Episode 96: Shift Happens
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Margot Genger author of Shift Happens: Breakdowns During LIfe’s Long Hauls, discusses recovery from alcoholism and mental illness while recounting her adventures as an over-the-road trucker in…
Episode 95: Bruce H. from Seattle’s Many Paths Group
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
In today’s episode, I’ll be speaking with Bruce H from the Many Paths group in Seattle, Washington. Bruce has been sober for over 40 years, and recently was…
Episode 94: Tomas L.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Today, I’ll be speaking with Tomas L., from Gothenburg, Sweden. I met Tomas in the secret Facebook group for AA Beyond Belief. One day, we were all posting comments…
Episode 92: The God Word
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Today’s episode features a conversation with our friend, Joe C. from Rebellion Dogs Radio, and author of Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life. We’ll be airing…
Episode 88: Life-J
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
life-j is a friend of both AA Beyond Belief and AA Agnostica. He has written several articles for both sites, and was also published in the AA Grapevine. In…
Episode 87: Is God A Requirement For AA Membership
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 86: Godless Recovery in Overeaters Anonymous
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
We Agnostics KC Sobriety Anniversary: Marty K. and Julie K.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 85: An Atheist AA in London
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 84: Safety in AA
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 83: Sexual Harassment and Predation in AA
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 82: Parallel Universes
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 81: Secular AA in the Buckle of the Bible Belt
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 80: That’s What Friends Are For
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 79: Daily Reprieve AA for Atheists & Agnostics, by Alex M.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 78: We Agnostics Kansas City at the Paseo Group’s Alcathon
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 77: International Conference of Secular AA
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 76: AA Ends Lawsuit Over Big Book Manuscript
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 75: Addictus: A Nonbeliever’s Path to Recovery
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 74: Justin M. from Quad-A Canberra
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Recovery Is Possible
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
We had fun, we played pranks, we were young and carefree. Every once in a while, we would say, “Maybe we should take a break,” and we would. Then we…
Episode 73: The Proactive Twelve Steps for Mindful Recovery
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 72: Dr. Nicole Labor and the Science of Addiction
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 71: Drunks: An American History
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 70: Refuge Recovery
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
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…
Episode 69: Petrina S.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
In today’s episode, we meet Petrina S., who helped found the Curl Curl Secular ID meeting located about 18 kilometers from the central business district in Sydney, New South…
Episode 68: Jennifer C.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Jennifer grew up in an alcoholic home and had all the characteristics of an alcoholic before she even had her first drink. An Alateen at 13 and a member of…
Episode 65: Garth R. and the We Agnostics Group in South Africa
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
In today’s episode of AA Beyond Belief the Podcast, we meet Garth R., a co-founder of the We Agnostics Group in Johannesburg, South Africa. The group started up…
Episode 63: Don M. Seeking (the definition of) Spirituality
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
In this episode of AA Beyond Belief The Podcast, we speak with Don M. from The Broader Path Group in Odessa, Ontario. Don shares a little of his story, his…
Episode 62: Carmen X.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
I met Carmen at my home group, and have always enjoyed her thoughtful comments, intelligence, and her honest, open, and warm personality. This podcast features a portion of her story…
Episode 61: PJ and Sydney’s Brookvale Quad A Group
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
PJ started drinking as a teenager in his native Ireland, and to this day, he can remember the effect of that first drink he had at a pub in Dublin…
Episode 59: Thanks for Sharing
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
In this week’s podcast, Benn and I have a conversation inspired by the movie, Thanks for Sharing; a film that describes 12 Step culture through the experiences and relationships…
Episode 58: The 12 Step Philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous: An Interpretation by Steve K.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
This week’s podcast features an interview with Steve K. who discusses his book The 12 Step Philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous: An Interpretation by Steve K. Inspired by Stoic philosophy…
Episode 57: Alcohol Explained
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
This episode of AA Beyond Belief the Podcast features an interview with William Porter, author of Alcohol Explained. William lives in London, England with his wife and two young children…
Episode 54: The Five Keys: 12 Step Recovery Without A God, by Archer Voxx
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Our podcast this week is an interesting interview I conducted with Archer Voxx, author of the book The Five Keys – Twelve Step Recovery Without A God. This short book is…
Episode 53: Secular AA
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
In this week’s episode of AA Beyond Belief the Podcast, I speak with Courtney S., the webmaster for Secular AA, a new service organization created by the Board of…
Episode 51: Kayleigh P. and Freethinkers of Alcoholics Anonymous Ireland
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Kayleigh P.’s drinking crept up on her seemingly out of nowhere. It was a problem long before she knew it was a problem. This is her story. As a…
Episode 49: John S. from We Agnostics Kansas City
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
In recording this podcast, I was interviewed by my co-host, Benn B. and thanks to his excellent interviewing skills; I shared my story in perhaps more detail than ever…
Episode 47: Step 12 with Benn and John
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
It’s been a while since I’ve recorded a podcast and it’s been way too long since I’ve had a chat with Benn. Life got in the…
Episode 45: Step 11 with Benn and John
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Alcoholics Anonymous isn’t a program, it’s a fellowship. As stated in the AA preamble, its a “fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope…
Episode 44: Love and Service
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
For the second year in a row, I had the opportunity to speak at the Paseo Group’s annual holiday Alkathon, which is a time during the Holiday’s when…
Episode 43: Joe C. Talks AA Service
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
This week, we speak with Joe C., author of Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life, a co-founder of Canada’s first agnostic AA group, Beyond Belief, and…
Episode 42: Willow
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Willow F. got sober just before her 16th birthday, and on December 26, 2016, she will celebrate 28 years of sobriety. Her story confirms what AA experience over the past…
Episode 41: Bob K. on AA’s Past, Present and Future
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
When they suggested he pray, Bob K. responded, “what else you got?” He wasn’t buying the God business and he wasn’t shy about letting anyone know; and though…
Episode 40: Richard H. from We Agnostics Calgary
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
This week’s podcast features Richard H. from the We Agnostics group in Calgary. By the time that Richard made it to his first AA meeting, he was ready, he…
Episode 39: Reflections on WAAFT IAAC
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
This podcast episode was recorded shortly after returning from the We Agnostics, Atheists and Freethinkers International AA Convention that was held in Austin, Texas from November 11-13th. Included in…
Episode 38: Yvonne H. Mainely Agnostic
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
In today’s podcast we meet Yvonne H. from the Mainely Agnostics Group in Portland, Maine. The group celebrated its first anniversary in June of this year, which pleased Yvonne…
Episode 37: Step 10 with Benn and John
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
It was nice to catch up with Benn and talk about Step Ten, the first of the three maintenance steps. This step calls for us to continue to take personal…
Episode 36: Jeb B., Freethinkers in AA Denver and the Process of Recovery
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Jeb B. is a founding member of the Freethinkers in AA Group in Denver, Colorado. The group meets Monday nights from 6:30 pm to 7:45 pm, and Saturday…
Episode 35: Coffee with Cope
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
This past Saturday, I had the pleasure to start my day with a cup of coffee and a chat with an AA friend, Cope C. from the Many Paths group…
Episode 34: Ed W. Talking WAAFT
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS
Ed grew up in New York in a typical New York family with the typical New York dysfunction. As a teenager, he somehow avoided the rite of passage of getting…