Sober Cast: An (unofficial) Alcoholics Anonymous Podcast AA

Barry L sober in 1952 (author of the book Living Sober) on the topic of the 12 traditions

Barry L sober in 1952 (author of the book Living Sober) speaking in 1968 on the topic of the 12 traditions.

At about the 45 min mark the quality of the recording changes a, it is still very listenable but it almost sounds like the second half is a different recording there is a moment of repetition like it was a bad splice from tape... fyi

Ruth Hock: AAs 1st secretary on the early history of AA

This one is not really a speaker meeting, this is a recording from 1978 of Ruth Hock, AAs 1st secretary talking about Bill W and the early history of AA and the creation of the Big Book.

I highly recommend if you are a bit of an AA history geek, and even if you are not.

There is a Q and A at the end, you cant hear the questions but most are repeated back,fyi... this ends a little abruptly when the meeting leader is calling on her sponsor Cliff. Recorded in Glendale AZ 3-12-78.

AA founder Bill W speaking in Atlanta in 1951

Bill W speaking in Atlanta July 1951, this is an hour and 20 min long and covers many topics, a great bit of AA history.

This is very listenable for a 1951 recording, I managed to get most of the hum out, youll notice a few artifacts and there are a couple of sections with a wierd buzz, but those only last a few seconds.

Bill W speaking on the history of the AA Big Book in 1953

Bill W speaking on the history of the Big Book in 1953. This was a very poor recording to start with, it had a really nasty hum & I was able to get out most of the background noise. Bill's voice is much clearer (a bit sharp) however the filtering I had to do makes the laughter from the audience sound a bit strange but listenable.

Workshop: The AA 12 Traditions (4 hrs)

A very good workshop conducted by Norma A on the 12 Traditions. The history of, and a detailed explanation of each tradition. This workshop was given in 2014 so it also has mention of social media.

I am trying to find more workshops conducted by women in the program (I have many by men), if you happen to have any you can share please upload them at sobercast.com and please tell your friends about Sober Cast. This workshop is just over 4 hours and the file is 125 megs.

Workshop: AA Beginners Class - Based on AA beginners classes popular in the 1940s (4 hrs)

AA Beginners Class: Mike takes a group all the way through the steps over a period of four weeks.

Based on AA beginners classes popular in the 1940s that were conducted by different groups of AA. I was a little fascinated by this bit of AA history I knew nothing about. I did a little research and have reprinted a lengthy article about the beginner classes on the SoberCast.com website.

There are a number of questions asked during the workshop that are impossible to hear, but the answers make most of the questions fairly clear. Recorded in 2009, this workshop is 4 hrs long and the audio file is 110 megs.

Workshop: Sandy B and Bob B - Lessons from AA History (3 hours)

Sandy B of Tampa and Bob B of St. Paul doing a workshop (3 hours)

Part 1: Lessons from AA History

Part 2: Q&A - On-going Surrender - How to Create a Problem

Part 3: Humility / Q&A (the Q parts of the Q&A are a bit hard to hear & I have pulled down the volume on some of the answer parts of this, I have balanced it as best I can but, be ready on the volume button, this part is all over the volume map!)

Capital City Conference - Des Moines Iowa May 2010

Bill W one of AAs founders speaking in 1969

Bill W speaking at the 34th. anniversary in NY. 1969, followed a very brief speak at the 5th. International in Miami FL. July 1970

I have aggressively modified the audio quality of this recording, it was very poor to start with. The audio quality from begining to end also varied wildly, the sound wave looked like 3 different recordings.

I removed a nasty hum and a good amount of background noise, adjusted the levels and on some of the applause sections decreased the punishingly harsh volume, same thing on a couple of sections of organ music (it was painful).

There are a few sections where it is difficult to hear what Bill is saying.

Dr Bob one of AAs founders speaking in 1948

Dr. Bob's last major talk in Detroit, MI. Dec. 1948, this had a pretty nasty hum in the background, I managed to get most of that out. Considering the year it was recorded, once the hum was removed its a pretty good recording, it ends a little abruptly.

Tomorrow: Bill W