Sober Awkward cover art

Sober Awkward

Sober Awkward

By: soberawkward
Listen for free

Season's Savings | £0.99/mo for 3 months

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly

Winner, Best Wellbeing Podcast at The Australian Podcast Awards 2024


Have you ever woken up after a big night and announced, “I’m never drinking again,” only to find yourself six hours later waving $50 at a barman? Or perhaps you were more of a stay at home drinker, quietly opening the wine once the day was done and wondering when one glass started turning into, well, considerably more than one glass. Vic and Ulrika came from very different drinking worlds, but somehow ended up in exactly the same place.


Join author, podcaster and former binge drinking party animal Victoria Vanstone and broadcaster, writer and former stay at home drinker Ulrika Jonsson as they attempt to work out how the hell you do life without booze. Spoiler alert, neither of them has all the answers.


Each week on Sober Awkward, Vic and Ulrika rummage through the bits of sobriety people don’t talk about enough, anxiety, cravings, motherhood, ageing, relationships, sober sex, socialising, identity wobbles and that alarming moment when you realise you actually have to feel your feelings now. There are booze facts, ridiculous confessions, regular trips to the shame shed and absolutely no pretending that sobriety turns you into someone who enjoys green juice and sunrise yoga.


So whether you’ve hit a wall, you’re sick of hangovers and 3am anxiety, you’re quietly wondering if you drink too much, or you’re already sober and clutching a cup of tea wondering what the fuck happened to your personality, you’re in the right place.


Pop the kettle on. It’s time to feel the awkward and do it anyway.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2022 soberawkward Hygiene & Healthy Living Social Sciences
Episodes
  • The Awkward Bits

    The Awkward Bits
    Oct 14 2026
    You’ve been absolutely fine all day. You haven’t thought about alcohol, you’re feeling quite pleased with yourself and then suddenly it’s 5pm and your brain goes = WINE.This Thursday, Vic is digging into that very specific bit of the day when the urge to drink seems to arrive almost automatically. Why does cooking dinner make you want wine? Why can finishing work, putting the kids to bed or simply looking at the bloody clock suddenly trigger a craving?Vic looks at how our brains connect alcohol with times, places and routines, why COVID made home drinking so much easier to slip into, and how alcohol delivery has removed yet another barrier between wanting a drink and having one.More importantly, this is a practical episode about what you can actually do about it. From identifying your own drinking hour and counting the bottles in the recycling, to cancelling the wine delivery, eating before the craving kicks in and making alcohol harder to get hold of, Vic shares some simple ways to interrupt a routine that might have been happening for years.You don’t need to work out how you’re going to stay sober forever at 5pm tonight. You just need to get through the shitty hour.And possibly have a sandwich.Resources & Links📖 Vic & Ulrika want to hear from you!Have you got a story, weird drunk confession or a question for Vic and Ulrika?Email vicandulrika@soberawkward.com Your message could inspire a future episode.📱 Join the Sober Awkward appThe Sober Awkward app is a welcoming space for anyone who is sober, sober-curious or simply rethinking their relationship with alcohol.Search “Sober Awkward” in the Apple App Store or find for all other devices click here📲 Follow usInstagram - Sober Awkward: @soberawkwardFacebook - Sober Awkward Community for WomenRetreat with us🌴 Fancy a sober holiday? Click here to come and drink from coconuts!📰 Media enquiriesContact Kate at hello@soberawkward.comVic's Books📘 A Thousand Wasted Sundays👉 Get A Thousand Wasted Sundays📙 Mumming👉 Get Mumming📘 Get the Sober Awkward GuideA 30-day sobriety kickstart👉 Explore the Sober Awkward Guide🎧 Listen to more Sober AwkwardFind more episodes, books, events and everything Sober Awkward.👉 soberawkward.com🛟 Alcohol Support🇬🇧 United KingdomDrinkline — National Alcohol HelplineFree and confidential support if you are worried about your own or someone else’s drinking.Call 0300 123 1110Weekdays: 9am–8pmWeekends: 11am–4pm👉 NHS alcohol supportAlcohol Change UKInformation, practical tools and support.👉 alcoholchange.org.ukWithYouFree, confidential support with alcohol, drugs and mental health.👉 wearewithyou.org.ukIn an emergency, call 999.🇦🇺 AustraliaNational Alcohol and Other Drug HotlineFree and confidential information and support.Call 1800 250 015Available 24/7 in most states and territories.👉 Australian Government hotline informationLifeline AustraliaCrisis support available 24/7.Call 13 11 14Text 0477 13 11 14👉 lifeline.org.auIn an emergency, call 000. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    22 mins
  • The Stay at Home Drinker - Ulrika Tells her Story

