FROM THE DESK OF THE FOUNDER
Happy Monday, Sober Sippers!
Six years ago this month, I hit publish on The Sober Curator by accident.
I wasn't ready. I didn't have a plan. I couldn't figure out how to unpublish the thing, so I did the only reasonable thing available to me. I kept going. Middle of a pandemic, no college degree, no business plan, one very stubborn idea that sober people deserved better than pamphlets and beige inspiration.
Six years later: 3,000+ articles, 38 contributors across six countries, and a birthday present I have been dying to tell you about.
We made you a mixtape.
Not a playlist. A mixtape. Seven mini zines, printed on actual paper, tucked into a real cassette tape case, mailed to your door once a month for six months. Volume 001 ships August 20. BACKSTAGE members get the whole thing free and just cover shipping.
Nobody makes mixtapes anymore. That is exactly why we did it.
Also in this issue: two sisters with OCD who turned real therapy tools into merch I would actually wear, what 1980s addiction movies got wrong about who alcoholics are (short answer: everything), and a Love Island star's fragrance line I was fully prepared to make fun of and then absolutely did not.
Six years in. Still weird sometimes. Still worth it.
Now let’s get to it…
— Alysse Bryson (*AB That’s Me 💋) / Seattle, WA 🌃 05.01.2006
#ADDTOCART
Six Years In, We Made You a Mixtape | The Sober Curator Celebrates Six Year Anniversary
Nobody makes mixtapes anymore. So for our sixth anniversary, we made you one. Seven mini zines, printed on paper, nestled into a real cassette tape case, mailed to your door every month for six months. Volume 001 ships August 20. BACKSTAGE Members get it for FREE (*paying for shipping only)
#ADDTOCART
Skims Vibes, Therapy Receipts: The Sister-Founded Brand That Stole the Show at OCDcon 2026
We went to OCDcon 2026 in Seattle expecting free pens and left obsessed with Presently, a brand built by two sisters with OCD who turned real therapy tools into bracelets, keychains, and mirror clings. Skims-level neutrals, CBT-backed phrases, zero toxic positivity. Here's why we're hyping them on purpose.
MOVIE NIGHT
Sobriety in the Shadow of the Skid Row Myth: What 1980s Addiction Movies Got Wrong
Three days before her 30th birthday, an astrologer asked Patti Clark a question that made her whole body burn with shame. The movies had taught her that alcoholics were derelicts, weaklings, or doomed outlaws. Then she walked into her first AA meeting in Tucson and found out Hollywood had it wrong.
#ADDTOCART
Skylar Fragrance Review: The Love Island Princess Wants You to Smell Like Dessert, and Honestly, She's Right
Skylar sent us two gourmand fragrances from the collection curated by Leah Kateb, the Love Island USA star turned Chief Creative Officer. We expected to love the cake one. We were wrong, and the twist involves being single forever.
ALSO THIS WEEK ON TSC 📰
👉 Drunk Daddy by Trixie Rose: A “Bad Memoir” That’s Really Good Read more here→
👉 Endless Summer, Meet Endless Mango IPA By Best Day Brewing Read more here→
👉 Sister, Yessss: What Six Months in a Convent Taught Me About Sobriety Read more here→
👉 How Is This My Life? Finding Gratitude in the Beautiful and Ordinary Read more here→
👉 What My Dog and a Time Zone Business Faux Pas Taught Me About Boundaries Read more here→
See you Wednesday!
