Sober Awkward

This week on Sober Awkward, Vic chats to Ben Gibbs from The Sober Boozers Club about the rapidly changing world of alcohol-free beer and whether pub culture can survive a generation that’s drinking less, drinking differently, or not drinking at all.

Because let’s face it, Vic used to be the kind of customer pubs loved. These days Vic walks into a pub, orders one alcohol-free beer, has a lovely chat, and leaves. Financially speaking, she’s not exactly the customer she used to be.

So what does this shift mean for the hospitality industry? Can pubs, breweries and bars survive if people are only ordering one or two drinks instead of six? Is the alcohol-free movement a genuine revolution or just a passing trend? And why are so many younger people choosing not to drink in the first place?

Vic and Ben also tackle one of the most debated topics in sobriety: alcohol-free beer. Is it a useful tool or a dangerous game? Should people in early sobriety avoid it altogether? What if it triggers cravings? Why does it work brilliantly for some people and not for others?

Most importantly, Ben shares his experience of trying to keep all the things he loved about his old social life, the pub chats, the mates, the laughs, and the sense of belonging, while quietly removing the alcohol from the equation.

Turns out, getting sober doesn’t always mean changing your entire personality. Sometimes it just means changing what’s in your glass.

A fascinating conversation about identity, friendship, changing drinking culture, and whether the future of the pub might be a lot less boozy than we ever imagined.

💛 Resources & Links

Follow and Find out more about Ben here - Ben Gibbs (@sober_boozers_club)

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 https://amzn.asia/d/0aZ69GpK

Vic's book 'Mumming - A year of Trying (and Failing) to be a better parent - https://amzn.asia/d/0bUJTS2W

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Share Shed – Sober Awkward Writing Competition Specials - Alcohol, Motherhood and Me - By Emily

Every Thursday, we’re handing the story telling over to you.

Over the next few months, Vic will be reading some of the incredible entries from this year’s Sober Awkward Writing Competition. Honest, funny, heartbreaking, hopeful, awkward and beautifully human, these stories come from people all over the world who have experienced the ups and downs of changing their relationship with alcohol.

Whether you’re sober curious, newly alcohol-free, years into recovery, or simply wondering if life might feel better without booze, we hope these stories remind you that you’re not alone.

Writing has a powerful way of helping us make sense of our lives. It can shine a light on things we’ve hidden away, help us process difficult experiences, and remind us just how resilient we really are. Plus, it’s considerably cheaper than therapy and doesn’t require you to wear pants.

So grab a cuppa, get comfortable, and join us for this week’s Share Shed as Vic tells another story from our amazing community.

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here or head to the website to find out more about writing mentorships with Vic.

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES

If anything in today’s episode felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support available. You don’t have to do this alone.

🇦🇺 Australia

National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline

📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service

Lifeline

📞 13 11 14 (24/7)

https://www.lifeline.org.au

Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak

https://hellosundaymorning.org

https://daybreakapp.com.au

Clean Slate Clinic

https://www.cleanslateclinic.com

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Drinkline

📞 0300 123 1110

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/

Alcohol Change UK

https://alcoholchange.org.uk

We Are With You

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk

🌍 International

Alcoholics Anonymous

https://www.aa.org

SMART Recovery

https://www.smartrecovery.org

💬 A Gentle Reminder

If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping alcohol suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and getting support can make a huge difference.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a special treat to celebrate the final episode of Series 13, I’m delighted to welcome Hamish back to the podcast for a proper catch-up.

Yes, he’s still sober. Yes, he’s still awkward. And yes, he’s still as funny as ever.

We chat about what life has looked like since leaving the show, how sobriety is going, and what he’s learned along the way. Hamish is proof that you don’t have to be a stereotypical “problem drinker” to experience the benefits of going alcohol-free. Sometimes life simply gets bigger, better and a whole lot more interesting without booze in the driver’s seat.

Expect laughs, awkward moments, a few reflections on the good old days, and a reminder of why so many of us fell in love with the lanky one in the first place.

It’s great to have him back.

Be warned, as per usual, there is naughty talk about bodily functions.

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Share Shed – Sober Awkward Writing Competition Specials - No More Numbing Out - By Aliz, Texas

Every Thursday, we’re handing the story telling over to you.

Over the next few months, Vic will be reading some of the incredible entries from this year’s Sober Awkward Writing Competition. Honest, funny, heartbreaking, hopeful, awkward and beautifully human, these stories come from people all over the world who have experienced the ups and downs of changing their relationship with alcohol.

Whether you’re sober curious, newly alcohol-free, years into recovery, or simply wondering if life might feel better without booze, we hope these stories remind you that you’re not alone.

Writing has a powerful way of helping us make sense of our lives. It can shine a light on things we’ve hidden away, help us process difficult experiences, and remind us just how resilient we really are. Plus, it’s considerably cheaper than therapy and doesn’t require you to wear pants.

So grab a cuppa, get comfortable, and join us for this week’s Share Shed as Vic tells another story from our amazing community.

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here or head to the website to find out more about writing mentorships with Vic.

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES

If anything in today’s episode felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support available. You don’t have to do this alone.

