Something unexpected is happening in the U.S. and a lot of other wealthy countries.

Collectively, we are drinking less than we used to.

We've known for millennia that alcohol can lead to bad behavior,

and modern science brought incontrovertible evidence that too much of it can wreck our health.

So why have consumption rates just now started to drop off?

From KERA in Dallas, this is think. I'm Chris Boyd.

For all its very serious negative impact, we've eagerly sought out alcohol throughout

human history to feel a little looser, a little more connected to other people, a little sexier.

But as my guest has learned, we are developing alternatives that promise some of the same benefits

without the same potential for catastrophe. Natasha Loder is health editor at The Economist,

which published her article, How Human Kinds 10 Million Year Love Affair with Booze might end.

Natasha, welcome to think. Oh, thank you so much. Whether we drink or not, alcohol is so familiar

in our culture that it's easy to overlook how quick and powerful

its effects can be. On an empty stomach, I did not know this, it can make its way to nearly

every cell in the body in a matter of minutes?

Yeah, that's right. It's this tiny agile molecule that kind of hops into our brains

across the blood-brain barrier, a bit like a ninja,

and very quickly it's having an effect on us. And from there, all the fun starts.

Yeah, the specific molecule is actually ethanol, right? Because some kinds of alcohol

are toxic even to humans, but ethanol is okay.

Yeah, I mean, alcohol is actually the name of an entire chemical group of compounds.

We call it alcohol, but of course what we're really talking about is the molecule ethanol,

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