Episode #4: Addiction and flourishing: why our addiction to pleasure is making us unhappy

Today we are talking to Anna Lemke, MD about the relation between dopamine and fourishing. 

• Overarching themes:

  • Dopamine, it’s role in pleasure and motivation 

  • The relation between dopamine and human flourishing

  • How to flourish while navigating addiction

Dr. Anna Lembke received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and her medical degree from Stanford University. She is currently Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also Program Director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic.

Her latest book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021), was an instant New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller, and explores how to moderate compulsive overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world.