Episode Details

Send us Fan Mail

In my first international in-person podcast interview, I sit down with author and professional drummer David Deane Haskell in Japan for an honest conversation about childhood trauma, addiction recovery, codependency, identity, and inner-child healing. Mr. Haskell is the author of five science-fiction books and Wounded Angels, a deeply personal account of connecting with the wounded versions of himself that remained frozen within traumatic experiences.

Mr. Haskell shares how losing his mother to suicide at four years old—and learning the details of her death at nine—created wounds involving abandonment, shame, dissociation, bullying, and difficulty forming relationships. We explore his experiences growing up with an alcoholic father, being treated as the family scapegoat, searching for safety through television and idealized families, and eventually turning toward drugs and alcohol. His journey later included a suicide attempt, professional drumming at Tokyo Disneyland, years of isolation, damaged family relationships, and finally beginning his sobriety journey in 2018.

We examine the central message of Wounded Angels: our destructive behaviors may originate as attempts to protect wounded parts of ourselves. Mr. Haskell explains why inner-child work is not necessarily about confronting or correcting those younger versions of ourselves, but listening to them, understanding what they were trying to protect, and determining whether those survival strategies are still serving us. We also discuss codependency, compulsive rescuing, emotional numbing, unhealthy relationships, body-based warning signals, twelve-step recovery, therapy, boundaries, and the complicated process of repairing relationships after addiction.

Throughout the conversation, I connect Mr. Haskell’s experiences with my own upbringing around addiction, bullying, family abuse, religious weaponization, and my continuing relationship with an addicted parent. We discuss forgiveness with boundaries, suicide prevention, the hidden pain behind apparently successful people, generational trauma, parenting after addiction, and why healing requires both accountability and compassion. Ultimately, this episode reminds us that while hurt people can hurt people, healed people can also help heal people—and we each have a choice in what we build from what we survived.

https://daviddeanehaskell.com/

Website: https://coupleonukes.com

Discounted Military Creator Con Tickets: http://militarycreatorcon.com/register?afmc=MCCMW

Exodus, Honor Your Heart, & Nulu Knives: https://www.coupleonukes.com/affiliates/

Want to be a guest on Couple O' Nukes? Send me a message on PodMatch:  https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/1726279485588093e83e0e007

Sign Up For A PodMatch Account: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/coupleonukes

*Couple O' Nukes LLC and Mr. Whiskey are not licensed medical entities, nor do they take responsibility for any advice or information put forth by guests. Take all advice at your own risk.