7 Years 24 days Sober - Food for Thought7 Years 24 days Sober - Food for Thought
I'm Quitting Alcohol
Comedian David Boyle, over seven years sober, talks through demographic data on boomers, birth rates and immigration, sharing his concerns about future population decline. The episode blends raw humour, statistics and personal reflection as he frames it all as "food for thought" for anyone on a sobriety path.
9:45•8 Jun 2026
Sober Brain, Big Numbers: David Boyle on Boomers, Birth Rates and the Future
Episode Overview
- The baby boomer generation in the US is ageing rapidly, with millions expected to die each year over the next 15–20 years.
- US birth rates peaked around 2007 and have declined steadily since, dropping from replacement level (about 2.1) to roughly 1.6.
- When adjusted for immigration, native-born US birth rates have been falling for around 50 years and sit at about 1.4, similar to countries facing demographic collapse.
- Immigration, tourism and international student numbers are reportedly decreasing, reducing the population boost that once masked native-born decline.
- Boyle suggests that by around 2035 there could be a sharp mismatch between those dying and those entering their most productive years, which he sees as "food for thought" for anyone thinking about the future.
“Some shit's going to happen around the 2035 period and it's going to get interesting.”
Get ready to be moved by real-life accounts of a comedian who swapped booze for big questions about the future. In this short, punchy episode of "I'm Quitting Alcohol", Australian comedian David Boyle marks 7 years and 24 days sober by letting his restless brain loose on demographics.
What starts as a casual hobby – digging into stats that suit his ADHD and "tickle of autism" – turns into a stark look at ageing populations, birth rates, and what might be coming down the line for Western countries. Boyle breaks down the baby boomer generation in the US, pointing out that they own a huge share of property and wealth, but are now dying in large numbers every year.
He tracks how this will accelerate over the next 15–20 years, and what that means when they aren’t being replaced. His conclusion? "Some shit's going to happen around the 2035 period and it's going to get interesting." He doesn’t stop at raw numbers. Boyle digs into native-born versus immigrant birth rates, noting that, once you factor out immigration, the US birth rate has been slipping for decades, dropping to levels similar to countries already worried about demographic collapse.
He also mentions that immigration, tourism, and international student numbers are reportedly falling, hinting at a future where population shrinkage and economic pressure collide. Even though this is a sobriety podcast, the episode shows how life in recovery can open up space for these late-night thinking sessions – the kind of "food for thought" that might have been drowned out by alcohol in the past.
It’s raw, sweary, unscripted, and very much Boyle: part statistic nerd-out, part dark humour, part warning siren. If sobriety has given you more brain-time than you know what to do with, this might get you wondering: what kind of future are we all staying sober for?
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