Episode 8: Stephen King & Alcoholism
Geniuses, creatives, and commoners can fall prey to alcoholism. But neuroscience may have found a uniting drive that pushes all mammals to pick up the bottle...a drive that writers have known about for decades.
Show Notes:
In 2018 The Atlantic published an article entitled A Landmark Study on the Origins of Alcoholism. For today’s episode we’ll dive into this study, and use it to start a conversation about how we perceive addiction in our society. Then we’ll use it as a lens to explore questions like; Does college drinking create alcoholics? Why are so many creative geniuses alcoholics? Why do scientists believe alcoholism has genetic links across all mammals? Am I an alcoholic? And does being an alcoholic make me fundamentally flawed?
We’ll also look at the dual image we share in America about alcoholics--the Troubled alcoholic vs the Good alcoholic--with interviews given by writer and recovered alcoholic, Stephen King.
History Links:
https://www.cracked.com/article_18786_the-5-most-inspiring-things-ever-accomplished-while-drunk.html
https://www.simplerecovery.com/stephen-kings-experience-with-alcoholism/
https://www.mamamia.com.au/stephen-king-books/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/21/stephen-king-shining-sequel-interview
Science Links:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/alcoholic-cardiologist-prescribed-experimental-drug/
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/sep/21/stephen-king-shining-sequel-interview