Elis James and John Robins on Radio X Podcast

This episode includes discussion of sensitive topics, including addiction and alcoholism, that some listeners may find distressing. Please take care while listening, and feel free to pause or step away if you need to.
John Robins has spent much of his life making people laugh. But behind the award-winning stand-up, broadcasting and podcasts was a relationship with alcohol that he spent years trying to understand, manage and ultimately escape.
In this episode of Full Disclosure, James O’Brien sits down with John to trace the experiences that shaped him, from a childhood marked by anxiety and an intensely religious father to Oxford, gambling and the discovery of stand-up. John reflects on growing up with a sense that something wasn’t quite right, learning to use humour as both attack and defence, and becoming fascinated by alcohol long before he understood what it offered him.
He talks candidly about the progression of his drinking and the years he spent trying to control it: counting drinks, crossing days off calendars and comparing himself with people who seemed to drink more. Looking back, John describes alcohol not as the problem but as his solution to something deeper - a way to quieten his mind, relieve discomfort and, at times, disappear completely.
John also recalls the night in 2022 when, exhausted by years of fighting his drinking, he searched the word “sober” in a podcast app. Hearing two recovering alcoholics speak with calmness, warmth and humour gave him a glimpse of another way to live. He went to his first AA meeting the following day and hasn’t had a drink since.
Now, John reflects on the strange and painful process of learning how to live without alcohol, from relationships and work to simply being alone with his own thoughts. He talks about therapy, recovery, meditation and spirituality, and why accepting the things he cannot control has begun to make life feel a little less complicated.
It’s a funny, thoughtful and strikingly open conversation about addiction, anxiety, childhood, shame and recovery - and about what happens when the thing you’ve relied on to escape yourself is no longer there.
Find out more about Thirst by John Robins here
Additional support:
If you've been affected by anything you've heard in this episode, please take a moment to read the resources listed: We Are With You, Change Grow Live, Turning Point
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Hello Elis and John fans!

If you want more Elis in your life then you should subscribe to The Socially Distant Sports Bar with Elis, Mike Bubbins and Steff Garrero.

Three men trying to talk about sports.

Three men who get distracted by everything.

Three men who think a sports podcast should contain frequent references to Kimbo Slice, Erasure and Bobby Davro.

Give it a listen now and join the bar on Twitter, Insta and Facebook via @distantpod

Hello podcast listener. If you're a fan of Elis and John then we think you'll enjoy another podcast, Early Work with Rhys James. Stand-up, panel show regular and the only comedian with a podcast, Early Work sees Rhys and guests reliving some of their most cringeworthy childhood and teenage attempts at creativity.

Search Early Work where you get your podcasts and find Rhys on Instagram and Twitter @rhysjamesy for more about the podcast.

This January, Radio X are launching a whole host of new comedy podcasts. In this bonus episode you’ll hear a snippet from each one. If you like what you hear - make sure you hit subscribe!

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That’s A First: https://www.radiox.co.uk/radio/podcasts/thats-a-first/

Early Work with Rhys James: https://www.radiox.co.uk/radio/podcasts/early-work-with-rhys-james/

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The Kings are dead. Long live the Kings.