Rewind: What's up with Mass.'s liquor laws?

Team Common is currently working on our transition to a weekly show. We’ll be back this summer with new episodes. In the meantime, here’s one from our archives.

New Englanders are known for having a buttoned up rule or two, including around alcohol (we're looking at you, happy hour ban). And it's not uncommon to hear some of our region’ s founding colonizers, the Puritans, getting blame for that. But how involved were the Puritans in shaping our current rules around liquor, really?

WBUR reporter Simón Rios looked into this as part of WBUR's Field Guide to Boston series. He joins The Common with more on Massachusetts liquor laws, and how the traditions of the Puritans may or may not inform how they exist today.