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Open to Debate

Does AA Work?

Open to Debate

Open to Debate

Education, Society & Culture, News, Government, Politics

4.52.1K Ratings

🗓️ 3 January 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Millions of people have credited Alcoholics Anonymous with helping them stay sober from alcohol, but is it the best path for everyone? Those who say “yes” argue it is easily accessible to all and that its structure through the 12-step program helps people succeed. Those who say “no” argue say the abstinence model doesn’t work for everyone and there may be better alternatives. Now we debate: Does AA Work?   Arguing Yes: Dan Griffin, Expert on Alcoholics Anonymous; Author of "A Man's Way Through the Twelve Steps" Arguing No: Adi Jaffe, Founder of IGNTD; Author of "The Abstinence Myth" Nayeema Raza, Journalist and Co-Host of the Semafor Podcast "Mixed Signals", is the guest moderator. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:36.9

I'm Naima Raza, welcome to open to debate.

0:40.0

January is a month that is often cold and often one that is dry, and by that I don't mean the climate.

0:46.3

Every new year, many people make a resolution to stop drinking, some with the goal of a month

0:50.8

and others with the goal of forever.

0:53.3

So it seemed timely to examine the

0:55.3

leading movement in the space, Alcoholics Anonymous, and debate the question, does AA work?

1:02.2

There are over 120,000 AA groups worldwide, 50% of them are in the United States, and the

1:07.9

organization's worldwide membership is estimated at around 2 million people.

1:12.5

Though it's no surprise that AA is often credited and lauded for its role in recovery, yet the

1:18.1

organization also gets its fair share of criticism, with complaints around A.A.'s religious roots,

1:23.2

its effectiveness, and even its dominance over other potential alternatives.

1:30.6

So does A.A. work? To answer that,

1:35.9

let me introduce our debaters. Arguing yes, that A.A. does work is Dan Griffin. He has a master's in sociology with three decades of experience as a speaker and expert on recovery in

1:40.5

AA, and he's notably the author of a man's way through the 12 steps. Dan, thanks so

1:45.7

much for being here. It's great to be here. And here to argue note of the question does A.A.

1:50.0

work, we have Adi Jaffe. Adi holds us PhD in psychology, and he's the founder of Ignited,

...

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