CL-053 Kate Bernot and Brian Alberts on the Temporality of Temperance

Hey listeners—this week’s GBH Collective episode is a timely conversation between two of our writers who bring two very different perspectives to the site.

First up is Kate Bernot, our Sightlines lead reporter. Kate recently wrote a great story about the neo-Prohibitionist laws, policies, and sentiments that seem to be experiencing a groundswell of support during the pandemic.

In this conversation, she outlines exactly how goofy, yet unshakable, some of these ideas are when they reach the status of conventional wisdom. Have you seen a headline lately about how Americans are drinking insane amounts of beer during lockdown? Yeah, on average, it’s bullshit. But that’s not stopping the rhetoric. And, as Kate explains, those headlines add up to a kind of critical mass of truthiness—which starts influencing politicians and policymakers.

Next up, we have Brian Alberts, a scholar who writes about beer history for GBH. He explains why these repeated moments of Prohibitionist rhetoric appear throughout American history. He also describes why, instead of operating cyclically, these episodes are the result of a force meeting a counterforce—and both sides gaining strength at the same time.

Is temperance a war of attrition? Or will previous precedents point to likely future results? This conversation digs into the many factors influencing America’s long pattern of Prohibitionist tensions.

This is Kate Bernot and Brian Alberts. Listen in.