Some favorite books on the topic—along with all the episodes I've devoted to understanding addiction.
Jul 10, 2026
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2 min read
Whose Pain Counts? (Susan Burton)
Listen now (57 mins) | "I mean, I do think that I have an abiding interest in women's bodies. In how our bodies can be determinative, how they can suggest certain identities..."
Pulling the Thread by Elise Loehnen • Elise Loehnen
Breaking the Addiction Binary (Carl Erik Fisher, M.D.): ADDICTION
Listen now (61 mins) | “I want to say that it's not just some idea about suffering, it's also a function of social and economic systems that are deliberately weaponizing an individualized view..."
When Love Feels Unbearable (Anne Lamott)
Listen now (45 mins) | “You want to find yourself? Give. We're not hungry for what we're not getting. We're hungry for what we're not giving. And then at the same time, you watch this old pattern..."
Navigating an Addictive Culture (Anna Lembke, M.D.)
Listen now (43 min) | “We are living in a world that primes us all for the problem of addiction. So even though some people come into this world..."
When Stress Becomes Illness (Gabor Maté, M.D.)
Listen now (66 min) | “Where in your life where you're not saying yes, but there's a, yes. That wants to be said where there's some desire for self-expression..."
On Reducing Harm & Savings Lives (Maia Szalavitz): ADDICTION
Listen now (59 mins) | “I think it's really important for, you know, people to realize that you can totally be an absolutely excellent parent of a traumatized child and the trauma had nothing..."
Reimagining Recovery (Holly Whitaker): ADDICTION
Listen now (55 mins) | “For years, I was asking myself whether or not I was an alcoholic versus really asking myself whether or not alcohol was actually providing any benefit to me. And for me..."
What Actually Motivates Change (Carrie Wilkens, PhD): ADDICTION
Listen now (59 mins) | "Nobody wants to be somebody with a serious substance use problem. Nobody wants to be addicted to a substance. I mean, it doesn't feel good. Dependency doesn't feel good."
What Matters More Than the Epiphany Moment (Eric Zimmer)
Listen now (55 mins) } "So I went back and I said, 'All right, I’ll go to treatment.' And that would be the triumphant scene, that moment, the epiphany, the big thing. And that moment is certainly..."
The Best Books About Addiction
Is addiction a disease?