Episode 328: No Bourbon, No Scotch and No Beer (Pt 2 of Just Say No, America)

Episode 328: No Bourbon, No Scotch and No Beer Pt 2 of Just Say No America This week Host Dave Bledsoe demands a national prohibition on his bar tabs, only to be voted down by the bartender with extreme prejudice. (Again) On the show this week, we talk about how Prohibition was more about keeping immigrants and minorities in their place rather than saving them from demon alcohol. (Are you shocked? You shouldn’t be) Along the way we learn about Dave’s grandpa running moonshine in the mountains of Tennessee and why that makes Dave think he should run a distillery. (It doesn’t and he shouldn’t) Then we dive right into the history of how Prohibition became the law of the land and how the same tactics are being used today. After that we look at how all this not drinking impacted our most precious national resource: rich people. (Short answer not at all, longer answer, it made them more money!) Finally we examine the connection between the Noble Cause of Prohibition and keeping immigrants, minorities and the poor in their place. (The Venn Diagram is a perfect circle.) Our Sponsor this week is Fast Eddie’s Bathtub Gin, the small batch artisanal gin that tastes like it was made in a Queens used car lot bathroom, because it was. We open the show with newsreel footage of the government taking down the bootleggers and close with Larry Lacerte reading Dave’s bar tabs. Show Theme: https://www.jamendo.com/track/421668/prelude-to-common-sense The Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheHell_Podcast The Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whatthehellpodcast/ www.whatthehellpodcast.com Give us your money on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/Whatthehellpodcast The Show Line: 347 687 9601 Closing Music: https://youtu.be/XNmk_uK05dY We are a proud member of the Seltzer Kings Podcast Network! http://seltzerkings.com/ Citations Needed: Wayne B. Wheeler: The Man Who Turned Off the Taps https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/wayne-b-wheeler-the-man-who-turned-off-the-taps-14783512/ Anti-Saloon League Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Saloon_League Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution Prohibition as Class Warfare https://offtheleash.net/2017/12/19/prohibition-as-class-warfare/ The Chemist’s War The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition with deadly consequences. https://slate.com/technology/2010/02/the-little-told-story-of-how-the-u-s-government-poisoned-alcohol-during-prohibition.html More Class Warfare: The Real Point of the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) https://angrybearblog.com/2015/06/more-class-warfare-the-real-point-of-the-18th-amendment-prohibition Xenophobia, Racism and Classism: The Sinister Roots of America’s Prohibition https://www.winemag.com/2021/03/08/history-american-prohibition/ Uncited Additional Reading:  https://prohibition.themobmuseum.org/the-history/the-road-to-prohibition/why-prohibition-happened/ https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-prohibition-1779250 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK216414/ https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/alcohol-prohibition-was-failure https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/aug/26/lawless-prohibition-gangsters-speakeasies Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices