7 Years 132 days - Back in the 90's7 Years 132 days - Back in the 90's
I'm Quitting Alcohol
David Boyle reflects on life 7 years into sobriety as he strips back technology and compares today’s constant news and social media to a never-ending high school drama. He shares how cutting phone use makes life feel like the 90s again and questions why people keep feeding their anxiety with fear-filled content.
11:14•24 Sept 2026
Living Like It’s 1995: David Boyle Cuts Tech, Keeps Sobriety
Episode Overview
- Constant access to news through phones keeps people stuck in a continuous fear cycle.
- Social media encourages repeated exposure to jealousy, envy and self-doubt similar to the worst parts of high school.
- Removing or limiting technology makes modern life feel much calmer and more like the 1990s.
- The addictive pull is often towards bad feelings and fear rather than genuine pleasure.
- Most everyday obligations can still be met with minimal phone use, especially if the main need is just GPS.
“the addiction is not the good feeling the addiction is the bad feeling”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol? For Australian comedian David Boyle, it’s now tied up with something unexpected: breaking up with his phone and pretending it’s 1995 again. Recorded on day 7 years and 132 days alcohol-free, this short daily episode has Boyle musing about how life feels “back in the 90’s baby” now that he’s stripped away most modern tech.
He points out that the big global dramas have always been there – Gulf War, Cold War, Oklahoma City – but back then you got your “dish of bad news” once a day on the 6:30 bulletin and then got on with your bland 90s dinner and your life.
Now, he says, “you open your phone you look bad news boom… there’s no escaping it because it’s in your pocket you’re carrying the fear with you everywhere,” arguing that “the addiction is not the good feeling the addiction is the bad feeling.” He links this constant feed of fear and comparison to the worst parts of high school – jealousy, bullying, self-doubt – except now people willingly dive into that emotional chaos every ten minutes via social media.
Boyle describes driving “raw dogging” with just Google Maps, no podcasts, no radio, and realising how chilled life feels when he ditches the noise. He contrasts his own tree-watching calm with a stressed driver next to him who “just looked fried,” imagining that guy locked into news, anxiety and endless comparison.
Across the episode, he questions how much of modern stress is self-inflicted through phones, and jokes about telling his boss, “I’m back in the 90s cunt, I don’t have a phone.” For anyone in recovery, or thinking about quitting booze, it’s a sharp reminder that sobriety isn’t just about alcohol; it’s also about what you feed your brain all day long.
It might leave you asking: what would your life look like if you really did go back to 90s-level tech?
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