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Boiled Owl AA Recovery Podcast

Storytelling Podcasts

The Boiled Owl is hosted by Don and Sam, both members of Alcoholics Anonymous who like listening to other alcoholics’ experience, strength, and hope. We both do this often via podcasts and speaker tapes (well, CDs and MP3s) while working or driving. While there are many recordings of speaker meetings, we found locating podcasts a bit more difficult. So…… Rather than just complaining about it (you know we did!), we decided to take action. We both attend a Saturday morning men’s AA meeting and go to coffee afterward. Sometimes it’s just the two of us, though often it’s several more. The conversation there is always wide-ranging and invariably full of recovery. The Boiled Owl is our attempt to recreate the environment of the coffee shop meeting-after-the-meeting. Since it’s not completely ad-hoc, we have to structure it a bit, but soon the flow of conversation takes hold and it then goes where it goes. We start with a little banter, introduce our guest, and then ask them a question about why they’re in AA. This one question kicks off the conversation and we chat for 20-30 minutes. We close the podcast with “Ask the Old-timer,” where a question is posed to Don. For our initial episodes, we made up the question. The goal is for YOU to ask a question! Send us your question via giveahoot@boiledowlaa.org. New episodes are posted on the 1st and 15th of the month.

Location:

United States

Description:

The Boiled Owl is hosted by Don and Sam, both members of Alcoholics Anonymous who like listening to other alcoholics’ experience, strength, and hope. We both do this often via podcasts and speaker tapes (well, CDs and MP3s) while working or driving. While there are many recordings of speaker meetings, we found locating podcasts a bit more difficult. So…… Rather than just complaining about it (you know we did!), we decided to take action. We both attend a Saturday morning men’s AA meeting and go to coffee afterward. Sometimes it’s just the two of us, though often it’s several more. The conversation there is always wide-ranging and invariably full of recovery. The Boiled Owl is our attempt to recreate the environment of the coffee shop meeting-after-the-meeting. Since it’s not completely ad-hoc, we have to structure it a bit, but soon the flow of conversation takes hold and it then goes where it goes. We start with a little banter, introduce our guest, and then ask them a question about why they’re in AA. This one question kicks off the conversation and we chat for 20-30 minutes. We close the podcast with “Ask the Old-timer,” where a question is posed to Don. For our initial episodes, we made up the question. The goal is for YOU to ask a question! Send us your question via giveahoot@boiledowlaa.org. New episodes are posted on the 1st and 15th of the month.

Language:

English


Episodes

Owl 110 Goodbye

9/15/2021
Thanks for letting us be part of your recovery and for being part of ours! Head over to aagrapevine.org/podcast for the brand new AA Grapevine Half-Hour Variety Hour podcast. Don and Sam will be hosting this weekly 30-minute podcast starting 04OCT2021.

Duration:00:02:41

Owl 109 Susan

9/1/2021
Susan started drinking at 13. The last 8 years of her drinking were daily drinking. She started trying to get sober in 1986. She called all the alcohol help numbers in the phone book, spoke with a woman for a while, and felt hope. Keeping her drinking life hidden from her mother, she called and told her about her drinking problem. Susan's sobriety date is 07MAY1988 and her homegroup is Down & Dirty in Greensboro, NC. Be sure to listen through the end of this episode. There's news!

Duration:00:39:38

Owl 108 Kip

8/15/2021
Kip was introduced to AA in prison in 1989. He was in and out five times. He had lost all power of choice to drink or not. "If God and church can't fix me, surely Alcoholics Anonymous can't do it." Kip got married and divorced in sobriety and is dating again in recovery. Kip's sobriety date is 08JUL2010 and his homegroup is the New South Group in High Point, NC.

Duration:01:05:19

Owl 107 Buddy

8/1/2021
First, a special announcement about the AA Grapevine Podcast! Also, we *finally* realized fans of the show are... OWLCOHOLICS! Welcome to the Boiled Tao! Buddy, a return guest, talks about some of the rough times at the end of his drinking. He had to change/lose his old beliefs in God. We chat about how the Tao Te Ching has added to his recovery, leading him to start his own podcast about it and even to write a book. Buddy's sobriety date is 10NOV2008 and his homegroup is Centre Fellowship...

Duration:01:04:31

Owl 106 Caroline

7/15/2021
Caroline stopped drinking for 18 months with a program. She went to AA meetings out of town and picked up a 1-year chip at her first meeting. Heads turned. She was miserable - getting divorced, she had thoughts of suicide and called someone in recovery. She went to a meeting and picked up a start chip. Caroline's sobriety date is 31AUG2008 and her homegroup is Keeping It Green in Greensboro, NC

Duration:00:51:24

Owl 105 Perry

7/1/2021
Perry didn't lose his wife, his home, or his job, but he was spiritually bankrupt - a shell of a person. All the things he'd accomplished seemed worthless now. "Drinking overshadowed everything good about me." His good career in the United States Marine Corps was getting in the way of his drinking. Perry's sobriety date is 25AUG2017 and his home group is Early Bird in Greensboro, NC.

Duration:00:42:58

Owl 104 Claudette

6/15/2021
Claudette moved to Tacoma, WA, 6 years ago, with 30 years of sobriety. She found it difficult connecting with AA there because it was different. Work with another alcoholic helped her remember what it was like. Claudette became afraid of her behavior when drinking in public. She came to AA by way of Al-Anon. As an Al-Anon, she went to an open AA speaker meeting. Claudette's sobriety date is 01JUN1985 and her home group is Women in Emotional Sobriety in Tacoma, WA.