    The Stay at Home Drinker - Ulrika Tells her Story
    Oct 11 2026
    This week on Sober Awkward, Vic and Ulrika tackle a drinking style that often flies completely under the radar, the stay-at-home drinker. Vic was the loud one. The social one. The drinker making questionable decisions in public and collecting stories she’d rather forget. Ulrika was different.Her drinking happened behind closed doors. No bars. No dance floors. No one telling her she’d had enough. Just a sofa, a glass of rum, a familiar routine, and eventually a habit that quietly became something she relied on to get through the day.Together they explore how alcohol can slowly shift from something we enjoy to something we need, why drinking at home can be so difficult to spot, and how secrecy, shame and isolation create the perfect conditions for alcohol to tighten its grip.They talk openly about lockdown drinking, parenting, anxiety, blackouts, hidden bottles, emotional dependence, and the exhausting cycle of drink, shame, hide, repeat.Along the way, they also cover builder-induced toilet disasters, panty liners, digestive biscuits, and why Ulrika accidentally traumatised a team of tradesmen by forgetting to shut the bathroom door.If you’ve ever found yourself pouring a glass because the kids are finally asleep, because work was stressful, because you’re lonely, overwhelmed, anxious, bored, or simply because it’s become what you do every evening, this episode is for you.This is an honest conversation about the drinking nobody sees, the shame nobody talks about, and the moment both Vic and Ulrika realised they couldn’t keep doing it anymore.Because sometimes the most dangerous drinking isn’t happening in the pub.It’s happening quietly on the sofa.💛 Resources & Links📖 Vic & Ulrika want to hear from you!Have you got a story, weird drunk confession or a question for Vic and Ulrika?Email vicandulrika@soberawkward.com. Your message could inspire a future episode.📱 Join the Sober Awkward appSearch “Sober Awkward” in the Apple App Store or find the app here.📲 Follow us Instagram - Sober Awkward: @soberawkwardFacebook - Sober Awkward Community for WomenRetreat with us🌴 Fancy a sober holiday? Click here to come and drink from coconuts with us!📰 Media enquiriesFor interviews, features, partnerships or other media requests, contact Kate at hello@soberawkward.com.📘 A Thousand Wasted SundaysVictoria’s brutally honest and hilarious memoir about motherhood, anxiety and ditching the booze.👉 Get A Thousand Wasted Sundays📙 MummingA Year of Trying (and Failing) to Be a Better Parent—Vic’s funny and painfully relatable memoir about the messy reality of motherhood.👉 Get Mumming📘 Get the Sober Awkward GuideA 30-day sobriety kickstart filled with relatable support, practical tools and plenty of awkwardness to help you begin life without booze.👉 Explore the Sober Awkward Guide🎧 Listen to more Sober AwkwardFind more episodes, books, events and everything Sober Awkward.👉 soberawkward.com🛟 Alcohol SupportSober Awkward shares personal experiences and community support, but it is not a substitute for professional medical advice.If you are physically dependent on alcohol, suddenly stopping can be dangerous. Please speak to a doctor or alcohol-support service for advice on withdrawing safely.🇬🇧 United KingdomDrinkline — National Alcohol HelplineFree and confidential support if you are worried about your own or someone else’s drinking.Call 0300 123 1110Weekdays: 9am–8pmWeekends: 11am–4pm👉 NHS alcohol supportAlcohol Change UKInformation, practical tools and support.👉 alcoholchange.org.ukWithYouFree, confidential support with alcohol, drugs and mental health.👉 wearewithyou.org.ukIn an emergency, call 999.🇦🇺 AustraliaNational Alcohol and Other Drug HotlineFree and confidential information and support.Call 1800 250 015Available 24/7 in most states and territories.👉 Australian Government hotline informationLifeline AustraliaCrisis support available 24/7.Call 13 11 14Text 0477 13 11 14👉 lifeline.org.auIn an emergency, call 000. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
  • The Awkward Bits

