A Contagious Smile Podcast
Victora Cuore; A Contagious Smile, Who Kicked First, Domestic Violence Survivor, Advocate, Motivational Coach, Special Needs, Abuse Support, Life Skill Classes, Special Needs Social Groups
▶ Webplayer
Victora Cuore; A Contagious Smile, Who Kicked First, Domestic Violence Survivor, Advocate, Motivational Coach, Special Needs, Abuse Support, Life Skill Classes, Special Needs Social Groups
▶ WebplayerStop surviving and start thriving. A Contagious Smile is a globally ranked podcast providing a safe haven for abuse survivors and special needs families navigating the journey of trauma recovery. Whether you are healing from domestic violence, narcissistic abuse, childhood trauma, or the daily challenges of disability advocacy, our mission is to turn your pain into power.Each episode features raw, authentic conversations with survivors, mental health experts, and advocates who share actionable resources for PTSD healing, resilience building, and emotional wellness. We go beyond the struggle to highlight the triumphs of the special needs community, offering support for caregivers...
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Sep 28, 2026 · 1:04:25
Send us Fan Mail One hit can flip your whole world, and the scariest part is how fast your brain tries to explain it away. We talk openly about domestic violence, coercive…
Sep 25, 2026 · 1:08:29
Send us Fan Mail He plans a birthday breakfast. Two hours later, we’re standing at a cemetery while Michael pulls out a handmade 12-page scroll, custom silver rings, and asks…
Sep 21, 2026 · 42:44
Send us Fan Mail Your worst day can feel huge, right up until real loss snaps everything into focus. We open by sending heartfelt condolences to our friend Monk Sticky after he…
Sep 14, 2026 · 36:34
Send us Fan Mail A gross joke turns into something unexpectedly honest: what does it look like to take your life back when people have spent years trying to manage how you look,…
Sep 7, 2026 · 37:49
Send us Fan Mail Something as “small” as a haircut can crack open the real conversation: what happens when your body changes and the world thinks it gets a vote. We get personal…
Sep 4, 2026 · 52:13
Send us Fan Mail Postpartum depression doesn’t politely arrive with a warning label. It can hit like a trapdoor, and our guest Claude Racine Velinsky names the parts many people…
Sep 3, 2026 · 52:13
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Aug 28, 2026 · 41:41
Send us Fan Mail Grace By Night made us stop, breathe, and feel everything, so we brought Antonio Spider Jr back to talk about what it takes to tell a story that honest. We get…
Aug 24, 2026 · 44:01
Send us Fan Mail A five minute stop at the office becomes a fight for survival. Retired deputy Eric Cochran answers a knock at the back door of his sheriff’s office and ends up…
Aug 20, 2026 · 40:07
Send us Fan Mail If you’ve ever felt like the world is getting darker while your own hope gets thinner, this conversation is a jolt of light. We’re joined by Antonio Sabato Jr,…
Aug 20, 2026 · 40:07
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Aug 18, 2026 · 41:51
Send us Fan Mail The fastest way to understand our show is to hear us do what we do: laugh hard, pivot fast, and still land somewhere real. We start with a brand-new side…
Aug 16, 2026 · 58:05
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Aug 10, 2026 · 57:42
Send us Fan Mail Abuse does not have to leave a mark on your skin to change the way you think, remember, and trust yourself. We sit down with Daniel Ryan Cotler, author of…
Aug 10, 2026 · 44:44
Send us Fan Mail Somebody can be laughing with you one minute and quietly fighting shame the next and that whiplash is real. We start with our usual marriage banter (dogs,…
Aug 5, 2026 · 56:57
Send us Fan Mail “Bounce back” sounds motivating until you’re living with chronic pain, a major diagnosis, or a life event that permanently changes the map. We sit down with…
Aug 3, 2026 · 36:14
Send us Fan Mail “A cup of mud” turns into a whole philosophy tonight. We start with the messy, funny reality of married life: coffee orders that confuse strangers, typing versus…
Jul 31, 2026 · 46:55
Send us Fan Mail He could memorize a shuffled deck of cards in 21.5 seconds, compete on a massive Chinese TV stage, and beat world-class opponents with pure focus. Then he found…
Jul 27, 2026 · 37:26
Send us Fan Mail A six-hour ER wait time shouldn’t come with a text message like you’re waiting for a table, but that’s exactly where we found ourselves and what happened next…
Jul 23, 2026 · 31:45
Send us Fan Mail We start with the kind of married banter you can only have when you know each other too well, then we turn toward something bigger: what it means to show up for…
Jul 20, 2026 · 44:37
Send us Fan Mail Some people don’t just accept kindness, they consume it. We’re candid about what it’s like to be the kind of person who will give time, energy, money, and care…
