Club Soda Club: A Podcast About Sobriety

Seth Perry started using drugs and alcohol as a teenager to feel acceptance, and later to manage the symptoms of bipolar disorder, but after his addiction spiralled into drug psychosis and damaged his relationships with friends and family, he got clean. Then, a chance meeting put him on the path to becoming a pastor, and now he helps recovering addicts developing their own spiritual practice.

“When nothing is certain, anything is possible.” Dr. Jeremy Goldberg grew up in a household with an alcoholic mother and got a crash course in acceptance and personal responsibility. Now, he uses the lessons he learned through those struggles to help build a generation of better men.

“Every emotion, my hand twitched for a glass. If I was sad, if I was angry, if I was happy, everything—I used alcohol to cover it up.” Kevin Bellack had a great career and a loving family, but watched his drinking spiral out of control as he used it to manage job-related stress and keep his emotions at bay. After spending time stuck in the cycle of wanting to quit, he finally reached out to a therapist—a single step that changed his life.

Growing up, Graeme Duffy found himself on the outside a lot, so he turned to alcohol and drugs to finally find a sense of belonging. Once he started to feel the pain of his actions and see the broken promises to himself stack up, he realized he had a problem. At 27 years old he found himself in an AA meeting and has stayed sober for the past 19 years through numerous challenges along the way. Hear how.

A decade ago, Josh Beharry tried taking his own life. Now he devotes his life to helping other men identify symptoms of depression or suicide and overcome the stigma of discussing them.

Six years ago Lou Redmond, by all accounts, had a pretty good life—a good job, an active social life, partying on the weekends, plenty of Seinfeld—but it wasn’t the life he wanted, so he set out to discover how he could build a life that was more aligned with who he was, and now he spreads his message of purpose, mindfulness, and self-confidence all over the country.

A 23-year-old Alex Kaplan buried his father and then buried his grief in alcohol and cocaine. Now he uses his passion for filmmaking to share stories highlighting the human experience and spread the gospel of openness and vulnerability to people lacking connection and struggling with addiction.

When Chris Marshall was five years old, his dad was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and he was thrust into a role as ‘man of the house’, kicking off a multi-decade odyssey to figure out what ‘being a man’ really looked like, including using alcohol as a substitute for belonging. Now, he uses social media and live events to spread a message of sobriety and self-acceptance around North America.

What does mental health look like during election season? The Bros discuss their experience watching the U.S. election, the right's attacks on Hunter Biden's addiction, how toxic masculinity shows up in politics, and why we all deserve a yearlong nap.

Who are we? What is a man? Why did we spend decades of our lives addicted to alcohol and drugs? Is masculinity inherently toxic? All these questions will be answered and MORE in the first episode of Brobriety, your new favorite podcast tackling sobriety and mental health for men, women, and the men and women who love them. Also: rat facts!

Yo, it's a new podcast about sobriety and masculinity, by the guys for the guys (and anyone who knows a guy) tackling substance abuse, relationships, mental health, trauma, and what it really means to be a man in the modern era. New episodes coming soon!

Everyone has their own journey to sobriety—for some people, it's waking up one day and asking yourself 'why do I need to drink?' For others, it's a car crash and criminal charges. In this meeting of the Club Soda Club, Scott and Derek share what got them to sober up, the many failed attempts before that, finding gratitude for their darkest moments, and how this pandemic is fucking with our mental health. Also: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT!

Another week in isolation, and the club is feeling nostalgic. Scott talks about how his routine remains largely interrupted, Derek shares how he drove halfway across the country to visit his dying grandfather, and they both share their stories of the first time they remember getting drunk, how it made them feel, and the enduring lessons they learned from those early days of drinking.

What is there left to do when every possible distraction from yourself has been stripped away? After an extended hiatus, Scott and Derek are back to discuss, in great detail, about how they’re managing being stuck at home just like everyone else. How sobriety set us up to cope with a pandemic, the dark side of socially isolated drinking, the long term effects of drinking to cope, why we need to start seeing alcohol abuse as a public health crisis, and how this situation has made everyone a little more empathetic and vulnerable.

