“More than just a professional historian, as a Women’s Studies professor, I’m a professional feminist. That means that my orientation to history is informed by an awareness of the unequal distribution of power between men and women, and a desire to reveal, critique and correct that inequality. Feminism works for me as what Ernie [Kurtz, Not God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous] called a filter—it colors the questions that I ask and the answers that I formulate.” Trysh Travis: 2017 AA History Lover's Symposium, Sedona Mago Recovery Series.
The history of woman in AA (and throughout the larger recovery community) is the focus of Rebellion Dogs Radio #34. Rebellion Dog's 21st century look at 12-Step Life welcomes, from the University of Florida Center for Gender, Sexualities, and Women’s Studies Research, Trysh Travis. Having just come back from Sedona Mago Retreat (Arizona), I can tell you that the place is still buzzing from Trysh Travis' shared research and insights on women and the 12-Step community.
Working on culture and literature book # 3, Trysh Travis authored The Language of the Heart: 12 Step Recovery from AA to Oprah Winfrey, and more recently Re-Thinking Therapeutic Culture. Add to that, as Managing Editor Emeritus of Points: The Blog of the Alcohol & Drugs History Society, our 12-Step culture has never been too far from this researcher's gaze. Today, it my rebellious and dogged pleasure to share my recent conversation with Trysh Travis about some of what her extensive research can tell us about women, addiction and recovery.
Respecting your time, I compromised my way from what could have been the "longest Rebellion Dogs show ever" to a "longer than usual Rebellion Dogs Radio show." That's the great thing about podcasting; we don't have to break away to the news at the top-of-the-hour. Still, I understand you are a busy person, too. What to cut and what to showcase is never a pleasant decision when the content is so rich and important. With some good fortune, episode 34 won’t be the last we hear from Dr. Travis. If you care about any particular marginalized populations in the addiction/recovery community, or if you are intrigued by AA and other 12-Step history, you are in for a treat. This might be one of those, "I have to listen twice to catch it all," shows.
Background:
PhD, Yale University, American Studies, 1998
MA, Bread Loaf School of English, 1995
BA, New York University, Gallatin Division, 1987
Contact
CLICK the PIC to Visit the Blog Post, "Points"
Two Books (and counting) by Trysh Travis
  | “Readers who come to this book looking for blanket condemnation or praise will be disappointed.” Trysh Travis from Language of the Heart. Also by Trysh Travis: anthology Rethinking Therapeutic Culture (co-edited with my friend Tim Aubry 2015) extends my work on popular self-help and other “mental hygiene” movements. |