In this wide-ranging and
incredibly revelatory interview with Jarrett Dieterle, booze policy
wonk and author ofGive
Me Liberty and Give me a Drink, some of the topics we discuss
include:
How
Jarrett fused his career in alcohol policy with his passion for
great drinks to generate a text that questions the inconsistencies
of our fragmented nation’s alcohol purchasing and consumption
policies.
Why
Eric thinks it’s important to frame most of these legislative
questions in terms of a “freedom vs. security” stance, otherwise
figured as a “conservation vs. risk” query. Jarrett does a great
job of re-framing this stance by demonstrating how most of our
nation’s alcohol regulations do a poor job of optimizing for both
freedom AND security.
We
also talk about Blue Laws, alcohol control states, and the bizarre
battles that poor lawmaking can create between industries that
would otherwise coexist peacefully - such as bars and restaurants
and the alcohol producers who support them.
But,
we’re not just here to complain. We really dig into some of these
laws, identify some of the faulty reasoning behind them, and really
lay bare some of the iniquities behind them that we, as US
citizens, have the capacity to change.
Finally, we conclude this episode by
considering the contemporary legislative changes that have been
rapidly changing in the wake of the COVID-19 Coronavirus and what
these might mean for the future of Alcohol legislation in the
United States.
About the Podcast
A bi-weekly cocktail podcast covering the tools and techniques that make great drinks. If you’re looking to take your cocktail game to the next level, this is the podcast for you.