Stephen interviews Paul Churchill, creator and host of the Recovery Elevator podcast, which he launched in 2015 shortly after quitting alcohol (last drink September 6, 2014) to create accountability and reduce stigma. Paul shares how early recovery, AA, and a moment of shame hiding outside a meeting inspired the show, which grew from a few listeners to a weekly Monday release schedule, over 600 episodes, and a large community. He explains the show’s story-driven format, guest selection (often everyday people with little sobriety time), and how recovery podcasting helps those not ready to seek help in person. The conversation covers anonymity, criticism from within AA, burnout and building a production team, the creation of the nonprofit Cafe RE community app, Paul’s books, and themes of connection, modern addiction, and mental health, including the loss of a friend around episode 600.

Resource Links

Recovery Elevator — Official Recovery Elevator website.
About Recovery Elevator & Paul Churchill — Paul's background and the Recovery Elevator team.
Recovery Elevator Podcast — Podcast archive.
Café RE — The Recovery Elevator recovery community.
Recovery Elevator on Apple Podcasts — Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts.

Alcohol is SH!T - Paul Churchill's book about alcohol and his journey into recovery.

Dolce Vita: The Good Life - Paul's newer book about building a fulfilling life beyond alcohol.

• (00:00) - Why Recovery Stories Matter
• (02:15) - Meet Paul Churchill
• (04:24) - Starting Recovery Elevator
• (08:25) - Early Growth and First Emails
• (10:11) - Recovery Content Then vs Now
• (12:05) - Finding the Show Format
• (17:16) - Guests and Relatability
• (20:19) - Anonymity and AA Pushback
• (26:11) - Staying Consistent Weekly
• (29:48) - Behind the Scenes Team
• (31:13) - Stepping Away From Hosting
• (32:03) - COVID Keeps It Alive
• (34:04) - Building a Real Team
• (37:34) - Systems for Production
• (38:38) - From Podcast to Books
• (40:12) - Modern Addiction Explained
• (46:12) - Cafe RE Community App
• (48:20) - Starting Today Advice
• (52:28) - Authenticity and Connection
• (55:02) - Episode 600 Wake Up Call
• (57:52) - Closing Reflections

Stephen interviews Jody Musgrove of Just One More Watch, the affordable-watch YouTube channel he started in 2016 that has grown to over 360,000 subscribers, 1,400 videos, and 118 million views. Jody explains how the channel began as a hobby and evolved into his main income, his focus on value for money, and how he built a consistent studio-based format while upgrading production over time and later hiring an editor and thumbnail help. He discusses adapting content based on analytics, including using list videos to recover viewership, and describes the shock of YouTube mistakenly deleting his channel in July 2021 before restoring it about 18 hours later. Jody also covers launching his watch brand Erebus in 2023, balancing reviewing with selling a product, and his advice to creators: start, have a direction, and stay consistent.

Creators & Guests

• Stephen Cross - Host
• Jody Musgrove - Guest

In the first episode of Produced By, Stephen is joined by Talking Drupal hosts Nic Laflin and John Picozzi to discuss how their weekly panel-style Drupal podcast has lasted 13 years and surpassed 600 episodes, roughly 3,000 monthly listeners, and 1 million downloads. They review the show’s audio-first format, its open-source community ethos, and motivations for continuing, including learning, giving back, and staying relevant rather than making income. Key evolutions include having consistent weekly guests, a dedicated Module of the Week correspondent, rotating monthly guest hosts, and recent live streaming with audience chat. They address burnout, highlighting the importance of splitting responsibilities after episode 300, improving production automation, taking planned breaks, and maintaining sustainable workflows, while sharing memorable moments.

Stephen introduces Produced By in episode 000, a show about what it really takes to produce a podcast by going behind the scenes before recording, during the session, and after an episode goes live. The show will cover planning, preparation, editing, publishing, promotion, and building an audience for audio or video podcasts, highlighting that every show is “produced by” someone, whether a solo creator handling everything or a full team. Stephen will interview the people who make podcasts happen to discuss why they started, how their production evolved, challenges, key decisions, and lessons learned, while also touching on technology and exploring what “success” means for different podcasts.