Sober Sunrise - AA Speaker Podcast

This Step One talk looks at the difference between consequences, control, and the deeper problem of not being able to stay stopped.
☀️ Sober Sunrise AppListen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, save favorite speakers, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
If you enjoy the app or find it useful in your recovery, a quick rating or review on the App Store would mean a lot and helps more people find Sober Sunrise.
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveMore AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
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In this AA step meeting, the speaker walks through Step One with a direct focus on powerlessness, the allergy, the obsession, and the difference between a hard drinker and a real alcoholic. He talks about being able to stop for a while but not stay stopped, hearing mixed messages in early sobriety, and finally understanding why the first drink was the real problem. Using plain examples from his own life, including the poison ivy comparison, he explains why consequences alone could not keep him sober and why the solution had to involve the 12 steps, spiritual change, sponsorship, and action. This is a practical, Big Book-centered talk for anyone trying to understand what it means to be powerless over alcohol.
Brian B. leading a meeting on step one at the Bottom Line Group in Pomano Beach, FL - May 2nd 2005
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
 

Chris R. shares a direct and powerful AA talk about why meetings alone did not treat his alcoholism, how the Steps changed everything, and why newcomers need more than slogans.
☀️ Sober Sunrise AppListen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveHundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
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Chris R. shares his experience as a recovered alcoholic, talking about alcoholism as a physical craving, a mental obsession, and a spiritual malady that meetings alone could not fix. After years of trying to stay sober in Alcoholics Anonymous without really working the program, Chris describes the suicide attempt, the Big Book meeting, and the people who finally carried a clear message of recovery to him. He talks about being pulled with a vision of what life could look like through the Twelve Steps, doing a Third Step Prayer, starting inventory, answering phones, being useful, and realizing two weeks later that the obsession to drink had been lifted. This AA speaker tape is funny, blunt, and full of urgency, with a strong message about carrying the actual solution, getting in the trench, and helping people recover instead of only telling them to keep coming back.
Chris R. from Ingram, TX speaking at the Truro Roundup in Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada - July 25th 2009
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
 

Don’s sponsor handed him a card that said “Big Book Will Travel,” and that old AA spirit runs through the whole talk: show up, carry the message, and give away what saved you.
☀️ Sober Sunrise AppListen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, save favorite speakers, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
If you enjoy the app or find it useful in your recovery, a quick rating or review on the App Store would mean a lot and helps more people find Sober Sunrise.
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveMore AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
🧡 Sober Sunrise MerchShirts, mugs, and recovery-inspired gear:https://sober-sunrise.com/merch
🌴 Sober Sunrise NewsletterWeekly AA speaker picks, recovery reflections, and updates:https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter
Don shares an old-school AA talk that weaves early Alcoholics Anonymous history with his own story of drinking, lying, family damage, and final surrender. He talks about the first meetings in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the fragile beginnings of AA on the West Coast, and the people who kept showing up because they needed each other as much as the newcomer needed them. Then he turns to his own life: drinking through military service, hiding behind success and performance, sending two wives toward Al-Anon before he ever got sober, and reaching a January 15, 1985 bottom where he could not get drunk and could not get sober. In treatment, an old sponsor with a “Big Book Will Travel” card pointed him toward prayer, inventory, the ABCs, service, and the kind of life Don calls the fourth dimension: a place where God provides what is needed when we stay close and do the work.
Don B. from Pleasant Hill, CA speaking in Oyster Point, CA - September 30th 2004Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
 

