Author: Alysse Bryson

For those of us living alcohol-free—whether for personal, health, or recovery reasons—reading ingredient labels is second nature. But one product that often flies under the radar? Perfume. Traditional fragrances almost always contain alcohol, usually in the form of ethanol, as the primary ingredient. It’s the industry standard because alcohol helps the scent evaporate quickly and project into the air. But if you’re someone practicing total abstinence from alcohol, you may prefer products that align with your lifestyle on all levels—including your fragrance. The good news? More and more luxury brands are finally getting the memo and creating alcohol-free perfumes that…

Florence Welch Is 12 Years Sober. She Describes Herself as an All-or-Nothing Drinker. Here’s the Full Story. Florence Welch has one of the most recognizable voices in music. She also has one of the more honest answers to the question of why she stopped drinking. She is, by her own description, all or nothing. Not the kind of person who has one glass of wine and calls it a night. The kind of person for whom one glass of wine is simply the beginning of a longer and less predictable evening. She stopped drinking in 2014. As of 2026, that…

 🎧Listen to this article in Alysse’s voice Prefer listening? Press play and follow along. Why Sober Dates Deserve Main Character Energy Here’s what nobody tells you about sober dating: it’s actually better. Not “better considering” — just better. You show up as yourself, you remember everything, and the chemistry you feel is real. No asterisks. In your drinking days, the plan was basically: show up, order something, order another something, and hope the dim lighting and lowered inhibitions did the rest. (Chemistry! Or at least a convincing impression of it.) Take alcohol out of the equation and suddenly you realize:…

He was 20 years old, one of the most famous people on the planet, and he was showing up to work hungover. Not once. Not occasionally. Regularly. Daniel Radcliffe has said he sometimes filmed scenes for Harry Potter while still under the influence, or close enough to it that the line had stopped mattering. He wasn’t partying. He was coping. There’s a difference, and he’s been honest about that difference in a way that most people in his position never are. Radcliffe stopped drinking around 2010, when he was 20. As of 2026, that’s roughly 16 years. No dramatic rock…

Kat Von D Has Been Sober for 17 Years. Her Life Looks Nothing Like You’d Expect. She drew a line in the sand sometime around 2008, and it had nothing to do with a rock bottom. Kat Von D decided to get sober because her work was suffering. That was it. She is an artist before she is a celebrity, before she is a brand, before she is anything else, and when drugs and alcohol started blurring the precision she brought to her craft, she cut them off. Not dramatically. Not with a press release. She just chose the needle…

In a powerful episode of What’s In Your Neighborhood?, host Melanie Vargas sits down with me—Alysse Bryson, Founder and CEO of The Sober Curator—for a candid conversation about recovery, identity, and what it really takes to live authentically. This isn’t a surface-level interview. It’s a deeper look at what happens after you’ve done the “big” work—when sobriety, success, and structure are already in place, but something still feels… off. About What’s In Your Neighborhood? Melanie Vargas’ podcast is built around a simple but powerful idea: We all carry emotional neighborhoods. The quiet backstreets of ambition, shame, identity, and the stories…

Anthony Kiedis Is 25 Years Sober. Here’s the Full Story. He spent his last $10,000 on treatment. It was Christmas Eve 2000. He was the frontman of one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, and he was completely out of moves. That’s where Anthony Kiedis draws the line between before and after. As of December 24, 2025, the Red Hot Chili Peppers singer has been sober for 25 years. No slipping. No asterisks. Just one of the longest continuous sobriety streaks in rock history, held together by hard work, surfing, fatherhood, and a level of self-awareness that took…

Elizabeth Vargas was having a panic attack in the makeup chair while America waited for her to deliver the news. She looked calm. She sounded authoritative. And she was already thinking about which bottle of chardonnay she would open the second the cameras cut. That is exactly why her story hits so hard for those of us who are sober or sober curious. She was not a tabloid regular or a reality star trying to rehab a brand. She was the calm, serious voice of American news, showing up in living rooms in a blazer, not a bandage dress. While…

I’ve been on the hosting side of a podcast conversation enough times now that I know how it goes. You prep your questions, you hold the space, you keep the energy up. You’re in control. Being the guest is a completely different situation. Kelley Kitley had me on her podcast, and I want to say I showed up with everything buttoned up and polished. But here’s the thing about sitting across from a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 25 years of experience and 13 years of her own sobriety: that woman knows how to get you talking. Not in a…

Last month we launched Clued In and you showed up. Like, really showed up. People were screenshotting their completed grids, arguing about clues in the comments, and DMing us about how long 5 Down took them. We loved every second of it. So we’re back. And this time, we’re pouring one out for the drinks that made sobriety taste good. This Month’s Theme: Happy Every Hour April is Alcohol Awareness Month, and we’re celebrating it the only way we know how: by nerding out on everything NA. This month’s crossword is 13 clues dedicated entirely to NA beverages, zero-proof spirits,…

