Club Soda Community Podcast

 In this week's podcast episode, Club Soda founder Laura Willoughby, herself an advocate of social change, talks to Madeleine Shaw , a social entrepreneur from Vancouver, Canada. Madeleine talks candidly about how being a strong advocate for social change can also mean coming from an anti-authoritarian background. Being rebellious at a young age linked Madeleine with alcohol - "drinking...

Often when we think about change, it's very head-based. We think very hard about things. We forget that both our use of substances and some of the reasons that lead us to alcohol actually rooted in our bodies. So getting better acquainted with how we feel, can be a really important part of us changing. This week's podcast guest, Lu Blue, runs the yoga movement Sober Yoga . They are queer...

 Monty Moncrieff is chief executive of London Friend , an organisation that's been supporting the capital's LGBTQ+ community for the past fifty years. In this latest episode of the Club Soda podcast to celebrate the organisation's 50th anniversary, Monty chats to Dru Jaeger about his work, the organisation's history and what the future holds for queer people in London and beyon...

February is LGBT History Month in the UK. It is also Black History Month in the US - we swap over in October. As it happens, we are  featuring stories from the queer community about people and organizations that help people change their drinking in different ways. We are featuring a conversation that Club Soda co-founder Dru had back in October's Mindful Drinking Festival with the fabulous Dr...

Can you be queer and sober? The answer, of course, is yes. You can be absolutely anything that you want to be. Perhaps a better question is: can you easily be queer and sober? As we learn from our panel discussion which was recorded during our Mindful Drinking Festival in October 2021, being queer and being a drinker can be inextricably linked. Linking our drinking to such a crucial part of our id...

At Club Soda, we encourage a variety of tools and resources that helps people on their personal drinking journeys. Whether that's reading Quit Lit , listening to podcasts, taking courses , or joining sober communities online or in real life. But there are many ways of participating in addiction support services that can also help you to gain confidence, meet like-minded people, and gain a new...

The act of making a change to our drinking habits can help us to reconnect with the things that are important to us. This week's podcast guest, the inspirational Jamie Klingler, started with addressing her discomfort with playing the party girl role. In actively avoiding numbing herself, Jamie found a clear head, an articulate voice, and a reignited passion to engage with her values and an ab...

It's the middle of January, and you may be feeling a bit flat after the exciting start of your month of change. If willpower and motivation are ebbing, then leaning into mindfulness can be the new tool that helps you to build the life that you want to live. There is good research and evidence out there that practising mindfulness can actually help us create and sustain change. Whether that&ap...

Following on from  last week's podcast which gave some expert advice on preparing to take a month off drinking , this podcast is all about giving you some valuable tools that you might need to sustain your month off booze.  Now that we've reached the second week of January, it's easy to take a successful first week and tell ourselves it's all about willpower, or luck.  But as L...

Tomorrow is 1 January, a time when we all start thinking about New Years' Resolutions. These might be smaller steps such as getting more fresh air or drinking more water. Your goals for 2022 might be focused on addressing bigger issues such as problem drinking. This is the time of year when people think about taking a month off drinking. And if you're thinking that this might be the plan...

There's a whole team of people behind Club Soda, and in this Christmas Eve podcast episode, we're giving you a peek behind the curtain to introduce you to team members Ali, Nia , and Anja . All three Club Soda Elves have personal experiences with either sober Christmases or moderation during what is usually a booze-soaked time of year.  This is a chance to get to know the Club Soda team...

When Club Soda founder Laura gets an idea in her head, it usually turns into something pretty wonderful. We know this because as this podcast goes live, London's first-ever alcohol-free off-licence will have been open for a week! Putting a little alcohol-free fun into the London Christmas shopping scene this December, Laura's big idea has caused quite a splash.  Listen to Laura talk to D...

Whether we like it or not, if we've been drinking quite a lot for a long period of time, it's likely that drinking has become a part of who we are. But if we're not a drinker anymore, then who are we? That uncertainty regarding our identity without booze is a question many people who choose to go alcohol-free ask themselves. In this week's podcast , the discussion is chaired by...