    The Awkward Bits
    Oct 7 2026
    This Thursday on The Awkward Bits, Vic is back on her own and wondering whether one of the reasons sobriety feels so bloody terrifying is because we make it MASSIVE before we’ve even started.When Vic first considered giving up drinking, she wasn’t worrying about getting through Tuesday night without a beer. Oh no. She was already mentally attending future weddings sober, cancelling imaginary cocktails on holidays she hadn’t booked and wondering whether eighty year old Vic would be devastated when someone offered her a lovely glass of red on her deathbed! So dramatic!!Basically, she turned not drinking into the end of civilisation as she knew it.So this week, Vic is looking at what happens when you make sobriety smaller. Instead of worrying about never drinking again, what if you just deal with tonight? Instead of trying to imagine the rest of your life without alcohol, what if you concentrate on changing one little bit of your routine and see what happens?Vic also talks about one of the biggest mistakes she made in early sobriety, removing alcohol but forgetting to fill the massive bloody hole it left behind. She was trying to squeeze sober Vic back into her old drinking life, then wondering why nothing quite fitted anymore.There are also some brilliant thoughts from the Sober Awkward community about what scared them before they stopped, plus some very simple ways to make those first sober days and awkward sober firsts feel less overwhelming. And perhaps, instead of spending all your time worrying about what you’re going to lose, this episode might help you get a tiny bit excited about what you could get back.You don’t need to work out Christmas, your next holiday, your fortieth birthday and whether you’ll fancy champagne when you’re eighty. You’re changing one thing. Start there. Although there is a slight risk that eight years later you’ll find yourself sitting in a pottery class making a wonky fish cup.Nobody warns you about that bit.Resources & Links📖 Vic & Ulrika want to hear from you!Have you got a story, weird drunk confession or a question for Vic and Ulrika?Email vicandulrika@soberawkward.com Your message could inspire a future episode.📱 Join the Sober Awkward appThe Sober Awkward app is a welcoming space for anyone who is sober, sober-curious or simply rethinking their relationship with alcohol.Search “Sober Awkward” in the Apple App Store or find for all other devices click here📲 Follow usInstagram - Sober Awkward: @soberawkwardFacebook - Sober Awkward Community for WomenRetreat with us🌴 Fancy a sober holiday? Click here to come and drink from coconuts!📰 Media enquiriesContact Kate at hello@soberawkward.comVic's Books📘 A Thousand Wasted Sundays👉 Get A Thousand Wasted Sundays📙 Mumming👉 Get Mumming📘 Get the Sober Awkward GuideA 30-day sobriety kickstart👉 Explore the Sober Awkward Guide🎧 Listen to more Sober AwkwardFind more episodes, books, events and everything Sober Awkward.👉 soberawkward.com🛟 Alcohol Support🇬🇧 United KingdomDrinkline — National Alcohol HelplineFree and confidential support if you are worried about your own or someone else’s drinking.Call 0300 123 1110Weekdays: 9am–8pmWeekends: 11am–4pm👉 NHS alcohol supportAlcohol Change UKInformation, practical tools and support.👉 alcoholchange.org.ukWithYouFree, confidential support with alcohol, drugs and mental health.👉 wearewithyou.org.ukIn an emergency, call 999.🇦🇺 AustraliaNational Alcohol and Other Drug HotlineFree and confidential information and support.Call 1800 250 015Available 24/7 in most states and territories.👉 Australian Government hotline informationLifeline AustraliaCrisis support available 24/7.Call 13 11 14Text 0477 13 11 14👉 lifeline.org.auIn an emergency, call 000. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
    Show More Show Less
    20 mins
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
Vic covers lots of angles and what's kept me listening is how understanding and non judgemental she is. I only started listening after being in sobriety for two years, coming across this podcast by accident and it's my secret listen every week and I look forward to every episode. Unfortunately I went through sobriety in secret through fear of being judged, which is sad really. This has made me feel not alone.
Good luck to you all 🥰

I'm not alone

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Absolutely love this podcast, it's like having 2 sober coaches in your pocket! Brilliant!

Safe place for the newly sober.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It’s that time of year where we all get a little sober curious… I started listening to this on a whim and now Vic and Hamish accompany me on dog walks, long car journeys and even the occasional run.. I have genuinely laughed out loud and been thoroughly entertained all whilst strengthening my resolve to give up drinking. Thanks both.

My new mates Vic & Hamish

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.