In this week’s episode of Ghosted, Carl Radke opens up about the life and loss of his brother, Curtis, who died of a drug overdose on August 10, 2020. In a conversation that is honest, vulnerable, and deeply human, Carl reflects on the realities of loving someone battling addiction, the stigma, the fear, the frustration, and the fierce, complicated love that never goes away.
Carl shares what it was like growing up alongside Curtis’s early struggles, the toll it took on their family, and the resentment that built as he watched addiction pull his brother further away. He speaks candidly about his own relationship with substances, the shame he carried, and the moment he finally confronted his truth, all shaped by the grief that followed Curtis’s death.
We talk about grieving in public, the pressure to appear strong, and the moments that broke him, from the phone call that changed his life to returning home and facing the urge to numb everything.
Curtis’s memory fuels Carl’s purpose today: breaking generational cycles, choosing honesty over perfection, and using his story to help others. Together, we explore grief that is layered with anger, love, guilt, and pride, and the ongoing work of rebuilding yourself after loss.
This is an episode about brothers, about addiction as a disease, about the complexity of grief, and about the legacy Curtis left behind: resilience, heart, and the reminder that telling the truth, even when it is hard, is its own kind of healing.