🇦🇺 Australia

National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline

📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service

Lifeline

📞 13 11 14 (24/7)

https://www.lifeline.org.au

Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak

https://hellosundaymorning.org

https://daybreakapp.com.au

Clean Slate Clinic

https://www.cleanslateclinic.com

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Drinkline

📞 0300 123 1110

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/

Alcohol Change UK

https://alcoholchange.org.uk

We Are With You

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk

🌍 International

Alcoholics Anonymous

https://www.aa.org

SMART Recovery

https://www.smartrecovery.org

💬 A Gentle Reminder

If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping alcohol suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and getting support can make a huge difference.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Sober Awkward, Vic steps away from alcohol to explore another addiction that is quietly growing across Australia: Nangs.

Nitrous oxide, often sold legally and delivered to your door within minutes, is commonly seen as harmless party fun. But for Sam Bramman, what started as a few nangs at a house party quickly spiralled into a devastating addiction that led to psychosis, hospitalisation and a long road to recovery.

Sam shares the shocking reality of what happened when nitrous oxide took over his life, including the psychotic episode that saw him drive from Sydney to the Gold Coast before ending up in a psychiatric ward. He talks openly about addiction, recovery and why he believes Australia needs stronger regulation around the sale and delivery of nitrous oxide.

Now the founder of the No 2 Nangs campaign, Sam is using his experience to educate young people, support families and push for change. He is also preparing to run 350 kilometres from Sydney to Parliament House in Canberra to raise awareness of the issue and campaign for greater public education around a substance he describes as both legal and lethal.

It’s an eye-opening conversation about addiction, vulnerability, recovery and a drug many of us know very little about.

Follow Sam’s work:

Instagram: @sambramman

TikTok: @stepsforchange

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week in the Share Shed, one listener wakes up to discover he’d apparently spent 40 minutes running barefoot on a treadmill at 3am… after swimming in a stranger’s pool and blacking out at a party.

The only problem? He remembers none of it.

A hilarious story with a surprisingly thoughtful twist about sobriety, fitness, and what happens when one obsession gets replaced by another.

The Share Shed is where listeners send in their funniest, cringiest and most unbelievable drinking stories. It’s not about judgement, it’s about recognising how wild things could get when alcohol was in charge, and laughing about it now we’re on the other side.

But sometimes, it’s also a place for the harder stuff, the honest bits we don’t always say out loud.

If you’ve got a story you’d like to get off your chest, funny, awkward or something a bit more serious, you can send it to Vic at:

[email protected]

Anonymous is absolutely fine. In fact, for legal reasons, probably preferable!!

📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES

If anything in today’s Shame Shed felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support out there. You don’t have to do this on your own.

🇦🇺 Australia

National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline

📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)

🌐 https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service

Lifeline

📞 13 11 14 (24/7)

🌐 https://www.lifeline.org.au

Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak

🌐 https://hellosundaymorning.org

🌐 https://daybreakapp.com.au

Clean Slate Clinic

🌐 https://www.cleanslateclinic.com

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Drinkline

📞 0300 123 1110

🌐 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/

Alcohol Change UK

🌐 https://alcoholchange.org.uk

We Are With You

🌐 https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk

🌍 International

Alcoholics Anonymous

🌐 https://www.aa.org

SMART Recovery

🌐 https://www.smartrecovery.org

💬 A gentle reminder

If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s really important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and support can make a huge difference.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Sober Awkward, Vic sits down with TJ Power, a well-known neuroscientist, author of the Sunday Times bestseller The DOSE Effect, and the founder of the DOSE Lab. He is a leading voice in demystifying brain chemistry, focusing on helping people manage digital burnout, phone addiction, and overstimulation in the modern world.

TJ shares his own story of changing his relationship with alcohol, including a powerful epiphany at a music festival that made him completely rethink what connection, fun and presence really mean. Together, they explore the surprising similarities between alcohol addiction and phone addiction, and why both are fuelled by the same dopamine-driven reward systems in the brain.

The conversation takes an unexpected turn when Vic has a rather uncomfortable realisation of her own. Eight years sober and feeling quite smug about no longer disappearing into bottles of wine, she suddenly discovers she’s been disappearing into something else instead… her phone.

In a moment that feels a bit like being caught snogging behind the bike sheds, Vic realises she may be neglecting her children in exactly the same way she used to neglect them with alcohol. Not physically absent, but mentally elsewhere. Half listening. Half scrolling. Forever saying, “Just one second, darling…”

It’s a surprisingly emotional moment as TJ explains that the dopamine hits from our phones aren’t a million miles away from the rewards we chase through alcohol, and Vic starts to wonder whether she’s simply swapped one distraction for another.

This episode isn’t about throwing your phone in the sea or moving to a cave. It’s about becoming curious about the habits that quietly shape our lives.

And make sure you listen right to the end, because Vic returns with a surprising update after attempting her own digital detox weekend.

A fascinating conversation that might just make you question your scrolling as much as your drinking.

Find TJ here - @tjpower

@doselab - Order the book now - https://a.co/d/0fghgGAc

www.thedoselab.com

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on the Share Shed we have one confession and one question.

