Episode 8: The slender threads of grace that created Alcoholics Anonymous

Before Bill W. met Dr. Bob, alcoholics were doomed. They were called skid row bums and rum hounds. There was no cure and no hope; there were no rehabs and no hospitals that treated alcoholics with dignity and respect. That all changed when a broke businessman from New York found himself desperate in Akron, Ohio at the Mayflower Hotel and reached for a phone instead of a drink. That call led him to Robert Smith, a surgeon whose hands were too shaky to trust, whose home faced foreclosure. Together, they created a fellowship that has saved over two million lives. The bedrock of A. A. are the 12 steps, 12 traditions and “Big Book” that is now in 70 different languages.