Flourishing After Addiction with Carl Erik Fisher

Carl Erik Fisher
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Flourishing After Addiction with Carl Erik Fisher

Addiction psychiatrist and bioethicist Carl Erik Fisher explores addiction and recovery from science to spirituality, from philosophy to politics, and everything in between. He interviews leading experts in areas such as psychology, neurobiology, history, sociology, and more--as well as policy makers, advocates, and people with lived experience. A core commitment of the show is we need more than medicine to truly understand addiction and recovery. The challenges and mysteries of this field run up against some of the central challenges of human life, like: what makes a life worth living, what are the limits of self control, and how can people and societies change for the better? These are enormous questions, and they need to be approached with humility, but there are also promising ways forward offered by refreshingly unexpected sources. There are many paths to recovery, and there is tremendous hope for changing the narrative, injecting more nuance into these discussions, and making flourishing in recovery possible for all. Please check out https://www.carlerikfisher.com to join the newsletter and stay in touch.

  1. Fentanyl Nation: Toxic Politics and America’s Failed War on Drugs, with Ryan Hampton

    OCT 30

    Fentanyl Nation: Toxic Politics and America’s Failed War on Drugs, with Ryan Hampton

    Friend of the pod Ryan Hampton, a national addiction recovery advocate, author, and person in long-term recovery, is right in the middle of a hotly contested state assembly election in Nevada. It is, in fact, he is running in of the most hotly contested races in one of the most consequential states in U.S. electoral politics. So I’m so glad to have him on to talk about how to take care of ourselves and one another in this final stretch of election season, while also getting his unique perspec...

    45 min
  2. First in the Family, with Jessica Hoppe

    OCT 4

    First in the Family, with Jessica Hoppe

    Jessica Hoppe's brand-new memoir, First in the Family: A Story of Survival, Recovery, and the American Dream, is a tremendous exploration of addiction, intergenerational trauma, and the complex allure of the American Dream. I had the great pleasure of reading this book in advance copy and I’m so happy to be able to help spread the word and wholeheartedly endorse the book now. Don’t take my word for it. Leslie Jamison: “fierce and wise.” Javier Zamora: “raw and brilliant.” Kiese Laymon: “Art a...

    48 min
  3. The Zen Way of Recovery, with Laura Burges

    AUG 21

    The Zen Way of Recovery, with Laura Burges

    Join me on Sunday, September 8th, at 12 PM Eastern Time (9 AM Pacific) for From Recovering to Flourishing: A Foundational Workshop.Before spending three years in a Buddhist monastery and becoming a 3rd grade teacher, Laura Burges was exploring the world of alcohol and drugs, from opium dens in Afghanistan to a tent in Juneau, Alaska. After near-death experiences—such as blacking out and crawling through the snow—she realized she needed a spiritual solution to her addiction. This realization l...

    56 min
  4. The Supreme Court Blocks the Purdue Pharma Opioid Settlement, with Ryan Hampton

    JUL 25

    The Supreme Court Blocks the Purdue Pharma Opioid Settlement, with Ryan Hampton

    This is a milestone for the Flourishing After Addiction podcast: our first repeat guest! I wanted to have Ryan Hampton back on the pod for a quick hit: to discuss the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the controversial bankruptcy settlement involving Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. As you may know, the Court rejected the settlement involving Purdue, which shielded members of the Sackler family from lawsuits. I thought there was no one better than Ryan to help us understand this ruli...

    24 min
  5. How to help people change, with Dr. Carrie Wilkens

    JUN 12

    How to help people change, with Dr. Carrie Wilkens

    Carrie Wilkens is a psychologist with over 25 years of experience in the practice and dissemination of evidence-based treatments for substance use and post-traumatic stress. She and her team at the Center for Motivation and Change have developed the Invitation to Change approach for families and loved ones of people struggling with substance use, as well as the professionals who support them. This is a change model that has been used in group, family, and individual work, including by counsel...

    1h 4m
  6. Stash, Sedatives and A Life In Hiding, with Laura Cathcart Robbins

    MAR 27

    Stash, Sedatives and A Life In Hiding, with Laura Cathcart Robbins

    One of the great gifts of being out in the world talking about addiction and recovery is I get to meet so many fascinating and talented people working on these issues. This is one of my deepest motivations for writing and speaking about my own experience; to connect with other values-aligned writers and thinkers. One wonderful recent example is the fantastic writer Laura Cathcart Robbins, our guest on this latest episode of the Flourishing After Addiction podcast. Laura is the author of ...

    57 min
  7. Why We Can’t Therapize Our Way Out of Addiction, with Dr. Bruce Alexander

    MAR 5

    Why We Can’t Therapize Our Way Out of Addiction, with Dr. Bruce Alexander

    In this episode of Flourishing After Addiction, I had the honor of speaking with Bruce Alexander, a towering figure in the field of addiction theory. As regular Rat Park readers will know, I named this newsletter after Bruce’s iconic experiment in the 1970s, honoring not just that experiment, but also the decades of contributions he’s made since to the broader understanding of addiction as a deeply human phenomenon. Now that Bruce is in his 80s, he’s said he won’t be doing much more writing a...

    47 min
  8. What's Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine, with Erin Williams

    FEB 15

    What's Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine, with Erin Williams

    As a bonus for this special episode with the artist Erin Williams, author of What’s Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine, I got permission to post some of the illustrations from her new book, What’s Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine. Head over to my Substack page to see those. You won’t want to miss them.Erin Williams is the author and illustrator of ten books, including What's Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine, Commute: ...

    46 min
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5
out of 5
61 Ratings

About

Addiction psychiatrist and bioethicist Carl Erik Fisher explores addiction and recovery from science to spirituality, from philosophy to politics, and everything in between. He interviews leading experts in areas such as psychology, neurobiology, history, sociology, and more--as well as policy makers, advocates, and people with lived experience. A core commitment of the show is we need more than medicine to truly understand addiction and recovery. The challenges and mysteries of this field run up against some of the central challenges of human life, like: what makes a life worth living, what are the limits of self control, and how can people and societies change for the better? These are enormous questions, and they need to be approached with humility, but there are also promising ways forward offered by refreshingly unexpected sources. There are many paths to recovery, and there is tremendous hope for changing the narrative, injecting more nuance into these discussions, and making flourishing in recovery possible for all. Please check out https://www.carlerikfisher.com to join the newsletter and stay in touch.

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