Advertise on podcast: AA Grapevine's Podcast

Don and Olis discuss the many types of AA gatherings, including assemblies, conferences, conventions, forums, workshops. Don describes his recent experience at the Southeast Regional Forum, and he interviews several participants including Jennifer, Kim, Kyle and Sonia. Sam visits the National AA Technology Workshop in Concord, CA, and demonstrates how we put the AA Grapevine Half Hour Variety Hour together each week. Sam interviews Scott who joins virtually from Cambodia, and Scott describes his drinking, beginnings in AA, and his current service work to help AA grow in his new country. Scott joined the technology workshop because he was appointed web master, and hopes to learn more from others. Jen shares her love for Grapevine. If you enjoy this podcast, please tell at least one friend. Word of mouth is the best way to communicate services available in our anonymous fellowship. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Rito tells Don and Sam that he played the blame game in prison — everyone else was at fault for him being locked up. He did go to AA meetings while doing time because they had coffee and donuts, and that's where the seeds of recovery were planted. Now 34 years sober, Rito tries to plant the seeds of recovery in others, in prison and outside the walls. Even if the seeds don't take root, Rito stays sober. In A Newcomer Asks there's an anonymous question about downloading the apps from AA: Grapevine, Everything AA and Meeting Guide. In Using the Traditions in Our Lives Jeffrey, Antonio and Andrew share about Tradition 10: "Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA name ought never be drawn into public controversy." Stay tuned after sign off for bonus Listener Feedback from Bee, Carl and Roger. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Meg and Leslie join Don and Sam and describe their recovery from alcoholism. The four then discuss different approaches to sponsorship — from giving 1000 chances to practicing tough love. James shares about subscribing to Grapevine because he reads an article to start every day. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Christina, whose story appears in the October 2026 issue of Grapevine, tells Olis and Don that when drinking she saw everyone else living these normal lives, but it never occurred to her that alcohol was messing with her life. Christine tells the story that after judges, psych wards, losing relationships, she mysteriously found herself in the Vancouver Intergroup Office and talked to a woman who did not berate her but instead told Christina about her life as an alcoholic. Terrance tells of his love for Grapevine audio, and about his service bringing the magazines to prisons. Kenneth shares a joke in Wit's End. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Rachel tells Don and Sam that drinking was a big part of her family life and she too followed that path. While friends were starting families, going to college, getting full-time jobs Rachel was going to jail, moving closer to bars so she didn't have to drive, and watching TV shows about interventions while drinking. She tried for years to avoid herself. Now in AA, Rachel is facing life on life's terms. Sometimes that brings pain, but it also brings joy and freedom, she says. In the feature Language of the Heart we hear from Jack and Janice. Steve shares a joke in Wit's End. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Matt tells Don and Sam that he came to his first AA meeting at 17, but needed several more years of drinking before the internal bankruptcy and demoralization brought him to surrender. Matt found an AA member in prison who helped him on his journey. Matt helps others in prison as a volunteer too. His friend summed it up nicely: "I come to prison to stay out of prison." In Listener Feedback Don, Matt and Sam respond to Kevin, Carey and Eric. We hear jokes from Jim and Tom. Nora shares her love for Grapevine. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Tiombe found sobriety at a young age and was blessed to find a group of caring young people who helped her. They were the type who if you couldn't read the Big Book, they'd read it to you. She tells Olis and Don about learning that she not only had to give up drinking, but also the lifestyle she'd built to survive. Tiombe also talks about being a seeker through meditation. In the feature Using the Traditions in Our Lives, we hear about Tradition Nine from Julie, Jeff and Kelsey. Mike shares his love for the AA Grapevine. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Allison felt like a late bloomer starting drinking at 14, her friends were already at it. She tells Don and Sam that her first drinks were part of her people pleasing tendencies, but she stayed lonely nonetheless. Later, friends told Allison she needed to get help, and recommended AA. At her first meeting Allison felt welcomed — the group made it a First Step meeting and asked her to come back tomorrow. Bill shares about his love for Grapevine. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Father Bill tells Olis and Sam about hitting a botttom and intentionally living in a shelter for a year. He stresses the importance of prayer and meditation in his sober journey and explains "two way prayer" as he understands it. Father Bill talks about hearing the AA program boiled down to three words: connection, correction and direction. He says that in his guided life part of his job is too look for contamination—finding disturbances. In Language of the Heart we hear from Terry, Matt and Jen. Alan shares his love for Grapevine. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Ann tells Olis and Don that fear drove her, and that she tried to control her drinking — often unsuccessfully. A marriage counselor told her to look at her own drinking, and she shared that with her mother. Ann's mother in turn invited Ann to join her at a meeting. Ann instead tried on her own, again unsuccessfully. When she finally went to her first meeting, Ann felt her life was over. She did not want to be an alcoholic. But, women helped her at that first meeting and ever since, and now she helps others. In the Ask it Basket Scott has a question about self hatred. Jeff shares his love for Grapevine. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

David tells Don and Sam that he was very shy, but with booze in him he would offer to sing to women. David was a full blown alcoholic at 24—when hung over he learned to drink and would pass out and wake up hungover — and repeat. David talks at length about his 9th Step work and living free of shame. Vicky tells us about her love for Grapevine. Kenneth shares a joke. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Heidi tells Olis and Sam that she thought she'd found the solution early on, and didn't need all the tools found in the twelve steps. She learned later that alcoholism is a tricky disease. Sober in AA, Heidi helped her group get online during the pandemic, and that led her down a new path of service. She talks about the upcoming National AA Technology Workshop that is coming up the weekend of September 11. In the Ask it Basket Drew asks about the twelve steps. Marcheta shares about Grapevine in her life. In Using the Traditions in Our Lives we hear from Kevin, Mary and David. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. Please subscribe to this podcast on your favorite platform, rate us and leave a comment. You can also email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Ronnie, whose article appears in the August 2026 issue of Grapevine magazine, tells Don and Sam how drinking was a solution for him to hide away from his emotions. He stopped drinking on his own periodically when life became unmanageable, but always returned to it when things straightened out. When he finally found the gift of desperation, his neighbor said, "I got a friend." Olis reports in from the Western Roundup Living Sober and talks to Ronny, Pam and David. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. You can email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Marissa sits down with Don and Sam on her 13th sober anniversary. Lots of troubles followed Marissa into sobriety, and she says she learned slowly in AA that by taking actions, never alone, that she can walk through anything. Some great advice she got from a sponsor about a broken relationship: treat it as a service commitment until it doesn't feel that way. In the Ask It Basket we hear questions from Rudy and Alex. Johnny shares about using the Grapevine. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. You can email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].

Scott started drinking at 11, and says that alcohol was at the foundation of all he did. He chose to attend college in a party town, and it took seven years to get a bachelor degree. He is grateful that the rehab he attended brought him to AA meetings because the counselors talked about Scott and he put up his defenses, while the AA members talked about themselves, and Scott couldn't help but identify. Scott also talks about his work trying to make AA meetings more accessible for more alcoholics. In the feature Language of the Heart we hear from Mandy, Chris and Darlene. While we provide the podcast at no charge, we do have expenses. Grapevine is the only AA entity that does not accept direct contributions, so to support the AA Grapevine Podcast, please subscribe to Grapevine Magazine in print, online, or on the Grapevine app. You can also provide a subscription to someone in need through our "Carry the Message" program or purchase books or other items at aagrapevine.org/store. You can email us at [email protected]. To record an Ask-It-Basket question or a recovery-related joke, call 212-870-3418 or email a voice recording to [email protected].