Anna Lembke
Guest on Hidden Brain · Guest on The Mel Robbins Podcast
Anna Lembke is an American psychiatrist and professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she specializes in addiction medicine. She is best known for her research and public scholarship on the neuroscience of addiction and compulsive overconsumption, and for her bestselling book “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence.” Lembke is also a prominent commentator on how modern technologies and consumer culture “drugify” everyday life, including an appearance in the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma.”
Products they talk about
Kindle👎 Not a fan
…anna lembke's strategy to remove access to addictive reading material
“I could get rid of my Kindle because my Kindle gives me such incredible easy access to these downloadable reads, including free reads from Amazon, that if I got rid of it, it would create a barrier between me and the romance novel so that I'd have to do more work to get it.”
on Hidden Brain
Kindle👍 Recommends
…anna switching from physical books to digital reading device
“Well, my friend Susan said, Anna, you should get a Kindle because then you don't have to, you know, be carrying these books around. Kindles had just come out then. And of course, that was very, I liked that idea because it would be easy access.”
on Hidden Brain
Kindle💬 Mentioned
…discussing how e-reader technology made romance novel addiction more accessible and portable
“Then my friend Susan, you know, lover, but she's like, Anna, you should get a Kindle. And I'm like, oh, you know, and this was sort of early, like the e-readers were early. So, I'm like, okay. And I get a Kindle. And then all of a sudden, I can be reading, like, bodice rippers with these really embarrassing covers. But nobody knows.”
on The Mel Robbins Podcast
Kitchen Safe👍 Recommends
…self-binding techniques to create barriers between desire and consumption
“I've had patients use things like the kitchen safe, you know, so that they lock their device in there, they can't get it out for a certain period of time.”
on Hidden Brain
Twilight Saga👍 Recommends
…anna lembke discovering vampire romance novels through friend recommendation
“Well, you know, I was turned on to the Twilight Saga when I dropped my kids off at elementary school. And there was a group of moms clustered around. Megan was one of the moms, my friend. And they were all laughing hysterically... She said, it's called The Twilight Saga. So I thought, okay, I'll give it a try. And it was absolutely mesmerizing for me.”
on Hidden Brain
Twilight Saga💬 Mentioned
…discussing dr. lembke's personal addiction to romance novels beginning with twilight
“So, I was like, oh, well, what are you reading? And they said, oh, it's the Twilight Saga. And I thought, huh, okay, that sounds, you know, I've never read a book like that. I'll go check it out. So, I go to the bookstore, and I'm looking for it in the adult section. They're like, no, no, you got to go find it. And the kids, I'm like, okay, the adolescent section. So, it's for those who don't know, it's a vampire romance series written for teenagers.”
on The Mel Robbins Podcast