The low and no alcohol market has blossomed over the last few years, much to the delight of those of us who choose to cut down or quit the hard stuff. But the alcohol-free version of alcoholic drinks isn't for everyone. For some, the taste of the drinks they used to love is a real trigger and the sensory anxiety caused might be turning some non-drinkers off. The soft drinks industry has respo...

We're in the run-up to Christmas . As we all get warm and cosy in our houses, then alcohol can become really very present either in our thinking or just in our kitchens and our drinks cabinets in a way that can really trip us up.  For some of us, the pandemic has meant that we've started drinking at home in the same way as we drank when we were out with friends.  For those of us who were...

We've chosen to kick off Season 3 of the podcast with one of our favourite festival conversations with the brilliant Tom from Wise Bartender . He chats with our founder Laura about how far the low alcohol and alcohol-free drinks industry has come over the last decade, and give tips and advice on their favourite wines, beers, botanicals, kombucha, and more! As you know, we took a break during...

We're taking a little hiatus from our podcast during October. But we're not just taking a break. We're thrilled to be running the Global Mindful Drinking Festival during the whole of October. Here are Club Soda co-founders Laura and Dru discussing what's on and why you should sign up to take part now! What is the Global Mindful Drinking Festival? The Global Mindful Drinking Fes...

A big part of University life is about getting drunk and skipping a load of lectures, right? Well, we don't think so. And neither do sober student societies across the UK who, alongside our student-focused initiative, #BeRebelAF , support and empower students who want to take control of their alcohol intake. Who said sober was boring? With #BeRebelAF , you can take advantage of all the fun of...

Our podcast this week is all about how to drink sustainably and how to make positive choices in what you drink when you go alcohol-free. Who better to guest edit this edition of our Sustainable September podcast than Danielle from Binary Botanical ? Binary Botanical uses a waste ingredient - the hop leaf - to make their unique, tangy and herbal wine lover's beer. Try it for yourselves today w...

This week's podcast is sponsored and edited by our friend Natasha Steele from Urban Cordial . Unhappy with the sickly, sweet non-alcoholic drink offerings on the market, Natasha created Urban Cordial. This helped her, and ultimately others, to tackle both their alcohol and sugar consumption and. Because we don't just do one thing at a time, right? In this podcast, Natasha talks to dietic...

When we're changing our drinking, we often talk about problem drinking versus normal drinking. But what does normal drinking actually mean? How do we include alcohol in our lives in an unproblematic way? Our podcast this week is a really fascinating discussion with Dr Emma Davies , senior lecturer in Psychology at Oxford Brookes University, who has researched drinking behaviour for over 10 ye...

Changing our drinking habits doesn't have to mean changing the things that give us joy. This includes the sociable elements of going out, such as music and dancing. Sure, we may be a bit nervous of raving away without alcohol turning off the self-counscious switch. In our interview with practicing doctor and mindful DJ Dr Avi, founder of Australian movement Move4Love , we learn how popular an...

We don't normally put trigger warnings on our blogs and podcasts at Club Soda. If ever there was a subject that needed it, though, it's alcohol and trauma. Trauma is a very personal experience. For those of us who've combined alcohol and trauma as a means to cope, this conversation is challenging. For this reason, we urge you to decide for yourselves if you're in the right head...

This week's podcast features guest host, women's leadership and empowerment coach, and long-time friend of Club Soda , Harriet Waley-Cohen. Harriet is joined by author and podcaster Janey Lee Grace and addiction consultant Ian Young. This inspirational trio discusses how sobriety has helped them and their clients to become more empowered. Meet your Empowering Hosts Harriet Waley-Cohen Ha...

Following on from this week's Ask Dru which discusses whether or not beer is good for you, we thought you might want to know which are the best non-alcoholic beer options available. And, as it happens, we had exclusive chats with the industry's best beer brewers during the brand new Low 2 No Bev Show , which took place in June at Truman Brewery, London. Take a listen as we discuss what m...