😎🍸 Dry January’s chill sibling

It’s Tuesday, Boston.

🏒 We have (cheap!) last-minute plans for you tonight: Grab tickets to the 2025 Women’s Beanpot Semifinals. $13 to watch two hockey games featuring some of the best college players around Boston is more than fair, if you ask us.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Bye bye, broker fees

• Snowboarding on City Hall Plaza?

• Mass.’ Moby Dick-a-thon

Up first…

DAMP JANUARY

Dry January … but make it damp

Do you ever wish Dry January weren’t so … dry? Allow us to introduce: Damp January. While Dry January is as popular as ever, there’s a new iteration of the trend taking over: cutting back on booze instead of fully cutting it out. 

Here’s what to know:

🍷 Sober-curiosity is taking off. “Our public health messaging around alcohol has changed so much” in the last decade, according to MGH addiction specialist Dr. Scott Hadland. At one point, small amounts of alcohol were thought to be not-so-bad — even good for you. But these days, “it's clear to us that there's probably no truly healthy level of alcohol.” That knowledge + social media’s wellness kick + Gen Z drinking less overall = a lot more sober-curiosity.

🥴 But quitting cold turkey ain’t easy. The best way to quit a habit varies from person to person, Hadland said. And one Damp January perk is that it allows folks to hop on the sober-curious bandwagon minus the all-or-nothing mindset. B-Sider Andrew O’Neill tried it as a more moderate alternative to Dry January, which he’d struggled with in the past. “I would sometimes come away feeling discouraged at setting a goal and having failed it,” he said.

😴 You can still feel benefits from cutting back. Though the top-tier health benefits will come from nixing alcohol entirely, you can get “gradient” improvements in sleep, energy, mental health, and blood pressure, among many others, from a Damp January, Hadland said. Vedant Pradeep, co-founder of Reframe, an app that helps people cut back on drinking, said his users most often notice and report improved sleep first.

⏰ Ready to get damp? First, set some boundaries. Meaning, you’ll need to decide how to limit your alcohol intake. There are lots of ways to do this, but Pradeep’s suggestion is to look at what you’re already doing and slightly scale back: If you usually have five drinks a week, try to have four or three instead. Then, try one fewer next week until you arrive at your desired level of “dampness.”

🥤 Then, set yourself up for success. 

• Identify your triggers and take steps to avoid them. A.k.a. what makes you want to drink? Parties, hunger, anger — you name it. Try to avoid them on days or times you’re trying to abstain, Pradeep said.

• Have a nonalcoholic bev at the ready. For O’Neill, having alternative NA drinks to sip on (mocktails, soda, etc.) when the mood to drink strikes has been key to his success. 

🩺 Remember: Always ask your doctor before making health interventions. 

QUICK QUESTION!

🧢 If you could get one piece of B-Side merch, what would it be?

TOGETHER WITH THE HANDEL AND HAYDN SOCIETY

Where history hits different

🎶 🎻 It’s not just just a concert — it’s a conversation. "Crossing the Deep," an immersive choral drama, is returning to Boston on Jan. 17 and 19 with the Handel and Haydn Society. If you didn’t catch the first sold-out showings in 2023 (when The Boston Globe said “There should be more performances, and then some”), this is your chance. Handel’s anthems meet the raw power of Black spirituals, woven together with spoken word poetry to create an unforgettable, immersive experience. Tickets are limited — don’t miss out!

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

👋 Renters might be saying “bye bye” to broker fees. On Monday, Gov. Maura Healey announced she’ll include a measure in her 2026 fiscal year budget requiring whoever hires the broker to pay the infamous broker fee. That’s usually the landlord, so the move would shift the burden off of renters and lessen the notorious $8,000+ upfront costs some have to pay before moving in. Now, we just have to hope that the proposal makes its way through the Legislature and into the final budget. But in the meantime: WOO-HOO!

💸 Mayor Michelle Wu goes for round two. On Monday, Wu refiled her controversial proposal to curb residential property tax increases by shifting more of the city’s tax burden onto commercial properties. The renewed measure includes her OG plan, but beefed up with new provisions like expanded tax breaks for senior homeowners and a “plan B” that would give the city permission to dip into its “rainy day” fund to send rebates to homeowners. Now, it’s in the City Council and state Legislature’s hands.

🚺 The Women’s March is coming to town. ICYMI: The Women’s March: People’s March, a rally and protest for women’s rights and reproductive freedom in response to the 2024 election results, is coming to the Common this Saturday. The event will feature over a dozen speakers and performers, from City Councilors to members of Boston Pride, and so far, over 1,000 people have signed up for the event. Can’t go? You can donate to the cause here.

🏂 Get ready to shred the gnar at City Hall Plaza. On Feb. 22, Red Bull is bringing Heavy Metal, its single-day rail-riding snowboarding contest, to Boston City Hall. Struggling to picture it? Expect the whole place to be converted into a park with 300 tons of snow, a giant rail, some of the top snowboarders in the country, and a big crowd. Even better: It’s FREE! Still struggling to picture it? We get it. Just check out this wild video.

GIVEAWAY

Together with Puppies&Yoga Boston

Enter to win two spots to a Puppies&Yoga Boston class here. To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on Jan. 15. If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

ONE LAST THING

A Moby Dick-a-thon

Reading “Moby Dick” cover-to-cover is impressive in 2025. But reading “Moby Dick” cover-to-cover in one sitting over 25 hours … is almost beyond our comprehension. 

But lots of people do it every year at an annual read-a-thon event at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, where literally thousands pile in to hear 230 people take turns reading the book aloud in just around 25 hours … straight. Even the @EtymologyNerd on TikTok was there!

Still not convinced it sounds like a good time? One attendee (who stayed for all 25 hours) said, “I don’t think there is any other way I would have preferred to read this book.”

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🐋 Thanks for reading! TBH, we can think of a few … but we won’t yuck your yum!

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, Handel and Haydn Society, for supporting local journalism and connecting music lovers throughout Boston. 

👫 The results are in: 37% of B-Siders say that they don’t care what kind of IRL events we put on, if we host it, they’ll be there. Awwww. One reader said: “...as long as there's food, parking, and I can be in bed by 9pm lol.” Done!

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].