Sober Awkward

This week on Sober Awkward, Vic sits down with TJ Power, a well-known neuroscientist, author of the Sunday Times bestseller The DOSE Effect, and the founder of the DOSE Lab. He is a leading voice in demystifying brain chemistry, focusing on helping people manage digital burnout, phone addiction, and overstimulation in the modern world.

TJ shares his own story of changing his relationship with alcohol, including a powerful epiphany at a music festival that made him completely rethink what connection, fun and presence really mean. Together, they explore the surprising similarities between alcohol addiction and phone addiction, and why both are fuelled by the same dopamine-driven reward systems in the brain.

The conversation takes an unexpected turn when Vic has a rather uncomfortable realisation of her own. Eight years sober and feeling quite smug about no longer disappearing into bottles of wine, she suddenly discovers she’s been disappearing into something else instead… her phone.

In a moment that feels a bit like being caught snogging behind the bike sheds, Vic realises she may be neglecting her children in exactly the same way she used to neglect them with alcohol. Not physically absent, but mentally elsewhere. Half listening. Half scrolling. Forever saying, “Just one second, darling…”

It’s a surprisingly emotional moment as TJ explains that the dopamine hits from our phones aren’t a million miles away from the rewards we chase through alcohol, and Vic starts to wonder whether she’s simply swapped one distraction for another.

This episode isn’t about throwing your phone in the sea or moving to a cave. It’s about becoming curious about the habits that quietly shape our lives.
And make sure you listen right to the end, because Vic returns with a surprising update after attempting her own digital detox weekend.

A fascinating conversation that might just make you question your scrolling as much as your drinking.

Find TJ here - @tjpower
@doselab - Order the book now - https://a.co/d/0fghgGAc
www.thedoselab.com

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays
A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.
👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes
👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community
Our private, supportive online space for sober folk
👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide
Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.
👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:
Instagram: @soberawkward
TikTok: @soberawkward
Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today on the Share Shed we have one confession and one question.
First up, a listener wakes up in Las Vegas with more than just a hangover… let’s just say Elvis may have been involved and somebody accidentally got married.
Then we tackle a question many people quietly ask themselves: if your hands shake the morning after drinking, is that a sign you’re an alcoholic?

The answer might surprise you.
Pour yourself a cuppa and join us for today’s Share Shed.

The Share Shed is where listeners send in their funniest, cringiest and most unbelievable drinking stories. It’s not about judgement, it’s about recognising how wild things could get when alcohol was in charge, and laughing about it now we’re on the other side.

But sometimes, it’s also a place for the harder stuff, the honest bits we don’t always say out loud.

If you’ve got a story you’d like to get off your chest, funny, awkward or something a bit more serious, you can send it to Vic at:

[email protected]

Anonymous is absolutely fine. In fact, for legal reasons, probably preferable!!

📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES

If anything in today’s Shame Shed felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support out there. You don’t have to do this on your own.

🇦🇺 Australia
National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline
📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)
🌐 https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service

Lifeline
📞 13 11 14 (24/7)
🌐 https://www.lifeline.org.au

Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak
🌐 https://hellosundaymorning.org
🌐 https://daybreakapp.com.au

Clean Slate Clinic
🌐 https://www.cleanslateclinic.com

🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Drinkline
📞 0300 123 1110
🌐 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/

Alcohol Change UK
🌐 https://alcoholchange.org.uk

We Are With You
🌐 https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk

🌍 International
Alcoholics Anonymous
🌐 https://www.aa.org

SMART Recovery
🌐 https://www.smartrecovery.org

💬 A gentle reminder
If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s really important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and support can make a huge difference.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Sober Awkward, Vic chats to James Swanwick about high-functioning drinking, success, pressure and the growing movement of people choosing to live alcohol free — not because they’ve completely fallen apart, but because they simply feel better without it.

James is an Australian stop drinking expert, author, investor, entrepreneur and former SportsCenter anchor on ESPN. He is the creator of stop drinking organisation, Alcohol Free Lifestyle, which helps business owners and executives finally break free from alcohol without AA, rehab or willpower.

Together, Vic and James unpack the myth that alcohol problems only affect people at “rock bottom” and explore why high achievers often struggle silently for years. They chat about identity, pride, social pressure, parenting, masculinity, success and why being outwardly functional can actually make it harder to admit something isn’t working.

They also explore a really interesting question:
Can giving up alcohol sometimes be less about “having a problem”… and more about choosing a different lifestyle entirely?

