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Sober Awkward

Sober Awkward

By: soberawkward
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About this listen

Winner, Best Well-Being Podcast at The Australian Podcast Awards 2024


Have you ever woken up after a big night out and declared, “I’m never drinking again,” only to find yourself waving $50 at a barman by Happy Hour? Yep, Vic’s been there too.


Join Victoria Vanstone, award-winning podcaster, author, and former binge-drinking party animal, as she explores what it’s really like to be sober in a world absolutely soaked in alcohol. Each week on Sober Awkward, Vic dives into boozy topics, social pressures, anxiety, identity wobbles, and the messy reality of quitting drinking, opening up the shame shed of humiliating stories so you don’t have to feel alone in yours.


With humour, honesty, and zero judgement, Vic tells it like it is, from vomit and one-night stands to life on the other side of destructive drinking. If you’ve hit a wall, you’re fed up with anxiety, headaches, and blackouts, or you’re just quietly sober-curious, pop the kettle on and learn how 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 Share Shed: Awkward Questions & Confessions
    Feb 25 2026

    Awkward questions. Clumsy confessions. Zero judgement. Today it's all about Darren, Darrens mum and a very dodgy night out! Say no more!


    Welcome to The Share Shed, the corner of Sober Awkward where we fling open the doors, air out the embarrassing bits, and finally stop carrying the stories that have been rattling around in our heads for years.


    These are your questions and confessions.

    The ones you’ve never said out loud. The nights you still cringe about in the shower. The moments that pop into your brain at 3am and make you want to crawl into the mattress. Traffic cones, family parties, one-night stands, run-ins with the police, bins, balconies, and that one thing everyone remembers even though you desperately wish they wouldn’t.


    Some are funny. Some are painful. Most are both.


    In The Share Shed, listeners write in anonymously to share their drinking stories, shame spirals, and “why am I still thinking about this?” moments. We read them out, laugh where we can, get honest where it hurts, and gently unpack how shame sticks around long after the booze has gone, and how to finally loosen its grip.


    This isn’t about reliving the chaos.

    It’s about letting it go.


    Because shame thrives in silence, and nothing deflates it faster than saying, “This happened to me too.” Whether you’re sober, sober-curious, or just questioning your relationship with alcohol, this is a place where you don’t have to be polished, healed, or have it all figured out.


    Just human.


    If you’ve got a story you’re sick of carrying, a question you’re scared to ask, or a drunken ghost you’d quite like evicted from your brain, send it in to vic@soberawkward.com..We’ll tuck it safely away in the Share Shed where it belongs, instead of letting it haunt you forever.


    New Share Shed episodes drop Thursdays.

    Come as you are.

    Leave a little lighter.


    💛 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.

    Show More Show Less
    10 mins
  • The Social Pivot with Sober Dave
    Feb 8 2026

    Eight years sober… and this week something quietly shifted.


    Vic realised the anxiety she feels around certain social situations isn’t because she can’t cope. It’s because she no longer wants to.


    For years she believed being able to sit comfortably around drinking was a sober skill to master. She could handle it. She could manage the energy. She could leave early. But the low-level anxiety never really disappeared.


    So what happens when you realise it’s not about capability, it’s about alignment?


    Joined by Sober Dave from One for the Road, Vic unpacks this sober pivot. Dave brings his usual grounded, thoughtful take as they talk about people-pleasing, the subtle weight of being “the sober one”, and how long-term sobriety sometimes asks you to quietly change the rooms you sit in.


    After meeting properly at the jungle retreat, something clicked for both of them about the kind of connection they actually want more of. This episode is about that shift, about choosing friendships and environments that feel nourishing rather than draining, and about allowing sobriety to keep evolving.


    Because maybe it isn’t about whether you can sit in certain spaces anymore.


    Maybe it’s about whether you still want to?


    Find out more about Dave by following him @soberdave and if you need some support in your sobriety then check out his website - https://www.soberdave.co.uk/


    💛 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.

    Show More Show Less
    49 mins
  • Grow Up! Alcohol and Maturity with Recovery Jimmy
    Feb 22 2026

    In this episode of Sober Awkward, Vic sits down with Recovery Jimmy from the After Hours podcast to ask a big question, does sobriety actually make you grow up?


    They swap stories of peak immaturity, from Vic’s 25 year blur of zero self preservation, to Jimmy’s wine fuelled, one way escape to Majorca after watching Into the Wild. What felt rebellious and “rock and roll” at the time now looks a lot like avoidance, selfishness, and being emotionally frozen at the age they started drinking.


    Together they unpack how booze can keep you stuck, convincing you that you’re wild and fun, when really you’re avoiding responsibility, feelings, and growth. They talk drinking culture, hating sober people in bars, and the slow realisation that maybe the “boring” friends were just maturing.


    It’s honest, funny, and reflective, a reminder that growing up does not mean losing your sense of fun. It means finally caring about yourself enough to change.


    Find out more about Jimmy and his Podcast here -

    Instagram:

    https://www.instagram.com/recovery_jimmy

    TikTok

    https://www.tiktok.com/@recovery.jimmy?_r=1&_t=ZN-93qNaF7fVBe

    After Hours with Jimmy Thistle

    https://afterhours.buzzsprout.com

    And you can find all my other links at:

    https://linktr.ee/jimmythistle



    💛 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.

    Show More Show Less
    44 mins
All stars
Most relevant
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

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Absolutely love this podcast, it's like having 2 sober coaches in your pocket! Brilliant!

Safe place for the newly sober.

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