Because Brunch Mimosas Are So Last Season Here is what the Mother’s Day industrial complex wants you to believe: brunch, a gift card, a candle that smells like “relaxation,” and bottomless mimosas until someone cries in the bathroom. For the sober mom in your life, that script does not just miss the mark. It lands like a face-plant in slow motion. She is not a consolation prize version of a mom who “cannot drink anymore.” She is fully, intentionally, sometimes brutally present for her life. That deserves better than a Hallmark template and a round of drinks she does not…

You asked for more puzzles. We delivered. Welcome to Sober Search, the newest addition to The Sober Curator’s puzzle lineup. If you’ve been playing Clued In (our monthly crossword), you already know we take sober brain workouts seriously. Now we’re giving you another one. Same energy. Different format. Zero proof required. What Is Sober Search? It’s a word search. But make it sober. Every month we hide 19 words inside a 15×15 grid. Your job is to find them. Words go in every direction: horizontal, vertical, diagonal, forwards, backwards. Some are hiding in plain sight. Others will make you stare…

Welcome to a world of uplifting and transformative tools that empower you to cultivate positivity, mindfulness, and wellness in your daily life. From feelings to happiness, from gentle reminders to positive affirmations, and from mental health to mindfulness, we’ve curated a list of the top 14 Motivational Card Decks that cover an extensive range of life-enhancing topics. These decks also touch on understanding and managing moods, embracing digital detox, resisting the grind culture, promoting work wellness, and even incorporating desk yoga. Each deck is designed to inspire, motivate, and guide you towards a more balanced and fulfilling life. Join us…

Denzel Washington is not standing at a podium telling you his rock bottom story. He is not on the cover of People magazine with a redemption arc and a recovery memoir. He is doing something arguably more interesting: living like a man who figured out what actually matters and organizing his whole life around that instead. In a pop culture landscape where sobriety is either hidden completely or performed loudly, Denzel lands in a third category. Quiet. Grounded. Wildly compelling. And completely unbothered by the chaos everyone else seems determined to live inside of. That is why we are talking…

The book that’s been living rent-free in our Addiction Fiction section for two years just became Apple TV+’s most anticipated series of spring 2026. Sometimes you read a book and immediately think: this has to be a show. That’s exactly what happened when I reviewed Rufi Thorpe’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles two years ago, and it has been one of the most-read pieces in our Addiction Fiction section ever since. The story hit differently here. Not because it’s a recovery book. Because it’s a book about what happens when the people who love you are also the people most likely…

They started with a group chat and a “hey, I’m in Brooklyn too.” Now they’re building one of the most authentic sober mom communities on the internet. If you got sober before social media made sobriety look aspirational, you know what it felt like to look for your people in all the wrong places. Chat rooms. Bulletin boards. Waiting for someone to type “Hi, I’m Ed” while you quietly contemplated relapsing out of sheer boredom. The landscape has changed. A lot. And for sober moms specifically, one of the freshest additions to that landscape is the Sober Mom Collective, a…

Before there were podcasts about sobriety, before there were NA cocktail menus at every trendy bar, before the word “sober-curious” existed — there were books. Specifically, there were celebrities brave (or broken open) enough to write about their addictions on the page, for millions of strangers to read. Some of these memoirs came out before sobriety was remotely cool. Some of them probably saved lives. A few of them are so raw they’ll make you put the book down just to catch your breath. We’ve been quietly building our #QUITLIT library for years over here at TSC, and this list…

The internet has completely lost its mind over The Devil Wears Prada 2, and honestly? I am right there with it. Here’s the part that made me actually laugh out loud at my laptop: the film drops in theaters on May 1, 2026. My 20th soberbirthday. Twenty years. Two decades. The same year Anne Hathaway walked onto the Oscars stage alongside Anna Wintour herself, served a look that broke the internet for a full 48 hours, and then watched the world collectively lose it again over a red designer purse… repurposed as a popcorn bucket. I’m not saying God has…

Remember when every celebrity with a publicist and a good story was launching a tequila brand? George Clooney did it (Casamigos). Ryan Reynolds did it (Aviation Gin). Dwayne Johnson did it (Teremana). The celeb tequila era was its own whole chapter in the pop culture history books. Well, the plot has officially thickened. The newest celebrity beverage flex is going in the opposite direction. A growing roster of A-listers, rock legends, and household names who are sober, in long-term recovery, or simply done with alcohol are launching non-alcoholic drink brands. And not as a quiet side project. As a full…

Let me paint you a picture. It’s a Tuesday night. You’re in your kitchen, wearing something fabulous for no reason, and you want something in a glass that feels like a celebration. Not because something happened. Just because you’re here, you’re sober, and you’ve decided Tuesday deserves a toast. That’s where Cheers Queers white peach kombucha shows up and earns its place in your fridge. What It Is This is kombucha with personality, not a wellness lecture. Brewed in the Pacific Northwest with actual attention to flavor and cheeky labels that wink at pop culture. Here’s what matters: Cheers Queers…

