Sober Cast: An (unofficial) Alcoholics Anonymous Podcast AA

Barry L and Lisa J speaking at Big Apple Roundup (LGBTQ)

Barry L who was sober 35 years at the time of this speak, entered AA when it was 10 years old in January of 1945. He was speaking at the Big Apple Roundup in 1980 and gives a great speak with a ton of AA history, but its not history he heard, its history he participated in. 

Barry went on to write the book Living Sober and was a great friend of Lois. In 1978 Lois gave the original manuscript of the big book to Barry, and in 1979 Barry signed a notarized letter gifting the manuscript to A.A. World Services. In exchange, he asked only to be able to keep it in his possession until his death.

Somewhere between 1979 and Barry's death in 1985, everyone at A.A. World Services apparently forgot about this arrangement. The whereabouts of the manuscript remained unknown until it reappeared at an auction house in 2004, sold by a “Joseph B.” for $1.5 million. It was auctioned again in 2007 to Alabama resident Ken Roberts for $992,000.  A few months later, according to court documents, A.A. World Services rediscovered Barry's notarized letter.  On 3/18 the manuscript was once again auctioned off, this time for $2.4 million.

We have a great speak from Barry on the origin of the 3rd Tradition from May 26 2018 Click Here

Next up we have Lisa J speaking at the same Roundup however her speak is from the 1997 event, she was only sober 18 months at the time of this speak.

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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. Repost from 2017

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Support Sober Cast: https://sobercast.com/donate

We have added a page of meetings that have moved online https://sobercast.com/online-meetings

Sober Cast has 1500+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search.

Workshop: The History and Beginnings of AA

California Rob conducted this workshop titled - The History and Beginnings of AA as part of a 10 week Big Book study held in Orlando Florida in 2008 by an unknown group.

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Support Sober Cast: https://sobercast.com/donate

We have added a page of meetings that have moved online https://sobercast.com/online-meetings

Sober Cast has 1500+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search.

Workshop: Joe and Charlie - Steps 3 and 4 (3.5 hours)

Joe Mc Q from Little Rock AR and Charlie P from Maysville AR conduct a workshop on the 3rd & 4th Step. This is Joe and Charlie from the very well known big book workshops, I dont know if this was set up as a specific workshop on steps 3 and 4 or a part of one of those book workshops, regardless, they did these many many times over the years and this is from 1994. The audio quality on these workshops vary this one is very good, it does end a little abruptly.

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We have added a page of meetings that have moved online https://sobercast.com/online-meetings

Sober Cast has 1400+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search.

For the AA History Buffs - James H about Bill W at the Oxford Group

This one is not an AA meeting, so if you need one pick a different episode. This is an interview conducted by an unknown AA member with James H a member of the Oxford Group (and AA) at the time Bill W was also a member. He was 90 years old at the time of the interview and is described as the last surviving member that worked with Bill W within the Oxford Group in the 1930s.

This was a phone interview recorded in Feb of 1996 and it had one of the nastiest hums I have yet had to deal with in a recording, I was able to remove it and clean it up but the recording does sound slightly hollow and as a result and you may need to adjust the volume a bit as it progresses.

Email: sobercast@gmail.com

Support Sober Cast: https://sobercast.com/donate

We have added a page of meetings that have moved online https://sobercast.com/online-meetings

Sober Cast has 1400+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search.

 

Bill W and Lois W - Bills First Recorded Speak and One of Lois Last

This is credited as Bill W's First Recorded AA Talk in Little Rock Arkansas in 1947, the quality of the recording is pretty remarkable. I have no idea the location or event but from its tone it does not sound like an AA meeting, but Bill speaking about AA at a gathering.

Lois W is next speaking at an Atlanta Roundup Al-Anon Luncheon held in July of 1982. Lois was  91 years old at the time of this speak, she died in 1988 at 97 years old. Lois talks about Bills drinking, his inability to get sober and her hope he would. It is also great quality recording, there is a bit of pomp at the beginning and end.

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Sober Cast has 1400+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search.

Topic: The Traditions

Frankie L from Baltimore Maryland was sober 32 years at the time he gave this speak on The Traditions. I have no information about where or when this was recorded but he does mention attending meetings with Bill W, so that gives a little context for the time he became sober. Hes also a pretty intense guy, but maybe passionate is a better descriptor?

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We have added a page of meetings that have moved online https://sobercast.com/online-meetings

Sober Cast has 1400+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search.

Big Book Story Author: Flower of the South - Ester E - Founder of AA in Texas

Ester E started AA in Texas in 1943, her story was in the 2nd edition of the Big Book titled Flower of the South. She got sober in 1941 and passed away in 1960. This is a collection of four different speaks by Ester, the first is about 30 min long and the next three are about 5-10 min, I have no idea where or when they were recorded. 

They are in various states of listen ability the first being the best, and I moved the worst one to the last position. I was able to clean up the overall recording quality pretty well on all but the last one it had a very bad hum and removing it left the last recording sounding a bit harsh and hollow.

Email: sobercast@gmail.com

Support Sober Cast: https://sobercast.com/donate

We have added a page of meetings that have moved online https://sobercast.com/online-meetings

Sober Cast has 1400+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search.

A play about the creation of the Big Book (December of 1981)

This one is not an AA meeting, so if you need one please choose something else from our list.

This is a play about the creation of the Big Book written by Homer D and performed on Unity Day in San Jose California in December of 1981 by an unknown group. Please keep in mind this is a dramatization about the creation of the Book and should be taken as such, its historical accuracy should not be taken as absolute fact. I particularly enjoyed the arguments about the wording of the steps presented in the second half.

The audio quality of this is okay if a bit trying at times, it had a very nasty buzz that I was able to remove however it does occasionally sound a bit fuzzy or slightly hollow, the sound quality improves as it progresses.

For those of you that might want to learn more about AA history I suggest a visit to the leading international webgroup for the study of Alcoholics Anonymous history and archives.
AA History Lovers: https://groups.io/g/AAHistoryLovers

Email: sobercast@gmail.com

Support Sober Cast: https://sobercast.com/donate

We have added a page of meetings that have moved online https://sobercast.com/online-meetings

Sober Cast has 1400+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search.

Topic: History of the Big Book

Chris S leads this workshop on the History of the Big Book from a fifteen week Big Book Workshop held in Montclair NJ in 2009.

Email: sobercast@gmail.com

Support Sober Cast: https://sobercast.com/donate

We have added a page of meetings that have moved online https://sobercast.com/online-meetings

Sober Cast has 1300+ episodes available, visit SoberCast.com to access all the episodes where you can easily find topics or specific speakers using tags or search.