Maia Szalavitz: A New Lens on Addiction

In this episode, Adam Alter discusses the science of getting unstuck and learning to know when to keep going or when to let go. He explores why people get stuck in areas like work, creativity, and personal growth, and discuss the psychological and cultural factors behind feeling ...  Show more

In this episode, Amanda Montell explores the age of magical overthinking and why our minds keep doubling down. She discusses how cognitive biases and irrational thinking shape our perceptions and behaviors in the information age. Amanda also explains shine theory, zero-sum and su ...  Show more

This episode I interview Dr. Anna Lembke, M.D., Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Lembke is a psychiatrist expert in treating addictions of all kinds: drugs, alcohol, food, sex, video games, gambling, foo ...  Show more

The relentless pursuit of pleasure always leads to pain. As the world evolves from one of scarcity to overabundance, we increasingly orient our lives around the pursuit of pleasure and avoidance of pain—an instinct that has produced a myriad of unprecedented types of addiction, a ...  Show more

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Wilkens talks about the stigma around substance abuse, potential alternatives to abstinence, and the role of meditation in recovery ...

What really causes addiction -- to everything from cocaine to smart-phones? And how can we overcome it? Johann Hari has seen our current methods fail firsthand, as he has watched loved ones struggle to manage their addictions. He started to wonder why we treat addicts the way ...