About In Recovery from Alcoholics Anonymous 's Podcast
A podcast relieving you from the bondage of 12-step coercion. We will break down how the Big Book, the steps, and meetings cause long-term psychological abuse. With personal experiences, reviewing AA literature, and chatting with other former members, we're creating a conversation around Bill W.'s support group turned cult.
Publisher
In Recovery from Alcoholics Anonymous
Category
health & fitness · society & culture · society & culture
This week, Tara Grace of Burn the Stigma joins! We are two pees in a restless, neurodivergent pod and found, by the grace of God, that we simply couldn't have that program AA demands. Tara discovered her way through sobriety in less ideal situations, including being placed in an AA immersion center, where there was no HIPAA, no clinicians, and they definitely didn't take insurance. Other AA members ran the place. She also spent a significant amount of time at a sober living home...
2 Oct 2026
13 Stepping: An Autopsy with Guest Joan
"We're waiting for [substances] to jump out of you in the parking lot because you were out there doing push-ups. My life was consumed by substances for all that time, and you're constantly waiting for something to get you." Guest Joan points to something spoken ad nauseum, but not in her framing. We speak so much about using and relapse in AA, but never that this dialogue keeps us constantly thinking about substances. Isn't the point of sobriety to remove yourself from this use disorder—the o...
25 Sept 2026
Rehab & Body Brokering: An Autopsy with Queen Liz(ard)
If there is anyone who can help people deprogram from the cult of AA, it's Liz. Liz was a teenager when she dropped into AA meetings. The early 2000s were a mindfuck for millennial teens; Skinspo was completely unregulated and encouraged, ADHD was just a punchline, and that nervous, crawly feeling of an artist was impossible to articulate. If you couldn't tell, that was Liz, making her an easy target for these rooms to manipulate. To them, it wasn't neurodivergence, CPTSD, or starvation...
18 Sept 2026
Ibogaine & 5-MeO-DMT: An Autopsy with Dave
This week, I spoke with a remarkable man who Alcoholics Anonymous would deem a "miracle." But he is a miracle on his own accord. The 12 Steps would recoil upon learning he found recovery "his way." That's not how it works! "It works if you work it!" The 12 Steps were not how Dave worked it. Oh well, Dave has been sober for over a year now. And it wasn't without his slips, stumbles, and immersive relapses. His sobriety journey started as a teenager, when he first stepped into the r...
28 Aug 2026
Pt II Bill's Story: An Autopsy
CONTENT WARNING: This episode does discuss suicide. BONUS episode—what? Two episodes released on one day? Anything for Bill. Want to read Bill's story along with the recording? Here you GO. Quick note: the podcast software completely crashed and wonked out on me, then erased the ending of this episode. So I had to Frankenstein the episode, and the ending doesn't include my homegirl. But no St. Helena for me! (Bill W. joke) Thanks, friend, for the special commentary on this e...
28 Aug 2026
Bill's Story: An Autopsy with a Mystery Guest!
We've made it to Bill's Story in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Written in 1938, Bill W. had about 3 or 4 years of sobriety when he wrote Bill's Story for the Big Book, which was published in 1939 and originally titled Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered from Alcoholism. One of my closest friends, a "normie," joined the podcast to hold my hand as I read Bill's Story. Re-reading it as a woman who is about 4-5 years removed from the 12-St...
21 Aug 2026
This Holy Life: An Autopsy with Nicole
There's something magical about sitting down with a complete stranger and walking away from it wiser and more secure. That's what Nicole gave me. Nicole struggled with heroin and crystal meth addiction, crawled out of the depths of Hell, and, over time, sought what she wanted and got it. Whatever it is, it's looking pretty damn good from over here. This is a podcast dedicated to speaking out about the abuse that happens in 12-step programs, but I won't stop there. Different perspe...
14 Aug 2026
Ditched at the River & Quitlit: An Autopsy with Guest Alexa
You know what I love about this episode? Alexa is both approachable and relatable, even though I've never met anyone like her. She didn't lean into any negative spirals or bury AA, but redirected me to the fruits of sobriety and the many resources that can get all of us there. I left the interview feeling a bit lighter, and after editing this episode I felt this unfamiliar sense: optimism. Alexa gave occasional sound bites about her AA experience, but she offered so much more… quitlit, ...
