Drugs, Addiction and Recovery

Drugs, Addiction and Recovery

episodes

Interviews with scholars of drugs, addiction and recovery about their new books.

Kim Embrey, "Coca and the Victorians: From Botanical Curiosity to Regulated Drug, 1835–1912" (Transcript Publishing, 2025)

April 12, 2026

Coca and the Victorians

Kim Embrey
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

The South American coca plant was established in 19th-century Britain as a medical product before it became a globally restricted drug. Drawing on bot…

Alex Diamond, "Governing the Excluded: Rural Livelihoods Beyond Coca in Colombia's Peace Laboratory" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

April 6, 2026

Governing the Excluded

Alex Diamond
Hosted by Sneha Annavarapu

The Colombian village of Briceño might, at first glimpse, look like many communities in the rural Global South. Many of the people living there rely o…

167* Addiction with Gina Turrigiano (EF, JP)

March 26, 2026

Addiction with Gina Turrigiano (EF, JP)

In Recall This Book's second episode (January 2019) John and Elizabeth spoke with their brilliant Brandeis colleague, the MacArthur-winning neuroscien…

Helen Redmond, "Liquid Handcuffs: Policing and Punishment in Methadone Clinics and the Future of Opioid Addiction Treatment" (North Atlantic Books, 2026)

March 3, 2026

Liquid Handcuffs

Helen Redmond, LCSW
Hosted by Emily Dufton

A hard-hitting exposé of how methadone clinics fail people in recovery—and an urgent, unapologetic case for their abolition. Methadone is a life-sav…

John Beyer, "Live a Little Better: One Man's Journey of Survival, Sobriety, and Success" (Worth, 2025)

February 25, 2026

Live a Little Better

John Beyer
Hosted by Deidre Tyler

John Beyer is the founder and owner of Men on the Move, one of the East Coast's premier moving and self-storage companies. While although John's journ…

Hanna Pickard, "What Would You Do Alone in a Cage with Nothing But Cocaine?: A Philosophy of Addiction" (Princeton UP, 2026)

February 24, 2026

What Would You Do Alone in a Cage with Nothing But Cocaine?

Hanna Pickard
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Dr. Hanna Pickard has written a revolutionary new paradigm for understanding addiction. Why do people with addiction use drugs self-destructively? W…

Emily Dufton, "Addiction, Inc: Medication-Assisted Treatment and America's Forgotten War on Drugs" (U Chicago Press, 2026)

February 18, 2026

Addiction, Inc

Emily Dufton
Hosted by Gregory McNiff

How the war on drugs created the gold standard treatment for addiction--until America's opioid crisis got privatized for profit, to the detriment of p…

Chris Washburn and Ron Chepesiuk, "Out of Bounds: From Broken NBA Dreams to Redemption" (WildBlue Press, 2025)

February 9, 2026

Out Of Bounds

Chris Washburn and Ron Chepesiuk
Hosted by Paul Knepper

Highly promising basketball player Chris Washburn was selected third overall in the 1986 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. But a chance encounte…

Jonathan Gleason, "Field Guide to Falling Ill" (Yale UP, 2026)

January 27, 2026

Field Guide to Falling Ill

Jonathan Gleason
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Jonathan Gleason spent ten years writing the ten essays in his debut collection, Field Guide to Falling Ill (Yale UP, 2026). In them, Gleason braids t…

Lesly-Marie Buer, "RX Appalachia: Stories of Treatment and Survival in Rural Kentucky" (Haymarket, 2020)

January 26, 2026

RX Appalachia

Lesly-Marie Buer
Hosted by Claire Clark

Using the narratives of women who use(d) drugs, this account challenges popular understandings of Appalachia spread by such pundits as JD Vance by doc…

George Fisher, "Beware Euphoria: The Moral Roots and Racial Myths of America's War on Drugs" (Oxford UP, 2024)

January 24, 2026

Beware Euphoria

George Fisher
Hosted by Emily Dufton

George Fisher, the Judge John Crown Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, just released his new book Beware Euphoria: The Moral Roots and Racial My…

How Do We Treat Opioid Addiction?

January 19, 2026

How Do We Treat Opioid Addiction?

Mark Parrino
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Mark Parrino has been involved with the delivery of health care and treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) since 1974. As the president of the Americ…

Elizabeth Kelly Gray, "Habit Forming: Drug Addiction in America, 1776-1914" (Oxford UP, 2023)

January 18, 2026

Habit Forming

Elizabeth Kelly Gray
Hosted by Rachel Pagones

Habitual drug use in the United States is at least as old as the nation itself. Elizabeth Kelly Gray's book Habit Forming: Drug Addiction in America, …

Jamie Rowen, "Worthy of Justice: The Politics of Veterans Treatment Courts in Practice" (Stanford UP, 2025)

January 15, 2026

Worthy of Justice

Jamie Rowen
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

Over the past three decades, jurisdictions across the United States have developed alternatives to traditional criminal procedures and punishments for…

Clare Griffin, "Mixing Medicines: The Global Drug Trade and Early Modern Russia" (McGill-Queen's UP, 2022)

January 11, 2026

Mixing Medicines

Clare Griffin
Hosted by Erika Monahan

Clare Griffin's book Mixing Medicines: The Global Drug Trade and Early Modern Russia (McGill-Queen's UP, 2022) introduces the reader to the dynamic an…

Mike Jay, "Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind" (Yale UP, 2023)

January 6, 2026

Psychonauts

Mike Jay
Hosted by Claire Clark

Mike Jay's Psychonauts: Drugs and the Making of the Modern Mind (Yale UP, 2023) is a provocative and original history of the scientists and writers, a…

David Nasaw, "The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II" (Penguin, 2025)

December 16, 2025

The Wounded Generation

David Nasaw
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

In its duration, geographical reach, and ferocity, World War II was unprecedented, and the effects on those who fought it and their loved ones at home…

Mark Deuze, "Well-Being and Creative Careers: What Makes You Happy Can Also Make You Sick" (Intellect Books, 2025)

December 14, 2025

Well-Being and Creative Careers: What Makes You Happy Can Also Make You Sick

Mark Deuze
Hosted by Pete Kunze

The media and creative industries thrive on passion, but that passion often comes at a cost. Behind the glamour of journalism, filmmaking, games, musi…

Bradley J. Borougerdi, "Cannabis: A Global History" (Reaktion, 2025)

December 4, 2025

Cannabis

Bradley J. Borougerdi
Hosted by Jana Byars

Bradley Borougerdi joins Jana Byars to talk about Cannabis: A Global History (Reaktion, 2025). An international cultural history of the multifunctiona…

Jonathan S. Jones, "Opium Slavery: Civil War Veterans and America's First Opioid Crisis" (UNC Press, 2025)

December 2, 2025

Opium Slavery

Jonathan S. Jones
Hosted by Miranda Melcher

During the Civil War, the utility and widespread availability of opium and morphine made opiates essential to wartime medicine. After the war ended, t…