SOBER CURATOR PODCAST

Radiant, Real, and Sober: Ella Collier Is Rewriting the Pop-Star Fantasy

There’s a moment early in the episode when pop artist Ella Collier says something so deeply Gen Z, so emotionally fluent, and so unintentionally poetic that you can practically hear the internet quietly nodding in recognition. 

“I think I’ve always been addicted to a problem,” she tells Alysse. “Survival mode was my baseline.” 

And there it is: the thesis statement for an artist who builds sparkling, hyperpop worlds while writing lyrics that feel like torn-out diary pages. Ella exists at the intersection of glitter and grit—pop fantasy and radical self-awareness—which makes her sobriety not just a lifestyle choice, but an artistic catalyst. 

Because for Ella, getting sober didn’t dim the spotlight. 
It supercharged it. 

SOBER LIFESTYLE

Answer Questions. Win Stuff. 📝🎁Help Shape the Future of The Sober Curator in 2026

We’re always curating sober pop culture with you in mind. But let’s be honest: “with you in mind” only works if we actually know what you want more of. (And less of. And never again. And immediately, please.)

That’s why we created The Sober Curator 2026 Readership Study. It’s a quick survey that helps us understand what’s landing, what you’re craving, and how we can better serve this wildly smart, hilarious, resilient community we love so much.

And yes… we made it worth your while. Three chances to win $100 Amazon Gift Card. Two chances to win $50 Sober Curator merch. Five chances to win a Sober Curator fanny pack. The first 100 entries get a complimentary Mediation Card deck (Value $14.95) compliments of the Sober City App.

SOBER CITY APP

SOBER SLOGAN OF THE DAY

How about this baby:  “Honesty gets me sober—Tolerance keeps me sober”!  It’s one of my favorite recovery truths and sober slogans, because getting sober requires the brutal kind of honesty that feels like ripping off a scab in front of a room full of strangers (AA Meeting, anyone?).  In my early recovery days, I had to admit—out loud—that my life had become a dumpster fire, that I was powerless over booze and drugs (the kind of drugs that made me so amped, I’d run around the house with my clothes off) and that my best ideas had landed me in the exact mess I was whining about. 

But staying sober? That’s where tolerance comes in: patiently putting up with my own cranky moods, annoying cravings, mostly other people’s opinions, and the slow-as-shit pace of actual growth without throwing a tantrum or having a drink.  In recovery, it’s this funny little tag team—honesty drags me through the door with zero illusions, and tolerance is the chill roommate who keeps me from moving out every time life gets uncomfortable.  If you are into prayers, try this guy: *Dear God, please give me patience with a smile. I humbly ask you to take over my thoughts, my replies and my reactions for just today.  By doing this and allowing you to help me, I pray to you for an incredible joy-filled day.

I wrote 150+ more prayers and put them on the Sober City mobile app - with 365 other sober slogans and daily reflections. I made it free for all of us sober people to use - download it and let me know what you think - Chris Rosburg