Jul 16, 2026 · 56:37
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Jul 14, 2026 · 49:21
Send us Fan Mail “Literally” might be the most abused word in the English language, but our real problem is bigger than a few annoying phrases. We start out laughing about the…
Jul 13, 2026 · 49:12
Send us Fan Mail The scariest thing you can do in a family built on masks is tell the truth out loud. We sit down as Michael and Victoria and talk through a chain of stories that…
Jul 9, 2026 · 48:45
Send us Fan Mail Electronic medical records were supposed to make healthcare simpler. Instead, we’re watching patients get buried under repeated intake forms, duplicated…
Jul 9, 2026 · 52:24
Send us Fan Mail A seven-hour surgery is one thing. The days after can be the real test, especially when your body reacts, your pain is off the charts, and you’re trying to get…
Jul 3, 2026 · 54:34
Send us Fan Mail Your gut knows things before your brain can explain them, but how do you tell the difference between real intuition and a loud imagination? We sit down with…
Jul 3, 2026 · 37:47
Send us Fan Mail One minute we’re hearing, “You can go home,” and the next we’re being warned that leaving in the wrong condition could mean paralysis. That whiplash sets the…
Jun 22, 2026 · 39:23
Send us Fan Mail A Father’s Day pedicure turns into a surprisingly tender milestone when my husband walks in convinced it “isn’t for men” and walks out admitting the hot rocks,…
Jun 18, 2026 · 32:21
Send us Fan Mail The fastest way to break a person isn’t always the illness; it’s the system that treats them like a number and calls it “care.” We sit down with veteran attorney…
Jun 15, 2026 · 43:28
Send us Fan Mail Some people call you a friend, then disappear the second you stop being convenient. We get blunt about that kind of fake loyalty and what it does to your trust,…
Jun 14, 2026 · 1:12:45
Send us Fan Mail A stranger says one word that stops us cold: “hands.” Danielle Worthen Columber has never met us, never heard our backstory, and we give her nothing to work…
Jun 12, 2026 · 57:41
Send us Fan Mail The most dangerous abuse is often the kind nobody can photograph. We talk with Daniel Ryan Cotler, author of *Voiceless No More* and founder of the Heal Loudly…
Jun 11, 2026 · 1:03:44
Send us Fan Mail A kid who has endured more surgeries than most adults can fathom sits beside a mother who refuses to let trauma be the last word. Then our guest, an actor best…
Jun 11, 2026 · 2:08
Send us Fan Mail A few lines of poetry can hit harder than a whole hour of advice, and that’s exactly how we choose to end this one. We wrap up by reading a poem from Faith Cure…
Jun 9, 2026 · 51:49
Send us Fan Mail When you’re trying to keep a loved one safe, get the right diagnosis, or survive a crisis, the healthcare system can feel less like support and more like a test…
Jun 8, 2026 · 1:12:44
Send us Fan Mail She said one word that changed the whole room: hands. Danielle Worthing Columber had never met Victoria before, didn’t know her history, and was doing a true…
Jun 8, 2026 · 46:12
Send us Fan Mail You’re getting a front-row seat to a special kind of family chaos: we hand the mic to the crew, announce a roast of Michael, and let the night spiral in the…
Jun 4, 2026 · 52:37
Send us Fan Mail A schizophrenia diagnosis can feel like your future just collapsed into one terrifying question: what happens now? We talk with Matthew Dixon, founder of MindAid…
Jun 1, 2026 · 45:16
Send us Fan Mail “HIPAA” gets blamed for everything, families get shut out, and a loved one in crisis gets reduced to a label and a sedative. We’re not doing that. Michael…
Jun 1, 2026 · 41:53
Send us Fan Mail A lot of people say they want survivors to “speak up” until the story gets messy, angry, and specific. We go there. We talk about domestic violence and coercive…
May 28, 2026 · 22:47
Send us Fan Mail Caregiver resilience stories come alive when you laugh through the hard moments. Your body can outpace your mind, and when sciatic nerve pain hits while life…
May 25, 2026 · 34:31
Send us Fan Mail When Anil Gupta's wife heard "we're homeless," she smiled. That single reaction becomes the foundation for trauma recovery, not from abuse, but from the identity…
May 22, 2026 · 52:06
Send us Fan Mail When love alone won't stop the spiral, families need answers. A parent's worst nightmare: substance use disorder and mental illness collide, triggering crisis…
May 21, 2026 · 34:47
Send us Fan Mail One conversation can shake your certainty, even if you’re the type of person who normally needs proof. We sit down and tell the story of meeting Danielle, a…
May 18, 2026 · 52:37
Send us Fan Mail A schizophrenia diagnosis can feel like your life has been rewritten without your consent, and the hardest part is often the unknown: Will I get better, will I…
