Mackenzie Phillips and Brad Lamm Launch Recovery Podcast

When the pandemic struck, Brad Lamm and Mackenzie Phillips found the perfect opportunity to launch a recovery-themed podcast. As an actor, Phillips had a very public struggle with substance abuse before transitioning into life as a recovery coach. And interventionist Brad Lamm spends his days on the front lines of addiction relief. The pair work together at Lamm’s Breathe Life Healing Centers; with the onset of COVID-19, they found that more people were suffering with addiction than ever. “This is just another layer of how we can reach more people, to let them know that you don’t have to live that way anymore,” Phillips tells Variety.

On “America Recovers,” produced in partnership with Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith’s Westbrook and Lamm’s husband Scott Sanders’ production company, Lamm and Phillips do “real interventions with real families.” “We mix in some celebrity guests who are well known for one thing but also have rich stories of triumph and resilience in other ways,” says Lamm. Guests have included Billy Porter and Stephen Baldwin.

More from Variety

• Noah Beck, Janette Ok and Other TikTok Stars are Models in the Making

• Molly Sims Teams With Womenswear Line Nylora to Design a Three-Piece Athleisure Collection

• Jeff Lima Production Award Aims to Boost Latino Representation in Film With $10,000 Scholarship

“When Carnie Wilson came over to tell her story,” Phillips recalls, “I started off with saying, ‘You’re a woman with 15 years sober.’ And she goes, ‘Well, let me tell you a story.’ She went into detail about her lapse back into use. I gasped out loud.”

Lamm adds, “There are 90 million Americans who suffer from addiction. If you add eating disorders and mental health into that, it’s well over a quarter billion, and almost all of us knows someone who is addicted, afflicted or affected.” americarecovers.com

Best of Variety

• Kurt Russell's 10 Best Film Performances

• Before Liza Minnelli Won an Oscar, She Got Serious With 'Sterile Cuckoo' and 'Junie Moon'

• Everything Coming to Netflix in March 2021

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.