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    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    Press Play with Madeleine Brand

    The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a Disease

    Most medical experts say that addiction is a disease—whether that addiction is to drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes. That ever-expanding list is one reason why neuroscientist Marc Lewis takes issue with the addiction-is-a-disease model.

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    By Madeleine Brand • Aug 20, 2015 • 1 min read

    Most medical experts say that addiction is a disease—whether that addiction is to drugs, alcohol, or cigarettes. That ever-expanding list is one reason why neuroscientist Marc Lewis takes issue with the addiction-is-a-disease model.

    The full episode

    2 of 4
    Presidential Politics and the Heroin Epidemic, and The Biology of Desire
    1. 0:00How New Hampshire's Heroin Epidemic Is Playing Out in National Politics
    2. 13:27The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a DiseaseYou’re reading this
    3. 27:51Palmyra Scholar Killed
    4. 40:49Web Roundup: Ashley Madison and Dismaland
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Madeleine Brand

      Host, 'Press Play'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Matt Holzman

      Producer, 'The Document'

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Anna Scott

      Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

    • KCRW placeholder

      Jolie Myers

      Managing Producer, 'Press Play'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Marc Lewis

      Author 'The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a Disease.'

      News

    The full episode

    2 of 4
    Presidential Politics and the Heroin Epidemic, and The Biology of Desire
    1. 0:00How New Hampshire's Heroin Epidemic Is Playing Out in National Politics
    2. 13:27The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a DiseaseYou’re reading this
    3. 27:51Palmyra Scholar Killed
    4. 40:49Web Roundup: Ashley Madison and Dismaland
    Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand