Hello if you've come here from Grazia! If you're listening before Feb 1st, your two favourite pop enthusiasts have written about all things soft and you can read our piece in the current issue. Our guest today is Professor David Nutt, the renowned neuropsychopharmacologist and all-round science legend, who has dedicated much of his career to understanding how alcohol and drugs affect the brain. He co-founded GABA Labs to bring greater choices to adult social drinkers, and the first available result is Sentia: a non-alcoholic drink that gives you a two-drink buzz. We talk about why humans enjoy booze in the first place, and Prof Nutt's forthcoming products for GABA Labs – including Alcarelle, a genuinely revolutionary molecule that could be to alcohol what sweetener is to sugar.
Tom Whipple's Sentia piece in The Times
How drugs compare in terms of harm
Episode summary:
We're in Grazia! (0:00)
What are we drinking? M&S Frizzantea (2:34)
Mailbag! Shirley Temple drink and its history. (6:13)
Non-alcoholic drinks and drug policy with Professor David Nutt. (10:27)
Alcohol's effects on social anxiety and harmful usage. (17:33)
GABA and its role in the brain and food. (22:13)
GABA-based functional drinks and their effects. (26:26)
Alcohol harm and the future of Prof Nutt's non-alcoholic alternatives. (31:51)
*smug fist bump to Duolingo lads who knows that 'Frizzantea' is a pun on 'frizzante' which means fizzy, and also, actual Italians*
If you’ve got a favourite drink you’d like to share with us, or any other non-booze-related gossip, then email us at popculturedrinkspodcast@gmail.com. You can see what and where we've been drinking lately on Instagram @popculturedrinkspodcast, and join our mailbag! DM us a voice note or your thoughts on all things drinks – we love to hear from you, and we might share it on a future show.
Pop Culture is on Bookshop.org! Read books by us, our guests, and others we like, while helping to support the show. Thank you for listening and, until Helen comes up with another catchphrase, keeeeeep drinking!
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