"If I Can Stay Sober, Anybody Can." And He Means It.

"I'm seeing the world with new eyes. I'm thinking with a new brain."

That's Ben M. now. We first met him in 2024, three and a half years sober, and his story stopped us cold. The only boy in a big Hispanic family in El Paso. The fox on the way to school. The law license he lost. The psych ward he woke up in twice in one week. The single glass of wine on a flight to San Francisco that undid everything. We called that episode Triumph Over Trials. It became one of the most popular episodes we've ever done.

Now Ben's back. Over six years sober. And the difference between then and now is something we think you need to hear.

One Boy, One Fox, One Glass of Wine. And a Comeback He Never Saw Coming.

"I met a fox on the way to school. He got me curious about taking a detour. And before I knew it, I had a donkey tail."

That's how Ben M. describes what happened when he was 13. He grew up the only boy in a big Hispanic family in El Paso, Texas, spoiled and loved, surrounded by three older sisters who treated him like their favorite toy. He got anything he wanted. Then, in a single year, everything shifted. First pot. First blackout, gin and orange juice, 13 hours gone, waking up having wet himself. First time meeting men off the internet, right after his family got AOL. He came out at 14. Skipped school. Found adult bookstores. The fox had shown up, and Ben followed.

What we love about Ben's story is how honestly he tells it. He doesn't dress up the chaos. At 18 he moved to New York City. September 11th happened weeks after he arrived, and the terror of it actually scared him sober for a while. He went to community college, did well, transferred to the University of Texas at Austin. But by the time he got to law school he was a daily drinker, Franzia wine and Golden Girls, suicidal in blackouts. His family had an intervention. He went to his first AA meeting and bought a bottle of wine on the way home. He wasn't done yet.