Alcohol

Youssef J. Carter’s The Vast Oceans: Remembering Allah and Self on the Mustafawiyya Sufi Path (UNC Press, 2026) is a stunning meditation on Black Atlantic Sufism, specifically as it travels between South Carolina and Senegal via the Mustafawiyya Sufi community and Shaykh Arona Fa ...  Show more

In this episode of the New Books Network, we explore Ethnographic Reflections on Marriage in Dhofar, Oman (Anthem Press, 2026), with anthropologist Dr Marielle Risse. Drawing on nearly two decades of ethnographic fieldwork, Dr Risse offers a nuanced examination of marriage pract ...  Show more

I’m at Ye Olde Mitre, one of the oldest pubs in London with a cold pint of Ale. And I can think of no better place to discuss the history of alcohol. Intoxicating beverages has been a part of human culture from the beginning. Alcohol flows through our social, ritual, religious, e ...  Show more

Being hard drinkers is one of the most common stereotypes of Irish people around the world. While Irish consumption of alcohol is nowhere near the highest in Europe, there is no question beer and pubs are deeply ingrained in our culture.

In this episode, I am joined ...

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb steps into the electrifying world of Elizabethan theatre to unravel the dark allure of Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, a work that would forever change English drama. Together with Professor Emma Smith, she decodes the Renaissance master ...

Low harvests, economic and climate change and changing tastes have impacted French wine. The French wine harvest has dropped 18% in one year. For some famous French wine-making regions the reduction has been much more. A combination of factors, including climate, finances and cha ...  Show more