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The Boiled Owl
The Boiled Owl episodes
- Owl 047 AlanAlan went to two meetings at 17, but wasn't ready. At age 25, he went to meetings for about 2 weeks before picking up a start chip. His attorney suggested AA. In the second meeting, he got hope. He was 12th-stepped as he was trying to "slide out" at the end of a meeting. The "God thing" was an obstacle. A candlelit meeting was really helpful to him.Alan's sobriety date is 17NOV1983 and his home group is Summit Fellowship Men's in Greensboro, NC.1 hr 2 min
- Owl 046 ChrisChris was ordered to go to AA by the courts, but he didn't need it then; he was just unlucky. 6 DUIs later... He started going to AA again in 2000 and also going out to eat with members after the meetings. He went to AA meetings in a clubhouse and would stay there all day. When he moved, he checked out AA and didn't feel it - didn't get a sponsor or go to meetings. He drank shortly thereafter, started over and got a sponsor. He found it harder to get sober the second time.Chris's sobriety date is 10JUL2002 and his home group is Radiance in Greensboro, NC.54 min
- Owl 045 AmberAmber left her husband for an affair with her boss. Her boss said she was too messed up. She got a DUI and woke up in jail. She found herself drinking and calling rehabs - rehab would look good for court. She found more excuses not to go. She had 2 days in detox and then went to rehab. From there, she took suggestions: live in a women's Oxford house, get a sponsor, get a network. She jumped into service in Young People in AA. She has a "super-full life today."Amber got sober on 15NOV2011 and her home group is Easy Does It in Greensboro, NC.1 hr 1 min
- Owl 044 ScottScott got sober at 40 in treatment. He moved to Los Angeles and his family stayed behind (divorce). It was 2 years before he returned. He called his dealer and asked her not to sell to him, then called her a month later; she didn't call him back. His early sobriety was in LA, where he went to a meeting at the Screen Actors Guild and saw his old bartender... who became his sponsor. His 9th step to his wife was too soon and without his sponsor's knowledge. The feeling of connection with his higher power before sobriety grew solid in sobriety.Scott got sober on 03UL2002 and his homegroup is Summit Men's Group in Greensboro, NC.55 min
- Owl 043 JeanJean started drinking at 15 and stopped at 45. She was home alone often and her body would scream for alcohol. She drank wine from a coffee mug. She was miserable when her husband was home because she had to be sober then. Her last drink wasn't her choice. She went to a 28-day program and then a long-term recovery center for 3 months. She went to a meeting daily for 2 years. Speaker meetings were important in her early recovery - "Identify, don't compare."Jean's sobriety date is 12MAY1983 and her home group is It's In The Book in Greensboro, NC.1 hr
- Owl 042 JohnJohn started with drugs at 13. In middle and high school, his friends could just do weekends but John couldn't stop. At 14, he went to his first meeting (NA), did 90 in 90, got 6 months and did some stepwork. He tried many other times to get sober, but it never stuck. At 16, he was in treatment for 6 months and got drunk and high within 2 weeks of leaving. He considered suicide for a year and gave AA one more try. His 4th Step was a particularly powerful experience.John's sobriety date is 22JUN2013 and his home group is Young People in Greensboro, NC.1 hr 2 min
- OMG It's Here Again Holiday SpecialWhat?! It's that time of year again?!??! Boiled Owl alumni, Alex and Miranda, join us again to talk about the holidays. Hold on, this one's a hoot!58 min
- Owl 041 KarenReality 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 04MAY1997.55 min
- Owl 040 SteveSteve came to AA on crutches, having jumped out of a moving car in a blackout. His first sponsor was assigned to him. He started drinking and using drugs at 11. He yelled at God, cursing him and then got a call from an AA member needing jumper cables. He went all-in after his first meeting and started helping newcomers at 2 weeks. He has a beautiful 12th-Step story about taking the train from work.Steve's home group is Serendipity in High Point, NC. His sobriety date is 01APR1989.1 hr
- Owl 039 MollyMolly just completed another 4th Step and is meeting one of her sponsors to do a 5th Step right after recording this episode. A DUI in 2002 led her to getting sober 2 months later. Years before getting sober, she had a boyfriend in AA and, by living the AA program, he showed her what a sober life in AA can be like. A musician, Molly regained access to her talent at about 2 years sober and now is "performing behind enemy lines" frequently. Step 3 and the St. Francis prayer are very present in her life right now, particularly with the current political happenings.Molly's home groups are the weekly jail meeting and Women’s Experience, Strength & Hope in Greensboro, NC. Her sobriety date is 28OCT2002.1 hr 4 min
About The Boiled Owl
From the publisher's feed
After over 4 years of publishing 2 episodes a month, The Boiled Owl stopped production in September of 2021. Don and Sam worked with the AA Grapevine to launch the brand new podcast, The AA…
Grapevine Half-Hour Variety Hour. The first episode was published on October 4, 2021, and then weekly every Monday.
Over these years, we’ve recorded over 100 episodes and gotten to know so many guests and listeners (Owlcoholics!). We are grateful beyond measure for all these wonderful connections with our fellow alcoholics and hope you’ll jump over to the new podcast and jump in. (It’s a lot more interactive than the Owl!)
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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 (used to) attend a Saturday morning men’s AA meeting and go to coffee afterward. (Then Sam just up and moved to California in 2020. Now we’re bicoastal!) Sometimes it (was) just the two of us, though often several more. The conversation there is always wide-ranging and invariably full of recovery. (You know Don’s still at it while Sam is building his peep crew out west.) 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 our resident oldtimer, Don, then our guest responds and Sam wraps it up. You can reach us at [email protected].