7 Years 117 days - Mapping Time7 Years 117 days - Mapping Time
I'm Quitting Alcohol
Comedian David Boyle links his love of history with his sobriety journey, arguing that history works like a map of time. He suggests that building this mental map makes you less lost, less easily pushed around, and more grounded in recovery.
6:51•9 Sept 2026
History, Boston Streets and Sobriety: Why Boyle Says You Need a Map of Time
Episode Overview
- History can act as a map of time, helping you understand where you are beyond just physical location.
- Building your own internal map, rather than relying solely on external tools, makes you less easy to manipulate.
- Learning history can start anywhere; the key is simply to open a book and follow your curiosity.
- Seeing how civilisations link together (Greeks, Romans, Vikings, Normans, English, Irish) gives a clearer picture of the present.
- Knowing where you are in both time and space can make you a stronger, more grounded person in recovery.
“"Most people know where they are in space but no one really knows where they are in time."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? For Australian comedian David Boyle, part of the answer oddly sits in ancient history books and very confusing Boston streets. This short, punchy episode of "I'm Quitting Alcohol" tracks Boyle’s obsession with history and why he thinks it actually matters for anyone trying to get their life together.
He compares moving to Boston—being lost, not knowing any streets, slowly building a mental map—to how you can build a map of time through reading history. As he puts it, you start with random questions like, "what the fuck is a Minoan" or "who the fuck are the Sumerians" and slowly piece together how Greeks, Romans, Vikings, Normans, the English and the Irish all fit into the bigger picture.
Boyle argues that history is "a map of where you are in time" and that most people have no clue where they sit on that map. For someone in recovery, that idea hits hard: if you don’t know where you are in time or space, you’re easier to push around—by booze, by habits, by other people.
If you build your own internal map instead of relying on outside shortcuts (his story about a mate’s brother secretly rerouting GPS traffic past a caravan park makes that point very loud and clear), you’re harder to manipulate.
The tone is raw, sweary, fast-paced and funny, but underneath the jokes there’s a serious nudge: "open a fucking book and start mapping where you are in time." It’s aimed at people who like their sobriety talk real and unpolished, with zero self-help fluff and plenty of chaos. If you’re piecing your life back together, could mapping time be as important as mapping your next sober day?
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