Most sober spaces ask you to show up and talk about the hard part. Backstage with The Sober Curator asks you to show up and actually have fun. Media Nights, Studio Nights, Edutainment Nights, and a community of people who get exactly what you’re building.
Ever wonder what’s beyond the typical sober meeting? Backstage with The Sober Curator is what’s beyond it.
This isn’t a support group with better branding. It’s a membership community where creativity, entertainment, and zero-proof living collide — and it’s exactly the kind of room Alysse built The Sober Curator to create in the first place.
On Episode 02, Alysse and Tamar pull back the curtain on all of it. But before we get into the breakdown, a little context on why this even exists.
Sobriety Doesn’t Mean the Color Drains Out
On the episode, Alysse references a conversation she had with Sean Daniels — playwright of The White Chip and new director at BigVision in New York City — about what it means to recover out loud. He compared people who talk openly about sobriety to Ellen DeGeneres coming out on live television in 1997. Not because the stakes are identical, but because visibility matters. Every person willing to say the thing out loud is a drop in a bucket that’s been filling for decades.
Alysse has been sober since 2006. Back then, Barnes & Noble had maybe three books on the subject, social media was barely a concept, and podcasting was still being called talk radio. She’s watched the entire culture shift in real time.
Backstage exists because of that shift — and because there still wasn’t a room that felt like THIS.
Sobriety doesn’t shrink your world. It opens it up. Backstage is the proof.
Media Nights: Movies, Shows, and the Conversation You Actually Want to Have
Media Nights are the heartbeat of Backstage. Think real conversations about the show everyone’s binging, the album everyone’s obsessed with, the movie everyone has an opinion on — except this time, you’re actually in the room talking about it, not on the outside scrolling past it.
One of the standout events so far was a conversation with Ruthie Thorpe, author of Margo’s Got Money Troubles — a book Alysse picked up in a cute Colorado bookstore in Crested Butte (which she’s renamed Crested Cute) because the cover was too good to walk past. The novel follows a young single mom navigating addiction, and when Apple TV adapted it into an eight-episode series earlier this spring, Ruthie came to Backstage the week after the show debuted to talk about all of it: what it was like writing and researching the book, what it felt like watching Michelle Pfeiffer bring the story to life, and what happens when your novel ends up on a streaming platform.
The room was packed. And here’s the part that doesn’t happen anywhere else: anyone in attendance got to ask her questions directly.
As Tamar put it: “It’s like your own private sober TMZ party — except the facts.” Curious about the events we’re holding? We’ve got them mixed in with the other events on the Sober Events calendar, happening across the country and around the world.
Studio Nights: Hands On, No Performance Required
For the people who’d rather make something than talk about something, Studio Nights are where that happens. Painting, crafting, digital art, whatever you’re into — it’s creativity without an audience you have to perform for.
Sometimes Studio Night and Edutainment Night overlap in the best way. They’re technically different things. But when you’re learning something new with your hands while also expanding your sober brain, the line gets blurry.
Edutainment Nights: Learning That Doesn’t Feel Like Homework
Edutainment Nights round out the lineup — real discussions, real topics, real takeaways, minus the lecture energy. You leave knowing more and feeling more connected to your own sober life.
The best example so far? A session with Ted Mandell, a professor at Notre Dame who teaches a class called Drunk on Film. He came in and walked the group through how alcohol is portrayed in cinema, then showed an AI-generated recreation of what college drinking culture actually looks like from the inside. Tamar said it was one of the most eye-opening things she’d seen — and the kind of conversation you can’t have in most sober spaces because it requires someone willing to go there.
That session is getting its own dedicated episode, so people who aren’t Backstage members can get a taste of what the room is actually like.
Why Backstage Is Different
Backstage is built on one rule: it doesn’t matter where you are in your sober path, there’s a seat for you. Newly sober, decades in, somewhere messy in the middle — Backstage isn’t gatekept by your sobriety date.
It’s also worth being clear about what Backstage is not. There are a lot of incredible peer recovery communities doing important work. Backstage is not that. It’s a culture club where everybody happens to be sober. Recovery comes up because it’s part of who everyone in the room is. But it’s not the point. The point is what you build after.
Think of it as your sober Cheers. Except with better lighting. And no one waking up with regrets.
Membership is $19 a month, or you can pay annually and get two months free. Either way, you can cancel whenever. No commitment required. As Alysse put it on the episode: if you’re not ready, they’re still right here every week, for free. But if you want more, Backstage is where the goodies are.
Season 2 Merch Is Here
Season 2 comes with a merch drop, and it’s the good kind — shirts, a crew neck sweatshirt, a tote bag, and the water vessel Alysse refuses to just call a water bottle. Season 2 sticker-book-style energy all the way.
Shop the new arrivals at shopthesobercurator.com. Every purchase helps keep the sober lights on.
What Alysse’s House Smells Like
Somewhere in this episode, Alysse’s home comes up, and so does the Aura House diffuser she’s been using to make it smell like an actual sanctuary instead of a candle aisle. The current scent? Dubai. Her room smells like a luxury hotel and she is completely unapologetic about it.
It’s pet-safe, alcohol-free, and exactly the kind of detail that proves the sober lifestyle isn’t about doing without. It’s about doing better.
Read the full Aura House review at thesobercurator.com, and use code TSC10 for 10% off at go.shopmy.us/p-64140200.
How to Listen
Season 2 Episode 02 is live right now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube. If Backstage has been on your radar, this is the one that explains exactly what it is and why it exists.
Getting sober matters. Staying sober matters more.
SOBER CURATOR PODCAST: Season 2 of The Sober Curator Podcast Is Live — And We’ve Been Waiting for This
BACKSTAGE with The Sober Curator: A private cultural membership for people in sobriety who are ready for more. Recovery taught you how to survive. This is where you expand.
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What is Backstage with The Sober Curator?
A membership community built on pop culture and sober living — three event pillars, real people, and a room that doesn’t require you to perform your recovery to belong.
What kind of events does Backstage feature?
Media Nights, Studio Nights, and Edutainment Nights — all designed to make sober community feel like something you actually want to show up for, not something you’re assigned.
Who can join Backstage?
Anyone, regardless of where they are in their sober journey. Newly sober, long-term, California sober, sober-curious, sober ally — the only requirement is that you want to be in the room.
How do Backstage events support sober living?
They create a recurring, real-world way to connect with other sober people around the things you already love — culture, creativity, and real conversation. Recovery comes up because it’s part of who everyone is. But it’s not the ceiling.
Is Backstage available outside the U.S.?
Yes. All current events are online, so anyone, anywhere can join. Tamar is based in Vancouver, BC — Hollywood North, as they call it. The room is international by design.
