Sober Curator Podcast

Hosted by Alysse Bryson & Tamar Routly, and produced by Podcast Impact Studio, The Sober Curator Podcast brings sober lifestyle, pop culture, & recovery to the mic. Alongside Alysse & Tamar, rotating global contributors join as co-hosts to explore zero-proof drinks, sober travel, quit lit, entertainment, & mental health. This is sober media with personality, perspective, & a glitter bomb of honesty. Sober-curious or living alcohol-free, we’ve got you! We're not here to help you get sober. We're here to help you live sober: and love it.

Sober Curator Podcast is a news podcast hosted by Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly, with 93 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Alysse Bryson and Tamar Routly hosts Sober Curator Podcast, a news show with 93 episodes published.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  TOMONOTOMO: The Sober Bartender Who Moved to Oaxaca and Built a Copper Still

  Sep 23, 202651 min

  A Toronto mixologist spends years building other people’s nights out. COVID moves her cocktail classes onto Zoom, the kits sell, and she has never been less happy. So she books a one-way ticket to Mexico. Amanda Chen went from Tulum to a 10-day silent meditation retreat on the Oaxacan coast, walked out with no desire to drink, white-knuckled it for two years, and then found her people on a stranger’s patio at her first meeting. Then she did the thing nobody does: she stayed in the world of drinks and built TOMONOTOMO, a non-alcoholic agave spirit distilled by hand on a copper still in Oaxaca City, with real Tobalá agave and no shortcuts. Alysse met her at the Sans Bar Academy Awards in Austin, where they both took home trophies. In this episode: The one-way ticket, Tulum’s hedonism, and why she left at the top of her game Ten days of silence in Mazunte and the backpack she wasn’t ready to drop off the cliff Two years of avoiding every room with mezcal in it, which in Oaxaca is every room The first meeting: an emailed address, a doorbell, and a woman who described herself as “batshit sober” Why “do you want a drink?” used to feel like an attack, and the fiancée who called it Copper stills, palenques, and the day mezcaleros started asking to live like her What “tomo” and “no tomo” mean, and the Pride label with about 10 bottles left Carrie Bradshaw, cosmos, and why “Sex and the City” did not age well Watching “Ted Lasso” from midnight to 5 a.m. while the still does its work Sober Shots: “That’s not a pivot, friends. That is a plot twist, and I love a plot twist.” (Alysse Bryson) “I’m ready to drop the ball, I’m not ready to drop the bag.” (Amanda Chen) Mentioned in this episode: TOMONOTOMO or #ADDTOCART ON AMAZON Kim Parsley’s TOMONOTOMO Tobalá review on The Sober Curator Backstage with The Sober Curator Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more. SEASON 2 MERCH: https://shopthesobercurator.com/ This episode is brought to you by Aura House. Save 10% with code TSC10: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64140200 SC RESOURCES: Meet the Contributors Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT: www.thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter | @thesobercurator on Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme “Sober Shots” created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno’s commercial license.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  The Hazards of Podcasting Sober: When Your Mom Hears It Before You Tell Her

  Sep 2, 202633 min

  You hit publish, and right in the pit of your stomach it lands: someone you have never told is about to hear it anyway. In this house, that feeling has a name. We call it Wednesday. This week Alysse and Tamar take on the hazards of podcasting sober. Sober podcasters do not get the blackout excuse, and "radical honesty" was never supposed to mean unfiltered. Alysse tells the story of the episode her mom should have heard from her first, Tamar tells the story of what her parents said the morning after they read her book, and both of them admit the stories that land at a sober meeting do not always land on a first date. Then it gets practical: how to pitch a podcast without embarrassing yourself, the mic that survived Goldilocks and the three mics, why real beats AI in 2026, and the single best hazard-reducer any host can have. A co-host. IN THIS EPISODE: "We call it Wednesday": the cold-open feeling every sober podcaster knows The story Alysse's mom heard on a podcast instead of from her daughter Tamar's parents read her book. Both called the next morning. Know your audience: the dating stories that killed every second date How to pitch a podcast (and the seven "top 50" sober podcasts that are quietly dead) Tech talk: mics, video, Riverside, Descript, and the AI image a celebrity asked Alysse to take down Get a co-host, wear a costume, keep it fun Backstage with The Sober Curator , plus The Sober Curator Mixtape: seven mini zines in a cassette case, mailed monthly SOBER SHOTS: "Because we're sober, we can't blame being blacked out on saying something stupid. We just have to own that we said something stupid." (Alysse) "You're allowed to say the true thing before you've rehearsed it into something safe." (Alysse) MENTIONED: Backstage with The Sober Curator The Sober Curator Mixtape (free for Backstage members, just cover shipping): Podcast Impact Studio, Level Up Labs + the Off Script course Tamar's book: Beyond Recovery - Discover your purpose, embrace your authentic self, and live up to your true potential Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more. SEASON 2 MERCH: https://shopthesobercurator.com/ This episode is brought to you by Aura House. Save 10% with code TSC10: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64140200 SC RESOURCES: Meet the Contributors Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT: thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter | @thesobercurator on Instagram, X, TikTok, YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme "Sober Shots" created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno's commercial license.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  Recovery Friendly Workplace: Should You Tell Your Boss You're Sober? (And What Happens If Your Job Actually Gets It)

