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By Max Towey
On a recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, Andrew Huberman – a Stanford professor and the most popular science podcaster in the world – made the studio audience squirm with a rant on alcohol.
Huberman, a newly minted Roca follower on Instagram, told Maher, “Zero alcohol is better than any. Two drinks maximum for an adult per week is kind of the upper threshold.”
Maher interrupted, “Per week?”
“Per week.”
“Business week?”
The studio audience laughed, but Huberman continued:
Drinking's at an all-time low, and I think it's because people realize that, yes, it helps you fall asleep, but your sleep is super lousy. It messes up your gut microbiome. I'm not a teetotaler. But in terms of decreasing your risk of cancer, especially for women and breast cancer, it's unequivocal.
Huberman concluded with a get-out-of-health-jail card for the drinkers watching: “If you enjoy drinking, just limit it and do a bunch of other things like get your morning sunlight, get your exercise, eat well, to offset the damage you're doing.”
His rant sent the internet into a frenzy, igniting a debate about drinking that’s been playing out in recent months. That debate centers around the question: Is it a good thing that people – particularly young people – are drinking less?
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Ex-NYT journalist – and also a Roca reader – Alex Berenson responded to Huberman’s rant on X:
This is idiotic. Pushing people to cannabis and dopaminergic drugs (and devices) and away from even low alcohol consumption is just another example of modern American advice gurus reinventing the wheel and ignoring thousands of years of history.
Health Substacker Noah Ryan wrote:
Every day I see studies on how Gen Z is drinking less, smoking less, having less sex etc. This is because they're doing everything less. Their entire existence is on their phones. Escapism to the nth degree. This is beyond bad.
He continued:
Parents have spent centuries trying to get their kids to stop drinking, partying etc. Smartphones did it in a matter of years. If tech can dull you to the point that escapes aren't even worth pursuing, think about what it does to higher drives? To creativity, innovation, ambition
Ryan makes the case that longevity experts and health optimizers like Huberman are encouraging societal norms that will exacerbate the loneliness crisis and erode our alcohol-friendly Western culture.
Then you have others, like Roca reader Erica from Seattle, who told us that the shift away from drinking is one of the most positive trends in America today:
The most positive trend in the US today has got to be the rise of sobriety. Americans are finally realizing just how harmful alcohol is and that no amount is good for you. I know too many people who have ruined their lives due to alcohol abuse, and I am so happy to see that people are realizing that alcohol is an addictive drug just like any other illegal substance. I quit drinking over 2 years ago, and it is one of the best decisions I have ever made. If you're reading this and realizing that alcohol may be taking more from your life than it is giving, I highly recommend exploring what sobriety might look like for you.
On a personal note, this debate fascinates me because I quit drinking alcohol during the fall of my senior year of college in 2017. I had overindulged – I’ll take “euphemisms” for $500, Alex – during a fall break and went on a hiatus that has lasted to this day. Not drinking has helped me laser-focus on building Roca, though I am hardly the anti-alcohol crusader that Huberman is. All four of my siblings drink alcohol, as do most of my friends. I generally find settings with alcohol more enjoyable.
One X poster, @metakuna, would humorously suggest this makes me a vibe freeloader: “Non-drinkers who go to social events are freeriding on the goodwill and joviality of hard working drinkers and the whole social fabric would fall apart if everybody stopped drinking.”
But what does the data really show? And why are young people drinking less? That is the subject of today’s deep-dive.
Since I stopped drinking, I’ve noticed many of my peers abandoning the booze train. The data show this, too.
In a Gallup poll released last month, only 50% of Americans aged 18-34 reported drinking alcohol, compared to 56% of those 35 and older, marking a significant decline for both cohorts from previous decades. Overall US drinking rates hit a record low of 54% this year, the lowest in the nearly 90 years Gallup has tracked this data.
The trend is most noticeable among Gen Z. Globally and in the US, Gen Z is consuming about 20% less alcohol per capita than Millennials did at the same age, with many opting for occasional or no drinking at all. Other data from Gallup and Northwell Health – a nonprofit healthcare network – confirm this, with rates of alcohol consumption dropping fastest among those under 35.
Some argue that this is unequivocally a good thing. They cite the well-documented health risks associated with drinking, even in moderation. Reported health effects of even moderate drinking include high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, increased anxiety, and poor sleep. The NIH estimates that there are more than 178,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol use in the US each year, ranking alcohol behind only tobacco, poor diet and physical inactivity, and illegal drugs as a leading preventable cause of death.