“Quit lit” — short for quit literature — includes books about addiction, sobriety, recovery, and personal transformation. These stories range from raw addiction memoirs to investigative journalism, spiritual reflections, and guides to living alcohol-free. At The Sober Curator, our contributors review books that explore addiction, recovery, mental health, and sober living. Some stories are deeply personal memoirs. Others investigate the culture of addiction or explore recovery through spirituality and self-discovery. Below are a few highlights from our #QUITLIT Library, currently featuring 178 books about sobriety and recovery (and always growing), organized to help you find your next meaningful read. For…

At The Sober Curator, we spotlight public conversations around sobriety in pop culture — especially when high-profile figures’ recovery journeys intersect with broader cultural impact. This article is based on Danny Trejo’s own interviews, long-standing sobriety, and his recent venture into the non-alcoholic spirits space. From Prison to Hollywood Before he was a cult film icon, Danny Trejo was incarcerated and struggling with addiction. Today, he’s known for roles in Machete, Before Hollywood, before the iconic roles, Danny Trejo was living a life marked by addiction and incarceration. He has been sober since 1968, following years of heroin and alcohol…

While Adam Sandler was stashing booze in weird places, his comedy counterpart quietly went and launched Stiller’s Soda. The Shirley Temple origin story alone is worth the read.

Anthony Hopkins just turned 50 years sober and published a memoir about it. Elton John launched his own NA champagne. Eminem calls sobriety his superpower. Jamie Lee Curtis says getting sober is the single greatest accomplishment of her life. These are not fragile people white-knuckling their way through a dinner party. These are sober celebrities in 2026 who have been doing this longer than some of their fans have been alive, and they are not slowing down. At The Sober Curator, we have skin in this game. I am about to hit 20 years without alcohol on May 1, 2026…

Because “I don’t drink” is barely the beginning of the story. There’s a thing that happens when you get sober. At first, you’re just trying to not drink. That’s the whole job. Head down, one day at a time, don’t pick up. But then — somewhere between month six and year five, usually — you realize something. Sobriety isn’t just what you stopped doing. It’s who you actually are. And turns out? Sober people are not all the same. Some of us are building zero-proof cocktail menus and have opinions about which NA gin is worth the price point. Some…

Sober Easter, Zero Hangover: Yes, It Can Actually Be Fun Here is what Easter for grown-ups usually looks like: bottomless mimosas, a ham nobody asked for, and at least one conversation you will regret by 3 p.m. If you are sober or sober-curious, you already know the drill. You show up for the deviled eggs and the Reese’s eggs, and somehow your empty champagne flute becomes a talking point. Hard pass on all of that. Sober holidays are not consolation prizes for people who “cannot” drink. They are a chance to actually be present for the good stuff: chasing kids…

One Peep at a Time. (Yes, I Went There.) It started, as most of my best ideas do, with a Google search that had absolutely no business leading anywhere useful. I was looking for a Peeps diorama set inside an addiction treatment center. Specific? Yes. Unhinged? Maybe. But if you have spent any time on this site, you already know that is basically my brand. What I found instead was a “Sugar Coma Rehab” diorama created by the staff and clients of Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute at United Hospital. Adorable. Impressive. Not quite what I had in mind. And then…

Pete Davidson’s Netflix “Podcast” Is Worth One Episode. Especially If You’re Sober. Let me get this out of the way first. Calling The Pete Davidson Show a podcast is like calling a croissant a piece of bread. Technically adjacent, sure. But not the same thing. A podcast, by definition, is something you can take with you. You can listen to it on a walk, in the car, while pretending to pay attention in a meeting. The Pete Davidson Show lives exclusively on Netflix. You can’t pull it up on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. You can’t pop in your earbuds and…

George Clooney, Rande Gerber, and Mike Meldman gave the world Casamigos tequila in 2013, sold it to Diageo for a billion dollars in 2017, and apparently spent the years since asking themselves: what if we did that again but for people who don’t drink? The answer is Crazy Mountain. A premium non-alcoholic lager dropping in 2026 that wants to be your cold-one-without-consequences moment. And yes, the name is absolutely giving Yellowstone. The rugged mountain aesthetic. The “live wide open” tagline. The very deliberate cowboy-adjacent energy. The made in America stamp. All that’s missing is a Dutton family cameo and a…

Let me take you back to 2006. I got sober on May 1st, which means my first full year without a drink was also the year everyone was losing their minds over “SexyBack” and nobody had an iPhone yet. If I’m remembering correctly, I had a burgundy BlackBerry. MySpace was the social network. Tom was everyone’s first friend. And the concept of a sober lifestyle publication was so far in the future it might as well have been science fiction. There was no content ecosystem for people like me. No podcast library. No sober influencers. No beautifully curated corner of…