E102 12-Step Programs and the Origins of Alcoholism ft. Jon

Gladio Free Europe

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Humans have been consuming alcohol for as long as we've been human, yet the identification of alcoholism as a chronic addiction is startlingly modern. The history of alcoholism, and the various ways to solve it, provide a great look at the shifting social attitudes around addiction. Many of these disparate ideas come together in the controversial 12-Step Program made ubiquitous by Alcoholics Anonymous.

Liam and Russian Sam are joined once more by their good friend Jon to discuss the past 10 million years of alcoholism, beginning with the earliest known consumption of fermented fruit by our simian ancestors and moving through the 18th century gin crisis and the Victorian temperance movement. Across the 19th century, physicians and preachers clashed over the concept of addiction as a medical condition or a personal moral failing. While the former understanding is now taken for granted, moralistic interpretations steeped in Protestant theology survive in many addiction treatments, including the 12-Step Program.

Jon walks us through the origins and practice of this program, laid out in the 1930s by the enigmatic "Bill W," an alcoholic who turned to both Carl Jung and Lutheranism to help with his addiction. As his program mushroomed into a global movement, his eccentric ideology became scripture for millions of people seeking treatment. Jon describes his own experiences with this philosophy and recounts some of the more controversial aspects of Bill W's life 12-Step Programs writ large.

Jon's Substack: https://dfg.substack.com

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