The Herald:

Don’t try this at home kids. 

I  have a confession to make. Whenever I was due to go on live television, or at a live speaking event, I used to try to have a large glass of wine beforehand. I told myself I was following the advice of the great broadcaster, Ludovic Kennedy, rather than, say, Charles Kennedy. 

But it worked for me. My thoughts were clearer, my diction sharper because I was more relaxed.  Alcohol in moderation is a social lubricant, the great disinhibiter, because it removes self-consciousness. At least, until it gets out of hand and removes consciousness altogether. 

At any rate, it seems I was testing the theory of the Norwegian psychiatrist, Finn Skårderud, who apparently claimed that humans are born with an alcohol deficit of 0.05% in their bloodstream.  Sounds like the kind of nonsense science you’d hear during a late-night drinking session. This is precisely where the four middle-aged teachers in Thomas Vinterbergs film “Another Round“ hatch the idea of testing the theory in school.  

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