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AA Recovery Interviews

By: Howard L.
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  • 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
  • Soleen M. – Sober 21 Years

    Soleen M. – Sober 21 Years
    May 15 2024
    With a family of origin riddled with alcoholism, abuse, and fractured relationships, Soleen was a disenfranchised child. She started drinking at 11 and progressed rapidly into alcoholic abuse. That latent disease deprived Soleen of adult supervision and good decision-making. She married at 14 and had a baby at 16 by a man nearly twice her age. Her budding alcoholism put Soleen in trouble with the law. As a way out of jail, she agreed to inpatient treatment at the first of many rehabs. By the time she was 19, she was still in lots of trouble, all of it fueled by drinking and drug abuse. Fortunately, the AA seed was planted while she was in the revolving door of four rehabs. Facing utter ruin, Soleen finally found AA at the end of a long, dark tunnel of despair. She surrendered to the Program for good and all when she was 26. That was nearly 22 years ago. Her involvement in AA has only grown over the years and she has helped countless women who could only be helped by her brand of experience and no-nonsense approach to the Program and continuous study of the Big Book. That she was able to survive a liquor-soaked adolescence and early adulthood to later working a strong AA Program is yet another example of God’s grace in a recovering alcoholic’s life. Soleen’s brutal story is tough to hear, but will bolster every listener’s gratitude for their own journey of sobriety. So enjoy the next 65 minutes with my friend and AA sister, Soleen M. 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.] If you enjoy today’s episode, I invite you to listen to my guest appearance on Bladder Cancer Matters, a podcast produced by the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, or BCAN for short. As a cancer survivor myself, I discussed dealing with bladder cancer while working the AA program. I offered insights on surviving these two fatal diseases, and how AA helped me through the cancer diagnosis without losing hope. For patients, families, care givers, and medical providers, I talked about Alcoholics Anonymous and its life-saving importance for those who want to get sober. I think you’ll enjoy the interview. To listen, simply search for Bladder Cancer Matters on your podcast app or BCAN.org.
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    1 hr and 6 mins
  • David B. – Sober 30 Years

    David B. – Sober 30 Years
    May 8 2024
    In David's childhood home, there was one basic rule about alcohol: Don’t let it interfere with your household chores. Lacking any other parental edicts, David started drinking at age 8 and was a regular alcohol user by age 11. Alcohol’s “magical” effect of intoxication helped David cope with both the dysfunction in his family, as well as the intense feelings of loneliness that were fed by the insecurities of moving every three years. By the time he was in college, the Jekyll and Hyde effects of drinking were in plain view to everyone except himself. David wondered whether the label of “alcoholic” that had been pinned on him when he was just 12 might actually apply. But like most alcoholics, that brief introspection was brushed off as his alcohol abuse grew worse by the year. Career dissatisfaction, job losses, and a failed 12-month marriage did little to convince him of his escalating problem with booze. However, David’s breakthrough came five years into his second marriage when he insisted on couples therapy to fix his wife’s discontent with that marriage. The therapist faced him down with the cold hard realities of David’s disease and firmly recommended that David attend Alcoholics Anonymous. At first, he didn’t want to go to meetings. He fed his loneliness with the thoughts that no one in the rooms liked or cared about him. But the people in those early meetings, including your host, gathered him into the security of strong AA fellowship. It wasn’t long before he got a sponsor and worked the steps that David’s life began to improve. To that, he added daily prayer, study of AA literature, sponsorship of other men, and service commitments to his group. And while there were still some bumps and distractions along the way, David’s constant desire to live his Program from within out, guided him through thirty years contented sobriety, David continues to pay forward his debt of gratitude to the Program via on-going adherence to the basic tenets of AA. Having the privilege to know David since his first days in AA has been a blessing to me. That he continues to live the program with commitment and dedication is an inspiring demonstration of the Program’s Promises materializing on a daily basis. I believe David’s story will enthrall and move you. It’s a marvelous validation of the gifts available to all who actively seek sobriety in Alcoholics Anonymous.. So sit back and enjoy the next hour and ten minutes with my very good friend and AA brother, David 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.
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    1 hr and 16 mins
  • Lisa F. – Sober 19 Years

    Lisa F. – Sober 19 Years
    May 1 2024
    Imagine you’ve been sober for a while and move to a new country. You don’t speak the language and the nearest English-speaking AA meetings are an hour and a half away. How would that affect your sobriety and serenity in your new digs? My guest on today’s show, Lisa F., faced that uncomfortable situation when she moved from the U.S. to Sicily in 2020. Sober nearly 15 years at the time, Lisa faced the loss of her daily meetings and in-person fellowship she had enjoyed in New York City for so many years. Though Zoom offered remote meetings, Lisa knew that the quality of her sober life in southern Italy would be inextricably linked to her face-to-face involvement in the Program. She had learned this the hard way when she first relapsed after her initial run at sobriety, a period marked by her declining commitment to and interest in AA. By the time Lisa made it back to AA in 2004, her life was a shambles and ready for change. Knowledge from her earlier stint in Alcoholics Anonymous proved of little benefit until she got down to causes and conditions. With the help of a dedicated sponsor, Lisa immersed herself in a Program replete with daily meetings, prayer and meditation, sponsorship of other women, and ceaseless service work. She has used the experience gained from that well-worked Program to help build a robust English-speaking AA community with meetings in Sicily. Lisa’s story covers a lot of ground, but will inspire those who face the same kind of challenges she did. As a cautionary tale, it speaks clearly to the misnomer Lisa used for years prior to her relapse when she told others that she didn’t drink because she used to be in AA. The futility of that idea comes through loud and clear. There’s much more to enjoy in the next 60 minutes of AA Recovery Interviews with my friend and AA sister, Lisa F. 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 9 mins
Psychology Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Success
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Great!

Just finished my first interview and love it!! I can listen at work and in the car now. Thank you❤️

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