  Aug 26, 202641 min

  You spend at least 40 hours a week at work. For a lot of people in recovery, that's 40 hours of navigating a culture that doesn't know you exist, or worse, doesn't care. Eliza Zarka is changing that. She runs the National Recovery Friendly Workplace Institute, which certifies employers as recovery friendly, and she took an idea that started at a New Hampshire ski resort and turned it into a national movement with bipartisan federal backing. Alysse and Sober Curator contributor Sarah, a fractional HR consultant in long-term recovery, get into what it actually takes to make a job safe to be sober in. In this episode: Why "there are already people in recovery that are working for you" is the sentence that changes an employer's mind The four pillars of Recovery Friendly Workplace certification: culture, hiring, benefits, and education How to bring this to your HR department without disclosing your own recovery Alysse on 2006 versus 2026: why she hid it for years, and the 2016 job interview where she said it out loud on purpose The company that made the first hour of its holiday party completely alcohol-free, with leadership required to be there Why the holiday gift bottle of wine tells you the company knows nothing about you Coffee tastings, tea tastings, dirty soda tastings: team building that isn't a wine flight Pop culture close: "The Office," "Parks and Rec," and the true crime documentary habit that may be a problem Sober Shots: "There are already people in recovery that are working for you." (Eliza Zarka) "When you're in an interview, you're interviewing the company just as much as they're interviewing you." (Alysse Bryson) Mentioned in this episode: National Recovery Friendly Workplace Institute: https://rfwinstitute.org Backstage with The Sober Curator: https://thesobercurator.com/backstage-with-the-sober-curator/ The Sober Curator Business Rolodex, free listings for sober business owners: https://thesobercurator.com/the-sober-curator-rolodex/ Nothing in this episode is legal or HR advice. Talk to an employment attorney about your specific situation. Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more. SEASON 2 MERCH: https://shopthesobercurator.com/ This episode is brought to you by Aura House. Save 10% with code TSC10: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64140200 SC RESOURCES: - Meet the Contributors - Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide - Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide - LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT: www.thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter: https://www.thesobercuratornewsletter.com/ | @thesobercurator on Instagram , X , TikTok , YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme "Sober Shots" created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno’s commercial license.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  Quit Lit 2026: Lena Dunham, Anthony Hopkins + Hayden Panettiere, Reviewed by People Who Lived It

