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Alcohol, Power, and Politics

Alcohol, Power, and Politics

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 "Alcohol" explores alcohol's profound role as a tool of political power throughout history. Host Barnaby Ellison Thatch examines how rulers from ancient Mesopotamian kings to Winston Churchill wielded alcohol for statecraft, diplomacy, and social control. The episode traces alcohol's political dimensions through Roman banquets, medieval feudal privileges, colonial exploitation, and American Prohibition as a complex coalition of moral reformers and industrial interests. Thatch analyzes contemporary examples including Russian vodka policy, EU wine subsidies, and Islamic prohibition as markers of political legitimacy. The narrative reveals how seemingly personal drinking choices are embedded in larger power structures, demonstrating that alcohol policy reflects fundamental tensions about government authority, individual freedom, and social control across civilizations.
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