For decades, the Joe and Charlie Big Book Study has been one of the most beloved teaching tools in Alcoholics Anonymous. Two ordinary men from Arkansas sat down with the Big Book, walked through it page by page, and somehow made the whole thing come alive. People in recovery have been passing their recordings around for nearly fifty years.
If you have ever wanted to listen to the full series, the Sober Speak podcast has preserved all eight parts of the Joe and Charlie Big Book Comes Alive workshop. You can stream every episode for free, listen at your own pace, and revisit any section as often as you need.
This guide walks you through who Joe and Charlie were, why their study still matters, and where to find each episode.
Who Were Joe and Charlie?
Joe McQ and Charlie P met in 1973. They were both members of Alcoholics Anonymous, both fascinated by the Big Book, and both convinced that a clear, methodical walk through the text could help anyone understand the program.
The two of them lived 225 miles apart in Arkansas, but they drove back and forth to study together. In 1977, a group of AA members in Tulsa, Oklahoma, invited them to present their study at a home group meeting. Someone recorded that presentation on a cassette tape.
Those tapes started moving from person to person, group to group, state to state. Within a few years, Joe and Charlie were traveling the country, then the world, presenting their study at AA conventions and roundups. By the 1980s, their recordings were a staple of recovery culture, and they still are today.
Why the Joe and Charlie Big Book Study Still Matters
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous was written in 1939. The language can feel old-fashioned, and some of the chapters move at a pace that newer readers find hard to follow. Joe and Charlie solved that problem by reading slowly, explaining the historical context, and connecting each passage to their own lived experience.
Their study is not a lecture. It is a conversation between two long-sober men who clearly love the book and want listeners to love it too.
They laugh. They tell stories and gently disagree on small points before returning to the text.
For people working the steps with a sponsor, the Joe and Charlie recordings offer a parallel voice in the room. For people in long-term sobriety, the series often surfaces something new in a passage they thought they already understood. For family members trying to grasp what their loved one is doing in AA, it is one of the clearest introductions to the program available anywhere.
How to Listen to the Joe and Charlie Big Book Series on Sober Speak
Sober Speak has split the full Big Book Comes Alive workshop into eight episodes, released over several years. Each episode runs about an hour and covers a specific section of the Big Book. You can listen straight through or jump to the section that matches your current step work.
All eight episodes are linked below.
Episode 251: Joe and Charlie Part 1 of the Big Book Comes Alive
Part 1 opens the series with the Doctor’s Opinion. Joe and Charlie set the stage by explaining how the Big Book was written and why the early chapters were ordered the way they were.
They unpack what Dr. Silkworth meant by describing alcoholism as both a physical allergy and a mental obsession. Released August 5, 2022.
Episode 260: Joe and Charlie Part 2 of the Big Book Comes Alive
Part 2 moves into Bill’s Story and the first few chapters. The discussion focuses on the nature of alcoholism, the difference between a hard drinker and a real alcoholic, and the moment many people in recovery recognize themselves in the text for the first time. Released October 7, 2022.
Episode 268: Joe and Charlie Part 3 of the Big Book Comes Alive
Part 3 covers More About Alcoholism and We Agnostics. Joe and Charlie spend real time on the spiritual question, walking listeners through the Big Book’s argument that a relationship with a Higher Power, however you understand that, is what makes recovery possible. Released December 2, 2022.
Episode 288: Joe and Charlie Part 4 of the Big Book Comes Alive
Part 4 brings the listener to How It Works and the beginning of the step instructions. This is where the Big Book stops describing the problem and starts laying out the solution.
Joe and Charlie slow down here, reading carefully so the directions are easy to follow. Released April 21, 2023.
Episode 305: Joe and Charlie Part 5 of the Big Book Comes Alive
Part 5 digs into the heart of the step work, including Steps Three and Four. The conversation around taking inventory is especially useful for anyone preparing to do this work with a sponsor. Released August 18, 2023.
Episode 322: Joe and Charlie Part 6 of the Big Book Comes Alive
Part 6 continues through the middle steps, including sharing inventory in Step Five and beginning to let go of character defects in Steps Six and Seven. Released December 15, 2023.
Episode 330: Joe and Charlie Part 7 of the Big Book Comes Alive
Part 7 walks into the amends steps. Joe and Charlie discuss what a thorough amends actually looks like, the difference between direct and indirect amends, and how to handle situations where direct contact would cause more harm. Released February 9, 2024.
Episode 381: Joe and Charlie Part 8 of the Big Book Comes Alive
Part 8 closes the series with the maintenance steps. Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve are presented as the daily practice that keeps recovery alive long after the first nine steps are completed. Released January 31, 2025.
How to Use the Joe and Charlie Recordings in Your Recovery
There is no single right way to listen. Different people get different things from the series depending on where they are in their own program.
If you are new to AA, start with Part 1 and listen in order. The early episodes give you the foundation you need before the step work makes sense. Pair what you hear with your own copy of the Big Book so you can follow along on the page.
If you are working on a specific step with your sponsor, jump to the part of the series that covers that step. Listening to Joe and Charlie alongside your own step work often surfaces questions worth bringing to your next sponsor meeting.
If you have years of sobriety, the recordings reward a fresh listen every few years. Most people in long-term recovery notice details they missed the first three or four times through. The text does not change, but you do, and that changes what you hear.
If you lead or attend a Big Book study group, the episodes make effective discussion starters. Play a section, pause the audio, and let the group talk through what they heard before moving on.
More Big Book and Step Resources on Sober Speak
The Joe and Charlie series is the centerpiece of Sober Speak’s AA Big Book Study collection, but it is far from the only resource. The podcast has more than twenty additional episodes that walk through individual steps from a range of voices, including David G, Chris S, Reno John, Marty C, and others.
Each speaker brings a slightly different angle to the same material. Hearing the steps explained by multiple people often clarifies something that one voice alone could not.
If you are looking for written companions to the audio, the Step Worksheets page collects printable guides for each of the twelve steps. The Recovery category on the main site gathers hundreds of articles covering everything from early sobriety to long-term emotional growth.
Sober Speak has been serving the recovery community since 2017. Every Friday, a new episode releases. The Joe and Charlie series is one of many gifts the podcast offers to people walking this path.
A Final Word on the Joe and Charlie Big Book Study
Joe McQ passed away in 2007. Charlie P passed away in 2011, but their voices are still helping people reach their own spiritual awakening every single day.
The two of them never set out to become famous. They were just two men who loved the Big Book and wanted to share what they had found.
Decades later, their voices still help people get sober. That is the quiet miracle of recovery. The work one person does in their own program ripples out in ways they may never see, sometimes for generations.
Pour a cup of coffee, open the Big Book, and press play on Part 1. You are in good company.
Sober Speak is not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. The podcast shares experience, strength, and hope centered around recovery and the 12 steps for educational and inspirational purposes.