Professor Tim Stockwell Versus the J-Curve

The controversial scientist addresses his critics

Professor Tim Stockwell of the University of Victoria in Canada is currently the most consequential figure in alcohol.

Not because he makes alcohol or promotes it, but because his research is causing people worldwide to drink less.

He is, according to The New York Times “one of the people most responsible for our cultural course correction on alcohol.”

And today Prof. Stockwell appears on the Drinks Insider Wine + Health podcast to explain his thinking and confront the criticisms.

Professor Tim Stockwell, University of Victoria, Canada

What the fuss is about

In 2023 and 2024, Prof. Stockwell co-authored papers questioning the benefits of light-to-moderate drinking. He’d done this before — in 2006 and 2016 — but in our post-COVID era, the work finally caught fire.

It’s been quoted in The New York Times, The Guardian, New Scientist, and the BBC, among many other outlets — in less than six months, his work has appeared in more than 350 international articles.

Past observational studies have demo…