SOBRIETY IN THE CITY - SOBER EVENTS

Nostalgia, Sobriety and the Backstreet Boys at the Sphere: A Full-Circle Concert Experience (Carolyn)

A few weeks back, we decided to pack our bags for one night in Vegas to see what all the hype around the Backstreet Boys in the Las Vegas Sphere was about. As a millennial, I couldn’t help but think back to my teenage years — the era of boy band posters taped to bedroom walls, countdown shows on MTV and memorizing every lyric for school dances. Back then, I was more of an *NSYNC girl, but I couldn’t deny the way the Backstreet Boys shaped the soundtrack of my youth. 

SOBRIETY IN THE CITY - SOBER EVENTS

Backstreet Boys, Bright Lights and Black Coffee: A Sober Night in Vegas (Jason)

So, I went to Vegas with my wife and some friends to see the Backstreet Boys at the Sphere. It's probably the third or fourth time I’ve seen them. Don’t judge. Not-so-guilty pleasure. They’ve still got it — and the Sphere? It exceeded every expectation I had. And I had a lot of them.  

SPEAK OUT! SPEAK LOUD!

I Am a Harm Reduction Advocate Who Uses Marijuana

“I am a harm reduction advocate who uses marijuana, not a marijuana advocate who uses harm reduction.” - Andrew Littlefield

That distinction matters. 

Harm reduction is not a free pass to use whatever substances we want, as long as they are not our former drug of choice. It is a set of strategies designed to reduce the negative consequences of drug use and, for many people, to keep them alive long enough to choose recovery on their own terms. 

MOVIE NIGHT

Billy Joel’s Battle With Alcohol: A Review of “And So It Goes”  

I just finished the 5-hour Billy Joel documentary, “And So it Goes.” I’m left with the sadness of what a serious drinking problem does to a person and also amazement at what can be accomplished even in the heights of alcoholism.  

SOBER CURATOR PODCAST

From Football Coach to Filmmaker: Brent Ogburn’s Bold Sobriety Story

“Once you can laugh at yourself, that’s when true healing can begin.” Brent Ogburn doesn’t present it as a mantra so much as a memory — an insight shaped by a day in rehab, then hammered into a film script that wouldn’t let him go. His short, “Turnoff,” unfolds across a single day: a father named Ryan, the fluorescent hush of detox, the unsteady shuffle into a communal space where strangers become mirrors. The cast? Archetypes you’ll recognize if you’ve ever tried to restart your life in public. The tone? Surprisingly funny. Because humor, properly aimed, isn’t a dodge; it’s a door.  

THIRSTY FOR WONDER

The World Is Trying to Give to You. Will You Let It? 

In the cycle of the Celtic calendar, we are in the season of Lughnasa (LOO-nah-sah). It is the festival of the first harvest, the moment when the land itself begins to give. Grains ripen, fruits swell, fields tilt toward abundance. It is a season of generosity and also of invitation to notice what the land is offering and to practice the art of receiving. 

HAPPY EVERY HOUR

B. Nektar: A Meadery Gone NA | Happy Every Hour Review

Brad and Kerri Dahlhofer decided to get serious about their homebrew passion in the summer of 2006. The trigger for this change was Kerri’s unfortunate layoff from her job. She was enjoying a glass of vanilla cinnamon mead made by Brad when she had the idea to focus her brainpower on selling their mead. So they set out to do just that.  

#WEDORECOVER

Sober Celeb of the Week: Davina McCall

British TV powerhouse Davina McCall got sober at 25 and hasn’t looked back. Known today as the UK’s “queen of abs,” she traded late nights for long runs and built a career spanning fitness, broadcasting and advocacy. Her openness about addiction and recovery has inspired millions, proving you can rewrite your story — and glow up — in every way that matters.

For anyone struggling, know that help is available: 📞 1-800-662-HELP (SAMHSA Helpline).

SOBER POP CULTURE

Gen X Enters the Queen Age

Gen X is now squarely planted in the Queen Age. That’s 50 million women who were born between 1965 and 1980. 

The Queen Age is one of the four significant phases in a woman’s life (maiden, mother, queen, crone). It’s a phase of life where we are no longer bearing children. Menopause is quickly approaching, currently occurring or has passed on by. We are gaining a new sexual awareness, a new sense of freedom in our lives. We’re wiser, more spiritually and emotionally mature, and we have deep life experiences to draw upon.

WHAT A TRIP!

The Top 5 Sober Travel Groups in 2025

Recovery centers exist all over the world, offering just about every kind of retreat you can think of. Some are affordable, while others cost as much as a private rehab. You will find silent meditation camps in the jungle, yoga escapes in Hawaii, beachfront wellness programs and spa packages that wind down before dark. What is harder to find is a sober travel experience that brings real adventure.  

RECOVERY PODCASTLAND

“Blink” — Jake Haendel’s Journey from Addiction and Locked-In Syndrome to Advocacy

I’m not really a true crime junkie, but every once in a while a podcast comes along that I just cannot stop listening to. That was the case with “Blink,” the 12-part series that tells the unbelievable but true story of Boston chef Jake Haendel. 

After heavy drug use, Jake developed a rare condition called toxic progressive leukoencephalopathy. Doctors gave him six months to live, and soon after, he slipped into what looked like a vegetative state. For the next nine to ten months, he was fully conscious but completely unable to move or speak — a terrifying “locked-in” reality where everyone around him thought he was brain-dead. 

MUSIC

“Lust for Life” – The Ultimate Recovery Anthem on a Soundtrack to One of the Druggiest Films Ever Made?

Is there another song from the ‘90s with such an immediately recognizable signature drum intro as Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life”? I would guess that anyone who had even half of a fingertip on the pulse of pop culture back then will likely be transported back to 1996 within the first three seconds of the song’s opening, possibly experiencing visual flashbacks of a pale, emaciated, heroin-addicted Ewan McGregor running from Scottish police down an Edinburgh thoroughfare.  

SOBRIETY IN THE CITY

Finding Fun Without the Buzz with Sober Girls Tulsa

Do you remember the first night after you stopped drinking? The way a Friday night felt impossibly long, the hum of laughter in a bar that suddenly seemed like a world you no longer belonged to? I do. I thought, Well that’s it. Fun is over.  

When I got sober, I couldn’t picture myself laughing without a drink in my hand. But more than that, it felt like I’d lost the glue that held my social life together. So many connections had been built around clinking glasses, late-night bars, “just one more” rounds. Without alcohol, I didn’t just feel like I was giving something up, I felt like I was giving people up too.