Welcome back to Dear Vernon, where we answer real questions about sobriety without pretending it’s simple or one-size-fits-all.

In this episode, Laura McKowen and Eric Johnson dig into a question a lot of you have been asking lately:

What do we actually think about the new Surgeon General alcohol guidelines? 💭

And maybe more importantly… why do they feel so confusing?

We talk about:

• What actually changed in the guidelines (and what didn’t)
• Why vague public health messaging can be frustrating, especially if you’re already questioning your drinking
• The idea of alcohol as a “social lubricant” (and why that framing matters)
• How people tend to cherry-pick guidance when they’re already struggling
• What the research and data really says — including the landmark 2018 Lancet study
• Why clarity matters more than ever in a culture that already minimizes alcohol’s impact

This isn’t about shaming, fear-mongering, or telling anyone what to do. It’s about context, honesty, and helping you make informed choices, especially if sobriety is already tugging at you.

As always, we’ll keep having these conversations, because the questions don’t stop once you stop drinking.

If this episode stirred something up, you don’t have to sit with it alone.

Here’s how you can plug into TLC:

• The Sober 90 — for getting sober and building a strong foundation
  👉 https://www.theluckiestclub.com/the-sober-90
• The Sober Steady — for the messy middle (staying sober, learning regulation & resilience)
  👉 https://www.theluckiestclub.com/the-sober-steady
• The Sober Life — for long-term sobriety and emotional growth
  👉 https://www.theluckiestclub.com/the-sober-life
• Try TLC free for a week (meetings, community, real support)
  👉 https://www.theluckiestclub.com/free-week

• The 2018 Lancet Study on Alcohol Use & Health
  👉 https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(18)31571-X/fulltext

• Vivek Murthy Paper
  👉 Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation

Have a question you want us to answer on a future episode?
Submit it anonymously here— we might talk about it next.

And if this episode helped, made you think, or made you feel less alone:
Leave a review, share it with a friend, or send it to someone who’s quietly questioning their relationship with alcohol.

We’ll be back soon. 💛

Welcome to the very first episode of Dear Vernon.

We know. You probably have questions.
Like… who is Vernon?
And why are people writing letters to him?
And how did this turn into a podcast?

In this episode, Laura McKowen and Eric Johnson sit down to talk through the why behind Dear Vernon—where the idea came from, what it’s meant to be (and what it’s not), and why creating a space for honest questions about sobriety felt necessary.

This isn’t a show about having all the answers.
It’s about making room for the questions.

The ones people are already asking themselves quietly.

You’ll hear us talk about:

• Why sobriety isn’t a straight line—and never has been
• What we mean when we say “Dear Vernon”
• Why advice isn’t always the point (and listening usually is)
• How community, curiosity, and honesty have shaped our own recovery
• What you can expect from future episodes

This podcast is meant to feel like pulling up a chair—not tuning into a lecture.

Thanks for being here.
Let’s see where this goes.

Have a question for Vernon? You can ask it here 👈

Get a FREE week of sobriety support meetings at The Luckiest Club 🐦‍⬛

Next round of The Sober 90 starts February 2nd, 2026.

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