{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Ep 4 \u2013 Christina Wade: Beer historian, spooky girl, and castle person","description":"Welcome back to Cheers with Nat \u2013 the podcast dedicated to cheering on women in drinks. In today\u2019s episode, you\u2019ll hear from beer historian, Dr. Christina Wade. We start by discussing how she turned her childhood dream of being a \u201ccastle person\u201d into a career as a historian, and how the history of beer \u2013 and women in beer more specifically \u2013 became her focus. Christina then shares how her award-winning books came to life, the beer history myth she\u2019s determined to bust, and what she\u2019s working on next. We also learn why she believes it\u2019s so important to share her work outside of academia and how she rewired her writing style for a broader audience. Lastly, you\u2019ll hear about some of the new hobbies that keep her grounded outside of work, given that her hobby eventually became her work. --- What stuck with me from this conversation: On her childhood dream: \u201cMy family saved up lots and lots of money to be able to take me to Ireland after that because I just fell in love with medieval history. And I went to Bunratty Castle and, I think I must have been 10, and I looked at my mother and I said \u2018I want to be a castle person\u2019, you know I want to study this, this is what I want to do. And I want to do it here.\u201d On citing sources as a historian: \u201cIt was really important to me to make sure that I had sources that other people could read. I\u2019m not just saying this and you can trust me. You shouldn\u2019t trust me. You shouldn\u2019t trust anybody unless they can provide their sources and you should look at those sources, if you\u2019re so inclined.\u201d On how her first book came about: \u201cI really want to read this book, so I\u2019m going to write this book, because I want to read it.\u201d On writing for different audiences: \u201cYou\u2019re gatekeeping to some degree. You\u2019re choosing what information to include and what not. And your audience is trusting you with that and that\u2019s a lot of power. So you want to make sure that you\u2019re writing something that\u2019s worthy of that, that they can engage with, that\u2019s still having the academic rigour that you would write for an academic audience but then in a way that speaks to them. So I write how I speak, so I write like I\u2019m talking to my friends in the pub over a pint. And if I can\u2019t say it out loud and have people understand it, then it needs to be re-written.\u201d On the importance of listening in her work: \u201c\u2026 it\u2019s also being able to gauge what your audience wants by not only speaking to your audience, but listening. I think that\u2019s a really important part. So it\u2019s not only writing the media, its also consuming the media. And listening to people\u2019s voices and seeing what are they interested in.\u201d Check out the episode to hear how this influenced the focus of The Devil\u2019s in the Draught Lines!   Links & things: What we\u2019re drinking A nice little write up on both beers from The Beer Nut Collaborator Liam K\u2019s website, IrishBeerHistory The brewers, Trouble Brewing Christina\u2019s work Braciatrix blog The Devil\u2019s in the Draught Lines: 1000 Years of Women in Britain\u2019s Beer History (CAMRA, 2024) Winner of The British Guild of Beer Writers Best Book in 2024 Filthy Queens: A History of Beer in Ireland (Nine Bean Rows, 2025) Winner of The British Guild of Beer Writers Best Book in 2025 Shortlisted for The Andr\u00e9 Simon Award 2025, selected from over 140 submissions Beer Ladies Podcast Ladies Craft Beer Society of Ireland Recognition for Christina\u2019s work In addition to the awards for her books, mentioned above, Christina was also named Beer Expert of the Year in the 2025 inaugural Women in Beer Awards People who inspired Christina\u2019s future work Teresa McCullah Liz Garibay And the rest of the Beer Culture Center team Christina\u2019s book reccs \u2013 a shout out to fellow Irish beer writers! The Dublin Pub: A Social and Cultural History by Donal Fallon A Compendium of Irish Pints by Ali Dunworth What she\u2019s watching His & Hers Stranger Things   Recording info: January 2026 in Dublin Sorry for some of the background noises, we had the window open in my hotel room \ud83d\ude05     ","author_name":"Cheers with Nat","author_url":"https:\/\/cheerswithnat.substack.com\/","html":"