logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2022
28m 26s

Prohibition in the USA (Radio Edit)

Bbc Radio 4
About this episode

Greg Jenner is joined by historian Prof Sarah Churchwell and comedian Kemah Bob in 1920s USA to follow the implementation and after-effects of Prohibition. They take a look at the origins of the Prohibition laws and hear how a movement designed to encourage temperance backfired on the nation.

For the full-length version of this episode, please look further back in the feed.

Produced by Cornelius Mendez Script by Greg Jenner and Emma Nagouse Research by Tim Galsworthy

A production by The Athletic for BBC Radio 4.

Up next
Sep 18
Henry Cyril Paget: the dancing marquess of Anglesey
Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Viv Gardner and comedian Morgan Rees in 19th-century Wales to learn about the fabulous, theatrical life of Henry Cyril Paget. Born into an important aristocratic family – his ancestor had been Wellington’s second-in-command at Waterloo – Henry h ... Show More
59m 52s
Sep 11
History of Tea: Britain’s stolen brew
Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Yangwen Zheng and comedian Hugh Dennis to learn about the global history of tea, and how it became Britain’s national drink. Despite its popularity in the UK, much of our tea is grown in India and Kenya, while the tea plant itself is native to C ... Show More
54m 42s
Sep 4
Emperor Constantine the Great: Christianity and the Roman Empire
Greg Jenner is joined in ancient Rome by Professor Lucy Grig and comedian Ivo Graham to learn all about Emperor Constantine the Great and the Christianisation of the Roman empire. Born not in Rome but in the Balkans, Constantine’s life was shaped by the turbulent politics of the ... Show More
59 m
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
CLASSIC: Angry Feds and Deadly Booze: The Story of the Chemists' War
From 1920 to 1933, the U.S. government attempted to ban (recreational) alcohol throughout the nation. In a stunning -- we're being sarcastic here -- turn of events, people circumvented the law and found ways to keep drinking and organized crime blossomed in cities across the coun ... Show More
29m 24s
Feb 2024
Prohibition
<p>On 17 January 1920, the 18th Amendment came into effect in the United States. It made the manufacture, sale and transportation of 'intoxicating liquor' illegal.</p><br><p>Sarah Churchwell is BACK to explore the realities of the roaring twenties with Don. Why was alcohol banned ... Show More
42m 6s
Mar 2022
Prohibition
For thirteen years from 1920, the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic drinks was banned in the USA. The age of prohibition was a rowdy time: enlivened by jazz and wild parties; darkened by violence and lawlessness. But how did it come about? Who were its heroes and ... Show More
1h 3m
May 2023
A Cocktail Toast to the Mob
On today’s episode of our series on Prohibition, we talk about two things that go hand in hand with the enforcement of dry laws: crime and cocktails. The spread of both was a direct consequence of the 18th amendment as mobsters ruled the violent industry of bootlegging and the ro ... Show More
40m 38s
Mar 2022
37: The Government Poisoning Alcohol?!: Prohibition
Most people have heard of Prohibition, the time when America decided drinking was bad. But how much do we really know? Because it wasn’t just the speakeasies that were hidden. We’re talking about Mafia turf wars and government poisoning alcohol for years. And that’s just the star ... Show More
50m 54s
May 2024
Beer
In ancient Mesopotamia, people invent straws to better enjoy their favourite tipple. The Romans turn their noses up at barbarian beverages. The introduction of hops to brewing sparks a beer-based battle of the sexes. And Prohibition in America leads to the production of potential ... Show More
37m 9s
May 2023
How to Train Kids in the Practice of Temperance
Today in our series about Prohibition, we learn more about the crusade to turn America into a dry nation. It may surprise you to learn that it wasn’t spearheaded by only white Christian women who disapproved of saloons and whiskey. Leaders in the growing civil rights movement als ... Show More
39m 2s
Nov 2020
Nateland | Ep #19 - Laws
This episode, we discuss laws. We look at the history of speed limit laws, seat belt laws, weird laws in other countries, and if Nate, Aaron, or Brian have broken any laws. Co-hosts: Brian Bates ( https://www.instagram.com/brianbatescomic) & Aaron Weber ( https://www.instagram.co ... Show More
1h 46m
Feb 2018
Prohibition - Drying Out | 2
When a German U-boat torpedoed the RMS Lusitania on Friday, May 7th, 1915, Americans found two new enemies: Germany and the beer it was so associated with. Anti-German sentiment grew, and with it hostility to the breweries founded in the 19th century by German immigrants. Soon, t ... Show More
29m 49s