Sober Awkward
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.
Episodes
Vic is joined by journalist and author Jenny Valentish for a warm, funny and honest conversation about introversion, overstimulation and knowing when it’s time to quietly exit stage left.
Jenny is the author of An Introvert’s Guide to Leaving the House, a brilliant and reassuring book about navigating the world without pretending to be more extroverted than you are. It’s not about becoming louder or more outgoing. It’s about und...
This week in the Share Shed, Vic opens the inbox and shares one of those stories that perfectly sums up the chaos of drinking days.
Listener James from Gloucester writes in with a tale from his travelling years that starts with a few innocent drinks on a river in Cambodia… and somehow ends with him accidentally buying more than he bargained for!
It’s funny, slightly unbelievable, and a perfect reminder of the kind of decision...
Vic is eight years sober tomorrow… and something is quietly shifting....
She has realised this week that 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...
Awkward questions. Clumsy confessions. Zero judgement. Today, it's all about someone Vic knows very well....
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 abou...
Is alcohol confidence, connection, and a doorway back to yourself, or is it a liquid barrier that keeps you further away?
In this episode, Vic is joined by Australian broadcaster and former Triple J presenter Mel Bampton. Now 15 years sober, Mel has come full circle back to radio after spending years rebuilding her life around yoga, surfing and sobriety. Together, they explore one powerful question: how do we make our way back a...
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...
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...
Awkward questions. Clumsy confessions. Zero judgement.
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 b...
Giving up alcohol in her twenties felt impossible for VIc.
Back then, drinking wasn’t just normal, it was the entire social structure. Nights out, friendships, dating, coping with stress, it all seemed to revolve around booze. So when someone decides to step away from it early, without a dramatic rock bottom or life implosion, it raises an interesting question..... Is something changing?
In this episode, Vic sits down with Se...
Awkward questions. Clumsy confessions. Zero judgement.
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 b...
This week on Sober Awkward, Vic is showing up having one of those weeks. You know the kind. Life is busy, emotions are bubbling, and she’s caught herself saying “Yeah, I’m fine” on autopilot, while secretly wanting to hide under a duvet and avoid everyone. Which, honestly, feels like the perfect moment to talk about… feelings.
Today, Vic unpacks why sobriety can suddenly turn the emotional volume right up. Years of numbing every...
Welcome to the Share Shed — a judgement-free corner of Sober Awkward where we gently drag our most awkward drinking stories into the daylight and finally let them go.
This is the place for the questions you’ve never asked out loud and the moments you still remember at 3am when your brain decides to replay your greatest hits of humiliation. Family parties that went wildly off-piste. Traffic cones worn as hats. One night stands yo...
Should you ask your partner to quit drinking just because you have? Or could that actually make things worse?
In this episode of Sober Awkward, Vic explores why telling the people you love to give up booze can backfire, and why quietly showing them what sobriety looks like is often far more powerful. From awkward dinner tables to partners who still drink, Vic talks honestly about support, resentment, boundaries, and why influenc...
🎙️ Throwback Thursdays on Sober Awkward!
Every Thursday, we’re serving up a little slice of Sober Awkward history – a short, powerful clip from one of our most-loved past episodes.
Why? Because sometimes, the right words hit differently the second time around. Whether you’re new here or a long-time listener, these throwback moments are here to keep you company, remind you you’re not alone, and offer that little nudge of insi...
After 3 and a half magical and hilarious years, the time has finally come for Hame to step away from the podcast. In this incredibly blubbery, soppy, sad and reflective episode Vic and Hame look back at what they have learnt from their time together.
They explore what they have learnt from the podcast and what they hope the listeners can learn too. Hame reveals his reasons for having made this decision (and not its not that him and ...
🎙️ Throwback Thursdays on Sober Awkward!
Every Thursday, we’re serving up a little slice of Sober Awkward history – a short, powerful clip from one of our most-loved past episodes.
Why? Because sometimes, the right words hit differently the second time around. Whether you’re new here or a long-time listener, these throwback moments are here to keep you company, remind you you’re not alone, and offer that little nudge of insi...
What happens when midlife hits… and you’re already sober?
In this brilliantly honest and often hilarious episode, Vic is flying solo (Hamish wisely sat this one out) to chat with author Dana Bowman, a woman who thought she had long-term sobriety nailed, until menopause, food, marriage, parenting, body image, and a global pandemic all piled in at once.
Dana’s story, told in her book Humble Pie, is about far more than sobriety....
🎙️ Throwback Thursdays on Sober Awkward!
Every Thursday, we’re serving up a little slice of Sober Awkward history – a short, powerful clip from one of our most-loved past episodes.
Why? Because sometimes, the right words hit differently the second time around. Whether you’re new here or a long-time listener, these throwback moments are here to keep you company, remind you you’re not alone, and offer that little nudge of insi...
Ever noticed how the moment you put down the wine glass, you suddenly find yourself at the bottom of a family-sized bag of Haribo? You aren't alone. In fact, for many of us, the "sugar monster" was waiting in the wings long before we poured our last drink.
In this episode, we sit down with Vanessa Kredler, a Sydney-based psychotherapist and specialist in ultra-processed food addiction. Vanessa brings a lived experience in r...
🎙️ Throwback Thursdays on Sober Awkward!
Every Thursday, we’re serving up a little slice of Sober Awkward history – a short, powerful clip from one of our most-loved past episodes.
Why? Because sometimes, the right words hit differently the second time around. Whether you’re new here or a long-time listener, these throwback moments are here to keep you company, remind you you’re not alone, and offer that little nudge of insi...
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