Wine O'Clock Myth meets The Drinking Game Pukapuka Talks session at the 2023 Nelson Arts Festival

Lotta Dann (Mrs D), the author of three bestselling books about alcohol, joins RNZ broadcaster Guyon Espiner to discuss - with Matty Anderson - why the odds are stacked against those who want to get off booze. Buckle up for a sobering look into how the way you drink is shaped not only by your individual choice, but also by government, media and big business.

In The Drinking Game, investigative journalist Guyon Espiner provides an incisive analysis of how our drinking culture is influenced by the government, media and big business. 

Four years ago, Espiner gave up drinking alcohol. He had been a heavy yet controlled drinker since his teens – abstaining three nights a week but making up for it the other four. One morning he woke up after a big night and decided he’d had enough and he quit – no AA, no support groups. Not drinking has given Guyon a new perspective on our relationship with alcohol in Aotearoa, and a lot of it is disturbing. 

The Drinking Game investigates the alcohol industry: the power, politics and lobbying behind our most harmful drug. Weaving together personal experience, hard research and interviews, it examines why Aotearoa New Zealand has such a heavy drinking culture, the harm it causes and how our attitudes to alcohol are changing.  

Likewise, Lotta Dann‘s 2020 book, The Wine O’Clock Myth, takes a critical look at the easy availability and widespread promotion of alcohol – including on social media – but she focuses, in particular, on how the alcohol industry specifically targets women. Dann is also the author of two personal accounts of what it’s like to go from being a boozy housewife downing a bottle of wine a day to being completely alcohol-free: Mrs D is Going Without and Mrs D is Going Within. In her latest book, she calls for regulatory changes to prevent the alcohol industry from promoting a damaging ‘Wine Mum’ culture.