Relevant Reading:

A Short History of Drunkenness: How, Why, Where, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry from the Stone Age to the Present

Why do social norms about drinking vary so widely from one country to the next? How did alcohol inform the foundational myths of the ancient Egyptians and Vikings? And what did the West’s leading lights, from Plato to Benjamin Franklin, have to say about the human capacity for drinking?

Tune in this Fourth of July week to learn the answers to these questions and more, as Richard Aldous speaks with Mark Forsyth about his new book, A Short History of Drunkenness: How, Why, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry from the Stone Age to the Present.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, where you can leave a review, and follow @aminterest and Mark Forsyth (@Inkyfool) on Twitter.