On this episode of The Sofa King Podcast, we discuss America’s prohibition of alcohol. (We found it only fitting as a topic since we are building our own little speakeasy down in the Fight Club basement with the “Wall of Whiskey.”) Starting in 1920, the sale and transport of liquor was made illegal by the Volstead Act (the 18th Amendment). Lasting a total of thirteen years, this grand experiment lead to some interesting consequences in the US and the world abroad.

We start this episode with a run down on the history of alcohol and its importance to American culture and then look at the reasons congress voted to ban it so severely. We then talk about the famous mobsters who ran the illegal booze operations and were largely seen as heroes as much as criminals. Organized crime really exploded in this era with the likes of Al Capone, Bill McCoy, Enoch “Nucky” Johnston (who the main character from HBO’s Boardwalk Empire is based on), Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, and even Joseph Kennedy who had alleged organized crime ties (yes, that Kennedy family). Dave even sings a song out of the blue about “Giggle Juice” in a 1920’s style vibrato—quite a treat!