Lulu Garcia Navarro

And you can email us anytime at theinterviewatnytimes.com. Next week, David talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Ed Yong about experiencing burnout after his years reporting on COVID and how burning helped him recover.

And you can email us anytime at theinterviewatnytimes.com. Next week, David talks with Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Ed Yong about experiencing burnout after his years reporting on COVID and how burning helped him recover.

I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro, and this is The Interview from The New York Times.

I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro, and this is The Interview from The New York Times.

From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. We live in a moment where things are more available than ever. You can whip out your phone right now and order lunch, bet on sports, listen to this podcast, watch porn, buy a car, meet a friend, get therapy from an AI bot. But all that convenience isn't making us any happier.

From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. We live in a moment where things are more available than ever. You can whip out your phone right now and order lunch, bet on sports, listen to this podcast, watch porn, buy a car, meet a friend, get therapy from an AI bot. But all that convenience isn't making us any happier.

In fact, in the developed world, we are more lonely, anxious, and depressed than ever. Dr. Anna Lembke likens it to the plenty paradox. The more we have, the less satisfied we are. Lemke is a psychiatrist who works at Stanford University, and she's written extensively, including in her bestselling book, Dopamine Nation, about the science behind addiction.

In fact, in the developed world, we are more lonely, anxious, and depressed than ever. Dr. Anna Lembke likens it to the plenty paradox. The more we have, the less satisfied we are. Lemke is a psychiatrist who works at Stanford University, and she's written extensively, including in her bestselling book, Dopamine Nation, about the science behind addiction.

Turns out our brains are wired to constantly seek stimulation, which our modern era delivers in overdrive. I'm sure if you look at your life, maybe there's something you are indulging in a little too frequently than is good for you.

Turns out our brains are wired to constantly seek stimulation, which our modern era delivers in overdrive. I'm sure if you look at your life, maybe there's something you are indulging in a little too frequently than is good for you.

For me, the turning point came at the start of the pandemic, when my sister died of liver failure brought on by alcoholism, something I shared with Dr. Lemke before our interview. It made me take a hard look at my life. After a lifetime of obesity, I ended up taking Ozempic, which curtailed my obsessive relationship with food. Then two years ago, I stopped drinking alcohol.

For me, the turning point came at the start of the pandemic, when my sister died of liver failure brought on by alcoholism, something I shared with Dr. Lemke before our interview. It made me take a hard look at my life. After a lifetime of obesity, I ended up taking Ozempic, which curtailed my obsessive relationship with food. Then two years ago, I stopped drinking alcohol.

You published your book, Dopamine Nation, in 2021 with the thesis that the overabundance of modern culture has us constantly stimulated by dopamine. And that's only accelerated since your book was published. And I'm just wondering, broadly, does it feel like a whole new world for your research has opened up just since you've written your last book?

You published your book, Dopamine Nation, in 2021 with the thesis that the overabundance of modern culture has us constantly stimulated by dopamine. And that's only accelerated since your book was published. And I'm just wondering, broadly, does it feel like a whole new world for your research has opened up just since you've written your last book?

You work in Stanford's Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, which is a bit of a mouthful, but essentially you see patients, right, about addiction. Yes. So generally speaking, have you seen things in your practice that weren't there before that you're seeing now since the pandemic? Yes.

You work in Stanford's Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic, which is a bit of a mouthful, but essentially you see patients, right, about addiction. Yes. So generally speaking, have you seen things in your practice that weren't there before that you're seeing now since the pandemic? Yes.

This is like a timeline of like our culture that that is very, very and I'm going to use the word sobering because it is very sobering. Yeah. Yeah. I do want to sort of establish some of the basics of your work and some of the language that you've already used so we can understand what it means. How do you define addiction?

This is like a timeline of like our culture that that is very, very and I'm going to use the word sobering because it is very sobering. Yeah. Yeah. I do want to sort of establish some of the basics of your work and some of the language that you've already used so we can understand what it means. How do you define addiction?

Is there a difference between addictive behaviors and being an addict?

Is there a difference between addictive behaviors and being an addict?