{"podcast":{"title":"Conversations with Coleman","slug":"conversations-with-coleman-6685318","podcast_index_feed_id":6685318,"rss_url":"https://feeds.simplecast.com/8YOtRPoZ","website_url":"https://www.thefp.com/podcasts","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/49edd922-2f60-11f0-ad0f-8faaf128c737/image/9213d86a9305bac1cf68e4b3607feacc.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"The Free Press","episode_count":246,"summary":"Conversations with Coleman is where deep thinkers and curious minds meet for sharp, surprising, and unfiltered chats. Hosted by Coleman Hughes, writer, thinker, and guy who asks the questions other people dodge - this podcast isn’t about debating. It’s about discovery. Politics, philosophy, race, culture, science: it’s all fair game. If you're done with hot takes and hungry for real-talk, come join the conversation.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-15T18:18:09.851336+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-with-coleman-6685318"},"episode":{"title":"The Case for Drinking Alcohol","slug":"the-case-for-drinking-alcohol","published_at":"2026-04-27T09:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-with-coleman-6685318/the-case-for-drinking-alcohol","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-with-coleman-6685318","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VOdNgcECFk0maZgOJbmx/traffic.megaphone.fm/CBS9738015471.mp3?updated=1777054926","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/tracking.swap.fm/track/VOdNgcECFk0maZgOJbmx/traffic.megaphone.fm/CBS9738015471.mp3?updated=1777054926","summary":"Most researchers who study alcohol focus on what it does to your body. Edward Slingerland is more interested in what it does to your friendships. In his book Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization, the University of British Columbia professor argues that alcohol has functioned for thousands of years as humanity's most important social lubricant, and that the modern war on drinking is costing us something we can't easily replace. He and Coleman dig into the anthropological origins of alcohol, why drinking has always been communal, and why giving it up isn't as simple as your doctor thinks. Slingerland argues the loneliness epidemic and the sobriety trend may not be a coincidence. They also touch on Slingerland's background in early Chinese philosophy, and the surprisingly direct path from ancient Daoist texts to a book about getting drunk. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"Most researchers who study alcohol focus on what it does to your body. Edward Slingerland is more interested in what it does to your friendships. In his b…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":4323,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/conversations-with-coleman-6685318/episodes/the-case-for-drinking-alcohol/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/conversations-with-coleman-6685318/the-case-for-drinking-alcohol.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}