Rebellion Dogs Radio

Rebellion Dogs Radio

A contemporary look at addiction, recovery and mental health - less dogma, more bite. The author of Beyond Belief: Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life shares interviews with writers, artists, film-makers, treatment professionals and shares the latest research.

Episodes

August 31, 2025 63 mins

Right now, we look ahead to 2024. Freethinkers in Orlando Alcoholics Anonymous are preparing to host the International Conference of Secular AA. This will mark ten years since our first International gathering of AA, for and by atheists and agnostics.

This show is a replay of Episode IX - highlights of the first ever We Agnostics & Freethinkers International A.A. Conference from Santa Monica California, November 6th t...

Mark as Played

A significant portion of this Rebellion Dogs Radio Episode 20 was the first interview we conducted with recovery friend/history lover, and writer Bob K, also known as Bobby Beach, originally aired in January 2016.

It is with sadness that we share the news that Bob passed away at the age of 75 on August 12, 2025, in the early morning hours.  This recording, the first of two on Rebellion Dogs Radio (the second being about his historic...

Mark as Played

 

Rebellion Dogs Radio episode 83 broadcasts within the 90 years of AA in Vancouver, Canada, from July 3 to 6, 2025, at the International Convention. Because COVID-19 prevented the in-person 2020 Detroit I C from happening, it’s been ten years since we all met in Austin. Estimates put the attendance at 38,000 in Vancouver; others enjoyed 8 hours of hybrid “Language of the Heart” – the convention theme – by logging on privately or pa...

Mark as Played
June 18, 2025 57 mins

The magical mystery tour of AA storytelling came to Atlanta in 2015, where 60,000 attendees at the International Convention of Alcoholics Anonymous gathered from July 1st to 5th. “80 years – Happy, Joyous and Free” was the theme. 

Diggins, Big Mike, and Jeff Y spoke to 1,500 and 2,000 people at the We Agnostics Panel held at the Convention with three speakers.  

2025's AA celebration will include a Secular AA Hospitality Suite, ...

Mark as Played

This recording is the first-ever "We Agnostics" panel at AA's International Convention, held in Seattle to celebrate 55 years of AA in 1990.

At the time of recording, we are a couple of weeks from the 90th Anniversary of AA, held in Vancouver, Canada, from July 2nd to 6th. There will be another We Agnostics Panel at 9:30 AM on Saturday, and also, "What is a secular AA format?" Friday afternoon and "One ...

Mark as Played

In 2000, Minneapolis featured the third rendition of non-believers at the quadrennial International convention of AA. In 1990 We Agnostics was part of the Seattle AA program. In 1995 We Agnostics was hosted by the San Diego AA World Convention; there has been such a panel every world convention since, in Toronto 2005, San Antonio 2010, Atlanta 2015. Detroit 2020 was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When posting this, there a...

Mark as Played

The AA World Convention is a quinquennial gathering to celebrate the anniversary of Alcoholics Anonymous.  

Since 1990, there has been a “We Agnostics Panel." At the time of posting, we are 80 days away from Vancouver 2025, July 3-6. AA World Convention with the theme “Language of the Heart.” 

2025's AA celebration will include a Secular AA Hospitality Suite, which you can find in your 2025 AA Vancouver program. We are open...

Mark as Played

Connection

Hope

Identity

Meaning

Empowerment

These commonalities of most people who thrive (vs. cope) in recovery from addiction and mental health comes from the research of Mary Leamy, Senior Lecturer in Mental Health Recovery and Staff Wellbeing, and Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research programme, Kings College in London

https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/mary.leamy


A conceptual framework for personal recovery in m...

Mark as Played

Dr. Joe Nowinski's book ideas comes from working in the trenches, not from any ivory tower. Episode 77 of Rebellion Dogs Radio looks at a run-of-the-mill problem in early recovery that doesn’t get enough ink: if we are together in a relationship and you go to treatment and come home to stay sober, should I live a sober life too? It’s your problem. Well, that’s one way to look at it; others would feel we are in this together. <...

Mark as Played

What’s Different?

  • The first 164 pages are now 122 pages – by simplifying the language.
  • More “gender-balanced” – e.g. jaywalker is female; but not gender-neutral using “they”.
  • The wording of the Steps has not changed from Him/His, but in other places,gender-balanced He/Him/His “may have changed to God”.
  • Only “Dr. Bob’s Nightmare” is included in the stories (more on some problematic Doctor Bob language to follow).