7 Aug 2026
You're Not as Good as You Think | You're Not as Bad as You Think: An Autopsy with Leanne
I went into this conversation expecting Leanne to tear Alcoholics Anonymous apart. She's sharp, she's got a loud online presence, and I figured she'd bring the same energy to talking about the program. Nope—she surprised me. This is one of the most positive AA discussions I've had on the show. Leanne got sober in British Columbia during the pandemic lockdown, working through substance abuse and eventually transitioning at the time. She credits her sponsor, Ira, almost entirely for how well th...
31 Jul 2026
OCD Collides with 12 Steps: An Autopsy with Guest Darcie
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) clash because the peer-led, moral-inventory framework of AA can accidentally trigger or feed OCD cycles rather than treat the underlying anxiety. The rigid, dogmatic rules of 12-step programs often morph into new compulsions for someone with untreated OCD. Excessive rumination on program literature, rigidly counting meeting attendance, or repeating steps are parallel with classic OCD ritualistic loops. AA's focus on profound pe...
30 Jul 2026
The Doctor's Opinion: An Autopsy
I'm doubling up this week with a surprise Big Book reading. The Doctor's Opinion...a great PR resource, a terrible step for medical science. In 1938, on the heels of the Big Book release, Bill W. asked Dr. William D Silkworth—his drunk hospital doctor—to write a letter of recommendation for Alcoholics Anonymous. He happily did, as he was happy with Alcoholics Anonymous's impact on chronic alcoholism. He wrote that a power greater than oneself was his medically educated advice to recovery. His...
24 Jul 2026
Soft Cults & the Empathy Buzz: An Autopsy
This week, I have a very special guest from all the way down in Phoenix, Arizona—David Riu! He talks about his childhood in a Christian cult, struggling with opiate dependency and homelessness, recovering from substance abuse disorder, getting trapped in the "soft cult" of AA, and leaving the program. He teaches me about harm reduction, Recovery Dharma, SMART recovery, and treatments to overcome drug dependency. He also reflects on witnessing and experiencing 13 steppers, religious coercion, ...
17 Jul 2026
13 Stepping & Sobriety Spectrum: An Autopsy with Guest Heather!
Heather, a mental health counselor and former AA member, joins the podcast to provide her lived experience in 12 Step meetings. She goes over the very unwelcome, unsolicited advice from sponsors, dealing with 13-steppers, and how she slowly exited the program. Spoiler: The Orange Papers came into Heather's world, and it got her thinking. We also discuss the spectrum of substance abuse disorder; how some members need to abstain for a temporary period of time, while others require long-term abs...
10 Jul 2026
Social Placebo - An Autopsy with Guest Theo
This week, Theo pulls back the curtain on his time in the rooms. Theo went at AA wholeheartedly: he worked the steps thrice+ over, followed the program with incredible precision, had a sponsor, and had his own batch of sponsees. So what finally made him get out of Dodge? He traces the surprising overlap between Scientology and AA, recounts his exposure to the Freedom Model and Writing the Big Book, and breaks down other paths to sobriety like Recovery Dharma and SMART Recovery. Drop everythin...
3 Jul 2026
The Preface & Forewords: An Autopsy
You don't get to know AA without knowing the Big Book. The host will guide listeners through the Big Book's preface and four updated forewords, and delve into how the program is misleading and nefarious starting on page one. She will also define slogans and seven-dollar words that you might not be familiar with but are implanted in each member's stream of consciousness.
26 Jun 2026
Alcoholics Anonymous: An Autopsy
On the premier episode of In Recovery from Alcoholics Anonymous, we're exposing the dirty truth about 12-step meetings. Ever felt put in unnecessary shame cycles, guilt-tripped about your imperfect program, told your trauma was your fault, or been assigned a personality that doesn't fit? You're not crazy; we've experienced it too. For non-members who couldn't get past the God-stuff, or non addicts who want to know more about what happens in these rooms, we won't mince words. Welcome to In Rec...
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