May 14, 2026 · 40:21
Send us Fan Mail A guy offers to help us move a table and chairs, and for a few minutes it feels like a normal neighborly moment. Then, out of nowhere, he mentions multiple…
May 13, 2026 · 1:02:22
Send us Fan Mail When trauma survivors stop seeking help, the system has failed. Michael Mackniak and Victoria Cuore share how retraumatization in healthcare and mental health…
May 11, 2026 · 1:03:44
Send us Fan Mail Domestic violence recovery and caregiver resilience aren't one-time breakthroughs; they're built day by day. This week, we sit down with actor Amir Arison to…
May 7, 2026 · 32:20
Send us Fan Mail When doctors told Faith's family to "let her go," they chose courage instead. NBC journalist Cheryl Preheim sits down to discuss trauma recovery, special needs…
May 7, 2026 · 1:02:58
Send us Fan Mail The moment “help” makes you feel smaller, unheard, or more afraid, something in the system has already failed. We sit with the uncomfortable reality that mental…
May 4, 2026 · 43:00
Send us Fan Mail Michael and Victoria reveal why A Contagious Smile stays unscripted on purpose, because trauma recovery and caregiver resilience stories can't be rehearsed.…
May 1, 2026 · 43:39
Send us Fan Mail When special needs families fight healthcare systems, they're told they're doing everything wrong, while goalposts keep moving. Michael Mackniak and Victoria…
Apr 30, 2026 · 25:39
Send us Fan Mail Healing from trauma and abuse doesn't happen alone. In this episode, we explore how to build and access real mental health support networks designed for abuse…
Apr 27, 2026 · 54:05
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Apr 27, 2026 · 53:05
Send us Fan Mail One phone call. One prescription. One life split into before and after. Katie Rizzo, a former AP biology teacher, lost her firstborn son, Nicholas, to opioid…
Apr 24, 2026 · 38:06
Send us Fan Mail JJ Holley spent seven years rebuilding his life. Now, in a historic farmhouse in Maine, he's building something bigger: Ripple Retreat, an alcohol-free wellness…
Apr 22, 2026 · 48:08
Send us Fan Mail The scariest part of a mental health crisis isn’t always the symptoms. It’s the moment you realise nobody is talking to each other and your loved one is getting…
Apr 20, 2026 · 43:20
Send us Fan Mail Surviving abuse feels impossible, but leaving without a plan can be even more dangerous. In this episode, our hosts dig into the real barriers that keep people…
Apr 16, 2026 · 1:01:08
Send us Fan Mail One phone call can flip your whole world. We start with real life and real laughs, then move into the kind of story that makes your stomach drop: what happens…
Apr 13, 2026 · 38:55
Send us Fan Mail Burnout does not always look like falling apart. Sometimes it looks like answering messages at midnight, working seven days a week, and telling yourself you will…
Apr 9, 2026 · 58:03
Send us Fan Mail When Michael's A1C hits 9, denial stops working. In this raw conversation, we explore how trauma survivors and caregivers navigate health crises, lifestyle…
Apr 6, 2026 · 29:45
Send us Fan Mail Loneliness doesn’t always look like sadness. Sometimes it looks like a full contact list, nonstop group chats, and a Friday night with nobody to actually meet.…
Apr 6, 2026 · 53:04
Send us Fan Mail A lot of people want the wild FBI stories. We wanted the part that lingers after the story ends, what the work does to your nervous system, your faith, your…
Apr 6, 2026 · 57:18
Send us Fan Mail A Broadway-directing Hollywood powerhouse drops in, tells Michael he’s flat-out wrong about being “bad at podcasting,” and then takes it further by reading…
Apr 5, 2026 · 1:31
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Apr 2, 2026 · 1:13:32
Send us Fan Mail Some people don’t hate you because of what you did. They hate you because you healed, and now they can’t control you. Tonight we get honest about narcissistic…
Mar 30, 2026 · 1:17:40
Send us Fan Mail Somebody can be sitting in an urgent care exam room with bruises, fear, and an abuser answering every question and still have no clear way to say, “I’m not…
Mar 25, 2026 · 1:27:10
Send us Fan Mail He’s supposed to be “Dad” and he’s supposed to be safe. Then one phone call turns into months of ambulance rides, doctor appointments, opioid red flags, and a…
Mar 23, 2026 · 56:04
Send us Fan Mail Responsibility sounds like a boring word until life makes it personal. We kick things off with a question we’ve all wrestled with: how do you actually teach…
Mar 19, 2026 · 50:09
Send us Fan Mail People love our chemistry and our laughter, but we don’t pretend life is perfect. We keep our home “drama trauma-free” by choice, even when outsiders try to pull…
Mar 16, 2026 · 49:45
Send us Fan Mail A Sunday lands us in the emergency room, and somehow it starts with a “gunshot wound” joke and ends with one of our most honest conversations yet. We walk you…
