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 ...