Valentine's Day is around the corner and love is in the air! We welcome new OFFICIAL cohost Big Kate of The Soberkates to discuss alcohol as a substitute for intimacy, how drinking impacted our own romantic histories, the vast difference between how men and women process drunken hookups, the grey area of drunk consent, codependency, sex and vulnerability, sober dating and the benefits of dating someone who is also sober, overcoming a fear of sober sex, drunk food when sober, and sober date alternatives.

Just in time for your new year's resolutions, we're joined by the amazing Big Kate of Philadelphia's The Soberkates to discuss her journey to sobriety, the 'pink cloud' of early sobriety, realistic strategies for maintaining sobriety long term, the self-improvement journey that often accompanies sobriety, why it's not easy to become a yoga teacher, sober influencer culture, addiction transference, everyone needs therapy, when self-improvement becomes compulsive, and how to take your Dry January through 2020 and beyond.

‘Wine mom’ culture is suddenly everywhere—but is it a healthy outlet for socially isolated mothers, or a cynical marketing ploy by alcohol advertisers? We’re joined by newly sober new mom Julie Robertson to discuss the inherent sexism in wine mom critiques, drinking habits for new moms and dads, the community role in raising children, healthy outlets for parenting stress, why problematic drinking is on the rise with women, alcohol as part of ‘wellness’ culture, gender roles in parenting, and a whole lot of other meaty stuff on the intersection of alcohol and family.

Into every sober person's life, a few drunk people must fall. In this episode, the Club Soda Gang (including Jess!) discuss the joys of driving home early, the Irish Goodbye, withholding judgment,

Alcohol contributes to many things, but we can conclusively say that 'professionalism' is not one of them. So why is drinking so entrenched in North American work culture? On a Jess-less episode, Scott and Derek discuss alcohol abuse in the workplace, drunken office party mishaps, whether sobriety is a career-limiting move, drinking for work travel, how workplaces can accommodate healthier lifestyle choices, drinking isn't as fun as you remember (unless you remember it isn't fun).

As three different people at varying stages of our sober journeys, we share our successes, our struggles, what makes someone an 'alcoholic', how we identify ourselves, our shifting addictions, our favorite non-alcoholic drinks, and where we see ourselves going next.

It’s wedding szn, baby! Weddings are a fact of life for...basically everyone, and yet they can be especially daunting for the newly sober. Scott rejoins us this week to discuss our worst drunk wedding experiences, how we’ve navigated weddings without alcohol, dancing like no one is watching, could an all-sober wedding be in the cards for one of our hosts, and more!

When it comes to the people around you profoundly impacted by alcoholism and addiction, none ranks higher than family. Derek contrasts his experience as a child in a house where alcohol was always present with his experience as a drunk and then sober parent. Jess opens up about the family she grew up in, why she emancipated herself when she was 17, and how she's been able to pull herself up to where she is today. Also: is kombucha alcoholic? Codependency, family trauma, boundary-setting, video games, this episode has it ALL.

Romantic relationships are a complex thing to navigate at the best of times—so how are we doing it sober? We look at how we're showing up differently in our relationships since sobering up, kombucha as a romantic gesture, the many roles that alcohol plays in relationships, tips for dating a drinker if you're sober, the benefits of dating a fellow sober person, how sobering up helps build authentic relationships, and how alcohol either directly or indirectly contributed to our previous relationships ending.

Jess is fresh back from her first sober travel experience, and the lads contrast booze-centered travelling with travel-centered travelling. Also: all-inclusives, mocktail crawls, the saddest fried chicken story you’ve ever heard, sober travel tips, and wacky tourist attractions.

What impact has sobriety had on our physical health? In short: it exists, now! Scott, Derek, and Jess discuss sobriety-related weight loss, drunk food for sober people, elevator mishaps, sober running, when alcohol culture and running culture collide and wellness apps.

In the inaugural meeting of the Club Soda Club, club members Jessica Couture, Derek Bolen, and Scott (indeterminate last name) share what led them to cut alcohol out of their lives. Also: anxiety hangovers, actual hangovers, the social stigma of abstaining from alcohol, healthy hobbies, therapy, and fitness.