Mar 12, 2026 · 50:12
Send us Fan Mail A lot can happen in one night at our house: a hurting back, a clean bedroom victory, a few laughs we didn’t plan on, and the kind of deep parenting truth that…
Mar 9, 2026 · 1:02:34
Send us Fan Mail The jokes land fast, but the truth lands harder. We pull back the curtain on how narcissism doesn’t end with parents—grandparents can cross lines too, using…
Mar 6, 2026 · 1:07:34
Send us Fan Mail A toga on the cover and a chiropractor who sends Michael flying might sound like pure chaos, but the laughter is only the doorway. We use that breath of humor to…
Mar 2, 2026 · 54:16
Send us Fan Mail A ricochet at the range, a Hello Kitty bandage, and a house full of laughter set the stage for a deeper conversation about how families build real-world safety.…
Feb 27, 2026 · 34:46
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Feb 23, 2026 · 52:19
Send us Fan Mail What if a simple “I love you” could steady someone on their hardest day? We open our hearts and our home to talk about building safety from the ground…
Feb 19, 2026 · 46:03
Send us Fan Mail A mountain drive for “just one puppy” turns into two sleepy golden retrievers, a tour of a master blacksmith’s forge, and a sobering question we can’t ignore:…
Feb 16, 2026 · 48:33
Send us Fan Mail What if the loudest part of your healing is the quiet choice to keep going? We start with playful chaos—forgotten rolls, pajama days, and TV heroes—then step…
Feb 15, 2026 · 1:03:59
Send us Fan Mail Start with a Valentine’s greeting, end with a fire in your chest. We open warm and then drive straight into the hard truths about consent, courtroom trauma, and…
Feb 9, 2026 · 58:06
Send us Fan Mail What if hope felt practical? We open with big news—a future celebrity co‑host, a magazine cover, and a wave of new faces in our academy—then pull the curtain…
Feb 5, 2026 · 1:01:07
Send us Fan Mail A bruised face, a polite traffic stop, and a business card offering the abuser a job. That moment anchors a raw conversation about how charm becomes control, how…
Feb 2, 2026 · 53:39
Send us Fan Mail The laughter starts with old-school cologne and a running joke about who’s the “sapphire,” then takes a deliberate turn into what those small rituals really…
Jan 30, 2026 · 38:27
Send us Fan Mail Start with a laugh, stay for the lifelines. We open the door on a raw, hope-forward conversation about healing from narcissistic abuse, breaking generational…
Jan 26, 2026 · 38:26
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Jan 19, 2026 · 50:37
Send us Fan Mail Two golden retrievers at our feet, a heavy topic on the table. We dive straight into addiction’s messy reality: the slow drift from “I’m fine” to morning liquor…
Jan 12, 2026 · 59:58
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Dec 26, 2025 · 42:49
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Dec 22, 2025 · 1:12:39
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Nov 24, 2025 · 25:01
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Nov 17, 2025 · 37:52
Send us Fan Mail A bathroom mix-up in the ER shouldn’t become a masterclass in patient advocacy—but ours did. What starts as a comic detour with a “pee hat” turns into a sharp…
Nov 10, 2025 · 41:23
Send us Fan Mail Some nights turn into a tug-of-war between chaos and clarity. We start with the mess that hits after a loved one passes—addresses, wills, medical directives, and…
Nov 5, 2025 · 30:01
Send us Fan Mail The night the house gets quieter, life gets louder. We open the door to Dad after he loses his wife and talk candidly about what it means to fold a parent into…
Nov 1, 2025 · 29:58
Send us Fan Mail A quiet Thanksgiving gave way to a jarring delivery that raised a bigger question: what’s the line between personal freedom and public safety at our front doors?…
Oct 30, 2025 · 34:42
Send us Fan Mail What if the most meaningful gift you give this year is your story? We’re opening our arms to two big projects fueled by real life and real heart: Beyond the…
Oct 20, 2025 · 1:18:35
Send us Fan Mail Some stories crack you open in the best way. This conversation with Muck Sticky blends raw honesty, laugh-out-loud moments, and a deep well of heart—from…
Oct 13, 2025 · 37:00
Send us Fan Mail Truth doesn’t whisper—it arrives with fire, humor, and a plan. We kick things off with a preview of our upcoming conversation with Muck Sticky, whose out‑loud…
Oct 7, 2025 · 41:51
Send us Fan Mail Support the show
Oct 1, 2025 · 32:27
Send us Fan Mail A single phone call flipped our week, our plans, and our priorities—and taught us how “having a will” can still leave a family drowning in decisions. We open the…
Listen in the Podli app 🎧
Follow your favourite podcasts, listen offline and in the car with CarPlay and Android Auto, and always pick up where you left off. Free to try.
Your podcast? Get the Podli badge for your site
