The Case for Drinking Alcohol

Conversations with Coleman

The Free Press

Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.5 • 610 Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2026

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Most researchers who study alcohol focus on what it does to your body. Edward Slingerland is more interested in what it does to your friendships. In his book Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, the University of British Columbia professor argues that alcohol has functioned for thousands of years as humanity's most important social lubricant, and that the modern war on drinking is costing us something we can't easily replace. He and Coleman dig into the anthropological origins of alcohol, why drinking has always been communal, and why giving it up isn't as simple as your doctor thinks. Slingerland argues the loneliness epidemic and the sobriety trend may not be a coincidence. They also touch on Slingerland's background in early Chinese philosophy, and the surprisingly direct path from ancient Daoist texts to a book about getting drunk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:23.7	Welcome to another episode of Conversations with Coleman. My guest today is Edward Slingerland.
0:30.2	Edward is a professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia, and he's also a leading
0:35.1	scholar of early Chinese thought. Edward wrote a book called The Drunk, How We Sipped, Dance, and he's also a leading scholar of early Chinese thought. Edward wrote a book called
0:39.1	Drunk, How We Siped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization. This book represents something
0:45.0	that you've probably never seen from a serious academic, a defense of drinking alcohol.
0:50.3	That's right. Edward is a fan of alcohol, and he thinks it played an important role in the development of human civilization.
0:57.6	In this episode, we talk about how alcohol was discovered, what role it played in early civilizations,
1:03.9	why alcohol has gotten stronger over the years, and why young people today are drinking less.
1:10.0	Along the way, we also talk about Edward's other
1:12.4	area of expertise, Chinese history. So without further ado, Edward Slingerland.
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