Alcohol 101

Alcohol has been central to culture, art and societies for thousands of years. How far we’ve come to vomiting in a bin somewhere in Northbridge. 

In this episode, host Morgan Knoxlee introduces three Particle stories, written by Emily Evans, Thomas Crow and Alex Dook and read by Cat Williams.

Where did alcohol come from, is the ‘seal’ a real thing, should we cut back our drinking and can we really help the climate crisis by cracking open a cold one?

For more stories like this, visit particle.scitech.org.au

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome back to anotherepisode of Particle, Word for Word,
the podcast where we bringParticle WA's stories to life.
Today's story is one ofnature's boozy elixir, also known
as alcohol, with threeparticle stories about breaking the
seal, cutting back drinkingand tackling climate change with
tinnies.
These stories were written byEmily Evans, Thomas Crow and Alex

(00:22):
Duke and read by Cat Williams.
Alcohol has a long and complexhistory dating back thousands of
years.
It has been central to manysocieties and woven into the cultural,
religious and social fabric of humans.
The first known alcoholicdrink was in 7,000 B.C.
in ancient China, where peoplefermented rice, honey and fruit to

(00:43):
create a boozy concoction.
By 4000 BC regions ofMesopotamia were brewing beer and
wine.
We've come a long way to reachSeltzer's and Tommy Margaritas.
Alcohol was central to life inancient Greece, where they celebrated
Dionysus, the God of wine,with festivals and debates and philosophical
discussions.

(01:03):
It was also central to ancientRome, where they cultivated grapes
and improved grape growingtechniques and spread the joy of
wine and wine hangoversthroughout most of Europe.
After the fall of the RomanEmpire, winemaking knowledge and
techniques were preservedthroughout monasteries.
In areas where grapes didn'tgrow so well, beer and mead became
popular.

(01:24):
Alchemists had soon perfectedthe making of spirits, including
brandy.
Rum was popularized and fueledcolonial economies, particularly
the transatlantic slave trade.
Rum wasn't the only distilledspirit causing chaos with the gin
craze declared a health crisisin 18th century England.
After so long of being thebeating heart of societies, the 20th

(01:45):
century brought prohibitionlaws and temperance movements, prompting
laws and regulations aroundthe consumption and selling of alcohol.
Alcohol has been central toculture, art and societies for thousands
of years.
How far we've come to vomitingin a bin somewhere in Northbridge
during one of theseNorthbridge nights out or any pub
sesh with your pals, someonehas probably mentioned their desperate

(02:06):
need to pee with someone else,aggressively convincing them to not
break the seal.
Did the ancient Greeks breakthe seal?
Was this the reason for the prohibition?
Probably yes to the firstquestion, but unlikely to the second.
So what is the seal?
Is it even real and can it be broken?

(02:27):
Breaking the seal andconstantly needing to pee might be
one reason why you might notenjoy drinking.
Or perhaps the Sunday scariesgot a bit too scary.
Or perhaps the phrase sobercurious caught your attention.
It cannot be understated thatalcohol isn't good for us, it's not
good for our bodies, it's notgood for our bank account, and it's
not good for manyrelationships and communities.

(02:48):
So is cutting back on alcoholworth a shot?
The only person who can decidewhat is best for themselves is you.
Maybe drinking isn't your thing.
Maybe you're a fan of a G andT on a Friday night, or a relaxing
glass of red in the bathroom.
Or maybe you just love toparty and six pints sounds like your

(03:08):
perfect Saturday evening.
Like most things these days,everything comes back to the climate
crisis.
Diet, climate crisis, clothesyou wear, climate crisis, the insanity
of the F1 schedule climate crisis.
Unfortunately, the same can besaid about our drinking habits.
Luckily, some brewers arelending a helping hand, all with
a little bit of algae.

(03:33):
Alcohol has been brewing andconcocted at the hands of humans
for thousands of years.
Over time, brewing evolvedinto an art form and from there into
mass production.
Of course, brewing is notsolely to blame for the climate crisis,
but everyone can help play a role.
Whether you're installing somesolar panels or choosing your brew
based on their wastemanagement practices.

(03:53):
Whatever you choose, cheers to that.