The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State

FEATURING LISA MCGIRR – Most of us view the strange era of prohibition in the US as a historical footnote, an aberration that was corrected within a few years.

But a new book called The War on Alcohol delves deep into the history of prohibition and its subsequent repeal to examine how national ideas on crime and punishment and government intrusion into the lives of citizens came about.

There are clear lessons to be learned about our “war on drugs,” and nascent push to legalize some drugs such as marijuana.

Lisa McGirr, Professor of History at Harvard University and the author of the award winning history of the new right, Suburban Warriors, and The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State.