Recommendations for quitting alcohol, sobriety and the sober curious - podcasts!

I blooming love a podcast and have a rota of downloads to my Podcast App about cricket, comedy, food, true crime and - of course - sobriety.

Crazily, despite the fact I've listened to podcasts for literally decades (thanks, Richard Herring!) I didn't even consider that there may be podcasts about sobriety before I quit. I mean, why on earth wouldn't there be - there are podcasts on anything if you look hard enough. A quick search of the word "sobriety" in a ''podcast finder' website and over 900 results come back immediately. That's just overwhelming, so where to start?! I've obviously not listened to all of these, and scrolling down the list, I've only heard of a couple in the first 20. So, as with my book recommendations, this isn't exhaustive. There are no links, but you should be able to find them on the Podcast App on your phone, Spotify or your podcast provider of choice.

But hey - it's a starting point and I welcome any other suggestions, but here are my sober podcast recommendations!

Best for information

No-one wants to listen to a dull podcast, but there are some that are good for information as well as not sending you to sleep.

The first recommendation is Sober Awkward. Hosted by Victoria Vanstone since the start, she was first joined by her friend Lucy, and more recently Hamish; all ex-pats living in Australia. As the name suggests, there's no glossing over the tough bits of quitting alcohol; it's honest, informed and entertaining. I love the honesty of Vic, Lucy and Hamish as they talk about their experiences both drinking and sober, and their stories are very relatable! Because they tend to cover a topic an episode, it's easy to dip in to old episodes to find specific help for things like sober holidays, surviving Christmas, and 'drinking dream's. They also have some brilliant guests, including Fat Boy Slim, Ulrika Jonsson and Millie Mackintosh.

Janey Lee Grace has been releasing an episode of her Alcohol Free Life weekly for an impressive 6 years. As you would expect from someone as committed to a holistic way of living as Janey, the podcast phenomenal range of guests including authors of quit lit, holistic practitioners and members of The Sober Club sharing their stories. As with Sober Awkward, each episode touches on a different topic; and you can even find me on Episode 259 talking about quitting alcohol while living alone. Best for inspirational personal stories

When it comes to finding inspirational stories, podcasts are often a better option than books. There's something about hearing someone talk about their life - their journey, if you will - that makes it a but more intimate. And if you're not getting on with the person talking, it's easier to skip to another! One For The Road with Sober Dave is a guest -based podcast, each person sharing where they came from and how they are where they are now. Often normal people Sober Dave has found getting on with their life on 'sober Instagram' - these stories can really hit home.

This is probably a bit unexpected for me, but another recommendation is Menace To Sobriety with Daniel O'Reilly. As Dapper Laughs, I'm not really a fan, but I have a lot of time for Daniel O'Reilly. In AA they tell you to 'look for the similarities and not the differences' when listening to people's stories, and this podcast series probably represents that the most for me. I "only" drank - I didn't do drugs, and a lot of these guests were very much a fan of the sesh. However it's often about the reasons, not the substances and I would recommend dipping into this series too.

Best for overall entertainment

Some podcasts are entertaining regardless of who's on, and the one that represents that most for me is the Bee Sober podcast. Hosted by Bee Sober founders and life-long friends Lisa and Alex, this podcast is like catching up with friends. Full disclosure, as a Bee Sober Ambassador I know Lisa and Alex, but I didn't for a long time and felt the same. Some episodes are just Lisa and Alex talking, but there are usually guests with a wide range of links to sobriety, from Bee Sober members sharing their stories, through to celebrities such as Ruth Jones and John Thompson. I hope you find this list a good starting point for your 'sober podcast' discovery! I'd love to hear your thoughts on any you listen to and love, or any you feel I should add to the list!