Sober Curator Podcast

Hosted by Alysse Bryson & Tamar Routly, and produced by Podcast Impact Studio, The Sober Curator Podcast brings sober lifestyle, pop culture, & recovery to the mic. Alongside Alysse & Tamar, rotating global contributors join as co-hosts to explore zero-proof drinks, sober travel, quit lit, entertainment, & mental health. This is sober media with personality, perspective, & a glitter bomb of honesty. Sober-curious or living alcohol-free, we’ve got you! We're not here to help you get sober. We're here to help you live sober: and love it.

Sober Curator Podcast is a news podcast hosted by Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly, with 93 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly hosts Sober Curator Podcast, a news show with 93 episodes published.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  Gray Area Drinking, Wine Mom Culture, and Why Sober Is the New Trench Coat (with Ruby Williams + Susan Larkin of Sober & Lit)

  Sep 30, 202655 min

  Sober is having a moment. NA beer is outselling the real thing in some markets, Dry January is an industry, and everyone is saying "gray area drinking" like it's new slang. So we brought in two people who've been in this conversation from opposite ends: Ruby Williams spent 20 years in the wine industry. Susan Larkin spent 20 years at Yale School of Medicine. They met as This Naked Mind coaches, became meditation partners, and now host the Sober & Lit podcast, 140 episodes deep. Same landing spot, two totally different rooms. Alysse and Tamar wanted to know what the collision looked like. In this episode: RAIN (recognize, allow, investigate, nurture), and why the same practice works whether you invite God or the universe Why they renamed the show to reclaim the word "sober" How mommy wine culture normalized a bottle a night, from play-date teacups to swim-meet water bottles Reverse purse wine: the NA bottles Susan brings to parties (Oddbird, Tomorrow Cellars, Jøyus, H2o), and what happened when Tamar poured hers in a tumbler "If you go to the barber, you're gonna get a haircut," and why NA wine works for some people and not others Alysse's Mad Men martini dining room, Ruby's stacks of "rosé all day" shirts, and the dad who replaced a wine club with National Geographic The nurse at the cardiologist who said "if I miss, I owe you a drink" Normal drinkers don't justify: Tamar's one-line test CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open: sober is having a moment 01:41 How Ruby and Susan met 03:07 RAIN: recognize, allow, investigate, nurture 05:34 God or the universe, same practice 06:40 Why they renamed it "Sober & Lit" 11:27 A word from our sponsor: Aura House 12:15 The trends that made them cringe 18:04 Mommy wine culture: play dates, teacups, swim meets 21:54 Supersize my wine: the 13-ounce pour 24:02 NA wine picks: Oddbird, Tomorrow Cellars, Jøyus, H2o 26:56 Tamar's four bottles and the placebo effect 31:44 "Keep the ritual, ditch the alcohol" 33:00 Alysse's Mad Men martini dining room 34:39 Rosé all day: Ruby's wine-industry purge 35:39 Susan's dad, the wine club, and National Geographic 40:06 Hayden Panettiere and Brad Pitt, same week 41:14 Yale, gray area drinking, and doctors who prescribe wine 43:00 The pitcher plant: don't wait for rock bottom 44:17 "I owe you a drink": the cardiologist story 46:44 Normal drinkers don't justify 48:24 Would you pass around cigarettes at church? 50:55 Backstage, and why sober is the new trench coat Nothing in this episode is medical advice. If your relationship with alcohol worries you, talk to a licensed professional. SAMHSA's National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357. Mentioned in this episode: Sober & Lit podcast (Ruby Williams + Susan Larkin) Backstage with The Sober Curator Our bonus episode on Hayden Panettiere and Brad Pitt Justin Kinney on kratom for The Sober Curator The Sober Curator Mixtape (Sober Snail Mail) SEASON 2 MERCH: shopthesobercurator.com This episode is brought to you by Aura House. Save 10% with code TSC10: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64140200 SC RESOURCES: Meet the Contributors Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT: thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter | @thesobercurator on Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme "Sober Shots" created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno's commercial license.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  TOMONOTOMO: The Sober Bartender Who Moved to Oaxaca and Built a Copper Still

