Will Gordon

Told I’d Die Within a Year, I Kept Drinking | Liver Transplant Story

2.2K views · 3d ago · 1:04:00

Chelsea was told she’d die within a year without a liver transplant, and she kept drinking for nine more months, even in her hospital bed. Two years sober and nine months post-transplant, this is her raw, honest story of addiction, liver failure, and getting her life back.

Topics: “You Don’t Deserve That Liver” (Cold Open) · Meet Chelsea · Losing Her Son at 24 · From Never Using to Shooting Heroin · “You Guys Have Only Seen Me Dying” · 10 Years of Drinking & the Hep C Pills She Never Took

I Couldn’t Tell My Dying Best Friend I Was Drinking Too Much | Gray Area Drinking

651 views · 1w ago · 46:15

Guest: Gray Area Drinking

Melissa McGovern, The Sober New Yorker, looked fine on the outside. Then her bloodwork came back: liver enzymes in the 200–300s, near-diabetic blood sugar, and a doctor telling her to change or start medication. “I would love to tell him that I’m drinking too much...

Topics: Finding the Strength to Change

They Were Preparing for My Death | Alcohol, Sepsis & a Liver Transplant Story

3.3K views · 2w ago · 53:00

Guest: Scarlett Larkley

Scarlett Larkley’s alcohol-related liver failure led to sepsis, dialysis and a liver transplant in 2025. This is her honest story of recovery, shame and sobriety.

Topics: They Were Preparing for My Death | Meet Scarlett Larkley · Yellow Eyes, Dialysis & Going Septic · Waking Up After the Liver Transplant · When Her Partner Quit Drinking & Learning to Walk Again · Year One After a Liver Transplant: Feeding Tube & Meds · Her Kids, Sobriety & the Shame

Her MELD Hit 40 then Tia had a Liver Transplant.

1.1K views · 3w ago · 1:02:21

She drank a liter of vodka a day. Her MELD score hit 40. And she still thought she'd never be able to quit. Welcome to Season 3 of The Willpower Podcast. I've been away since June, and this is the conversation I wanted to come back with.

“I Hired a Private Investigator on My Husband” — The Partner’s Side of Addiction

623 views · 5mo ago · 50:54

Most of us don’t really understand what it’s like to love someone deep in addiction...until we’re living it. In this earnest and valuable conversation, Anita Ondine Smith opens up about being married to former NBA player Randy Livingston while he battled gambling addiction for over two decades. She shares the confusion, the shame, the moments she felt completely lost, and how she learned that love alone wasn’t enough.

Why Willpower Alone Fails in Addiction (And What Actually Rewires It)

280 views · 5mo ago · 19:01

Most people think beating addiction comes down to having more willpower. Chris Hill says that’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make. In this episode, we break down why willpower eventually runs out, what’s actually happening in the brain when cravings return, and how rewiring your mind (instead of white-knuckling) creates real, lasting freedom.

📚 Book mentioned: Get Your Life Back

What Happens After Rock Bottom? Inner Child Work & Honest Recovery | David Deane Haskell

302 views · 5mo ago · 41:11

Guest: David Deane Haskell

In this raw and honest conversation, author David Deane Haskell joins me to talk about what happens after you survive rock bottom. We dive into trauma, inner child work, shame attacks, codependency, and why recovery isn’t a straight line or a highlight reel.

I Did Kim Kardashian’s Intervention – The Reality of Family Interventions

270 views · 5mo ago · 37:16

Guest: Evan Jarschauer

In this episode, I sit down with Evan Jarschauer, a licensed psychotherapist and one of the most experienced interventionists in the country. Evan has led interventions for families from all walks of life — including one that aired on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. We talk about what actually happens during a real intervention, the emotional weight of the job, and some of the heaviest cases he’s ever faced (including working with families where a parent is dying).