First up, a listener wakes up in Las Vegas with more than just a hangover… let’s just say Elvis may have been involved and somebody accidentally got married.

Then we tackle a question many people quietly ask themselves: if your hands shake the morning after drinking, is that a sign you’re an alcoholic?

The answer might surprise you.

Pour yourself a cuppa and join us for today’s Share Shed.

The Share Shed is where listeners send in their funniest, cringiest and most unbelievable drinking stories. It’s not about judgement, it’s about recognising how wild things could get when alcohol was in charge, and laughing about it now we’re on the other side.

But sometimes, it’s also a place for the harder stuff, the honest bits we don’t always say out loud.

If you’ve got a story you’d like to get off your chest, funny, awkward or something a bit more serious, you can send it to Vic at:

[email protected]

Anonymous is absolutely fine. In fact, for legal reasons, probably preferable!!

📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES

If anything in today’s Shame Shed felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support out there. You don’t have to do this on your own.

🇦🇺 Australia

National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline

📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)

🌐 https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service

Lifeline

📞 13 11 14 (24/7)

🌐 https://www.lifeline.org.au

Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak

🌐 https://hellosundaymorning.org

🌐 https://daybreakapp.com.au

Clean Slate Clinic

🌐 https://www.cleanslateclinic.com

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Drinkline

📞 0300 123 1110

🌐 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/

Alcohol Change UK

🌐 https://alcoholchange.org.uk

We Are With You

🌐 https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk

🌍 International

Alcoholics Anonymous

🌐 https://www.aa.org

SMART Recovery

🌐 https://www.smartrecovery.org

💬 A gentle reminder

If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s really important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and support can make a huge difference.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Sober Awkward, Vic chats to James Swanwick about high-functioning drinking, success, pressure and the growing movement of people choosing to live alcohol free — not because they’ve completely fallen apart, but because they simply feel better without it.

James is an Australian stop drinking expert, author, investor, entrepreneur and former SportsCenter anchor on ESPN. He is the creator of stop drinking organisation, Alcohol Free Lifestyle, which helps business owners and executives finally break free from alcohol without AA, rehab or willpower.

Together, Vic and James unpack the myth that alcohol problems only affect people at “rock bottom” and explore why high achievers often struggle silently for years. They chat about identity, pride, social pressure, parenting, masculinity, success and why being outwardly functional can actually make it harder to admit something isn’t working.

They also explore a really interesting question:

Can giving up alcohol sometimes be less about “having a problem”… and more about choosing a different lifestyle entirely?

Plus there’s chat about celebrity alcohol brands, the rise of the alcohol-free movement, Gen Z turning away from booze and why many people are beginning to realise that alcohol may be taking far more than it gives.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever wondered:

“Do I actually need to wait for things to get worse before I make a change?”

Enjoy!

Find James' work here -

IG: https://www.instagram.com/jamesswanwick/

FB: https://web.facebook.com/AlcoholFreeLifestyle

https://web.facebook.com/JamesSwanwickOfficial

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlcoholFreeLifestyle

https://www.youtube.com/@JamesSwanwick

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesswanwick

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5253hMZWPlEWj6AVodbkC7

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alcohol-free-lifestyle/id1518416850

X: https://x.com/jamesswanwick

AFL Website: https://alcoholfreelifestyle.com/

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

Instagram: @soberawkward

TikTok: @soberawkward

Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Share Shed we’re talking drunk online shopping… you know, those slightly terrifying mystery parcels that arrive two days after a blackout.

From sequinned capes and stuffed frogs in hats… to accidentally booking holidays to Spain you have absolutely no memory of organising.

Basically:

If you’ve ever opened your front door hungover and thought,

“What in the name of Christ have I bought now?”

…this one’s for you.

The Share Shed is where listeners send in their funniest, cringiest and most unbelievable drinking stories. It’s not about judgement, it’s about recognising how wild things could get when alcohol was in charge, and laughing about it now we’re on the other side.

But sometimes, it’s also a place for the harder stuff, the honest bits we don’t always say out loud.

If you’ve got a story you’d like to get off your chest, funny, awkward or something a bit more serious, you can send it to Vic at:

[email protected]

Anonymous is absolutely fine. In fact, for legal reasons, probably preferable!!

📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES

If anything in today’s Shame Shed felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support out there. You don’t have to do this on your own.

🇦🇺 Australia

National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline

📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)

🌐 https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service

Lifeline

📞 13 11 14 (24/7)

🌐 https://www.lifeline.org.au

Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak

🌐 https://hellosundaymorning.org

🌐 https://daybreakapp.com.au

Clean Slate Clinic

🌐 https://www.cleanslateclinic.com

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Drinkline

📞 0300 123 1110

🌐 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/

Alcohol Change UK

🌐 https://alcoholchange.org.uk

We Are With You

🌐 https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk

🌍 International

Alcoholics Anonymous

🌐 https://www.aa.org

SMART Recovery

🌐 https://www.smartrecovery.org

💬 A gentle reminder

If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s really important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and support can make a huge difference.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.