I have been building something.
Not quietly, not slowly, and definitely not without rhinestones.

BACKSTAGE with The Sober Curator is our brand new members-only cultural membership, and it is officially open. Two hundred Founding Member spots. A private community. Monthly live events with people who are actually interesting. And a calendar that, if I do say so myself, I am genuinely proud of.

This is not a support group. It is not a recovery program. It is not a Zoom room full of people reading from worksheets.

BACKSTAGE is a cultural space for people who are done drinking and just want to talk about the interesting stuff. Books. Film. Art. Breathwork. Conspiracy theories. Bedazzling. Astrology. Brain science. iPhone content creation. The stuff that makes sober life genuinely fun.

Here is everything we have coming up.

Rufi Thorpe, the author of Margo’s Got Money Troubles, is joining us live for an intimate conversation inside the BACKSTAGE community. If you’ve been watching the Apple TV+ series (premiering April 15, one week before we meet), you already know why this matters. If you read the book when we first covered it in our Addiction Fiction section two years ago, you’ve been waiting for this moment.

This is not a panel. This is not a press junket. This is a small, private group conversation with the woman who created Margo, Jinx, Shyanne, and one of the most talked-about stories in pop culture right now.

#ADDTOCART: Get the Killjoy Mocktail Kit, inspired by “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”

Sobriety is the glow-up. Bedazzling is just the accessories.

On April 29th, your host Alysse Bryson is bringing her most personal creative obsession into the BACKSTAGE community for a live Studio Night. She bedazzled her Big Book. She bedazzled a giant glass gummy bear. She is currently eyeing everything in her house that does not yet sparkle. And now she wants to bedazzle with you. Grab some rhinestones and glue and learn how you can easily bedazzle every day objects.

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE

BACKSTAGE welcomes Seattle-based Breathwork Facilitator Adriane Vy for a guided deep diaphragmatic breathwork session designed to help you leave feeling lighter, calmer, and more at ease.

This is not a lecture. This is not a workshop. You just need to show up, get comfortable, and breathe.

Adriane is a lifelong Seattle-area native whose work in public health education and community wellness led her to breathwork facilitation. She brings both knowledge and genuine warmth to every session, always prioritizing a safe and supportive space for everyone in the room.

This is one of those events that sounds simple and hits harder than you expect.

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE

Recovery takes center stage in this special BACKSTAGE with The Sober Curator conversation with Sean Daniels, playwright of The White Chip.

Sean is an internationally known theater director, writer, artistic director, and recovery advocate whose work uses the arts to challenge stigma around addiction and sobriety. His play The White Chip is based on his own recovery experience and has been recognized as a New York Times Critics’ Pick.

Join us for a candid conversation about recovery in live theater, how addiction and sobriety are portrayed on stage, and why the arts community has such a powerful role in changing the narrative.

We’ll talk about storytelling, stigma, humor, healing, and what happens when recovery is not hidden in the wings but brought into the spotlight.

Come for the theater talk. Stay for the truth, the laughter, and the reminder that recovery belongs in every room, including the standing ovation.

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE

Sobriety creates space. Space where numbing used to be. Space where noise used to live. Space where we start to hear ourselves again.

Unpolished is Krysty Krywko’s bi-weekly creative practice column here at The Sober Curator, and on April 29 she is bringing it live into the BACKSTAGE community for the very first time.

This is not an art class. This is not a craft project. There is no grade, no aesthetic standard, and no pressure to produce anything worth showing anyone.

This is one hour of showing up for yourself with a pen, a notebook, and a willingness to make something honest.

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE

Ready to stop pretending you know what people mean when they say “rising sign”?

Join BACKSTAGE with The Sober Curator for Astrology Basics 101 with Sober Curator Contributor Rhetta Roland, a beginner-friendly class designed to help you understand the cosmic blueprint behind your birth chart.

In this one-hour session, Rhetta will walk us through the basics of astrology, including what your sun, moon, and rising signs actually mean, how to start reading your star chart, and why your chart is so much more than your horoscope.

No previous astrology knowledge required. No gatekeeping. No need to memorize your entire chart before you show up.

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE

BACKSTAGE hosts its first ever Conspiracy PowerPoint Party. Up to ten members will each take the stage for 10 minutes to present their favorite conspiracy via PowerPoint. The audience will watch, react, and decide what they believe. No peer review required.

Are the birds real? Is Stonehenge a hoax? Did Big Sparkling Water manipulate the seltzer market? We genuinely do not know what is coming and that is exactly the point.

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE

Before we got sober, Hollywood had already been teaching us how to drink.

On June 10, BACKSTAGE welcomes Ted Mandell from the University of Notre Dame, co-creator of Drunk on Film, one of the most talked-about university courses in the country. The class analyzes how alcohol consumption is portrayed in movies and advertising, and examines the psychology behind why we were sold the idea that drinking is glamorous, hilarious, rebellious, and essential to a good time.

From James Bond to frat comedies to the red solo cup as cultural icon, Ted's course asks the question this community already knows the answer to: what did pop culture do to our relationship with alcohol, and how long were we watching before we noticed?

This is Media Night built for exactly the kind of people who are in this room.

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE

What happens when your outside starts to match the person you’re becoming on the inside? In this BACKSTAGE with The Sober Curator conversation, stylist and entrepreneur Tannya Bernadette, Founder & CEO of The Closet Edit, will explore how personal style can help you step into your next chapter with more confidence, clarity, and intention.

For many people, sobriety comes with an identity shift. You’re no longer dressing for the life you’ve outgrown, the roles you were performing, or the version of yourself that was just trying to get through the day. You’re building something new. Tannya will share how style can become a tool for self-trust, personal presence, and showing up for the life you actually want.

This conversation is for anyone who is reinventing themselves, stepping into bigger rooms, or ready to align how they show up with where they’re headed next.

This event is FREE to BACKSTAGE Members

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE

Cravings and anxiety love to show up like uninvited guests with a full luggage set.

In this BACKSTAGE with The Sober Curator session, Dan Holcomb of Mindshift Recovery will introduce us to the Mind Shift Method and the power of Awareness Practice as a practical way to work with anxiety, cravings, and deeply grooved habit loops.

Dan is a Senior Facilitator and Founding Contributor at Mindshift Recovery, where he helps bring the method out of theory and into real, everyday experience. His work sits at the intersection of mindfulness and neuroscience, including how the brain forms habits, how reward value drives behavior, and how awareness can help change our relationship with cravings from the inside out.

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE

You have a story worth telling. You have a phone in your hand. Now let's make the two of them work together.

On July 8, BACKSTAGE welcomes Sheena Kalso of Behind Your Scenes for a practical, hands-on Edutainment Night dedicated to helping you shoot better content on your iPhone. No fancy equipment. No production team. Just your phone, the right settings, and one hour with someone who actually knows what she's doing.

Not a member yet? JOIN HERE