Aa Beyond Belief

This podcast features a conversation with Ernie P, who spoke at the 2018 Northeast Regional AA Service Assembly on the topic "Is God a Requirement for AA Membership?" Ernie will talk about his experience preparing for and delivering the talk, as well as the reaction he received from the audience.

In this episode, I'll be speaking with Lee from London, England, a member of Overeaters Anonymous. We'll talk about her experience with binge eating and drinking, as well as her perspective on recovery. Welcome, Lee. It's nice to have you here.

This podcast is a recording of the monthly anniversary meeting at We Agnostics Kansas City. Marty K. celebrated three years of sobriety and Julie K. celebrated thirty years. The group's sense of humor is quite evident in the recording as is the seriousness with which we approach recovery and the care and concern we have for one another.

In today's episode, we'll meet Dan from London, England. Dan helped found the first agnostic AA meeting in London. He'll share his story and give us his thoughts on AA, secular, and otherwise.

Three women share their stories on the topic of safety in AA. Sarah J. from Johannesburg, South Africa talks about her experience with emotional exploitation. Lisa X. from Rochester, New York recalls a relationship that could have driven her from AA altogether, and Jennifer W. from Toronto, Ontario shares a story about how the men in her AA group helped to make the meeting a safe space.

Today's episode is the first of two episodes addressing the topic of sexual predation and harassment in Alcoholics Anonymous and features a conversation with Heather B. from Indianapolis, Indiana, and Bethany B. From Jacksonville, Florida. We'll talk about the problem from their perspective and possible solutions.

Parallel Universes: The Story of Rebirth is a new book, a recovery memoir written by David B. Bohl. Today, AA Agnostica published a review of the book written by Thomas B. while here at AA Beyond Belief, we are posting a podcast featuring a conversation with David. I won't go into a lot of detail here about the book, you can read about that at AA Agnostica. Instead, I will introduce the podcast with a few words about David, and my thoughts after reading the book and then speaking with the author. 

In today's podcast, we meet Andrew A. from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma who discusses his experience with starting a secular AA meeting in the very buckle of America's Bible Belt. What follows is an essay that Andrew was kind enough to write and submit for inclusion with this podcast. 

This is a special edition podcast about the Widening the Gateway Conference. A conference of secular AA members from the Pacific Northwest and Beyond.

That's What Friends Are For, by Kenneth Sean Campbell is a novel set in San Francisco during the AIDS crisis of the 1980's. It's a book that will inspire you, and cause you think and it will also make you cry. Kenneth based the book on actual events from his life as a recovering alcoholic and a gay man during this painful time in our history. 

In this podcast, Alex M. discusses his new book, Daily Reprieve: AA for Atheists and Agnostics, a secular daily meditations book based on quotes taken from the first 164 pages of the Big Book. Each quote is followed with Alex's thoughts on the topic and a question for the reader to contemplate. A life-long atheist who found sobriety in AA, Alex values the Big Book as guide to the suggested 12 Steps and as a historical document describing the experiences of AA's founders and early members.

For the past 37 years, Kansas City's Paseo group hosts an alcathon during the Christmas Holiday. Groups from around the city fill one-hour slots for 'round the clock AA meetings. I always look forward to participating and this year it was especially nice to be joined by Gregg O. and Julie K. from my home group, We Agnostics.

Carol M., the Host Chair for the International Conference of Secular AA is my guest for this week's podcast. Our conversation included such topics as the history of the conference, how the planning is coming along, what to expect, information about the cost, and when and how to register. All of these details can also be found on the conference website, secularaa.com. 

This podcast was recorded before AA World Services dropped its lawsuit to gain possession of the original 1939 working draft manuscript" of the Big Book.  On November 27, 2017, Gregory Tobin, the General Manager of the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous filed an affidavit with the Supreme Court of the State of New York that officially ended the lawsuit that was first filed on May 22, 2017.

This podcast features an interview with Derreck Bennett, author of Addictus: A Nonbeliever's Path to Recovery. In this newly published book, Derreck provides an honest account of his transformation from theistic belief to atheism, and from chronic alcoholism to sobriety. It's an inspiring story that shows recovery is available to everyone and possible to anyone.

In this episode, we meet Justin M. from Canberra, Australia. Justin helped start Quad-A Canberra, a secular meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. Justin went to his first AA meeting while in treatment and while there he experienced love, acceptance, and compassion that was sorely missing from his life.

In this episode of AA Beyond Belief the Podcast, I spoke with Serge Prengel, author of The Proactive Twelve Steps for Mindful Recovery. Serge is a therapist and life coach with a practice in New York City who became interested in the 12 Steps as a process for change and growth.

Dr. Nicole Labor practices addiction medicine at Summa Healthcare in Akron, Ohio. This is the old St. Thomas Hospital where Sister Ignatia opened the first alcoholic ward in the United States, and who with Dr. Bob Smith treated and cared for hundreds of suffering alcoholics. 

This week's podcast features an interview with Christopher M. Finan, author of Drunks: An American History. The book provides a fascinating history of alcoholism and its treatment from the beginning of American History to the present day.

In this week's episode, I speak with Dave Owens from Refuge Recovery in Kansas City, Missouri. Dave is an atheist who wasn't comfortable with most of the AA meetings around here, and he was never able to put a lot of sober time together until he learned about our secular AA meeting, We Agnostics, and our sister group Freethinkers in AA Kansas City. Earlier this year, Dave discovered Refuge Recovery which he enjoys and finds helpful to his recovery.