Reality set in after Karen's husband left, furthering her drinking. Her first chip was a start-over chip. She didn't understand sponsorship at first and then got a sponsor at 6 months. Gratitude was a big part of her early recovery. For Karen, Step 5 was public and painful but allowed self-forgiveness.

Karen's home group is Big Book No Smoke in Greensboro, NC, and her sobriety date is 04MAY1997.

Owl 041 Karen

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.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

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.

Owl 110 Goodbye

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!

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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.

Owl 108 Kip

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 of Alcoholics Anonymous in Centre, Alabama.

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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

Owl 041 Karen

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