  Aug 19, 202642 min

  A note before you listen: we recorded this episode in late July, several weeks before Hayden Panettiere died on August 16 at the age of 36. We are publishing it as recorded rather than editing her out. Her cause of death has not been released and we are not speculating. We recorded a separate conversation about her death, and it is the episode right before this one. If this is landing hard for you: 988 is the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, call or text. SAMHSA's National Helpline is 1-800-662-4357, free and confidential, 24/7. Three memoirs. Three completely different humans. One question: what does it cost to numb yourself when the whole world is watching? Alysse and Tamar pull three of The Sober Curator's most avid readers into a panel on the year's biggest quit lit: “Famesick” by Lena Dunham, “We Did OK, Kid” by Anthony Hopkins, and “This Is Me: A Reckoning” by Hayden Panettiere. Nobody read all three. Everybody has opinions. Sobee scores at the end, and house rules say you cannot score a book you didn't read. In this episode: - Amy Liz Harrison's book hack from her 10th grade English teacher days: first paragraph, last paragraph, skim the middle, finish in an hour - Why The Sober Curator was almost called The Sober Critic, and the epiphany that killed the name - “Famesick”: medical trauma, opioids, and a memoir that flatly refuses to be a before-and-after - “We Did OK, Kid”: the blackout drive Anthony Hopkins had to be told about afterward - Patti Clark and Alysse on what actually stops you, and it isn't what you'd do to yourself - “This Is Me: A Reckoning” Hayden Panettiere on acting at 11 months old, a mother who was also the manager, and postpartum depression nobody names out loud - The Sobee score lightning round, plus a quarter-point scoring controversy Sober Shots: "Quit lit used to mean one shelf on a bookstore nobody browsed on purpose." (Alysse) "There are books that I just wanna eat like a really juicy nectarine and just bite into it and just get sticky." (Patti) Mentioned in this episode: - Mixtape with The Sober Curator zine: https://shopthesobercurator.com/collections/the-mixtape - Cover Story Retreat, November 1-4, Scottsdale: https://evolveretreats.co/cover-story-hermosa-inn/ - Anne Marie Cribbin's Famesick review: https://thesobercurator.com/famesick-lena-dunham-review-addiction-recovery/ - Toni Will, Rebellious Success: https://amzn.to/4x65SeD Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more. SEASON 2 MERCH: https://shopthesobercurator.com/ This episode is brought to you by Aura House. Save 10% with code TSC10: https://go.shopmy.us/p-64140200 SC RESOURCES: - Meet the Contributors - Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide - Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide - LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT: www.thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter: https://www.thesobercuratornewsletter.com/ | @thesobercurator on Instagram , X , TikTok , YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme "Sober Shots" created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno’s commercial license.

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  Sober Curator Podcast

  Hayden Panettiere, Brad Pitt + How We Talk About Recovery | The Sober Curator BONUS

  Aug 18, 202643 min

  Hayden Panettiere died on Sunday, August 16, at the age of 36. Her cause of death has not been released. Police have said their preliminary investigation found no signs of foul play, and the coroner's office says the cause and manner remain pending further testing. We are not going to speculate past that. In the same seven-day cycle, and completely separately, Brad Pitt told Esquire he is drinking again after seven years sober. Two different stories. One conversation this community keeps getting wrong. Alysse, Tamar and Amy Liz got on the phone within 24 hours and recorded this, because the Quit Lit book club episode dropping right behind it contains their review of Hayden's memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning , recorded in July, scored the highest of the three books. This is not an obituary and it is not a hot take. It is three women with combined 49 years of lived experience and a lot of hard-won opinions between them, talking about who gets to grade somebody else's recovery. In this episode: - What we actually know, what we don't, and why the difference matters - Why “he relapsed” is not our word to use when he didn't use it himself - Taking inventory of other people's programs, and the person 30 days in who is listening - Amy Liz on postpartum depression, and the comparison trap that talks you out of your own experience - Mental health systems that make you fail two or three times before they'll help you - Alysse falls off a ladder and turns it into the best analogy in the episode - The disco ball Sober Shots: “That's it. That's all we know. Everything else would be speculation, and we're just not going to go there.” (Alysse) “The bottom line is we don't care how you got here, but we do care that you are here.” (Alysse) If this one is landing hard for you, that is a normal reaction and you are not being dramatic. 988 is the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, call or text, 24/7. SAMHSA's National Helpline is 1-800-662-4357, free and confidential. Our full resource guides are linked below. And if a hotline isn't your thing, text one sober person today. Just one. That counts. Mentioned in this episode: - Quit Lit book club episode, including our review of This Is Me: A Reckoning , dropping Wednesday, August 19th - Backstage, our private culture club: https://thesobercurator.com/backstage-with-the-sober-curator/ Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more. SC RESOURCES: - Meet the Contributors - Alcohol + Substance Use Disorder Guide - Recovery Nonprofit Resource Guide - LGBTQ+ Recovery Resource Guide CONNECT : www.thesobercurator.com | The Sober Sip newsletter: https://www.thesobercuratornewsletter.com/ | @thesobercurator on Instagram , X , TikTok , YouTube + Pinterest Love the show? Rate, review + follow. It takes 60 seconds and helps more people find us. Feedback + guest ideas: thesobercurator@gmail.com Hosted by Alysse Bryson with co-host + producer Tamar Routly. For informational and entertainment purposes only; not a substitute for professional advice. Music: TSC S2 theme “Sober Shots” created by Alysse Bryson using Suno AI, under Suno's commercial license.

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