What does recovery actually look like after more than 24 years of sobriety? Kathryn Burgum tells Aaron Prager why getting sober didn't eliminate her struggles with perfectionism, impatience, self-centeredness, and fear—and why recovery still requires a daily practice of gratitude, surrender, faith, and service. In this excerpt from American Recovery, Kathryn opens up about starting her mornings in prayer, learning to see difficult responsibilities as opportunities, and recognizing that she doesn't have to solve everything herself. She explains why spirituality became increasingly important in her recovery and how learning to say, “I can't fix this—show me the way,” helped free her from the need to control everything. Sobriety may…
Everyone has different rules, mental shortcuts, habitual behaviors, and expectations for how things will play out when they’re around other humans.
These are mine, and unfortunately, I had to learn some of them the hard way. Hopefully, as you read over these, you’ll see a few that you can add to your own personal code. 1) The opinions of people online who aren’t your friends or someone you respect don’t matter very much. They certainly should never be allowed to impact your mood negatively. 2) If you genuinely screwed up, apologize unless you’re dealing with an online mob. You never apologize to the mob. 3) If you’re under 30 and not a stone-cold expert in something I’m asking you about, I do not need your advice. 4) Put the shopping cart back. Rack the weights. Pick up your dog’s sh*t. 5) Doing or saying something dumb in response to something dumb does not make you…Open
One of the biggest problems most people have is that they ask the wrong questions about their life.
Guess what happens when you ask the wrong questions? You spend a lot of time trying to figure out the answers to things that don’t matter or that you shouldn’t be thinking about in the first place. That’s because if you try to ask your brain a question, it will try to come up with an answer, and some of those answers may be irrelevant, very damaging, or even put you in a no-win situation. For example, should you be asking yourself, “Why am I always such a loser?” No, because even if you’re the most successful person on earth, when you ask yourself a question like that, your brain will try to ANSWER YOUR QUESTION. You want your brain to focus on questions that will help you build a better life for yourself, not questions that…Open
One of my favorite movies in the pre-UFC days, when your brain didn’t scream, “THAT’S SO UNREALISTIC” at you every three seconds when one guy was fighting off like 10 bad guys with his bare hands, was Steven Seagal’s Marked for Death:
In the movie, Seagal is a burned-out ex-DEA agent who is disgusted by the things he’s done to stop the bad guys and decides to retire and come home. Eventually, the bad guys in the movie, a Jamaican drug gang, make the horrible mistake of coming after Seagal’s family. That’s when he gets together with an ex-military friend of his, and he tells him this before they decide to basically wipe the entire gang out like they’re playing a game of Grand Theft Auto: “The way I look at it, you come home, mind your own business, watch your own yard. And then, if trouble finds you, you go after it, and you bite its head off before it does the same thing to you.” I may be the first person ever to say this before, but there was great wisdom…Open
Biohacker Bryan Johnson revealed that he and girlfriend Kate Tolo maintain separate beds and separate homes after nearly four years together, arguing that sleeping beside a partner accelerates biological aging. Johnson, the longevity mogul behind the startup Blueprint, dropped the disclosure in a TikTok video and a follow-up post on X. The self-described "immortal uncle" […] The post Bryan Johnson says he and his girlfriend of four years have never shared a bed — and cites longevity science to explain why appeared first on American Almanac .
Biohacker Bryan Johnson revealed that he and girlfriend Kate Tolo maintain separate beds and separate homes after nearly four years together, arguing that sleeping beside a partner accelerates biological aging. Johnson, the longevity mogul behind the startup Blueprint, dropped the disclosure in a TikTok video and a follow-up post on X. The self-described "immortal uncle" put it bluntly: the only thing he and Tolo do in a bed together "is have sex." Everything else, the actual sleeping part, happens alone, in their own homes, on their own schedules. For a man who has built a public brand around reversing aging through obsessive self-optimization, the arrangement tracks. Johnson has previously called himself an "impossible partner." But…Open
She had a DUI published in the local newspaper. She was suicidal at the end of her drinking. She's been sober for 24 years — and now she's a Senior White House Adviser for Addiction and Recovery. Kathryn Burgum — former First Lady of North Dakota, founder of Recovery Reinvented, and Co-Chair of the White House Great American Recovery Initiative alongside RFK Jr. — joins Aaron Prager for one of the most policy-meets-personal conversations American Recovery has ever aired. Kathryn and Aaron also discuss: • Alcohol addiction and blackouts • Toxic shame and childhood trauma • Asking for help • 24 years of sobriety • Faith and spiritual awakening • Finding God after rejecting religion • Gratitude versus victimhood •…
While speaking with PragerU CEO @realtalkwithmarissa, Dennis Prager opens with a monologue exploring whether thoughts are the same as actions, arguing that moral clarity requires distinguishing between the two. Dennis also takes questions from Prager United members for the first time since his injury, covering topics ranging from ancient wisdom in the Talmud and the Sabbath to capital punishment, honoring parents, gratitude, and how he continues to find meaning after paralysis. Join PragerUnited today and submit your question for Dennis to answer during an upcoming episode https://l.prageru.com/4g56Ph9 Watch our content ad-free on our app: https://prageru.onelink.me/3bas/vgyxvm79 Donate to PragerU: https://l.prageru.com/4jiAT85 Follow…
A 49-year-old London café owner who spent years stuck in bad relationships and dead-end app dates hired a flirting coach and hypnotherapist, and married the man she met just weeks into the program. Elizabeth Laing ran a café in Greenwich, south-east London, where she watched couples come and go, some getting married, divorced, and remarried, […] The post She ditched the dating apps, hired a flirting coach, and found her husband in three months appeared first on American Almanac .
A 49-year-old London café owner who spent years stuck in bad relationships and dead-end app dates hired a flirting coach and hypnotherapist, and married the man she met just weeks into the program. Elizabeth Laing ran a café in Greenwich, south-east London, where she watched couples come and go, some getting married, divorced, and remarried, while she stayed single. She cycled through what she described as failed romances, bad boyfriends, and the kind of half-relationships that never go anywhere. Then she tried something most people would find terrifying: she put down her phone, walked into public spaces, and started talking to strangers. Laing hired a flirting coach and a hypnotherapist, gave herself a three-month deadline to find a…Open
Feeling restless in life? Level up your main quest with an activity that has no other purpose than to add whimsy to your life. Play experts share tips on how to find the perfect side quest.
