Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

What does it take to preserve the history of Narcotics Anonymous, and what happens when a few dedicated members decide that the stories of those who came before us are too important to lose?

In this episode of The Living Clean Podcast, we're joined by members of the Northern California History and Archives Committee to discuss their journey from a small history project during the COVID-19 pandemic to becoming an officially recognized regional subcommittee dedicated to preserving the history of NA.

We explore how Art M. and Francis C. began connecting with longtime members and NA predecessors, the challenges they faced in gaining support within the service structure, and how the determination of local Areas helped establish the committee in 2023.

Along the way, we discuss the importance of oral histories, the preservation of photographs, letters, meeting directories, newsletters, and other historical materials, and the incredible work that has gone into recording more than 100 interviews by the end of 2024.

We also talk about the committee's efforts to digitize historical collections, including materials from the San Francisco Area Service Office, and their work documenting the development of NA throughout Northern California.

Looking ahead, we explore one of their most ambitious projects yet: a comprehensive history book documenting the growth of Narcotics Anonymous throughout Northern California.

One of the most powerful messages from this conversation is simple: "You Are the Book." Every member has a story, every Area has a history, and every generation has a responsibility to preserve what was freely given to us.

This episode is a reminder that the history of Narcotics Anonymous isn't just found in old documents or photographs. It lives in the experiences of the addicts who carried the message, built our service structure, opened meeting doors, and helped make recovery possible for those who followed.

Preserving our past. Documenting our journey. Sharing our history with future generations.

This week on The Living Clean Podcast, we continue our journey through the Twelve Steps with Step Ten—the beginning of learning how to practice what we’ve gained in recovery as part of our everyday lives.

Our returning panel of Archer, Pete, and Douglas is back, and this week we’re joined by Ali and Rufus to talk about what it means to continue taking personal inventory.

Step Ten teaches us that recovery isn’t about reaching a point where we stop making mistakes. It’s about becoming willing to recognize them sooner, take responsibility for them, and make things right before they have a chance to pile up. We talk about daily inventory, promptly admitting when we’re wrong, watching for old patterns, and learning the difference between healthy self-examination and beating ourselves up.

We also explore what “promptly” really means, why admitting we’re wrong can still be difficult even after working the first nine steps, and how Step Ten helps prevent resentments, dishonesty, fear, and other problems from quietly building back into our lives.

The first nine steps have helped us clean up much of our past. Step Ten helps us keep today clean.

Join Archer, Pete, Douglas, Ali, and Rufus as we share experience, strength, and hope about living Step Ten—not perfectly, but consistently—and learning how regular inventory, accountability, and course correction can become a way of life.

In this episode of The Living Clean Podcast, we sit down with the Māori woman from Aotearoa, New Zealand, who wrote “Kia Ora Koutou,” one of the personal stories published in the Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text.

The episode begins with a narration of her powerful story—a woman who entered treatment kicking and screaming, got clean partly out of stubbornness and spite, and slowly discovered hope through the message of Narcotics Anonymous. She shares honestly about the progression of her addiction, losing the trust of her whānau, surviving her earliest cravings ten minutes at a time, grieving her old way of life, and eventually rebuilding her relationship with her children, earning a university degree, and creating a life she once believed was impossible.

After hearing “Kia Ora Koutou,” we speak directly with its author about the experiences behind those words and everything that has happened during the 23 years since she wrote them. We explore her Māori identity, family, spirituality, recovery, and the many ways her understanding of hope and freedom has continued to grow.

This is more than an update to a story from the Basic Text. It is living proof that an addict can stop using, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live.

Arohanui—big love.

In this Living Clean Book Study episode, we begin the section “Spiritual and Emotional Crisis,” covering the first four paragraphs.

Recovery doesn’t mean we stop going through hard things. Sometimes the crisis isn’t about wanting to use—it’s about feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, uncertain, or struggling to make sense of what we’re going through.