Duration:00:54:24

Owl 103 Steven

6/1/2021
Steven was introduced to AA at age 13. He was forced to go into an all-boys recovery facility. The "Living Sober" book was good for him - easy to digest and identify with. He experienced old-school AA in Carson, NV. He identified with an LGBT story in the back of the Big Book. The nearest LGBT meeting was 45 miles away. Steven's home group is the Wednesday Night Book Study in Alejo in Palm Springs, CA. His sobriety date is 24APR2018.

Duration:01:05:44

Owl 102 Katherine

5/15/2021
Katherine called herself an alcoholic as a joke for years before coming to AA. She tried controlled drinking and also moved out of state away from family so she could drink how she wanted. Katherine has a fantastic first-meeting story! Principles of recovery helped her with going through getting a new job during the COVID pandemic. Katherine's sobriety date is 15SEP2010 and her homegroup is Keeping It Green in Greensboro, NC.

Duration:01:20:43

Owl 101 Sherman

5/1/2021
Sherman has a sereneness and calmness in his life. He grew up in an alcoholic home. The chaos was bad. He started drinking and liked the chaos. He got sober and saw the chaos as wreckage. When he was a kid, he went to AA with his dad. The speakers' stories brought him in. Sherman got COVID-19 and realized the value of life. Sherman's sobriety date is 01APR1994 and his home group is the Agnostics, Atheists, Freethinkers AA Group in Asheville, NC.

Duration:01:12:53

Owl 100 Michael

4/15/2021
OUR 100TH EPISODE! Thanks for joining us! Two months after turning 21, Michael was told he was an alcoholic after starting a fire at university. He took alcoholism classes in his early 30s. Michael also used cocaine to drink more. He drank in isolation due to his guilt and shame about how he let his parents down. Michael's sobriety date is 29OCT2009 and his home group is Early Bird / AA Zoomaholics in Greensboro, NC.

Duration:01:11:32

Owl 099 Julie

4/1/2021
Julie's cat told her she was alcoholic. As a child, she went to her father's sobriety anniversary celebration and there was CAKE! As an adult, she went to an AA meeting on the recommendation of a counselor. It was an anniversary celebration meeting and there was FOOD! (What's with all the food?!) At her second meeting, she felt the love and hope in the room. Julie's sobriety date is 08MAY2005 and her home group is Turning Point in Raleigh, NC.

Duration:01:24:01

Owl 098 Jen

3/15/2021
Jen didn't like the taste of alcohol and drank it for the effect. She knew her father was an alcoholic, so was scared of it and wouldn't try it. Then she did and went downhill quickly. At 10 years sober, she was prescribed Xanax and took it fine... until she didn't. Jen's sobriety date is 08MAY2018 and her home group is Durham Central in Durham, NC.

Duration:01:17:23

Owl 097 Brian

3/1/2021
Brian lost the desire to drink when he cried out for help. He still smoked marijuana but came to feel conflicted about smoking it - it felt dishonest. He got a case of beer for Christmas AND a Big Book. He drank and read. Brian recently launched his own recovery podcast, Addiction Warfare, and you can find it on your fav podcast platforms. Brian's sobriety date is 18MAR2009 and his home group is the Saturday Morning Men's Meeting in Greensboro, NC.

Duration:00:54:43

Owl 096 Jerri

2/15/2021
Jerri was in denial about being an alcoholic. She'd gone through cancer and was trying to force things to be like they used to be. A nurse, she knew how to dose, but almost overdosed drinking and taking pills to cope. She went to a meeting where she heard exactly what she needed: shares about drinking and pills from five people. Jerri's sobriety date is 10MAR2015 and her home group is Open Door in Greensboro, NC.

Duration:01:18:49

Owl 095 Pat

2/1/2021
Pat's life was chaos. He tried controlled drinking at a psychiatrist's recommendation. He binge-drank on weekends. Pat was in AA for 3 years before he worked the steps and didn't feel a part of AA until he did them. Pat's sobriety date is 28JUN2009. His home group is Southport Men's Meeting in Southport, NC.

Duration:01:08:50

Owl 094 Shana

1/15/2021
Shana was Sam's "AA wife - assembly required" in NC. She has a few sobriety dates and once was on the "marijuana maintenance plan" for a couple of years. She fought being an alcoholic and was mad that drinking didn't work. Shana went to a roundup where she had fun and a spiritual awakening. Shana's home groups are Colors of Gratitude and Live and Let Live in Greensboro, NC (see nc23.org). Her sobriety date is 15FEB2009.

Duration:01:16:41

Owl 093 Josh

1/1/2021
Josh was calling his boss from jail - again - can't come to work. The beginning of the end of a spiritual crisis. The seed of AA was planted by a therapist. Years later, he decided to go. Josh made his own poker chip system. Josh's sobriety date is 07JUL2006 and his home group is the Basics Group in Durham, NC.

Duration:01:33:28

Owl 092 Liz

12/15/2020
Liz went to her first meeting (an open one) for someone else and heard her own stories. To Liz's thinking, binge-drinking was now the same as being alcoholic. She stopped 5 years once. Liz's home group didn't go online when COVID hit, so she started going to Shivering Denizens. Liz's sobriety date is 01FEB1979 and her home group is Shivering Denizens. (see nc23.org)

Duration:01:20:58

My Name is Ebenezer S. Special (Encore Repost)

12/7/2020
It's 2020 and that alone is plenty of reason to publish another special. Here's an encore presentation of our 2019 production of "My Name is Ebenezer S." We wish you all a sober, safe and healthy holiday season! The owl just made some weird hooting sound - make it mean whatever you will. 🦉 "My Name is Ebenezer S." is a ghostly 12th-Step call play that's been presented by members of AA in Greensboro, NC, for many years. The script for "My Name is Ebenezer S." is available for free by request...

Duration:01:06:55