  Sep 23, 202651 min

  A Toronto mixologist spends years building other people’s nights out. COVID moves her cocktail classes onto Zoom, the kits sell, and she has never been less happy. So she books a one-way ticket to Mexico. Amanda Chen went from Tulum to a 10-day silent meditation retreat on the Oaxacan coast, walked out with no desire to drink, white-knuckled it for two years, and then found her people on a stranger’s patio at her first meeting. Then she did the thing nobody does: she stayed in the world of drinks and built TOMONOTOMO, a non-alcoholic agave spirit distilled by hand on a copper still in Oaxaca City, with real Tobalá agave and no shortcuts. Alysse met her at the Sans Bar Academy Awards in Austin, where they both took home trophies. In this episode: The one-way ticket, Tulum’s hedonism, and why she left at the top of her game Ten days of silence in Mazunte and the backpack she wasn’t ready to drop off the cliff Two years of avoiding every room with mezcal in it, which in Oaxaca is every room The first meeting: an emailed address, a doorbell, and a woman who described herself as “batshit sober” Why “do you want a drink?” used to feel like an attack, and the fiancée who called it Copper stills, palenques, and the day mezcaleros started asking to live like her What “tomo” and “no tomo” mean, and the Pride label with about 10 bottles left Carrie Bradshaw, cosmos, and why “Sex and the City” did not age well Watching “Ted Lasso” from midnight to 5 a.m. while the still does its work Sober Shots: “That’s not a pivot, friends. That is a plot twist, and I love a plot twist.” (Alysse Bryson) “I’m ready to drop the ball, I’m not ready to drop the bag.” (Amanda Chen) Mentioned in this episode: TOMONOTOMO or #ADDTOCART ON AMAZON Kim Parsley’s TOMONOTOMO Tobalá review on The Sober Curator Backstage with The Sober Curator Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more. SEASON 2 MERCH: https://shopthesobercurator.com/ This episode is brought to you by Aura House. Save 10% with code TSC10: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64140200 SC RESOURCES: Meet the Contributors Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT: www.thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter | @thesobercurator on Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme “Sober Shots” created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno’s commercial license.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  The Hazards of Podcasting Sober: When Your Mom Hears It Before You Tell Her

  Sep 2, 202633 min

  You hit publish, and right in the pit of your stomach it lands: someone you have never told is about to hear it anyway. In this house, that feeling has a name. We call it Wednesday. This week Alysse and Tamar take on the hazards of podcasting sober. Sober podcasters do not get the blackout excuse, and "radical honesty" was never supposed to mean unfiltered. Alysse tells the story of the episode her mom should have heard from her first, Tamar tells the story of what her parents said the morning after they read her book, and both of them admit the stories that land at a sober meeting do not always land on a first date. Then it gets practical: how to pitch a podcast without embarrassing yourself, the mic that survived Goldilocks and the three mics, why real beats AI in 2026, and the single best hazard-reducer any host can have. A co-host. IN THIS EPISODE: "We call it Wednesday": the cold-open feeling every sober podcaster knows The story Alysse's mom heard on a podcast instead of from her daughter Tamar's parents read her book. Both called the next morning. Know your audience: the dating stories that killed every second date How to pitch a podcast (and the seven "top 50" sober podcasts that are quietly dead) Tech talk: mics, video, Riverside, Descript, and the AI image a celebrity asked Alysse to take down Get a co-host, wear a costume, keep it fun Backstage with The Sober Curator , plus The Sober Curator Mixtape: seven mini zines in a cassette case, mailed monthly SOBER SHOTS: "Because we're sober, we can't blame being blacked out on saying something stupid. We just have to own that we said something stupid." (Alysse) "You're allowed to say the true thing before you've rehearsed it into something safe." (Alysse) MENTIONED: Backstage with The Sober Curator The Sober Curator Mixtape (free for Backstage members, just cover shipping): Podcast Impact Studio, Level Up Labs + the Off Script course Tamar's book: Beyond Recovery - Discover your purpose, embrace your authentic self, and live up to your true potential Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more. SEASON 2 MERCH: https://shopthesobercurator.com/ This episode is brought to you by Aura House. Save 10% with code TSC10: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64140200 SC RESOURCES: Meet the Contributors Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT: thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter | @thesobercurator on Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme "Sober Shots" created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno's commercial license.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  Recovery Friendly Workplace: Should You Tell Your Boss You're Sober? (And What Happens If Your Job Actually Gets It)

