Stair Pits cover art

Stair Pits

Stair Pits

By: Robert Thompson
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About this listen

What happens when a kid who lost the parent lottery grows up to find success — and then decides to write the whole thing down? Stair Pits is the podcast where author R.A. Thompson and co-host Max unpack the stories behind the memoir Stair Pits: a darkly comic look at a childhood gone spectacularly wrong. Expect real talk, sharp humor, hard-won wisdom, and the kind of honest conversation you only get between two people who trust each other. New episodes regularly — grab the book at unbreakableorigins.com.

© 2026 Stair Pits
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Episodes
  • You Know the Rules. You Just Can't Explain Them.
    Apr 24 2026

    What happens when you grow up learning every rule of survival — but nobody ever taught you how to actually connect with another person?
    R.A. Thompson, author of Unbreakable Origins: Stair Pits, pulls back the curtain on the stories, characters, and hard truths behind the book — and what they reveal about how we communicate, cope, and grow today.
    In this episode:

    The mother character — complex, layered, and impossible to look away from
    Seeing protection and harm living inside the same person
    The stepfather figure and why he moves the whole story
    The uncle as a blueprint for humor, attention, and chaos
    How kids absorb the rules of life before they have words for them
    Learning to talk by watching commercials, sports, and reruns
    Conversation as a game of building — not spiking your favorite topic
    Growing up without peers and finding real connection late
    Emojis, hieroglyphics, and what we're losing in modern communication
    Tattoos as grief markers, value reminders, and daily accountability
    Dopamine, curiosity, and why everything connects if you keep learning
    Why the current version of you has to change for a better life to show up

    Who do YOU think should play the mother? Drop your casting pick in the comments — we want to hear it.
    📖 Get the book — darkly funny, raw, and impossible to put down:
    👉 www.unbreakableorigins.com
    "I laughed and nearly cried in the same breath." — Michelle H.

    Subscribe for new episodes every week. If this resonated, share it with someone who still knows how to have a real conversation.

    [00:00:00] Childhood Rules And Isolation
    [00:04:59] Casting The Story And Stepfather Impact
    [00:12:21] The Uncle Who Taught Humor
    [00:23:40] The Savant Friend And Belonging
    [00:32:47] Maps Commercials And Modern Talk
    [00:48:12] Tattoos As Memory And Meaning
    [00:58:52] Dopamine Learning And Reinventing Yourself
    [01:05:44] Closing Notes And Auditions

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    1 hr and 7 mins
  • What If Winning Means Refusing To Play
    Apr 17 2026

    The funniest moments in our lives sometimes come from the same place as the hardest ones. We start out messing around with a fake cigarette and a “mercy shirt,” then end up in a real conversation about why one of us laughs easily while the other learned to stay invisible just to make it through the day. If you’ve ever wondered why you default to charm, silence, intensity, or control under stress, you’ll hear yourself in this one.

    We talk adoption, family culture, and the hidden rules kids learn early: when it’s safe to be seen, when it’s safer to disappear, and how those patterns turn into adult habits. From sibling hierarchy and competition to the psychology of play, we unpack why connection breaks when someone always has to “win,” and why some people don’t chase fights at all, they outlast them. Along the way we use simple but sharp metaphors, from wildlife behavior to the shark versus eagle problem of home-field advantage.

    The takeaway is a strategy you can use in business, relationships, and conflict: don’t accept the other person’s premise, don’t fight on their turf, and focus on the one thing that changes the whole outcome, survive the first wave. If this hits home, subscribe to the Stair Pits Podcast, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review. What’s your default strategy under pressure: chase or endure?

    Find Stair Pits here:
    www.unbreakableorigins.com

    [00:00:00] Cold Open On Being Invisible
    [00:06:14] Where Smiles Come From
    [00:12:52] Cooperation And Sibling Hierarchy
    [00:18:03] When Play Requires Letting Go
    [00:24:36] Why Winning Ended The Game
    [00:32:57] Did A Hard Childhood Create Success
    [00:40:02] Iowa Jokes And Flyover Truths
    [00:45:08] Learning From Everyone Through Targeting
    [00:49:03] Shark Vs Eagle And Home Turf
    [00:55:44] Flex, Lessons, And Closing

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    56 mins
  • Wearing Pink Salmon and Creating Wisdom from Knowledge
    Apr 10 2026

    What if the real education you needed never happened in a classroom and the lessons that stuck came from hunger, failure, and watching adults do everything wrong? We dig into a blunt framework that cuts through self-help fluff: knowledge plus experience equals wisdom. From getting kicked out of schools to reading nonstop, R.A. Thompson explains how a head full of facts can still leave you helpless until life forces you to apply them.

    Then we turn to modern learning and technology: smartphones, instant answers, and the trap of unlimited information with zero depth. We ask why curiosity feels eclipsed, why memorization is disappearing, and why enthusiasm without knowledge turns into burnout. Along the way, we keep it honest and funny, from bright pink shirts to chicken coop bits to the absurdity of building “smart underwear” instead of solving real problems.

    Find Stair Pits here:
    www.unbreakableorigins.com

    [00:00:00] Knowledge Plus Experience Equals Wisdom
    [00:05:58] Education At Home And In School
    [00:09:19] Hunger Shoplifting And Practical Wisdom
    [00:20:30] Social Skills Silence And Gibberish
    [00:32:44] Failure Biographies And Trusting Experts
    [00:48:33] Phones And Information Overload
    [01:02:05] Quick Math And Book Plug

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    1 hr and 5 mins
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