Damp January
Finding the meaning in moderation for those who've been meaning to moderate.
Luke Burbank, host of the public radio variety show Live Wire, knows his way around a drink. At times, he's gotten too familiar with the stuff, which is why he's now trying to fix his relationship with alcohol. In this new limited series, Luke talks to friends, family, and cultural luminaries living at various points on the booze spectrum — from enthusiastic imbibers to teetotalers and everyone in-between. After a booze-heavy pandemic and increased attention to alcohol's health risks, many have reconsidered their habits. But is mindful consumption actually achievable? Even for people named Luke? Damp January explores these questions with humor, honesty, and (occasionally) a little liquid courage. It’s every Wednesday in… you guessed it, January.
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Episodes
Episode 1: How Did We Get Here? with Susie Burbank
Why not start at the beginning? Luke contemplates his complicated history of drinking, from balancing days as a public radio reporter with wild nights at Culver City’s iconic dive Tattle Tale Room, to making a public statement about quitting the drink… only to get back on the sauce. Luke sits down with his mom, Susie Burbank, to chat about her own road to recovery. After a wild teenage life, Susie raised Luke and his siblings in a strict Evangelical home but found herself turning to alcohol again in middle age. She opens up to Luke about a fraught (and very boozy) trip to a nail salon that scared her into seeking sobriety.
Episode 2: Why Is This So Hard? with Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall
Has Luke just met his match? In a conversation with journalist Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall, author of Hungover: The Morning After and One Man's Quest for a Cure, Luke discovers that Shaughnessy’s love of the drink—and his knack for getting shaken up and stirred in—mirrors his very own. The two discuss tragically drunk writers of notoriety, the tendency to lie to their doctors, and the worst hangovers they’ve ever had.
Episode 3: What’s the Big Deal? with Gary Shteyngart
What’s really the harm in “moderate” (whatever that means) drinking? According to New York Times bestselling author Gary Shteyngart, absolutely nothing. Luke weighs the balance between sobriety and binging in a conversation about the joys of drinking with a man who loves his martinis… and has no dreams of living into his mid-80s. While recent studies have indicated that drinking is more harmful than we once thought, why take away a small pleasure? Other things will kill us eventually, as Gary points out.
Episode 4: Is Sobriety… Forever? with Moshe Kasher
Was it sheer alcoholism or just adolescent rage? Comedian, podcaster, and memoirist Moshe Kasher (Subculture Vulture) poses this question to himself in a conversation with Luke about his own journey through the 12-steps, which began as a teenager during the Nancy Reagan-fueled era of “Just Say No.” Now sober for basically three decades, Moshe reflects on the mantra “one day at a time,” his curiosity around psychedelics, and how addiction (not the substance) is the real enemy.
Episode 5: How ‘Bout We Call It a Night? with Nora McInerny
In the final episode of Damp January, Luke talks to his friend Nora McInerny—author and podcast host of Thanks for Asking—about what it means to basically not drink anymore. The two old friends chat about the drunken exploits of their youth, boozing through grief (and when enough is enough), and how to replace drinking with a “dopamine menu,” while Luke accepts that his relationship to alcohol might never be effortless.