As the survivor of multiple relapses and near-fatal experiences with his addiction to alcohol and other drugs, William C. Moyers knows what it’s like to desperately need a good treatment program but not know how to find one. He and his parents, journalist Bill Moyers and Judith Moyers, talk about their experience confronting William’s addiction and the journey through intervention, treatment, and recovery. William Moyers’ book Now What? An Insider’s Guide to Addiction and Recovery leads readers through recognizing when someone needs help, finding a quality treatment program, navigating the treatment process, and establishing a support system after treatment.

In “Rebel without a Cause,” James Dean’s father impotently warns the high-schooler to stay away from gatherings where teens imbibe alcohol.

“You know what kind of drunken brawls those kind of parties turn into,” he says. “It's not a place for kids.”

The Long Island Railroad is launching a pilot program banning alcohol on overnight weekend trains out of Penn Station, beginning next month.

Emmy Award-winning actress Kristen Johnston discusses her memoir, Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster, in which she writes about her addictions to alcohol and drugs and how she overcame them. She also talks about the stigma that’s often attached to recovery and her efforts to open the city’s first addiction-recovery high school.

Daniel Okrent, former Public Editor for the New York Times, examines how and why we came to outlaw alcohol in this country, what life under Prohibition was like, and how it changed the country forever. In Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition , he shows how diverse forces came together to bring about Prohibition: the growing political power of the women’s suffrage movement, which allied itself with the antiliquor campaign; the fear of small-town Protestants that they were losing control of their country to the immigrants in the cities; the anti-German sentiment stoked by World War I; and a variety of other factors, ranging from the rise of the automobile to the advent of the income tax.

Pick up a copy and start reading! Daniel Okrent will be here on March 6 to talk about the book. Leave your questions and comments below to join the conversation!

South Dakota had a drinking problem. A rural state with a sparse population and few public transportation options available, driving under the influence of alcohol had become a major issue. Then three years ago, something changed, causing alcohol related crime to drop, and making the roads safer.

South Dakota launched the 24/7 Sobriety Project. The program makes DWI offenders take an alcohol breath test twice a day, charging them a dollar for each test. Those who pass walk free, but those who fail can wind up in for anywhere between 24 and 48 hours. The goal, as the program's name suggests, is absolute sobriety for previous offenders, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The program also reduces costs for the state, by reducing the number of people in prison.

On Alcoholics Anonymous' 75th anniversary, contributing editor at Wired magazine Brendan Koerner investigates why and how AA's 12-step process to kick addiction seems to work for some people.  

Bootlegging was written into the U.S. constitution 90 years ago today. On January 16, 1920, the prohibitionists finally got what they had been fighting for decades: the federal government had banned the manufacture and sale of alcohol. The prohibition movement had be active since 1810 and its legacy is still visible today.

It looks like one of Russian President Dmitri Medvedev’s New Year's resolutions is to encourage all Russians to think twice about reaching for their favorite drink.

As of January 1st, he’s setting a higher minimum price for Vodka in Russia. It’s an attempt to cut alcoholism in the country with the highest per-capita alcohol consumption in the world.

But how popular is a forced New Year's detox with ordinary Russians? We ask Boris Maksimov, a reporter with the BBC Russian service; he joins us from London.

For our family segment, we take a look at a recent government report that shows a 30 percent increase in the number of women arrested for drinking and driving in the past ten years. This report comes out amidst a vigorous discussion in the blogosphere about mothers who drink. Are mothers more stressed out than they used to be, or has the feminist movement made it more socially acceptable to drink than a couple of generations ago?

To discuss this we speak to Lisa Belkin, writer of the New York Times' MotherLode blog; and Tara Trower, assistant features editor at the Austin American Statesman and writer for the Statesman's Mama Drama blog.