Cliff says alcohol gave him eight minutes where the black rock in his belly went quiet, but AA taught him a different way out: service, laughter, and giving away what saved him.
☀️ Sober Sunrise AppListen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, save favorite speakers, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
If you enjoy the app or find it useful in your recovery, a quick rating or review on the App Store would mean a lot and helps more people find Sober Sunrise.
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveMore AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
🧡 Sober Sunrise MerchShirts, mugs, and recovery-inspired gear:https://sober-sunrise.com/merch
🌴 Sober Sunrise NewsletterWeekly AA speaker picks, recovery reflections, and updates:https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter
Cliff shares a sharp, hilarious, and painfully honest AA talk about being a “functioning alcoholic” who almost died while still going to work, winning speech tournaments, and looking nothing like the park-bench alcoholic he thought he had to become. From his first drink at 16 to blackouts, fights, daily drinking, teaching school while dying inside, a surf shop with 15-martini sunsets, hot vodka in the glove compartment, and a family pushed into chaos, Cliff’s story keeps circling one truth: alcohol gave him a few minutes of relief from the black rock in his belly, then took everything else. His bottom came when his teenage son told him life was beautiful without him in the house, and the surrender came later on a beach-house floor with the Big Book open to page 63. Through sponsorship, service, Al-Anon, laughter, and the Steps, Cliff found the promises coming true and learned that the feeling of uselessness and self-pity disappears when we see how our experience can benefit others.
Cliff R. from Oceanside, CA speaking at Specific Group, Las Vegas, NV June 22nd 2000Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
 

Robi shares a funny, honest, and deeply moving AA talk about untreated alcoholism, the spiritual malady, amends, sponsorship, and the miracle of being ready when grace shows up.
☀️ Check out the New Sober Sunrise App!Listen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveHundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
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🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletterhttps://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter
Robi shares her experience as a recovered alcoholic, beginning with the hopelessness, spiritual malady, and loss of choice that brought her to Alcoholics Anonymous. She talks about coming into AA sick, broken, and out of options, learning that simply removing alcohol was not enough, and finding freedom through sponsorship, truth-telling, inventory, amends, prayer, meditation, and working with other women. This AA speaker tape moves from raw honesty and humor into powerful recovery moments: being present with her mother at the end of life, walking through amends without unfinished business, and later having her daughters return to her life when she was finally spiritually ready to receive them. It is a strong message about not faking recovery, staying active in the Steps, and finding the kind of freedom where we no longer have to face life alone.
Robi S. from Ventnor City, NJ speaking at the Absecon Speaker Group in Absecon, NJ - October 30th 2013
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
 

Peter M. shares a powerful AA talk about being recovered, hitting the bitter end, and finding a solution far deeper than simply putting the plug in the jug.
☀️ Sober Sunrise AppListen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveHundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
🧡 Sober Sunrise Merchhttps://sober-sunrise.com/merch
🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletterhttps://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter
Peter M. shares his experience of alcoholism, recovery, sponsorship, the Twelve Steps, and the spiritual awakening that changed his life. Sober since June 23, 1988, Peter talks about the back hallway moment that became his bitter end, the pain his alcoholism brought to his family, the treatment centers that could not solve the real problem, and the people in Alcoholics Anonymous who carried a clear message of recovery to him. He challenges the idea that “not drinking” is the whole program, pointing instead to amends, prayer, meditation, service, sponsorship, and the power found through working the Steps. This AA speaker tape is direct, spiritual, and deeply personal, with a strong message about moving from untreated alcoholism into recovered life.
Peter M. from Union, NJ speaking at the first annual Sobriety Omaha Style in Omaha, NE - June 23rd 2007
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
 

Scott says alcohol made life switch from black and white to color, but 19 years later the effect he keeps coming back for is his mother’s respect, his son’s trust, and the Steps working in real life.
☀️ Sober Sunrise AppListen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveMore AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
🧡 Sober Sunrise MerchShirts, mugs, and recovery-inspired gear:https://sober-sunrise.com/merch
🌴 Sober Sunrise NewsletterWeekly AA speaker picks, recovery reflections, and updates:https://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter
Scott shares a raw, funny, and deeply alive AA talk about fear, blackouts, homelessness, jail, treatment, denial, and the long fight against the idea that he was different from everyone else in the rooms. He remembers the first drink changing everything, the obsession with that feeling, the lies he told himself before picking up again, and the day he finally saw that liquor had become his master. In recovery, the same man who once could not buy a soda starts rebuilding through sponsorship, inventory, amends, service, family repair, and the steady voices of AA people who told him the truth. With 19 years sober, Scott talks about his mother respecting him again, his son trusting him, sitting with his sister as she died, getting help from other alcoholics, and learning to love the effect produced by the Steps more than the effect produced by alcohol.
Scott S. from Winston-Salem, NC speaking at the Unity Club Saturday speaker meeting in Winston-Salem, NC - March 24th 2007Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
 

