About Emily Dufton

Emily Dufton is the author of Grass Roots: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Marijuana in America (Basic Books, 2017). A drug historian and writer, her second book, on the development of the opioid addiction medication industry, is under contract with the University of Chicago Press.

NBN Episodes hosted by Emily:

Ryan Reft, "Heroin and Chocolate City: Black Community Responses to Drug Addiction in the Nation’s Capital, 1967-1973" (2024)

May 20, 2024

Heroin and Chocolate City

Ryan Reft
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Ryan Reft is a historian in the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress, where he oversees collections pertaining to 20th and 21st century dome…

David Pozen, "The Constitution of the War on Drugs" (Oxford UP, 2024)

April 28, 2024

The Constitution of the War on Drugs

David Pozen
Hosted by Emily Dufton

David Pozen is the Charles Keller Beekman Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and the author of the new book, The Constitution of the War on Drugs…

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

February 3, 2024

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…

Sean Howe, "Agents of Chaos: Thomas King Forçade, High Times, and the Paranoid End of the 1970s" (Hachette Books, 2023)

December 10, 2023

Agents of Chaos

Sean Howe
Hosted by Emily Dufton

It wasn’t easy writing a biography the mysterious, shape-shifting Thomas King Forçade, but after nine years of research and extensive interviews, Sean…

Benjamin Y. Fong, "Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge" (Verso, 2023)

August 15, 2023

Quick Fixes

Benjamin Y. Fong
Hosted by Emily Dufton
Listen:

Benjamin Y. Fong is author of the new book Quick Fixes: Drugs in America from Prohibition to the 21st Century Binge, which was just released in July, …

Donovan X. Ramsey, "When Crack Was King: A People's History of a Misunderstood Era" (One World, 2023)

August 12, 2023

When Crack Was King

Donovan X. Ramsey
Hosted by Emily Dufton

The crack epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s is arguably the least examined crisis in American history. Beginning with the myths inspired by Reagan's war…

Methadone and Covid-19: A Discussion with Helen Redmond

July 12, 2023

Methadone and Covid-19

Helen Redmond
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Helen Redmond is a Harlem-based documentary filmmaker, journalist, licensed clinical social worker, and professor at NYU. As senior editor and a multi…

How Do We Treat Opioid Addiction?

February 13, 2023

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…

Ben Westhoff, "Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic" (Grove Press, 2019)

February 7, 2022

Fentanyl, Inc.

Ben Westhoff
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Ben Westhoff is an award-winning investigative journalist whose best-selling 2019 book Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest W…

Kenneth Anderson, "Strychnine and Gold: The Untold History of Addiction Treatment in the United States" (2021)

February 2, 2022

Strychnine and Gold

Kenneth Anderson
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Kenneth Anderson is the author of Strychnine and Gold, a two-volume history of the “untold story of addiction treatment in the United States.” Anderso…

Kevin A. Sabet, "Smokescreen: What the Marijuana Industry Doesn't Want You to Know" (Forefront Books, 2021)

October 13, 2021

Smokescreen

Kevin A. Sabet
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Called the “quarterback of the new anti-drug movement,” Kevin Sabet received his Ph.D. in social policy from the University of Oxford and has worked i…

Joseph Gfroerer, "War Stories from the Drug Survey: How Culture, Politics, and Statistics Shaped the National Survey on Drug Use and Health" (Cambridge UP, 2018)

July 2, 2021

War Stories from the Drug Survey

Joseph Gfroerer
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Joseph Gfroerer spent nearly 40 years working as a statistician for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Hea…

Dennis McDougal, "Operation White Rabbit: LSD, the DEA, and the Fate of the Acid King" (Simon and Schuster, 2020)

April 7, 2021

Operation White Rabbit

Dennis McDougal
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Operation White Rabbit: LSD, the DEA, and the Fate of the Acid King (Simon and Schuster, 2020) traces the rise and fall—and rise and fall again—of the…

Ido Hartogsohn, "American Trip: Set, Setting, and the Psychedelic Experience in the Twentieth Century" (MIT Press, 2020)

November 13, 2020

American Trip

Ido Hartogsohn
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Are psychedelics invaluable therapeutic medicines, or dangerously unpredictable drugs that precipitate psychosis? Tools for spiritual communion or cog…

Joe Miller, "US of AA: How the Twelve Steps Hijacked the Science of Alcoholism" (Chicago Review Press, 2019)

January 7, 2020

US of AA

Joe Miller
Hosted by Emily Dufton

In the aftermath of Prohibition, America’s top scientists joined forces with members of a new group, called Alcoholics Anonymous, and put their clout …

Thomas Hager, "Ten Drugs: How Plants, Powders, and Pills Have Shaped the History of Medicine" (Harry N. Abrams, 2019)

October 14, 2019

Ten Drugs

Thomas Hager
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Behind every landmark drug is a story. It could be a researcher’s genius insight, a catalyzing moment in geopolitical history, a new breakthrough tech…

Lucas Richert, “Strange Trips: Science, Culture, and the Regulation of Drugs” (McGill-Queens UP, 2019)

October 11, 2019

Strange Trips

Lucas Richert
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Strange Trips isn’t only the title of Dr. Lucas Richert’s new book; it’s also a good description of the journey substances take from the black market …

Judith Grisel, "Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction" (Doubleday, 2019)

September 19, 2019

Never Enough

Judith Grisel
Hosted by Emily Dufton

Not a lot of authors go from spending their early twenties homeless and addicted to cocaine to becoming one of the world’s leading researchers on the …

Travis Rieder, "In Pain: A Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle with Opioids" (Harper Collins, 2019)

September 11, 2019

In Pain

Travis Rieder
Hosted by Emily Dufton

On a spring day in 2015, Dr. Travis Rieder’s life changed. A motorcycle accident, a shattered foot, and a long series of surgeries later, the Johns Ho…