Does AA Work?Does AA Work?
Alcoholics Alive!
Shank and Wayne share how AA has worked in their lives, contrasting mere activity with purposeful action rooted in steps, sponsorship, and service. They question common AA slogans and emphasise that anyone can start using AA’s spiritual tools at any time.
56:40•18 Aug 2026
Does AA Work? Simple Programme, Real Action, Honest Experience
Episode Overview
- AA works when members go beyond activity and take purposeful action such as prayer, meditation, and step work.
- Sponsorship and one alcoholic helping another are described as key factors in early and ongoing sobriety.
- Honesty, especially about drinking and consequences at work, is presented as vital to living a new way of life.
- Getting involved in a home group and simple service work helps people feel connected and less self-centred.
- Newcomers can begin the AA programme at any time, regardless of past relapses or incomplete step work.
“You can pick up the kit of spiritual tools laid at your feet at any moment.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This Season 16 kick-off of *Alcoholics Alive!* looks at the simple question with a complicated reputation: "Does AA work?" Shank and Wayne keep things honest and funny while sharing very practical AA experience rather than theory. You’ll hear them contrast “activity” with “purposeful action”.
Conferences, dances, and endless meetings are described as helpful but limited, while sponsorship, prayer, meditation, and working the Twelve Steps are presented as the real engine of change. As Wayne puts it bluntly, just racing around meetings is “not real purposeful action” without step work and helping others. Both hosts share early sobriety stories: being met at meetings, pulled into service, pushed gently into telling the truth at work, and nudged into amends.
Those simple AA actions led to surprising outcomes, including long-term jobs being saved and bosses showing up at sobriety milestones. One line from the Big Book becomes a cornerstone of the conversation: “It works. It really does.” They connect that promise to daily discipline — praying, meditating, showing up for home group, and saying yes to helping newcomers even when they don’t feel like it.
The episode also tackles familiar AA phrases in their “Meeting Shrapnel” segment, such as “AA is a simple programme for complicated people”, “Simple but not easy”, and “Come all the way in and sit all the way down”. Some sayings get binned, others are kept, but everything is weighed against the actual AA literature and lived experience.
This one’s aimed at anyone wondering if AA can still work for them — especially those who’ve sat in meetings for years without diving into the full programme. It leaves you with a clear message: you can start afresh in AA at any moment and “pick up the kit of spiritual tools laid at your feet”. So what kind of action are you ready to take today?
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