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Episode details

World Service,26 Mar 2022,23 mins

Series Deeply Human Series 2

Faded

Deeply Human

Available for over a year

Why do we use intoxicants? Whether it’s booze, weed, opiates, or even caffeine, the drive to catch a buzz seems almost universal for members of our species. For big parts of the world, drinking alcohol plays a huge role in our social lives, in religious rituals, and in some eras it was even a prerequisite for civic engagement. Find out how the phrase “take him down a peg or two” was derived from a drinking game, which animals consume alcohol, and hear from the professor inventing an alcohol substitute. Image: Barista and Coffee, Credit: Getty Images

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