What to Read, Watch, and Listen to When You’re Sober Curious

This is the sober-curiosity canon — created almost entirely by women

Recently, when a friend asked me why I thought so many people we knew had stopped drinking, I responded with, “Um, maybe because the pandemic is one of the biggest challenges humans have ever faced, and it’s the only way we can exert a modicum of control over our existence?”

That’s all true, but there’s also the fact that once we’ve quit, many of us discover a new vitality. Even if it’s not a full-on lifestyle change, getting a little dry time under our belts seems to catalyze creativity.

For adherents of 12-step recovery programs like me, there is no middle ground when it comes to substance use. You could stay sober for 10 years, then drink one glass of wine and have to reset your counter to zero. But for those who are currently playing with sobriety, it isn’t so black-and-white.

Even though I’m completely sober — a journey I write about in my upcoming memoir, Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls: A Memoir of Addiction, Women, and Love — decoupling the concept of sobriety from the still-stigmatized disease of alcoholism has granted people greater freedom to experiment with self-restraint without feeling a sense of shame or failure if they do decide…