Professor Phil Withington hears how the mass-production of beer and spirits was closely connected to industrialisation and the rise of big business, popular political movements like Temperance, and the emergence of what is sometimes called the 'bio-state'.

Guests:

Pete Brown is an author, journalist and broadcaster specialising in food and drink. He’s the Sunday Times Magazine’s weekly beer columnist and has published numerous books including:

• Clubland: How the Working Men’s Club Shaped Britain
• Craft - An Argument: Why the term Craft Beer is completely undefinable, hopelessly misunderstood and absolutely essential

Prof Virginia Berridge is Professor of History and Health Policy and former Director of the Centre for History in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, the Royal Historical Society, the Faculty of Public Health and of the Royal College of Physicians. She is deputy chair of the London Drugs Commission reporting to the Mayor.

Her books include:

• Demons: Our changing attitudes to alcohol tobacco and drugs
• Public Health: A Very Short Introduction
• E-Cigarettes and the Comparative Politics of Harm Reduction

Pete Evans is the Archives and Heritage Manager at Sheffield City Council.

Dr David Beckingham is Associate Professor in Cultural and Historical Geography at the University of Nottingham. He has published widely on aspects of alcohol regulation and temperance, most recently in the journals Rural History and Journal of Historical Geography.

Full transcript available here.