735: Laura Robbins: STASH: The Intersection of Motherhood, Addiction, Race & Class

Laura Cathcart Robbins is the host of the popular podcast, The Only One In The Room, and author of the memoir, STASH. She has been active for many years as a speaker and school trustee and is credited for creating The Buckley School’s nationally recognized committee on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice. Her recent articles in Huffpo and The Temper on the subjects of race, recovery, and divorce have garnered her worldwide acclaim. She is a 2022 TEDx Speaker, and LA Moth StorySlam winner. Currently, she sits on the advisory boards of the San Diego Writer’s Festival and the Outliers HQ podcast Festival. 

Laura is a longtime friend of the show and perhaps the most frequent guest of the show. She has shared her brilliance and her heart with us in so many ways over the last few years. Today, she is sharing her story with us in a new way - talking about the release of her stunningly breathtaking memoir, Stash. I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of Laura’s book and read it on my way to & from London last fall. I found myself trying to contain my crying and cheering for my dear friend, Laura, on each flight. Her mommy heart broke mine in half as I read about her journey into deep addiction and then my heart healed right alongside hers as I saw her embrace recovery and say YES to herself and her boys over and over again. 

Listen in to hear Laura share:

• Her desire for her high profile marriage to “legitimize” her worth 
• Her path to crippling perfectionism and how it led her to a near fatal Ambien addiction
• How Stash addresses the intersection of addiction, race, gender, motherhood and class
• The misnomer that parents who are addicts choose drugs or alcohol over their children
• The significance of her authoring this book as a Black women working through addiction and into recovery

Links mentioned:

• Get the STASH and connect with Laura: theonlyonepod.com
• Podcast: The Only One in the Room
• Laura on IG
• The Only One in the Room on IG

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