EPISODE · May 1, 2026 · 2H
Dopey 581: Zoe Hansen; Heroin, Sex Work, Shooting Speedballs, The Chelsea Hotel & Dying in Nancy Spungen’s Bed
from Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction · host Dave & Chris
LISTEN WITHOUT ADS ON PATREON! www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast Dopey Episode Summary This Week on Dopey! We open the show in full single-dad chaos mode—juggling pickups, tutoring, dance class, concerts, naps gone wrong, and trying to make it home in time for the Knicks game. He announces the upcoming Dopey Recovery Short Film Festival, then reads an extremely heavy anonymous listener email about sexual compulsion, addiction, shame, and finding support through SLAA. The episode then shifts into classic Dopey mode with a wild voicemail involving cocaine psychosis, being naked with a fork, a pheasant-feather hat, and a guy selling condoms on campus. We dives into Spotify and Patreon comments from the Andy Dick episode, reading praise, criticism, jokes, sobriety milestones, and fan reactions. Then the show turns into the main event: a long, gritty, hilarious and vulnerable interview with Zoe Hansen. Zoe talks about growing up in wealthy but emotionally barren Chelsea, London, getting kicked out of school, discovering punk rock, heroin at 15, and moving to New York at 17. She describes working in hair and nightlife before entering the sex industry to support her habit, eventually becoming a seasoned brothel worker and heroin addict in late-80s Manhattan. She tells incredible stories about brothel life, clients, police raids, methadone stash strategies, Lower East Side heroin stamps, speedballing in Hell’s Kitchen, dying briefly after a cocaine overdose in the Chelsea Hotel, waking blind, and living in the room where Nancy Spungen died. Zoe also reflects on spirituality, trauma, recovery, old New York, and writing her memoir Going Down in Gotham. A true Dopey legend episode. All that and MORE MORE MORE this week on a brand new episode - of your favorite good old Dopey show! Check our new sponsor: www.workithealth.com/dopey Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Full Episode Timestamps 00:00 Dopey intro song and sponsor read (Oro Recovery) 02:17 Dave opens show / Friday Dopey begins 02:45 Single parenting chaos, school pickups, tutoring, dance class disaster 04:40 Dave announces Dopey Recovery Short Film Festival 05:05 Anonymous listener email begins 05:30 Listener discusses early internet porn, chat rooms, compulsive sexuality 09:30 Shame, addiction, therapy, SLAA, suicidal thoughts 11:50 Dave responds compassionately to the email 13:00 Mountainside sponsor read 14:13 Wild voicemail about Alzheimer's patient triggering dope-fiend memories 14:50 Cocaine psychosis story: naked with fork hunting bugs 16:00 Friend arrives wearing pheasant hat selling condoms 17:00 Dave awards Dopey socks / talks sticker contest 17:45 Braeburn sponsor read 18:50 Spotify comments from Andy Dick episode begin 19:00 Fans call Andy annoying / praise interview / criticize Dave 21:10 Listener celebrates one year sober 22:00 More reactions: brain injury, chaos, comedy, body-shaming comments 24:30 Marilyn Manson talk / Tim Ryan mention 26:00 Jake from West Virginia update 27:00 Workit Health sponsor read 28:30 Patreon comments on Andy Dick episode 31:00 Dave introduces Zoe Hansen 32:35 Zoe Hansen interview begins 33:00 Zoe married to Jerry Stahl / memoir Going Down in Gotham 35:00 Zoe grew up in Chelsea, London in wealthy dysfunctional home 36:30 Kicked out of boarding school / no emotional support at home 38:00 Punk rock London / Sex Pistols era / King’s Road 39:00 Started using weed, speed, heroin young 40:00 First heroin shot at 15 42:00 Why UK heroin was tar / heady vs NYC powder heroin 43:00 London in the early 80s: punk, homemade fashion, rebellion 45:30 Moves to NYC at 17 / hair salon in Soho / MTV styling 47:00 Finds heroin on Lower East Side again 47:45 Enters escorting and sex work to pay for habit 49:00 Why sex work felt empowering and like family 50:00 Brothel culture / women supporting each other 51:30 Brothel rates, tipping, best clients 52:30 Why she preferred brothels over escorting 53:00 Police raid story 54:00 Realizes client was undercover cop 55:00 Jailed in The Tombs / secretly takes methadone pills 56:00 Brothel cast of characters 57:00 Finger condoms / client requests / hygiene tips 58:00 Legendary nymphomaniac coworker Lena 59:00 $200/day heroin habit 1:00:00 Lower East Side heroin blocks and stamps 1:01:00 Romanticizing old NYC decay 1:03:00 Katz’s bathroom junkie stories / Gringo mention 1:04:00 NYC nightlife in late 80s / afterhours scene 1:05:00 Andy Warhol wig haircut story / celebrity access 1:06:00 Speedballing begins around age 20 1:07:00 Isolated Hell’s Kitchen apartment / brothel then shoot all night 1:09:00 Sugar daddy doctor enters picture 1:10:00 Doctor gives cars, houses, money, support 1:10:30 Chelsea Hotel era begins 1:11:00 Learns she’s sleeping on Nancy Spungen bloodstained mattress 1:14:00 Cocaine overdose / dies for 3 minutes 1:15:00 Tunnel of light near-death experience 1:16:00 Wakes blind / doctor revives her 1:16:45 Wicca, spirituality, nature, healing energy 1:18:00 Another overdose vision: Indian market 1:19:00 Chelsea Hotel nostalgia and decline 1:20:00 Doctor sends her upstate to detox 1:21:00 Brutal detox / clonidine / Xanax withdrawal 1:21:20 Upstate relapse, drinking, opening Wiccan/fetish clothing store
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Dopey 581: Zoe Hansen; Heroin, Sex Work, Shooting Speedballs, The Chelsea Hotel & Dying in Nancy Spungen’s Bed
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