Why Atheists and Professors Can Make It in AA – Bob Z.

About This Speaker Tape

Midland MI. 1-13-89 - 1989

Bob D. traces his path from a 'good thinking alky' university professor to a life of rigorous honesty. He maps out the mental gymnastics of his drinking years—using lab alcohol in Clorox bottles pretending to be a scientist while lying to psychiatrists and the 'administrative game' he played at Cornell to hide his dysfunction. The turning point arrives during the 1965 East Coast blackout in New York where a moment of sheer creepiness—having no clean underwear—leads him to a psychiatrist who bluntly calls him an 'insane alcoholic.' Bob D. dismantles the myth of the 'functioning' academic moving through a period of prescription drug abuse in Montana before finding a stable joy-filled life with his wife Marion M. He emphasizes that the real magic is found in the shift from 'not drinking at people' to a genuine spiritual condition.

Topics

Timestamps

• 2:15 Bob D. describes his early drinking habits and the 'educational troubleshooters' school.
• 7:40 The 'never-ending vodka bottle' and using lab alcohol in the workplace.
• 11:20 Laughter: Bob D. discusses lying to his psychiatrist for 25 dollars a visit.
• 15:10 The 1965 blackout in New York and the 'no clean underwear' epiphany.
• 18:45 The blunt diagnosis from the psychiatrist: 'You're an insane alcoholic.'
• 22:30 First AA meeting and the 'How It Works' section of the Big Book.
• 28:10 Discussion on atheists in AA and 'not drinking at people'.
• 33:40 The transition to Montana and the descent into prescription drug abuse (Dexedrine).
• 38:15 Finding a meeting in Michigan by following a car with an 'Easy Does It' bumper sticker.
• 43:20 Reflections on rigorous honesty and the relationship with his children.