“The reign of tears is over,” promised Reverend Billy Sunday when America banned booze. Spoiler: it was not over. In fact, Prohibition turned the entire country into one big underground cocktail party. Between 1920 and 1933, the so-called “Noble Experiment” tried to save America’s soul by outlawing alcohol—and instead unleashed a wave of crime, corruption, and creative smuggling that would make any bootlegger proud.

Comedians Robert Bacon and Mike Kauffman pour one out for the bizarre era when Congress thought banning beer would make people better citizens. From dry states accidentally mailing liquor across borders, to gangsters getting rich off bathtub gin, this episode explores how good intentions mixed with terrible execution turned into one of the biggest national hangovers in U.S. history.It’s a sobering look at how banning fun only makes people get sneakier—served straight up with laughs on Mistakes Were Made.

Keywords:
Prohibition podcast, American Prohibition history, Billy Sunday quote, Noble Experiment, alcohol ban history, Mistakes Were Made podcast, comedy history podcast, bootleggers history, 1920s crime history, Prohibition funny history, weird history podcast, alcohol smuggling history.