History in Practice
I have had the privilege of working with a number of interesting and engaged creators, organizations, and business leaders on projects involving alcohol and drugs, including policy, regulation, and history.
This work falls into two broad areas: alcohol policy and regulation, and historical consulting for media and creative projects.
Alcohol and drug policy, regulation and public debate.
My work focuses on how alcohol is understood, regulated, discussed, and debated over time.
Alcohol is a socially and culturally complex substance, shaped by history, politics, public health concerns, personal experience, and competing ideas about risk and responsibility. As a historian of alcohol and drug regulation, I help organizations, policymakers, researchers, and industry stakeholders place contemporary debates in their broader historical and cultural context.
Whether the issue is public health guidance, regulatory reform, industry relations, risk communication, or broader policy discussions, these questions are rarely as straightforward as they first appear.
Understanding their historical roots can help illuminate why these debates have developed as they have, and why they often resist simple solutions.
Media technical/historical consulting.
I also work as a historical consultant for film, television, documentary, and other creative projects.
History is full of conflict, ambiguity, unexpected motivations, and human complexity. Working with writers and producers, I help bring those elements to the screen in ways that deepen character, strengthen narrative, and enrich storytelling.
Selected projects include The Abandons (Netflix) and Bomb Girls, for which I provided historical research, advice, and contextual support during development and production.
I have also provided advice and script evaluation for several documentaries and have appeared on camera as an expert commentator.
For me, the goal is not simply historical accuracy, but historical authenticity: helping stories draw on the complexity of the past in ways that enhance rather than constrain the creative process.
Download my expert profile here