• AA Recovery Interviews

  • By: Howard L.
  • Podcast

AA Recovery Interviews

By: Howard L.
  • Summary

  • Alcoholics Anonymous members from around the world share their awesome stories of experience, strength, and hope with interview host Howard L.
    Copyright © 2020-2024 AA Recovery Interviews
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Episodes
  • Laura B. – Sober 37 Years
    Oct 31 2024
    Laura B. got sober at age 17 after 4 years of intensively developing her alcoholism into qualification for AA. In that first meeting, she picked up a desire chip that initiated her 37 years of sobriety as an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous. A compelling aspect of Laura’s story is that her father was in AA and her mother was in Al-Anon. They used the tools of their respective Programs to effectively deal with Laura’s alcoholism, neither preaching nor trying to cajole Laura into quitting. They allowed her to ride her own disease to the bottom and, when she was finally done drinking, helped her get into inpatient treatment followed by AA. From the minute she first joined AA, Laura embraced the Program, learning from older members how to live a sober life to the fullest. Though a move to a west Texas town in the early years of her sobriety disrupted the quantity and continuity of her meetings, Laura persevered and kept her Program front and center in her life. She worked hard to hone her relationships with members of her AA community. The indispensable value of AA fellowship was demonstrated after Laura’s father committed suicide (linked to his battle with clinical depression). Laura was enveloped in the same loving support she had been showing others. Meanwhile, the tragic occurrence of her father’s death gave Laura pause to understand the differences between the alcoholism her father recovered from in AA and the disease of clinical depression that AA could not address. Laura continues her passionate commitment to share her understanding with others. Back living in Austin, Laura is very active in sponsorship and service to this day. Laura’s willingness to share her story has been a fine gift to me and I’m thrilled to share it with you. It’s a story that’s both inspirational and intriguing. And though Zoom audio was somewhat lackluster the day we taped this, the content is still top-drawer. So, please enjoy the next 60 minutes with my friend and AA sister, Laura B. If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series and my Big Book Podcast, have a listen to Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio. I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, i-Tunes, or Amazon. [Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA that which has been so freely given to me. – Howard L.]
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    1 hr and 5 mins
  • David P. – Sober 37 Years
    Oct 23 2024
    As the frontman for a British band that was among the vanguard of punk rock in the late 1970s, my guest, David P., rode the New Wave of that musical genre as both writer and performer. Like many rock stars, his alcohol and drug use preceded, then accompanied his career. Both in good times and bad, David’s life was soaked with the same booze and cocaine that went with him when he moved from England to California. Failed relationships, both personal and professional, became consequential in David’s world as he struggled to maintain functionality in his life. But, like many, being a functional alcoholic still meant living as an alcoholic. As the disease stripped away every meaningful aspect of his life, David’s inevitable bottom rapidly approached. By the time he got sober 37 years ago, Alcoholics Anonymous became David’s sole refuge and the solid ground he so desperately needed to re-build his life. In the process of stacking his sober years, David’s involvement in AA has remained both dedicated and continuous, especially during the three decades he spent in service to the hospital and institutions committees. With every visit to a prison or hospital, David continued to build the vast amount of spiritual capital he would need in his later battles with lung cancer and other serious illnesses. While demonstrating both the nature and value of service work to his fellow AA members, he found himself enfolded in the healing love and support of his Program fellows. David’s courage and optimism are proof-positive that AA really can help us through even the toughest of times. I think you will find the next hour of AA Recovery Interviews to be both captivating and inspirational. So please enjoy this interview with my friend and AA brother, David P. If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series and my Big Book Podcast, have a listen to Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio. I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, i-Tunes, or Amazon. [Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA that which has been so freely given to me. – Howard L.]
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    59 mins
  • Dale C. – Sober Since December 2008 (Encore of Episode 73)
    Oct 16 2024
    When he started making the coffee, his life got better.... Thirteen years ago, Dale started attending one of my home groups, a men’s meeting that I’ve been going to for over 33 years. Since he first stepped into that meeting, his service to the group and individual men has solidified his spot in the middle of our herd. In fact, he says it was when he started making and serving coffee in the meeting that his life began getting better. Strong testimony from a man whose drinking was fueled by the adolescent trauma he suffered when he found his father’s body immediately after he’d committed suicide. Though he knew what he’d seen, an iron-clad family secret grew out of that tragic event and he spent many years drinking to dull the pain. Like many of us, Dale managed to function with his escalating disease, finishing college and law school, before launching a successful law practice. And though he might have noticed his own heavy drinking over the years, it was his wife’s alcoholism that created the most strife in their family. But things got bad enough that she stopped drinking via AA 22 years before he did. Ironically, Dale accompanied his sober wife to many AA related functions over the years and even got to know her AA friends and sponsor quite well. But despite his own worsening alcoholism, the attraction to AA didn’t occur until late in his 50’s when the alcohol damage to his heart resulted in triple by-pass surgery. While he didn’t stop drinking after the surgery, his looming bottom was clearly in sight. So with his wife’s help, Dale finally found AA at 59 and has been sober since then. Dale’s story is remarkable in many ways, not the least of which is the impact that service work can have on the continued durability of one’s sobriety. His solid practice of sponsoring other men while cultivating close personal relationships in AA, has served Dale well. His daily prayer, readings, and meetings have both strengthened and enriched his Program, while providing a fine example of what it takes to stay in the protective middle of AA. I think you’ll enjoy my interview with Dale, and find it both informative and touching. So lend us your ears for the next hour and 5 minutes while you enjoy this episode of AA Recovery Interviews with my fine friend and AA brother, Dale C. [This is an encore of Episode 73, originally released April 13, 2022]. If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series, have a listen to Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperback from Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio. I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, i-Tunes, or Amazon.
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 8 mins

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