Sober Curator Podcast

Everybody’s seen Intervention. Darren Hobbs is one of the guys who knocks on that door. Back in 2010, he was the guy behind it, eating jail bologna sandwiches and waiting on a sentence. Now a board-certified interventionist on A&E’s Intervention and founder of The Firm Addiction Consulting in Nashville, Darren joins Alysse and Tamar to talk about what sober life hands you once you’re on the ot...

Netflix dropped The One About Matthew Perry on Oct. 27, and my crew had all three episodes watched before I could finish the group text. So we went live. Our first-ever BACKSTAGE livestream landed on the third anniversary of his death, with co-host Tamar Routly and Sober Curators Amy Liz Harrison, Sarah Alaimo and Megan Swan. We read his memoir together. We mourned him like a friend we never met....

Everybody has the same advice for a bad job: just leave. Great. Where are you going? In 2026, most people aren’t choosing between a bad job and a good job. They’re choosing between a bad job and no job. Work navigation strategist Lynnae Brown (1,000+ days sober) burned out in 2018, couldn’t leave, and figured out how to stay without losing herself. She and our resident sober HR lady, Sarah Alaimo,...

A.J. Daulerio got sober in the middle of the Hulk Hogan trial. Three months in, every defect of character he had was being read to a jury. He calls it fourth step dinner theater. Then he built The Small Bow, the recovery publication Alysse was embarrassed she didn’t know about: literary essays, free Zoom meetings every day of the week, a podcast, and now a book. Two magazine people and a producer...

Every October, half the internet finds out what it's like to be the one holding a club soda at a party. Some of us have been doing Sober October for years, and the drinks have gotten a lot better since the O'Doul's days. This week, Alysse and Tamar sit down with the two people who know exactly what to pour: Kim Parsley and Justin Lamb, who hold down The Sober Curator's Happy Every Hour section . K...

In the fourth grade, Paulina Pinsky was cast as Miss Piggy on Ice. At eight, she was praying to Elvis before skating competitions. By her twenties, she was smoking weed every day and telling everyone it was medicine. Now she's almost five years sober, writes the Substack newsletters Newly Sober and Process Over Product, and she's our newest Sober Curator contributor, bringing something we...

Golf has the 19th hole. Skiing has après. Every sport comes with a drink attached, and three sober athletes on three continents decided to keep the sport and lose the drink. In this bonus episode, recorded live at BACKSTAGE with The Sober Curator, SOBA Golf founder Corey Davis, Soberski founder Ben Coombes and electric skateboarder Bianca Criaco join Alysse Bryson and co-host Tamar Routly to talk...

Some people look at a mountain and see a party. Ben Coombes used to be one of them: magnums of rosé at lunch, shots on the chairlift, and more near misses than he can count. Then he tried something nobody in a ski resort does. He did a sober season. Now Ben runs Soberski, alcohol-free chalet weeks in Méribel in the French Alps, and he’s our newest Sober Curator contributor. Alysse and Tamar (a sno...

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 Nake...

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 strange...

You know the exact thing that would help. The phrase, the reframe, the tool your therapist gave you that one time. And in the moment your brain gets loud, it goes blank. Emily and Lindsay Stetzer are sisters. They both live with OCD and anxiety, and during COVID, in matching sweatsuits, they built a company called Presently that puts the reminders from therapy on your wrist, your keys, and your ba...

Three shows, three different flavors of "a sober person definitely wrote this" or "definitely did not." A basketball dynasty imploding over fake sobriety. Two women in very good coats who may or may not have killed their best friend. A suburban thief with a cocaine problem next door. Alysse's TV ride or dies are here: Lane Kennedy, Patti Clark (making us global from Portuga...

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...

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 i...

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...

Hayden Panettiere died on Sunday, August 16, at the age of 36. Her cause of death has not been released. Police have said their preliminary investigation found no signs of foul play, and the coroner's office says the cause and manner remain pending further testing. We are not going to speculate past that. In the same seven-day cycle, and completely separately, Brad Pitt told Esquire he is drin...

How do you create when inspiration seems gone? Sabyn Mayfield joins Alysse Bryson to chat about retreats, new music, and life changes. This episode dives into the writing process behind his latest song "Worthy", the peace of silent retreats, and unexpected health journeys. It's about finding inspiration in unexpected places. KEY TAKEAWAYS Sabyn discovered new musical inspiration duri...

What's it really like to be a sober business owner? Join Alysse and Tamar as they chat with Preston Peterman about the unique challenges and strengths of sober entrepreneurs. Discover how AI tools streamline business processes and hear real stories about facing fears and finding freedom in sober entrepreneurship. KEY TAKEAWAYS - The influence of sobriety on entrepreneurial success. - AI tools...

Are you ready to build something that truly reflects who you are? Monica Madrid shares her incredible journey from losing a record deal to Tupac to creating a women's football media empire. Her story is one of transformation, resilience, and the power of sobriety to fuel true passion and success. KEY TAKEAWAYS Sobriety can be a foundation for building your dreams. Gratitude can transform your...

Why do so many films glorify binge drinking? In this episode, Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly dive into how media impacts our perceptions of alcohol, aided by insights from Professor Ted Mandell. They explore how movies and TV shows depict alcohol consumption, often glamorizing binge drinking while ignoring the dangers. With a mix of nostalgia, frustration, and hope, the discussion uncovers the pow...

Every club has a velvet rope. Ours just doesn't have a bar. Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly pull back the curtain on Backstage — The Sober Curator's membership community for people who want their sober life to come with actual people, actual events, and actual fun. Media Nights. Studio Nights. Edutainment Nights. If you've been wondering where the stylish, creative, slightly chaotic sob...

Can community make sobriety creative and fun? In this episode, Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly share the magic of The Sober Curator community. Discover how creativity thrives when sobriety becomes a lifestyle, with engaging stories from contributors who are transforming their sober journeys into inspiring art and connection. KEY TAKEAWAYS The Sober Curator is a vibrant, creative community for sober...

Can community make sobriety creative and fun? In this episode, Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly share the magic of The Sober Curator community. Discover how creativity thrives when sobriety becomes a lifestyle, with engaging stories from contributors who are transforming their sober journeys into inspiring art and connection. KEY TAKEAWAYS The Sober Curator is a vibrant, creative community for sober...

Season 1 was the proof of concept. Season 2 is the proof of life. Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly are back, and this season is everything the Sober Curator has always been — bold, irreverent, pop-culture-soaked, and built for the person who is done white-knuckling and ready to actually LIVE their sober life. In this first episode, Alysse and Tamar pull back the curtain on what's coming in Seaso...

Season 1 was the proof of concept. Season 2 is the proof of life. Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly are back, and this season is everything the Sober Curator has always been — bold, irreverent, pop-culture-soaked, and built for the person who is done white-knuckling and ready to actually LIVE their sober life. In this first episode, Alysse and Tamar pull back the curtain on what's coming in Seaso...