Plain language ...

Mark as Played

We look at history—why? Isn’t this a contemporary, or even future gazing look at recovery and addiction?

Well yes and yes. Yuval Noah Harari, PDH author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind says, “History is not the study of past; history is the study of change; it’s not about remembering the past; it’s about liberating ourselves from it.”

Episode 75 of Rebellion Dogs Radio explores three calls to action by Alcoholics ...

Mark as Played


From our Radio vault, Episode 19 features Richard, a Canadian Slam Poet, Comedian, pianist + Jack from LA, punk rocker, author, and recovering Big Book thumper. This show was recorded in the Fall of 2015. It is eight years later - both of these mavericks are doing their thing, in meetings and on stage. Visit our website for links if you connect with Jack, Richard, or both of these samples of recovery. I suspect that one or bot...

Mark as Played

It was the Fall of 2019, Writing the Big Book: The Creation of AA by William Schaberg was about to be published and Joe C sat down with the author to talk about the soon-to-be-unveiled book born of eleven years of primary documentary research on Rebellion Dogs Radio, Episode 49. Four years later, more has been revealed and new insights gained. So listeners asked, “When are you two going to sit down again for a podcast?” Here it is....

Mark as Played

Two Davids, facing two Goliaths of stubborn orthodoxy are the focus of Episode 17 of Rebellion Dogs Radio.

One rebel is Mark Lewis, who challenges the disease model of addiction.

Greta Vosper, atheist minister of the United Church of Canada, who at the time was facing a review of her peers who found her liberalism to be maybe too far to be called even progressive Christianity.

Looking back in 2023, the...

Mark as Played

 Trysh Travis, is Associate Dean at University of Florida. She oversees Women’s Studies, is a cultural and literary historian whose work looks at the gendered history of medicine and popular therapeutic cultures. While working as a high school teacher, she earned an MA from the Bread Loaf School of English, followed by a PhD in American Studies from Yale University. She is the author of The Language of the Heart: Twelve-Step Recove...

Mark as Played
March 31, 2023 55 mins

William G. Borchert: September 9, 1933 - October 1, 2022 memorial will be on Zoom coming from Stepping Stones April 2 (first 1000 only) 
ZOOM 867 0807 3394 Passcode 1962 7—8:15 PM New York time (UTC –4)

 Who was Bill B? A New York newspaperman who got sober in the 1960s and would write some AA history including early AA + When Love is Not Enough, the story of Lois Wilson. Bill died in October 1922 and he is being honored by frie...

Mark as Played

Bob K's new book is out - The Secret Diaries of Bill W 

 In 1972  AA was learning to live sans-founder as  Bill Wilson had been dead for a year. In Episode 72 of Rebellion Dogs Radio, The Secret Diaries of Bill W by bob k bring him back for another lap around the track. We spend, well pretty much the whole episode talking about all kinds of things but mostly Bob K and Joe C talk about writing, this, Bob's  new hi...

Mark as Played

Michael is a professor, musician, journalist and author. Having just written a Living Sober-size booklet, Michael is our guest to make a case for AA for people, even if they are skeptical about the higher power stuff. He shares how in he neither looks for a war of worldviews nor bites his tongue. This first contemporary recovery print offering of 2023 is a great for secular AA Zoomers in search of new meeting starters. It's a ...

Mark as Played

Meet Clinical Psychologist at Greater Manchester West NHS Mental Health Foundation Trust, Mani Mehdikhani, one of AA Great Britain’s non-alcoholic trustees on their General Service Board. 

Among other duties, Mani and his committee prepared the quinquennial AA membership survey which went out to Alcoholics Anonymous members in Great Britain and English-speaking Central Europe Region groups in 2020. 

A remarkable thing happe...

Mark as Played

With or Without God: the latest Alcoholics Anonymous Membership Survey from Great Britain identifies how many members are religious vs. secular.

Episode 69 of Rebellion Dogs Radio  looks at our more enlightened understanding of AA members, at least a significant sample size: the findings from the Great Britain 2020 AA Membership Survey + English Speaking Central Europe meetings. We look, not only at this modernism movement that incl...

Mark as Played

Popular Podcasts

    My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.

    24/7 News: The Latest

    The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.

    Dateline NBC

    Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

    Stuff You Should Know

    If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

    The Bobby Bones Show

    Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.

Advertise With Us
Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.