  Aug 26, 202641 min

  You spend at least 40 hours a week at work. For a lot of people in recovery, that's 40 hours of navigating a culture that doesn't know you exist, or worse, doesn't care. Eliza Zarka is changing that. She runs the National Recovery Friendly Workplace Institute, which certifies employers as recovery friendly, and she took an idea that started at a New Hampshire ski resort and turned it into a national movement with bipartisan federal backing. Alysse and Sober Curator contributor Sarah, a fractional HR consultant in long-term recovery, get into what it actually takes to make a job safe to be sober in. In this episode: Why "there are already people in recovery that are working for you" is the sentence that changes an employer's mind The four pillars of Recovery Friendly Workplace certification: culture, hiring, benefits, and education How to bring this to your HR department without disclosing your own recovery Alysse on 2006 versus 2026: why she hid it for years, and the 2016 job interview where she said it out loud on purpose The company that made the first hour of its holiday party completely alcohol-free, with leadership required to be there Why the holiday gift bottle of wine tells you the company knows nothing about you Coffee tastings, tea tastings, dirty soda tastings: team building that isn't a wine flight Pop culture close: "The Office," "Parks and Rec," and the true crime documentary habit that may be a problem Sober Shots: "There are already people in recovery that are working for you." (Eliza Zarka) "When you're in an interview, you're interviewing the company just as much as they're interviewing you." (Alysse Bryson) Mentioned in this episode: National Recovery Friendly Workplace Institute: https://rfwinstitute.org Backstage with The Sober Curator: https://thesobercurator.com/backstage-with-the-sober-curator/ The Sober Curator Business Rolodex, free listings for sober business owners: https://thesobercurator.com/the-sober-curator-rolodex/ Nothing in this episode is legal or HR advice. Talk to an employment attorney about your specific situation. Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more. SEASON 2 MERCH: https://shopthesobercurator.com/ This episode is brought to you by Aura House. Save 10% with code TSC10: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64140200 SC RESOURCES: - Meet the Contributors - Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide - Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide - LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT: www.thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter: https://www.thesobercuratornewsletter.com/ | @thesobercurator on Instagram , X , TikTok , YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme "Sober Shots" created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno’s commercial license.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  Quit Lit 2026: Lena Dunham, Anthony Hopkins + Hayden Panettiere, Reviewed by People Who Lived It

  Aug 19, 202642 min

  A note before you listen: we recorded this episode in late July, several weeks before Hayden Panettiere died on August 16 at the age of 36. We are publishing it as recorded rather than editing her out. Her cause of death has not been released and we are not speculating. We recorded a separate conversation about her death, and it is the episode right before this one. If this is landing hard for you: 988 is the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, call or text. SAMHSA's National Helpline is 1-800-662-4357, free and confidential, 24/7. Three memoirs. Three completely different humans. One question: what does it cost to numb yourself when the whole world is watching? Alysse and Tamar pull three of The Sober Curator's most avid readers into a panel on the year's biggest quit lit: “Famesick” by Lena Dunham, “We Did OK, Kid” by Anthony Hopkins, and “This Is Me: A Reckoning” by Hayden Panettiere. Nobody read all three. Everybody has opinions. Sobee scores at the end, and house rules say you cannot score a book you didn't read. In this episode: - Amy Liz Harrison's book hack from her 10th grade English teacher days: first paragraph, last paragraph, skim the middle, finish in an hour - Why The Sober Curator was almost called The Sober Critic, and the epiphany that killed the name - “Famesick”: medical trauma, opioids, and a memoir that flatly refuses to be a before-and-after - “We Did OK, Kid”: the blackout drive Anthony Hopkins had to be told about afterward - Patti Clark and Alysse on what actually stops you, and it isn't what you'd do to yourself - “This Is Me: A Reckoning” Hayden Panettiere on acting at 11 months old, a mother who was also the manager, and postpartum depression nobody names out loud - The Sobee score lightning round, plus a quarter-point scoring controversy Sober Shots: "Quit lit used to mean one shelf on a bookstore nobody browsed on purpose." (Alysse) "There are books that I just wanna eat like a really juicy nectarine and just bite into it and just get sticky." (Patti) Mentioned in this episode: - Mixtape with The Sober Curator zine: https://shopthesobercurator.com/collections/the-mixtape - Cover Story Retreat, November 1-4, Scottsdale: https://evolveretreats.co/cover-story-hermosa-inn/ - Anne Marie Cribbin's Famesick review: https://thesobercurator.com/famesick-lena-dunham-review-addiction-recovery/ - Toni Will, Rebellious Success: https://amzn.to/4x65SeD Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more. SEASON 2 MERCH: https://shopthesobercurator.com/ This episode is brought to you by Aura House. Save 10% with code TSC10: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64140200 SC RESOURCES: - Meet the Contributors - Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide - Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide - LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT: www.thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter: https://www.thesobercuratornewsletter.com/ | @thesobercurator on Instagram , X , TikTok , YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme "Sober Shots" created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno’s commercial license.

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