#1 Spirituality Podcast Host Jim Alstott Releases Long-Awaited Memoir Rooted in Humor, Healing, and the Unexpected Power of Waking Up Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate? Arrives as the Next Chapter of a Podcast Journey That Has Already Moved Millions

Chicago, IL (PRUnderground) June 30th, 2026

Before Jim Alstott became the host behind one of Apple Podcasts’ #1-ranked shows in Spirituality, he was a nearly 400-pound executive search entrepreneur standing barefoot on the Gulf Coast of Florida on New Year’s Eve, with Phil Collins playing in his head and the distinct feeling that the universe was about to make a move. That night changed everything, and now, for the first time, he has written it all down.

Alstott’s debut memoir, Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate?, published May 5, 2026, through Pen & Publish, LLC, is the story of an unlikely mystic, a self-described skeptic who didn’t seek awakening so much as get ambushed by it. Part spiritual memoir, part laugh-out-loud confessional, the book chronicles the inner and outer transformation that followed one of the most disorienting and profound experiences a human being can have, told with the warmth, candor, and wit that have made Alstott one of the most recognizable voices in independent spiritual media.

From Microphone to Manuscript

Long before the book existed, there was the podcast. The Drop the Needle Podcast — Alstott’s signature platform, named for the act of dropping a needle on a record and letting the music carry you somewhere new reached the #1 spot in Spirituality on Apple Podcasts, a milestone earned not through superstar guests or viral moments, but through honest, human conversation. Over more than 60 episodes, Alstott has sat across from healers, hypnotherapists, psychic mediums, ancestral healing practitioners, and everyday people who have experienced the extraordinary, asking the questions most hosts wouldn’t dare, and laughing at himself along the way.

“The podcast gave me permission to explore these conversations out loud,” Alstott says. “The book is what was happening on the inside while all of that was going on.”

A Memoir for the Accidental Seeker

Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate? is not a book for people who have had awakening figured out. It is a book for everyone else, the skeptics, the reluctant believers, the people who had something happen to them that they cannot quite explain and are not sure they are supposed to talk about. Alstott writes with the self-deprecating honesty of someone who has been both the student and the punchline of his own story, and the result is a memoir that feels less like a spiritual manual and more like a conversation you wish you’d had years ago.

The book is also available as an audiobook on Audible, narrated by Alstott himself, a natural extension for a host whose voice listeners already trust.

About the Author

Jim Alstott is the founder of Global Personnel Search, Inc., an executive search firm based in Aurora, Illinois, and the host of The Drop the Needle Podcast, ranked #1 in Spirituality on Apple Podcasts. A trained opera vocalist and Certified Reiki Master, Alstott’s spiritual awakening began on New Year’s Eve 2019 and has since shaped a body of work that includes the TIAHN manifestation curriculum, The Awakening Circle membership community, and a series of spiritual retreats. Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate? is his first book.

Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was It Something I Ate? is available now on Amazon and Audible.
For review copies, interview requests, or booking inquiries, contact Jim Alstott at jim@dtnpodcast.com.

https://jimalstott-3.youcanbook.me

About The Drop the Needle Podcast

We started the DTN Podcast Site with a simple idea: to create a podcast that could change people’s lives. I believe that if by listening to the podcast, we can impact one person’s life, we have accomplished our mission. We began with a three-pillar approach; which include mindsets and modalities, spirituality, and of course, tying things together, is the power of music.

The Host, Jim Alstott

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