Ryan O’Connell had an uncommon path to fame. After starting as a blogger in New York, he wrote a TV script about his life as a young, gay man with Cerebral Palsy. When the show was picked up by Netflix, the network insisted he star in it as well. Now that Special is in the rearview mirror, Ryan has gone back to his roots as a writer. He has a new book of essays out, called Inspiration Porn, which describes his life in Hollywood and the ways he has processed sudden and unexpected celebrity. Oh, and there’s a lot of sex in the book too. In this episode, we talk about intimacy, disability, addiction and the ways that Ryan and I have both felt ambivalent about the promise of “being seen.” Plus, we discuss Ryan’s sobriety, his impressive career confidence and the finer points of Herbie: Fully Loaded.#RyanOConnell #InspirationPorn #Sobriety #DisabilityRepresentation #NetflixSpecial #AddictionRecovery #HollywoodIndustry #GayMecca #MentalHealthTopics:Writing the book Inspiration PornStarring in the Netflix show SpecialActing with cerebral palsyVisiting Provincetown as a gay meccaOvercoming Percocet and alcoholSobriety outside of recovery programsWorking in the NYC blog eraBecoming a Hollywood showrunnerLearning about intimacy in sobrietyTying self-worth to productivityNew episodes release every Wednesday.➡️ Subscribe to The Small Bow Podcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSmallBow?sub_confirmation=1➡️ Join The Small Bow Community: https://www.thesmallbow.com/➡️ Get the latest on The Small Bow: https://linktr.ee/THESMALLBOW ➡️ Download The Small Bow Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-small-bow-podcast/id1576208098