We discuss what Living Clean has to say about these difficult periods, what they can reveal about where we are spiritually and emotionally, and how staying connected to recovery can help us move through them without returning to old ways of coping.

This week on The Living Clean Podcast, we sit down with Michael M., who has been clean since August 17, 1975.

Michael takes us back to his early days in recovery and shares what Narcotics Anonymous looked like at that time, including his involvement in the early development of the fellowship in his area and his experience attending the 7th World Convention.

From there, we get into Michael’s many years of service and some of the major changes he witnessed and participated in as NA grew. We talk about his involvement with It Works: How and Why, the Sixth Edition of the Basic Text, the development of the first World Board, and his experience serving as the first chair of the World Board.

Along the way, Michael shares stories from more than 50 years of recovery and service and gives us a firsthand look at some of the people, decisions, challenges, and changes that helped shape Narcotics Anonymous into the worldwide fellowship it is today.

There is a whole lot of NA history in this one, but more importantly, there is a whole lot of recovery.

Join us for a conversation with Michael M., clean since August 17, 1975, on this week’s episode of The Living Clean Podcast.

This week on The Living Clean Podcast, Francis and Mason mark the 45th anniversary of the 6th World Literature Conference, held in Miami, Florida, September 14–20, 1981.

In Part One of this special episode, we go day by day through the conference, using the original minutes and historical records to look at what was actually happening in the room as members worked to complete the Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text. We talk about the unfinished chapters, the debates over How It Works, the all-night group conscience meetings, the heat, the typewriters and photocopiers, the disagreements, the laughter, and the incredible amount of work that eventually led to one simple sentence being recorded in the minutes on September 20:

“The book is finished.”

This episode sets the stage for Part Two, where you’ll hear firsthand memories from people who were actually there in Miami and participated in this historic conference.

For an even deeper look at the 6th World Literature Conference, visit PreservingTheMessage.org and check out the accompanying presentation on the Preserving the Message YouTube channel.

Links to the blog and YouTube presentation are included below.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

This week on The Living Clean Podcast, we continue our journey through the Twelve Steps with Step Nine—the step where the preparation of Step Eight becomes action.

Our returning panel of Archer, Pete, and Douglas is back, and this week we’re joined by Brandon B. and Lucy for an honest conversation about making direct amends.

We talk about what an amends actually is, the fear that can come before making one, the difference between an apology and an amends, and why repairing the damage from our past is about much more than simply saying “I’m sorry.” We also explore the important qualification built into the step—“except when to do so would injure them or others”—and why willingness, guidance, timing, and our motives matter.

Step Nine gives us an opportunity to stop hiding from the past without becoming trapped in it. We take responsibility for the harm we caused, do what we can to make things right, and begin experiencing a different kind of freedom—the freedom that comes from cleaning up our side of the street.

Join us for Step Nine as Brandon B., Lucy, Archer, Pete, and Douglas share their experience, strength, and hope about making amends and what happens when we finally become willing to face the people and situations we once wanted to avoid.

In this episode of The Living Clean Podcast, we sit down with Pamela T. to hear her recovery story and explore a journey through Narcotics Anonymous service that has taken her into some fascinating places.

Pamela shares her experience helping establish a new NA area and being involved during the early days of what was, at the time, a groundbreaking approach to service: Consensus-Based Decision Making (CBDM). We talk about what it was like watching those ideas develop, learning a different way of reaching decisions, and seeing how service structures evolve over time.

Her journey eventually took her to the NA World Service Office, where she had the opportunity to serve in different roles and participate in workgroups connected to NA literature. We discuss some of that experience, including her involvement with Guiding Principles: The Spirit of Our Traditions and A Spiritual Principle a Day.

This conversation is part recovery story, part NA history, and part look behind the curtain at how service and literature actually develop. More than anything, it is the story of where saying yes to service can take one recovering addict—and the experiences, relationships, and lessons picked up along the way.