FROM THE DESK OF THE FOUNDER
Hi friend,
Three years ago today, Matthew Perry died. Yesterday, Netflix dropped “The One with Matthew Perry.” The minute this email hit your inbox, we went live to talk about it.
Chandler gave a generation its sense of humor. Matthew spent the back half of his life trying to keep people like us alive long enough to use it. If you’ve watched the doc, come tell me what wrecked you. If you haven’t, come anyway. This is the conversation you’ll want to have had.
Then, because Halloween is Saturday, this edition still leans all the way in.
Horror has always been honest about addiction. The thing in the basement that keeps calling your name. The house that won’t let you leave. Derek Castleman found 10 films that get it and gave every one a Sobees rating.
And A.J. Daulerio got sober three months into the Hulk Hogan trial, with every defect of character entered into evidence. He came out the other side and built The Small Bow. This week he’s on the pod.
Fair warning: we go dark. We also come back, and I’m proud of how.
Now let’s get to it…
—Alysse Bryson, *AB That’s ME 💋/ Founder / Seattle, WA 🌃05.01.2006
BACKSTAGE WITH TSC LIVE STREAM - TODAY
“The One About Matthew Perry” is streaming on Netflix. Now we talk about it.
HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, Wednesday 10/28 4 PM - 5 PM PACIFIC / 7 PM - 8 PM EASTERN.
Join Alysse Bryson, founder of The Sober Curator, with Tamar Routly, Amy Liz Harrison, Sarah Alaimo, and Megan Swan.
SOBER CURATOR PODCAST
A.J. Daulerio on The Small Bow, the Hulk Hogan Trial, and the Sober Media Category That Doesn’t Exist Yet
🎧 This summer I found The Small Bow and was mortified. I call myself the Kevin Bacon of recovery, we both come from magazines, and A.J. Daulerio had been publishing the best recovery writing on the internet for years without me noticing.
So I gave it flowers, and this week I got him on the pod.
A.J. got sober in the middle of the Hulk Hogan trial, three months in, every defect of character tossed to a jury. He calls it fourth step dinner theater. He built The Small Bow afterward for people who are past rock bottom and a little adrift, which is a lot of you. We tried to name the category sober media belongs in. I said The Sober Curator is sober BuzzFeed and The Small Bow is literary meat. A.J. said he’d take sound bath if they’d break it out.
We also went some dark places, and I’m telling you that up front. There’s a reader he lost and a friend I lost. We came back from it, and the way we came back is the most honest ten seconds on the show so far.
A.J. ’s advice to anyone in a hard year is the line I’m keeping: you don’t wait for the life that comes after. You can still go to the beach.
Hit reply and tell me: 12-step, or your version of it, is one of your nine things. What are the other eight?
HAPPY EVERY HOUR
The Wednesday Mocktail: A Spooky, Alcohol-Free Halloween Drink Inspired by Wednesday Addams
A little spooky, a little sarcastic and completely alcohol-free. Meet The Wednesday, a Halloween mocktail inspired by Christina Ricci's iconic Wednesday Addams, with a modern twist on a Tonix Mocktails original.
ENTERTAINMENT
10 Horror Movies That Explore Addiction, Obsession and Recovery
Some movie monsters look a lot like the things we’ve survived. Contributor Derek Castleman explores 10 films that connect horror with addiction, obsession and recovery, with Sobees ratings for every pick.
Something Smells Spooktacular
Sponsored by Aura House
The only thing haunting your house this Halloween should be a fabulous fragrance.
Aura House combines clean fragrances, modern design and a little everyday luxury to give your space a serious mood upgrade. Perfect for cozy fall nights, scary movie marathons and making your home smell so good it's almost supernatural.
And with the holiday season creeping up, Aura House makes a boo-tiful gift for anyone who appreciates a little luxury.
USE CODE “SOBERNEWS10” WHILE SUPPLIES LAST AND SAVE 10%
🎃 Sober October Is Not Over. It Is Peaking.
NEW YORK + BOSTON
Wed, Oct. 28 | Spooky Sips: Halloween Garnish Workshop | Boston Public Market | 6 to 7:30 p.m. ET | Ellevate teaches you to garnish like a Bravo bartender
Fri, Oct. 30 | No Drink Minimum Comedy | BigVision 309 Social Club, Midtown | 7:30 p.m. ET
Fri, Oct. 30 | HALLOQUEEN Dance Party | Gay & Sober at The Manhattan Mirage | 9 p.m. ET | Theme: a tribute to Dolly. $15 presale, $20 door. Go as Jolene.
Sat, Oct. 31 | Get Spooked with Society Sobriety | NYC, NY | 8 p.m. ET | DJ, treats, costume energy
EVERYWHERE ELSE
Thu, Oct. 29 | Fresh Start: Campfire Magic | Teetotal Initiative, Pittsburgh | 6 to 8 p.m. ET | S’mores and an actual fire
Thu, Oct. 29 | Sober Club Spooktakular | 7 to 9 p.m. PT | Costumes, games, prizes | Costa Mesa, CA
Fri, Oct. 30 to Mon, Nov. 2 | 25th Annual Halloween Gratitude Cruise | Port Canaveral to Nassau | Sober Celebrations has been doing this since before smartphones.
🧡 The Sober October Bingo Card: Cozy Fall Fun
Print it. Screenshot it. Play it against your sober friends. Nobody else on the internet made you a bingo card for this month, and we would like the credit. (Shout-out to Senior Contributor Anne Marie Cribbin! for her Sober October cleverness)
See you Friday!