Between that and the fact that there are an estimated 15M US adults – 6% of the adult population – with alcohol use disorder, shouldn’t we celebrate a decline in drinking? Especially among the youth?
Not necessarily.
A vocal group of critics argues that the shift away from alcohol among young people comes at significant social cost and indicates a deeper rot. That deeper rot stems from reduced socialization and a broader "civilizational depression" that diminishes human experiences. Jonathan Haidt, in his best-selling 2024 book The Anxious Generation, links the movement away from drinking to the rise of smartphones and social media, which have rewired childhood and adolescence, leading to less real-world interaction and risky behaviors like drinking.
Haidt points out that while lower alcohol use (along with less teen sex and other risks) might seem positive, it's often a symptom of overprotection, increased anxiety, and isolation driven by online lives rather than genuine moral shifts. He argues that young people are spending more time alone, fostering agoraphobia – a fear of being in public – and fear of losing control in social settings, which contributes to widespread mental health declines rather than healthier choices.
This lack of in-person socialization is echoed in other analyses, where the drop in drinking correlates with fewer parties, bars, and group activities, potentially stunting social development. Alcohol has long served as a social lubricant, easing interactions, building bonds, and facilitating fun in group settings. Its absence may therefore exacerbate isolation, unless young people develop alternative communal experiences that help develop relationships, resilience, and social skills.
Critics also note that the new "no fun" generation faces higher rates of depression and lower engagement in traditional social outlets. So are young people choosing not to drink? Or can they just not afford it? Or are they too scared to go out and do it? The answer may decide whether the alcohol recession is cause for celebration or concern.
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Editor’s Note
So which side do you believe is right? We can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this. Now, time for Max T to sit back, unwind, and have a LaCroix. Please let us know your thoughts here.
Sharing a couple of responses to yesterday’s story on smartphones in school:
Tim from Columbus, Ohio wrote:
I'm an educator as well. However, all of my teaching career has been in parochial schools. The parochial schools have been banning cell phones during school hours for a long time. They can bring them to school, but they have to be turned off and left in their book bags. If the cell phone rang during the school day or if they took it out for any reason I was permitted to confiscate it and leave it in the office. The parent would have to come into the school and retrieve it. Additionally, my own kids attended parochial and Catholic High Schools. They aren't permitted there either. They are to be left in the lockers all day. This has never been an issue. Parents expect a more rigid rule system in Catholic schools. It's probably time for public schools to get caught up with that policy as well.
And Jillian wrote:
Should kids have access to phones? I think kids should have access to phones, but it is really dependent upon the circumstances. As someone who did sports in middle/high school and couldn’t drive until I was 18, I needed to call my parents to pick me up when the bus was coming home from a swim meet. The years I didn’t have a phone and had to borrow my teammates’ were TERRIBLE for me (and I do think I should have gotten a phone earlier than I did) but it also taught me to not rely on a phone for entertainment. I needed to talk to people rather than stare at a screen for hours. If the phone is serving as a babysitter/boredom buster, then I don’t think kids need it. If it’s for communication/getting messages, then I see a use for it.
When’s the best age to give a kid a phone? 110% middle or high school. Like I mentioned before, it depends on the circumstances you’re dealing with. If you have a child that has sports/dance/practices after school and needs to communicate with you, then I would swing earlier. But if you have a child that isn’t involved in anything, I don’t see the need for a phone until later on.
Is it possible to actually get phones away from kids? Yes, but it’s VERY hard. When I was in high school, we were at the beginning of the whole “phone jail” movement where teachers would put out a box for our phones to go in. My favorite teacher even reminded us when the bell rang to “put your crack pipes away” unless we were doing something specific with them (like Kahoot/looking up something quick/needed to answer a call or text we informed him about earlier). We were forced to live without our phones for a hot minute, and we didn’t die.
Now you have your phone on your wristwatch and to give up your phone for 90 minutes feels like forever. You have the rise of iPad kids who throw tantrums unless mommy pulls up a video on her phone to pacify them. I laughed the first time I saw my baby cousin pick up her mom’s phone to take a selfie when I didn’t know what that was until I was a teenager.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that you can try your best to get phones (or any media) away from kids, but the more advanced technology gets, the harder it is to remove yourself.
And per usual, find our latest stories below if you haven’t read them yet:
Thanks for reading,
Max and Max
