When Booze Becomes Part of Belonging – with Karl Considine
Sober Awkward
Victoria Vanstone
4.8 • 535 Ratings
🗓️ 5 July 2026
⏱️ 48 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For many LGBTQ+ people, the pub wasn’t just somewhere to grab a drink—it was one of the few places where they could safely be themselves. For decades, bars and clubs became places of acceptance, community and belonging. But when alcohol becomes woven into your identity and social life, what happens when you decide to stop drinking?
For many people, giving up alcohol means changing what they drink. For many LGBTQ+ people, it can also mean changing where they belong.
This week, Victoria sits down with Karl Considine, public speaker, advocate and Ambassador for Alcohol Change UK. Karl has become one of the leading voices in the UK’s alcohol-free movement, using honesty, humour and lived experience to challenge old ideas about sobriety. Karl is helping a new generation build confidence, connection, and identity without alcohol. Through his work, he has helped show that a life without alcohol isn’t about missing out—it’s about creating more connection, joy and possibility.
Together, they explore the powerful relationship between booze and queer culture. They discuss why LGBTQ+ communities experience higher rates of alcohol and substance misuse than the general population, the role discrimination and minority stress can play, and why creating alcohol-free spaces has never been more important.
It’s an honest conversation about identity, connection, loneliness, community and what it means to build a life where you don’t need alcohol to feel like you belong. Whether you’re part of the LGBTQ+ community or simply curious about why our relationship with alcohol is shaped by so much more than willpower, this episode is full of compassion, insight and plenty of laughs along the way.
💛 Resources & Links
Follow and Find out more about Karl head to @karlconsidine
📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays
A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.
👉 https://amzn.asia/d/0aZ69GpK
Vic's book 'Mumming - A year of Trying (and Failing) to be a better parent - https://amzn.asia/d/0bUJTS2W
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Right, the kettles boiled, perfect timing. I'll just make myself a quick cupper, take a deep breath and pretend I know exactly what I'm doing. |
| 0:11.6 | Right, let's get started. |
| 0:16.2 | Have you ever woken up on a Sunday morning with massive anxiety and said to yourself, |
| 0:22.6 | I'm never drinking again, only to find yourself waving 50 bucks at a barman by happy hour? |
| 0:29.0 | Do you ever wonder why everyone else can stop at one while you end up at a dodgy after party |
| 0:34.6 | holding hands with a weird bloke called Disco Day. If so, it might be time |
| 0:40.6 | to take a closer look at your reliable social crutch, alcohol. On this podcast, I investigate |
| 0:47.4 | my own deeply dysfunctional dealings with booze and find out what it's really like, |
| 0:52.9 | navigating this alcohol-drenched world, one fizzy |
| 0:56.0 | water at a time. I'm going to open up a shame shed of humiliating drinking stories to help |
| 1:02.1 | you understand why waking up with one eyebrow missing and a kebab sticking out of your top |
| 1:07.5 | pocket might actually be negatively impacting your health. |
| 1:11.2 | So, what happens when you put down those cheeky pints and finally let go of those rewarding mummy wines? |
| 1:18.5 | I guess we're just going to have to wait and see. |
| 1:21.7 | I'm Victoria Vanstone and this is sober awkward. |
| 1:30.2 | Let me just put the dog on the bed beside me. |
| 1:33.2 | There you go Sandy. |
| 1:34.3 | Yep, she's all snuggled in. |
| 1:36.4 | So here I am beaming in from my little studio on the Sunshine Coast. |
| 1:40.7 | I must admit, I woke up this morning with a good old-fashioned dose of anxiety. |
| 1:45.7 | Bloody hell, it does pop back sometimes. |
| 1:48.3 | I've got the tight jaw, that weird feeling in my chest and my brain is sort of quietly going, |
... |
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