From Eight Years of Warming a Chair to Finally Reading the Book - AA Speaker - Bart R.
From Eight Years of Warming a Chair to Finally Reading the Book - AA Speaker - Bart R.  
Podcast: Sober Sunrise - AA Speaker Podcast
Published On: Mon May 04 2026
Description: Bart spent eight years in AA meetings without raising his hand once - until someone's sponsor made him so angry from the podium that he showed up at the guy's store the next morning ready to fight, and walked out two hours later with a sponsor and a big book.We just launched our new Episodes page — search hundreds of AA speaker meetings by topic, speaker, or step ☀️  Sober Sunrise Episode Archive Check out our lighthearted sober t-shirts and help support the channel🧡 Sober Sunrise Merch Want to receive all the speakers from the last week + some fun other AA happenings? Join the Sober Sunrise Newsletter! Weekly Newsletter Bart came into AA in 1987 and spent eight years going to meetings without ever working the steps, raising his hand, or getting a sponsor. He was so shy people offered him cash just to say his name. In 1995 he heard a speaker talk about being recovered, happy, and free - and it made him furious. He showed up at the guy's store the next morning to confront him, and two hours later he was reading the Big Book for the first time. Three months in, his sponsor sent him to work with a guy from a rehab who wanted to kill everyone in the room - and Bart watched him recover. That changed everything. Bart R. from Long Beach, NY speaking at the Airmont group's 13th anniversary in Airmont, NY - July 18th 2008 Music: Deep by KaizanBlu