Distilled is part of a cottage industry in the publishing sphere that looks at the world through, well, beer goggles. Tom Standage’s 2006 A History of the World in Six Glassescorrelates the invention of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola with key moments in the history of . . . . Continue Reading »
Darel Paul joins the podcast to talk about Prohibition. Continue Reading »
Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States aspired to be a full-spectrum telling of American history as one long sordid tale of oppression and the resistance to it. Dedicated to a merciless critique of all authority and power, the book extolled and romanticized the victims, . . . . Continue Reading »
The twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous disintegrate arrogance, clearing the way for Grace to enter. Continue Reading »
I never meant to start an argument about addiction. I had carried my private doubts on the subject around in my head for years, in the “heresy” section where I keep my really risky thoughts. And I don’t recommend disagreeing in public with Hollywood royalty, either, which is how it happened. . . . . Continue Reading »
Two oz. scotch (cheap stuff will do just fine). 1 oz. tawny port. A handful of namkeen. These were the key ingredients of my grandfather’s 3 a.m. ritual. And, to accompany them in the undisturbed quiet of the early morning, First Things. Continue Reading »
Gin: The Manual by david broom mitchell beazley, 224 pages, $19.99 Britain’s two national drinks—beer and gin—have both undergone a revival in the last decade. Twenty years ago, if you drove through Kent, you would see them plowing up the hop fields. No one, it was thought, would ever want to . . . . Continue Reading »
The focus on the increase in death rates for white Americans between ages 45-54 in the media obscures equally troubling results in Anne Case and Angus Deaton’s recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, “Rising morbidity and mortality in midlife . . . . Continue Reading »
Eve Tushnet's new novel Amends is about how love is better than sheer moral achievement and how, often, we have to journey through humiliation in order to get it. Continue Reading »
Marijuana is becoming more socially acceptable and legally available. It would seem that a majority of Americans are in favor of decriminalizing the recreational use of pot, and the Department of Justice has advised federal prosecutors that possession of a small amount of it is not an “enforcement . . . . Continue Reading »
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