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In the first session, Singer discusses her career prior to Phoenix House, which included working in a halfway house, the District Attorney's office, victims' services, the Governor's Office on Criminal Justice and Alternatives to Incarceration, and a private foundation that generated materials for judges hearing substance abuse cases. She shares her own philosophy on substance abuse treatment, discussing both therapeutic community methods and methadone. She also describes her impressions of the relationship between union politics, racial politics, and city politics during a brief stint with the New York City Department of Corrections.

McCaffrey describes his first encounters with substance abusers in the military during the 1960s and the subsequent pathway to his position as the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He discusses the politics of White House agencies and controversies over their respective jurisdictions. He speaks extensively on the nexus of mental health issues and substance abuse, and the role of the family in instilling anti-drug values in children. He narrates his own education on the "drug issue," from drug courts to methadone to therapeutic community methods. He gives his impressions of Phoenix House's work amid this discussion. McCaffrey also details the issues surrounding government funding of substance abuse treatment programs. Finally, he discusses the scientific controversies of using medication in treatment for addiction.

In the first session, Pagan discusses his initial involvement with Phoenix House and his role in founding the program. He explains how he joined Efrén Ramirez's rehabilitation program after years of chronic drug abuse and details how that initial program grew in membership and gradually evolved into Phoenix House. Pagan credits the creation of Phoenix House to the support group of six founding members that he maintained, and a move from Hart Island to Manhattan, which put the group out on their own. In the second session, Pagan discusses the dynamic that existed between the original six members of Phoenix House, as well as his childhood upbringing in Williamsburg as a young Puerto Rican immigrant. Pagan details the beginning of his drug use in the mid-1950s, due to his gang involvement and his subsequent bouts with incarceration. He explains how he joined Efrén Ramirez's program to rehabilitate and how he met the first few members of the Phoenix House program there. He then documents the acquisition of the first house and subsequent expansion.

Chris Policano details his pathway to Phoenix House and shares backstory about the building that was slated to be the Nancy Reagan Center and the process of establishing good relations with the Lake View Terrace community. He discusses the therapeutic community method and Phoenix House's role in explaining the crack epidemic to stakeholders during the 1980s. He narrates the challenges of de-stigmatizing the images of addicts, and of defending long-term residential care to the public, funders and doctors. He then speaks on organizational culture and leadership.

Levenson narrates his early childhood in Brooklyn and attendance at Columbia College and School of Architecture. He then describes his path into designing and overseeing low-income housing projects during the 1970s. Moving to Phoenix House, Levenson discusses at length his vision for the relationship between the therapeutic community method and the built environment of the facility, especially with respect to the Riverside Plaza Hotel. In this vein, he describes legal restrictions on this work by the state. He also speaks on his use of sweat equity with the Phoenix House residents.

Deitch begins by discussing his early drug use and exposure, as well as his struggle to get clean at Synanon. After narrating his experience with the Synanon group, Deitch explains how he tried to impact policy as an administrator at Synanon, and eventually again at Daytop. Through his connections with the rehabilitation world, Deitch met Mitchell Rosenthal before Phoenix House is established, and uses his knowledge to help advise Rosenthal. After leaving Synanon, Deitch discusses his subsequent involvement with Daytop Village and briefly touches on his time working for the New York City government.

Barron discusses the origins of Cravath, Swaine and Moore, LLP's relationship with Phoenix House. He explains his own exposure to the therapeutic community model. He elucidates Phoenix House's relationship to the justice system, which was its largest client, and his legal battles that allowed Phoenix to retain its treatment structure. Finally, he talks about more recent efforts to improve Phoenix's data management structure.

De Leon discusses his work in clinical psychology at the Veterans Hospital as both his introduction to therapeutic communities and to Mitchell Rosenthal. He discusses the international and national growth of therapeutic communities as well as the policies and research that have made them what they are today. De Leon also examines different training and rehabilitation techniques popular in Phoenix House, and the future uses he sees for therapeutic communities.

Kleber describes his experience working at the "narcotics farm" in Lexington, Kentucky after completing his residency at Yale University. He then describes his return to Yale with a heightened interest in exploring pharmaceutical treatments for addiction, such as Naloxone. Kleber moves on to his tenure as the Deputy for Demand Reductions in George H. W. Bush's White House. Particular attention is given here to his struggle to secure more government support for methadone treatment, and the interaction of national and New York City politics surrounding substance abuse treatment. He recalls his convictions as a board member of Phoenix House. Finally, Kleber discusses the future of narcotics treatment, which, he asserts, will largely depend on the funding structure.

Friend describes Phoenix House's Coney Island facility, where he initially entered treatment. He narrates how he became a resident director. He gives particular attention to the adolescent programs he opened for Phoenix House in California, beginning in 1982. He discusses some of the issues regarding work with adolescents. He speaks on Phoenix House's relationship with the Orange County government, and compares California populations to their New York counterparts. Finally, he deals with the effects of the increasing medicalization of substance abuse treatment.