A School Shooting, a Shipwreck, and the Long Run to Sobriety | Mishka Shubaly

Mishka Shubaly has lived several lives: gifted student, touring musician, Columbia-trained writer, addict, shipwreck survivor, ultrarunner, Yale professor, and the editor who helped Ken Rideout turn his life into a book.

Mishka joins Ken for a deeply personal conversation about growing up with a distant father, leaving home for college at 15, surviving a deadly school shooting, and watching his family lose everything shortly afterward. He recounts years of destructive drinking and drug use, getting shipwrecked in the Bahamas, walking for miles without food or navigation, and drinking his own urine shortly before being rescued.

They also discuss the realization that finally pushed Mishka toward sobriety, the furious first run that changed his life, becoming an ultramarathoner, nearly joining a reality dating show, and how a cold email led Jeff Bezos to write the foreword to his book. Ken and Mishka reflect on addiction, anxiety, ambition, friendship, marriage, and the difficult process of believing that the life you have built might finally be enough.

Thank you to our sponsors

Our Title Sponsor ROKA: www.roka.com/ Code “RIDEOUT”

Wild Roman: wildroman.com/rideout Code “RIDEOUT15”

Ken’s book now available here: https://www.theothersideofhard.com/

Chapters

(00:00) Mishka Joins the Show

(00:44) Writing the Book Together

(02:09) Authenticity Over Advice

(03:57) Running Shoe Rabbit Hole

(08:31) Frugal Life and Family Roots

(12:48) Sponsor Break Roka Eyewear

(14:24) Kids and Wastefulness

(17:46) Sober Anxiety and Control

(21:57) Ibogaine and Rewiring the Brain

(23:29) Mishka’s Upbringing and Rocket Scientist Dad

(27:34) Family Struggles and Parenting Reflections

(32:42) Sponsor Break Wild Roman Skincare

(33:46) Divorce Year and Dad Moves Away

(34:39) Early College Leap

(35:35) Fights and Trouble

(36:02) Campus Shooting Trauma

(38:29) Divorce and Downward Spiral

(44:35) Addiction and New Perspective

(48:50) Success and Enough

(51:39) Family Pressure and Anxiety

(57:36) From Acting to Writing

(59:09) Dad Fallout and No Kids

(01:03:46) New York and Columbia MFA

(01:06:34) Playing It Cool

(01:07:12) Celebrity Sauna Stories

(01:09:31) Columbia Encouragement

(01:11:40) Ivy League Aid Debate

(01:13:33) Loans And Burnout

(01:15:12) Music Life And Hoarding

(01:18:39) Shipwreck Setup

(01:22:06) Running Aground

(01:25:30) Survival Walk Breakdown

(01:30:44) Rescue And Aftermath

(01:33:39) SEAL Prep Coincidence

(01:35:46) Dating Show Tease

(01:36:05) Reality Show Doubts

(01:37:58) Dark Side of Reality TV

(01:40:13) Lawyer Negotiation Tactics

(01:42:20) Dodging the Dating Show

(01:44:36) Sobriety Turning Point

(01:48:49) First Furious Run

(01:52:55) Ultra Lessons and New Highs

(01:54:39) Kenya Stage Race Adventure

(01:57:09) Love as the New Anchor

(01:58:54) Withdrawal and Anxiety Hell

(02:01:49) What’s Next Creatively

(02:04:15) Bezos Foreword Story

(02:06:44) Final Thanks and Subscribe

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