Kamen works as a lifestyle management consultant who explores the art and science of happiness as a speaker, author, and positive psychology expert. Through her globally syndicated podcast, books, media appearances, and documentary film, Lisa has impacted millions of people around the world.

LISA CYPERS KAMEN

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An Anthropologist Rethinks Addiction, Community, and the Cult of Self-Control

Reflect on the judgments your culture holds regarding addictive behaviors. Do you proudly broadcast your intense gym workouts while quietly judging those on a smoke break outside the office? What makes their addiction different from yours? Many strive to amplify the habits our culture praises simply because they validate our commitment. When culture drives people into the shadows through shame and exclusion, it deepens the wound. Does healing begin not by policing willpower, but by replacing judgment with human connection?

To frame addiction through the lens of harm reduction psychology, Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with Elizabeth F.S. Roberts, anthropologist and author.

Rethinking addiction and shame, Elizabeth’s book In Praise of Addiction: Or How We Can Learn to Love Dependency in a Damaged World draws on her first-hand experience of living in Latin culture. In this addiction anthropology podcast, she explains how these communities handle dependency and human connection, revealing how isolation, rather than the addiction itself, is considered the true danger.

Original Air Date Wednesday, September 9, 2026

Tune in:

Meet Our Guest:

Elizabeth F.S. Roberts, PhD, is a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan, where her research examines how scientific and public health knowledge shapes lived, embodied experience in Latin America and the United States. She is the author of God’s Laboratory: Assisted Reproduction in the Andes.

Book: In Praise of Addiction: Or How We Can Learn to Love Dependency in a Damaged World

Elizabeth F.S. Roberts PhD—Rethinking Addiction and Shame:

Defining addiction: Shame on the church? {2:18}
Global views of dependency and human connection. {8:00}
Harm reduction psychology in Latin American culture. {14:26}
Rethinking addiction and shame in the US. {17:50}
Becoming OK with being addicted. {27:01}
The cross-cultural comparison of addiction. {34:15}

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Shareables:

“No one says 'when I grow up, I want to be an addict,’ yet all of us have the propensity for it.” @LisaKamen on @HH_TalkRadio Share on X “There is something in the US about our anxiety and hatred for dependency that is part of what makes addiction so painful and destructive.” @lfsrob on @HH_TalkRadio Share on X “The thing about overdose is, for the most part, it happens when people are alone.” @lfsrob on @HH_TalkRadio Share on X “What we judge has a lot to do with what we specifically think is the right way to be in the world.” @lfsrob on @HH_TalkRadio Share on X

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