SOBRIETY & IDENTITY WITH LAZARUS LETCHER

Explicit content warning

12/17/20 • 57 min

In this episode, I’m in conversation with the wonderful Lazarus Letcher, a writer, scholar, and musician, who is currently pursuing a PhD in American Studies, with a focus on folklore, Black liberation, and queer and trans studies. Their work in the sober space focusses largely on intersectional approaches to addiction and recovery, which means taking into account how identity impacts substance use.

While I was doing my research for this interview I looked into statistics around rates of substance abuse among different communities – which confirmed something that I had long suspected: that, as a rule, the more oppressed or marginalized a people are, the higher the rates of substance abuse disorder. For example, Native American communities have the highest rates for addiction in the US, with LGBTQIA+ communities having a 30% incidence of substance abuse versus around 9% in the general population.

We get into all of this, as well as the work Lazarus is doing in an area called “Peace Studies” – a syllabus that looks at the work of grass roots and indigenous liberation movements throughout history and shows how disparate groups fighting for social and environmental justice are in fact all connected. In this episode we discuss:

-Using alcohol to perform a toxic hyper-masculinity.

-How 12-step fellowships are evolving to become more inclusive.

-Why the LGBTQIA+ community has such high rates of substance abuse disorders.

-The problem with the term “minority stress.”

-Why we all do better when we all do better.

-Racism and colonialism as a cause of addiction.

-How they think about “decolonization” and how we can enact this in our individual lives.

-Their work teaching “Peace Studies” – and what this means.

-Why we deserve a world where we all get what we desire.

-Staying sober to spite white supremacy and live their best life!

Discover more about Lazarus Letcher and their work HERE and follow them on Instagram @l.nuzzles.

-Using alcohol to perform a toxic hyper-masculinity.

-How 12-step fellowships are evolving to become more inclusive.

-Why the LGBTQIA+ community has such high rates of substance abuse disorders.

-The problem with the term “minority stress.”

-Why we all do better when we all do better.

-Racism and colonialism as a cause of addiction.

-How they think about “decolonization” and how we can enact this in our individual lives.

-Their work teaching “Peace Studies” – and what this means.

-Why we deserve a world where we all get what we desire.

-Staying sober to spite white supremacy and live their best life!

Discover more about Lazarus Letcher and their work HERE and follow them on Instagram @l.nuzzles.

Previous Episode

Life Beyond Booze with Mark Livings

Lyres founder Mark Livings is shaking up the drinks industry with his crazy accurate alcohol-free versions of all the classic spirits. He shares his views on how the COVID pandemic is completely reshaping the hospitality industry, along with insights into how excessive alcohol consumption is conflated with an outdated model of masculinity, why he thinks Australia and the UK in particular have such a problem with binge drinking, and what he sees as the future of the booze business. In this episode we discuss:

-His mission to replace the “threshold moment” of having a drink at the end of the day.

-The Sober Curious movement being a natural result of the global wellness trend.

-Hospitality being an industry where it’s easy to hide problem drinking.

-Booze-free beverages being an important development for the drinks business as a whole.

-Excess alcohol consumption being conflated with an old-school view of masculinity.

-Having conflicted feelings about marketing alcoholic drinks.

-The impact of increased exposure to different cultural ideas about alcohol consumption.

-Why Australia, the UK, and other Anglo-Centric cultures in particular have such issues with binge-drinking.

-How the trend for taking extended beaks from drinking is skewing drinking stats overall.

-Non-alcoholic adult drinks providing people a form of “social camouflage” to experiment with sober curiosity.

-Why we’re witnessing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to changing attitudes about alcohol and its role in our lives.

-The hardest spirit to replicate and why.

Sample Lyres for yourself when you visit Lyres.com/sobercurious where you can sign up for a special 15% discount and follow along @lyresspiritco.

Thanks also to episode partners Curious Elixirs. Get one FREE bottle on orders of $50 or more at Curiouselixirs.com with the code RUBY and follow @curiouselixirs.

Next Episode

Drinking Alone with Julia Bainbridge

My guest this week is food writer and all-around cool girl Julia Bainbridge, whose new book Good Drinks puts a whole new spin on just how “good” alcohol-free drinks can be.

She also came to this project from a personal place – having been questioning her own drinking for the past several years, and she shares where she is currently at on this path and how the pandemic has influenced her relationship with booze.

We also discuss Julia’s podcast, The Lonely Hour, which is a deep dive into what some have termed the “loneliness epidemic” – and how our current social recession is impacting our drinking choices. In this episode we discuss:

-Why it’s time to rethink what we mean when we say let’s “get a drink”

-Why the term “mocktail” is a thing of the past, and what industry-professionals are calling these drinks instead

-What makes a really good af drink.

-Her experience as a grey-area drinker and where she believes she falls on the scale of alcohol misuse.

-How she has come to define “problem drinking” for herself.

-How her mother’s issues with alcohol have influenced her choices today.

-Why she uses the term “alcohol-free” versus “sober” to describe her not drinking.

-Getting extra support for her stay alcohol-free during COVID.

-The psychology of drinking alone vs. drinking in groups to mask social anxiety.

-The difference between loneliness, isolation, and solitude - and what they can teach us.

-The value of a simple, quiet life.

Get your copy of Julia's book, Good Drinks, HERE, and follow her on Instagram @juliabainbridge.

Thanks to Damrak Virgin for partnering on this episode. You can download a PDF of Mindful Cocktails from Damrak HERE and get $5 off your Damrak Virgin Amazon order through end of Jan 2021 with the code SOBERCURIOUS

You can also get your copy of The Sober Curious Reset: Change the Way You Drink in 100 Days or Less HERE.