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Sober Awkward

Sober Awkward

By: soberawkward
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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.

2022 soberawkward
Hygiene & Healthy Living Social Sciences
Episodes
  • The Share Shed: Awkward Questions & Confessions
    May 27 2026

    This week on the Share Shed we’re talking drunk online shopping… you know, those slightly terrifying mystery parcels that arrive two days after a blackout.


    From sequinned capes and stuffed frogs in hats… to accidentally booking holidays to Spain you have absolutely no memory of organising.


    Basically:


    If you’ve ever opened your front door hungover and thought,

    “What in the name of Christ have I bought now?”

    …this one’s for you.


    The Share Shed is where listeners send in their funniest, cringiest and most unbelievable drinking stories. It’s not about judgement, it’s about recognising how wild things could get when alcohol was in charge, and laughing about it now we’re on the other side.


    But sometimes, it’s also a place for the harder stuff, the honest bits we don’t always say out loud.


    If you’ve got a story you’d like to get off your chest, funny, awkward or something a bit more serious, you can send it to Vic at:


    vic@soberawkward.com


    Anonymous is absolutely fine. In fact, for legal reasons, probably preferable!!



    📞 SUPPORT & RESOURCES


    If anything in today’s Shame Shed felt familiar, or you’re worried about your drinking, there is support out there. You don’t have to do this on your own.


    🇦🇺 Australia

    National Alcohol & Other Drug Hotline

    📞 1800 250 015 (24/7)

    🌐 https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/alcohol-and-drug-information-service


    Lifeline

    📞 13 11 14 (24/7)

    🌐 https://www.lifeline.org.au


    Hello Sunday Morning / Daybreak

    🌐 https://hellosundaymorning.org

    🌐 https://daybreakapp.com.au


    Clean Slate Clinic

    🌐 https://www.cleanslateclinic.com


    🇬🇧 United Kingdom

    Drinkline

    📞 0300 123 1110

    🌐 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support/


    Alcohol Change UK

    🌐 https://alcoholchange.org.uk


    We Are With You

    🌐 https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk


    🌍 International

    Alcoholics Anonymous

    🌐 https://www.aa.org


    SMART Recovery

    🌐 https://www.smartrecovery.org



    💬 A gentle reminder

    If you’re drinking in the morning to cope, especially with anxiety or withdrawal symptoms, it’s really important to speak to a doctor or medical professional. Stopping suddenly can be unsafe for some people, and support can make a huge difference.

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    9 mins
  • Problem Drinking - Delivered to Your Door - with Hattie Underwood
    May 24 2026

    This week on Sober Awkward, Vic chats to Hattie Underwood, the London-based mum of two behind Sober Happy Free, who has recently been speaking out across the UK media about the worrying rise of alcohol delivery services. After loads of Sober Awkward listeners tagged Vic in clips saying, “You HAVE to get her on the podcast!”… here she is.


    Now five years sober, Hattie openly shares the raw reality of addiction through lived experience, challenging stigma and reminding people that absolutely anyone can struggle with alcohol — and anyone deserves the chance to recover, one day at a time.


    Having appeared on Good Morning Britain, Channel 5 News and the BBC, Hattie is also using her voice to campaign with Alcohol Change UK and raise awareness around the dangers of modern drinking culture.


    Together they explore what happens when booze never really runs out. No awkward shuffle to the bottle shop. No eye contact with the cashier. No closing time. No moment to pause and think, “Hang on… maybe this is getting a bit much.” Just a bloke in a helmet arriving at your doorstep with another bottle and zero questions asked.


    Hattie explains how alcohol delivery services quietly escalated her drinking, why these apps can become so dangerous, and how the convenience and secrecy of “alcohol on demand” is creating growing concerns in both the UK and Australia.


    They chat about shame, loneliness, high-functioning drinking, dependency and the terrifying reality of alcohol being available in under thirty minutes, right at the exact moment someone is most vulnerable.


    Plus Vic asks herself a slightly uncomfortable question:

    What would her own drinking have looked like if the booze literally never ran out?


    Follow @soberhappyfree to join Hattie on her sobriety journey.

    https://www.instagram.com/soberhappyfree

    https://www.tiktok.com/@soberhappyfree?_r=1&_t=ZN-96MLDO3Z0oY


    💛 Resources & Links


    📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

    A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

    👉 Buy the book here


    🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

    👉 www.soberawkward.com


    🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

    Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

    👉 www.cuppa.community


    📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

    Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

    👉 The Sober Awkward Guide


    📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

    Instagram: @soberawkward

    TikTok: @soberawkward

    Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    43 mins
  • The Share Shed: Awkward Questions & Confessions
    May 20 2026

    Not really a Share Shed today…


    But there was a story from this week’s podcast that absolutely refused to be squeezed into a normal segment. It needed its own space. Its own moment. Its own… spotlight.


    We had the incredible Shanna Whan on Sober Awkward this week, founder of Sober in the Country and creator of the brilliant #OK2SAYNO campaign… and somewhere in the middle of talking about life in rural Australia, sobriety, and all things outback… she casually dropped this story.


    It involves an invitation to the Queen’s funeral.


    Yes. THAT.


    I’m not going to say anything else, because honestly, you just need to hear it.


    All I will say is… Shanna and I have more in common than I could have ever imagined.


    And it involves hats.


    What a story. Enjoy!


    To find out more about Shanna and her incredible work head to https://www.soberinthecountry.org or follow them on socials @sober_in_the_country and to help raise awareness please add #OK2SAYNO to your socials.


    💛 Resources & Links


    📘 Victoria’s memoir – A Thousand Wasted Sundays

    A brutally honest and hilarious look at motherhood, anxiety, and ditching the booze.

    👉 Buy the book here


    🎧 Listen to more Sober Awkward episodes

    👉 www.soberawkward.com


    🫖 Join The Cuppa Community

    Our private, supportive online space for sober folk

    👉 www.cuppa.community


    📘 Get the Sober Awkward Guide

    Our downloadable toolkit for ditching booze the awkward way.

    👉 The Sober Awkward Guide


    📱 Follow us for daily sober fun:

    Instagram: @soberawkward

    TikTok: @soberawkward

    Facebook: Sober Awkward Community for Women


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show More Show Less
    21 mins
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Absolutely love this podcast, it's like having 2 sober coaches in your pocket! Brilliant!

Safe place for the newly sober.

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It’s that time of year where we all get a little sober curious… I started listening to this on a whim and now Vic and Hamish accompany me on dog walks, long car journeys and even the occasional run.. I have genuinely laughed out loud and been thoroughly entertained all whilst strengthening my resolve to give up drinking. Thanks both.

My new mates Vic & Hamish

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