Keith says he used to think he had 20 relationships, until he realized he had one relationship 20 times.
☀️ Sober Sunrise AppListen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveHundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
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Keith, sober since May 13, 1973, shares a thoughtful and funny AA talk about relationships, isolation, emotional immaturity, sponsorship, marriage, friendship, and learning how to grow up inside Alcoholics Anonymous. He talks about coming into AA at 29 but feeling emotionally 15, treating people like cut-out figures in his life, needing to be different, plotting revenge, stalking instead of dating, and slowly discovering that sex, attention, and control were not the same thing as real relationship. Keith moves through the lessons AA taught him about discovering who he is, accepting who he is, and then forgetting himself through service and availability to others. He also speaks about covenant, marriage, his wife Julia, children, siblings, sponsorship, motives, and the sacred responsibility that comes with the people God places in our lives. It is a mature, honest AA talk about moving from isolation into connection, and from self-centered need into love, responsibility, and usefulness.
Keith L. from Wilmington, NC speaking about relationships at a 12 step workshop given by Mike W. - May 3rd 2002
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
 

Pat says his wife went back to work and told him they were going to build their lives stick by stick. In sobriety, that is exactly what happened.
☀️ Sober Sunrise AppListen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveHundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
🧡 Sober Sunrise Merchhttps://sober-sunrise.com/merch
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Pat shares an honest AA talk about losing jobs, family, housing, self-respect, and freedom to alcoholism before finding a sponsor who came to the county jail to “see a drunk” and took him into Alcoholics Anonymous one meeting at a time. He talks about workhouses, homelessness, failed attempts at responsibility, a marriage damaged by drinking, the fear and anxiety that followed him into early sobriety, and the old-timers who put a finger in his chest while also showing him how to change. Pat also shares how the steps, sponsorship, meetings, prayer, and the example of other sober men helped him become present for his wife, children, work, union responsibilities, service, and eventually a daughter who found her own way into AA. It is a grounded, grateful story about rebuilding a life slowly, staying close to the people who tell the truth, and protecting the self-respect that sobriety gave back.
Pat P. from Cleveland, OH speaking at the C.A.H. group in Euclid, OH - December 21st 2008
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu
 

Ed learned from Chuck C. that what we came to AA looking for, we were already looking with.
☀️ Sober Sunrise AppListen to Sober Sunrise AA speaker talks anytime, track your sober time, take a daily pledge, and keep recovery support close throughout the day.📱 Sober Sunrise App - Apple App Store
☀️ Sober Sunrise Episode ArchiveHundreds of AA speaker tapes and recovery stories:https://sober-sunrise.com/episodes
🧡 Sober Sunrise Merchhttps://sober-sunrise.com/merch
🌴 Sober Sunrise Newsletterhttps://sober-sunrise.com/newsletter
Ed M., sober since January 5, 1971, leads a funny, blunt, and deeply spiritual Mother’s Day retreat on alcoholism, emotional maturity, spiritual sobriety, and living the Twelve Steps in every area of life. He shares his own story of early drinking, violence, resentment, faith, amends, forgiveness, ministry, family pain, and the surprising life AA opened up for him, then moves into a practical look at powerlessness, surrender, inventory, anger, defects of character, and the need to keep applying the program beyond alcohol alone. With stories about Big John, Clancy, Chuck C., treatment-center confusion, carrying the message through tapes, forgiving the men involved in his father’s murder, and learning to stop living from old “ones,” Ed keeps returning to the same simple point: the answer was never missing, but the application has to become real.
Parts 1-3 of Ed M. from Davenport, IA speaking at a Mothers Day Retreat - 2006
Music: Deep by KaizanBlu