Episode 96 - Nick MortonEpisode 96 - Nick Morton
The Drunkalogues
Host Nick Morton swaps roles with friend Paul Kolsby to share his own story of alcohol, early health scares, aa, faith and unexpected new paths in sobriety. The conversation reflects on ego, humility and how life can expand after the drink is gone.
1:51:03•16 May 2026
Chaos, God and Concrete: Nick Morton on Quitting Booze and Closing The Drunkalogues
Episode Overview
- Growing up in a heavy-drinking environment can normalise dangerous behaviour and delay any sense that alcohol might be a problem.
- Health crises and early warnings – like a perforated stomach at 17 – do not automatically lead to change when alcohol is still seen as ‘fun’.
- The constant mental battle about when, how and how much to drink can be more exhausting than physical hangovers, and sobriety can free up that mental space.
- aa meetings, sponsorship and rethinking ideas of God or chaos can provide a practical structure for staying sober, even for those sceptical about religion.
- Humbling work, such as labouring on construction sites, can challenge ego, reshape ideas of success and bring unexpected spiritual and creative growth.
“I've spent my life walking through fires that do not exist.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? Episode 96 of The Drunkalogues flips the script: long-time host Nick Morton swaps seats and becomes the guest, with his friend and Ozark writer-producer Paul Kolsby asking the questions. You’ll hear Nick trace a life that started in a “very, very drinky place” in Locust Valley, New York, where booze was practically a family sport and his first sips of wine came at the age of three or four.
He talks about teenage bingeing on golf courses and boarding school fields, perforating his stomach with vodka at 17, and being told by a school therapist, “you’re fucking 17 years old, and you’re shaking like an old man.” The conversation moves from blackouts and duis to the quieter, more corrosive chaos of adult drinking: wrecked cars, unpaid insurance, parenting with hangovers, and that endless internal bargaining about how much he’ll drink that night.
He shares how sponsorship, the twelve steps and a daily relationship with a higher power opened the door to unexpected things: stand‑up comedy, filmmaking, and even working as a construction labourer, t-shirt and all, while still learning to say, “I’m still me.” This final instalment feels like a long, funny, raw goodbye letter to alcohol and to the show itself, with plenty of honesty about fear, ego, humiliation, and the relief of no longer wanting to die, just wanting the pain to stop.
A small car accident and a very large bill finally push him to say, “something in my life has to change,” and he walks into his first aa meeting, where he’s stunned to realise, “they’re all me.” Paul presses into themes of God, chaos and higher power, with Nick describing his journey from seeing the universe as random to believing it might actually be “benevolent chaos”.
If you’ve ever wondered whether sobriety can make life bigger rather than smaller, this one’s worth your time. What might your own higher power look like if you gave it a chance?
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