EPISODE · May 31, 2021 · 56 MIN
Inheritance: Drug Abuse and Addiction with Artist Cuyler Ballenger
from The Nature of Nurture · host Stephanie Mitchell, Dr. Leslie Carr, Cuyler Ballenger
Connect with Cuyler: Cuylerballenger.comhttps://lawndaleartcenter.org/exhibition/cuyler-ballenger/Instagram: @snake_ballenger Connect with Lawdale:lawndaleartcenter.orgInstagram: @lawndaleartcenterLinks From This Episode:Crazy Like Us book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Crazy-Like-Us/Ethan-Watters/9781416587095Crazy Like Us article: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10psyche-t.htmlCDC opioid overdose stats 1999-2019: https://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.htmlSF covid data 2019-2020: https://www.sfchronicle.com/local-politics/article/It-didn-t-have-to-happen-2020-was-15872937.phpTwo research articles that address the relationship between stigma and the biomedical model of psychological suffering https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28942615/ and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6234201/Some information about the work of Nan Goldin: https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/nan_goldin/Nan Goldin’s protest against the Sackler family: https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/nan-goldin-leads-a-protest-at-the-guggenheim-against-the-sackler-familyThe death and life of Dash Snow: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/nyregion/26dash.htmlResearch supporting the idea that in monozygotic twins the rate of concordance is 30-40%: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/12503715_Twin_studies_in_schizophrenia_with_special_emphasis_on_concordance_figuresTED talk given by Eleanor Longden, where she shares how talk therapy helped her heal from a diagnosis of Schizophrenia: https://www.ted.com/speakers/eleanor_longden
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What this episode covers
In this surprising turn of events, your host Leslie is interviewed by artist Cuyler Ballenger and art historian Stephanie Mitchell about the psychology of drug addiction and abuse. The interview took place as an addendum to Cuyler’s exhibit at The Lawndale Art Center in Houston, TX, where they installed a video installation he had created, exploring his father’s history with opioid addiction, and Cuyler’s history of having abused opioids himself. Drug abuse and addiction are interesting places to explore the nature vs nurture debate because genes play a role in drug addiction, but so does trauma, social learning, and childhood development. Leslie is an addiction expert so she lent her knowledge in that area to the Lawndale exhibit. The audio has been repurposed with their permission here.
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Inheritance: Drug Abuse and Addiction with Artist Cuyler Ballenger
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