Topics: Evan’s personal story & childhood trauma · Doing Kim Kardashian’s intervention · What actually happens during a real intervention · The hardest cases (including dying parents) · Common things people in deep denial say · Why the substance is usually a symptom, not the root

I Died for 3 Minutes in a Car Crash… Then God Spoke to Me

319 views · 5mo ago · 38:16

Matt Farnsworth had 11 years of sobriety... then everything fell apart. In this raw and powerful conversation, Matt shares how a toxic relationship, a relapse, and a horrific car accident that left him dead for 3 minutes completely changed his life. He opens up about white-knuckling sobriety, codependency, Hollywood darkness, and the moment he finally cried out to God on a bathroom floor.

Topics: The Night Everything Changed · 11 Years Sober & The Relapse · The Car Crash That Killed Him for 3 Minutes · Crying Out to God on the Bathroom Floor · The Hollywood Darkness No One Talks About · Rock Bottom as a Launch Pad

Liver Transplant Survivor: Nathan Cheatwood’s Raw Story of Rock Bottom to Rebirth

800 views · 6mo ago · 37:38

Guest: Liver Transplant Survivor

This episode is raw, emotional, and deeply personal. Nathan Cheatwood is a liver transplant survivor who went through end-stage liver failure from alcohol addiction in 2023. He received his new liver after only 10 days on the transplant list and turned his entire journey into the world’s first AI-assisted autobiographical short film called “Second Chances: Rebirth.”

Topics: Nathan’s Story Begins · The Mental Grip of Alcohol · The Lies We Tell Ourselves · The Turning Point – Going to the Hospital · Getting the Call for a New Liver · Waking Up After Surgery

From Heroin Hell to 100K Runs: How Running Saved Shawn Livingston

291 views · 7mo ago · 55:22

Family, that’s Shawn Livingston — four-time felon, heroin survivor, ultra-runner, and living proof that your lowest moment can become your greatest purpose Shawn Livingston went from high school basketball star to Air Force vet, heroin addict, 4-time felon, and prison time... until a mirror moment and a simple running group changed everything.

Topics: New Intro + Shawn’s Big Lesson · Car Crash That Ended Basketball Dreams · Oxy to Heroin Pipeline · Scientology Rehab Madness (you won’t believe this) · Military Injury & Painkillers · Prison Wake-Up Call

Relapse Isn’t Failure: How Shame Almost Killed My Liver

731 views · 7mo ago · 35:30

Guest: Relapse Isn’t Failure

Hey everybody, welcome back to The Willpower Podcast. I was a Boston teacher sneaking bottles, blacking out, and waking up yellow-eyed in a hospital bed with doctors telling my wife I had two weeks left. Liver and kidneys gone. Two transplants later I’m sober, but I still remember the crushing shame that kept pulling me back every time I slipped.

Topics: My shame story + Chris’s first words to relapsed patients · Chris’s childhood: 8 shots before school at 11 · The “united front” rock bottom that saved us both · Why shame is a self-fulfilling prophecy (review the tape like an Olympian) · Family homeostasis — the #1 thing that makes relapse worse · Daily gratitude tool that actually kills shame

Hazelden Betty Ford: Real Recovery with National Director of Business Development Joseph Skrajewski

277 views · 7mo ago · 14:07

Guests: Hazelden Betty Ford, National Director

This episode is part of Podcasthon 2026 — thousands of podcasts dropping special episodes to spotlight nonprofits and raise funds for addiction recovery. I’m honored to feature Hazelden Betty Ford because their work saves lives and it’s personal for me.

Topics: Joseph’s background & recovery story · Sesame Street partnership for kids · Medical detox for liver damage · Reaching out before it’s too late · Real hope stories from families · Free resources & how to get help

“Burnout Felt Like Relapse Fog” – Jon Gustin (@thetireddad) on Sobriety, Dad Life & New Book

357 views · 7mo ago · 38:38

Hey family, it's Will Gordon on The Willpower Podcast. Two years ago yellow-eyed in a hospital bed, kidneys/liver gone from blackouts—docs said two weeks. Two transplants later, sober, but I still know the numb fog when life's grinding you down.

Topics: My transplant hell & Jon's dad mirror · Sobriety wake-up: Alcohol since 14, quit 2023 · Generational cycles: Breaking no-connect patterns · Burnout tools: Walks, kindness, getting uncomfortable · Book tease: 100 reflections on showing up · Legacy: Kids feel what you do

📚 Book mentioned: The Tired Dad