mara in. In 2008, Mara became a stand-up comic performing regularly at The Comedy Store, Improv, and the Laugh Factory. Mara is also a producer/host of two successful comedy/variety shows. Mara’s story is a beautiful transformation from rock-bottom to Hollywood-top.

Greg Behrendt doses out pearls of wisdom about raising girls, prejudice, politics, mental illness, depression, women, relationships, cancer, relapse (taking the dog’s pills), and joining the opioid crisis. Through all his dark thoughts, trials and challenges, clarity finally came with his cancer diagnosis. He is now living in the moment and helping other people. His favorite saying in recovery is, “Bring the problem here, take the solution home,” which he tries to practice each day. Mantastic, Greg Behrendt. Mantastic. Greg Behrendt is an American comedian and author. His work as a script consultant to the HBO sitcom Sex and the City, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, paved the way for co-authoring of the New York Times bestseller He's Just Not That into You (2004), later adapted into a film by the same name. Apart from that he also hosted two short-lived television shows, The Greg Behrendt Show (2006) and Greg Behrendt's Wake Up Call (2009). Greg is also known for his podcast Walking the Room with his friend Da

This podcast is offensive (and also very funny). We will get letters and they will be scathing because unforgivable things are said and no apologies are made. But this is the kind of irreverent comedy that Bobby Lee is known for. From Down syndrome to winning homosexual chicken, no one and nothing is safe. Bobby Lee is an actor and stand-up comedian known for MADtv (1995), Paul (2011) and Pineapple Express (2008). He began taking meth and marijuana around 12, and went through three drug rehab attempts, ending his meth abuse around age 17. At 18, Bobby moved out of his parents' home and took jobs in restaurants and coffee shops in the San Diego area, while also attending Palomar College for a brief period. In 1994 the coffee shop for which he was working closed. “I just went next door to get a job,” he said, “which was The Comedy Store in San Diego”. After a few months of working odd jobs at the club he decided to try stand-up during one of their amateur nights. Within a year of doing regular comedy sets he go

Elissa Rosenthal is an actress and writer, known for 5am (2013), Live Nude Girls (2014) and The Tommy O Show Starring America (2011). She grew up in Long Island, New York, graduated the Second City Conservatory at age 19, and performed with Second City for 7 years. For 5 years she toured as a stand-up comedian and In the midst of that pursuit, she struggled with addiction. Listen as she talks about her family, her death, and sings lullabies as Christina and Britney!

Alyshia Ochse is a Southern girl in Sunny SoCal. She is an actress, a writer, and a podcaster, and spills the beans about her life and moving to Hollywood. Listen to stories of Paris Hilton slapping her mom, wearing fairy costumes, getting fired, getting un-engaged and getting it on. Alyshia is our first guest who got a second chance with herself, finding empowerment and learning to love. This beautiful guest has a beautiful spirit. Listen to this podcast and hers, “That One Audition.” Alyshia's latest book, "Life Letters" is available on Amazon, but it was through acting that she was able to tap deeply into her truth: her ability to embody and see herself in others. Alyshia is best known as “Lucy” opposite Academy Award Winner, Matthew McConaughey, from the critically-acclaimed and Golden Globe nominated True Detective, as well as her roles in Satisfaction, How I Met Your Mother, Hart of Dixie, General Hospital and Life Sentence. Alyshia’s other credits include roles in such movies as The Other Woman, Parker

Tony Tripoli is a hilarious gay comedian. He talks about TV, lesbians, Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin, gay cruises, coming out, dating, and musicals. (Warning: you’re going to be Googling images of Charlie’s Angels.) Tony knew he was gay at age 4 and came out of the closet at 18. From breakups over breath mints to jealousy and stolen passwords, Tony has been through some serious heartbreak. After 9 long years, he’s back in the dating pool and letting himself love again. It’s all gay banter all the time!