Plus there’s chat about celebrity alcohol brands, the rise of the alcohol-free movement, Gen Z turning away from booze and why many people are beginning to realise that alcohol may be taking far more than it gives.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever wondered:
“Do I actually need to wait for things to get worse before I make a change?”

Enjoy!

Find James' work here -

IG: https://www.instagram.com/jamesswanwick/
FB: https://web.facebook.com/AlcoholFreeLifestyle
https://web.facebook.com/JamesSwanwickOfficial
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlcoholFreeLifestyle
https://www.youtube.com/@JamesSwanwick
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@jamesswanwick
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5253hMZWPlEWj6AVodbkC7
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alcohol-free-lifestyle/id1518416850
X: https://x.com/jamesswanwick
AFL Website: https://alcoholfreelifestyle.com/

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays
A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.
👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes
👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community
Our private, supportive online space for sober folk
👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide
Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.
👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:
Instagram: @soberawkward
TikTok: @soberawkward
Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the Share Shed we’re talking drunk online shopping… you know, those slightly terrifying mystery parcels that arrive two days after a blackout.

From sequinned capes and stuffed frogs in hats… to accidentally booking holidays to Spain you have absolutely no memory of organising.

Basically:

If you’ve ever opened your front door hungover and thought,
“What in the name of Christ have I bought now?”
…this one’s for you.

The Share Shed is where listeners send in their funniest, cringiest and most unbelievable drinking stories. It’s not about judgement, it’s about recognising how wild things could get when alcohol was in charge, and laughing about it now we’re on the other side.

But sometimes, it’s also a place for the harder stuff, the honest bits we don’t always say out loud.

If you’ve got a story you’d like to get off your chest, funny, awkward or something a bit more serious, you can send it to Vic at:

[email protected]

Anonymous is absolutely fine. In fact, for legal reasons, probably preferable!!

📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES

If anything in today’s Shame Shed felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support out there. You don’t have to do this on your own.

🇦🇺 Australia
National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline
📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)
🌐 https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service

Lifeline
📞 13 11 14 (24/7)
🌐 https://www.lifeline.org.au

Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak
🌐 https://hellosundaymorning.org
🌐 https://daybreakapp.com.au

Clean Slate Clinic
🌐 https://www.cleanslateclinic.com

🇬🇧 United Kingdom
Drinkline
📞 0300 123 1110
🌐 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/

Alcohol Change UK
🌐 https://alcoholchange.org.uk

We Are With You
🌐 https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk

🌍 International
Alcoholics Anonymous
🌐 https://www.aa.org

SMART Recovery
🌐 https://www.smartrecovery.org

💬 A gentle reminder
If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s really important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and support can make a huge difference.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Sober Awkward, Vic chats to Hattie Underwood, the London-based mum of two behind Sober Happy Free, who has recently been speaking out across the UK media about the worrying rise of alcohol delivery services. After loads of Sober Awkward listeners tagged Vic in clips saying, “You HAVE to get her on the podcast!”… here she is.

Now five years sober, Hattie openly shares the raw reality of addiction through lived experience, challenging stigma and reminding people that absolutely anyone can struggle with alcohol — and anyone deserves the chance to recover, one day at a time.

Having appeared on Good Morning Britain, Channel 5 News and the BBC, Hattie is also using her voice to campaign with Alcohol Change UK and raise awareness around the dangers of modern drinking culture.

Together they explore what happens when booze never really runs out. No awkward shuffle to the bottle shop. No eye contact with the cashier. No closing time. No moment to pause and think, “Hang on… maybe this is getting a bit much.” Just a bloke in a helmet arriving at your doorstep with another bottle and zero questions asked.

Hattie explains how alcohol delivery services quietly escalated her drinking, why these apps can become so dangerous, and how the convenience and secrecy of “alcohol on demand” is creating growing concerns in both the UK and Australia.

They chat about shame, loneliness, high-functioning drinking, dependency and the terrifying reality of alcohol being available in under thirty minutes, right at the exact moment someone is most vulnerable.

Plus Vic asks herself a slightly uncomfortable question:
What would her own drinking have looked like if the booze literally never ran out?

Follow @soberhappyfree to join Hattie on her sobriety journey.
https://www.instagram.com/soberhappyfree
https://www.tiktok.com/@soberhappyfree?_r=1&_t=ZN-96MLDO3Z0oY

💛 Resources & Links

📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays
A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.
👉 Buy the book here

🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes
👉 www.soberawkward.com

🫖 Join The Cuppa Community
Our private, supportive online space for sober folk
👉 www.cuppa.community

📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide
Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.
👉 The Sober Awkward Guide

📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:
Instagram: @soberawkward
TikTok: @soberawkward
Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.