Can Intimacy Survive Porn, Drinks and Phone Addictions? ft. Dr Anna Lembke

LOVERS by Shan

Lemonada Media

Relationships, Society & Culture, Health & Fitness, Sexuality

5.0 • 5.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2026

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Thanks to Cozy Earth for sponsoring this video. Go to cozyearth.com/LOVERS for up to 20% off!—----------------------- In this episode of Lovers, I share something personal: the ways my own social media habit began affecting my presence, my focus, and ultimately my intimacy. Jared joins the conversation to reflect on the intervention he had with me when he realized my relationship with my phone wasn’t just a habit, it was beginning to shape our connection. Then we’re joined by psychiatrist and Dopamine Nation author Dr. Anna Lembke, who explains why addiction today looks different than it did even a generation ago. We live in a world where high-dopamine substances and behaviors, from alcohol and porn to social media, smut, gaming, and endless scrolling, are instantly accessible and socially normalized. Dr. Lembke breaks down how these habits rewire the brain’s reward system, dull pleasure, increase craving, and quietly erode intimacy. We talk about porn addiction, phone addiction, alcoholism, erotic content consumption, and the broader crisis of overconsumption that defines modern life. Most importantly, Dr. Lembke offers practical tools, many of which she teaches in her class on MasterClass and outlines in Dopamine Nation, to help us reset our dopamine systems and reclaim our relationships. This isn’t just an episode about addiction. It’s about presence, connection, and what it takes to love well in the most addictive era in human history. To Watch Dopamine on MasterClass go to http://masterclass.com/lovers (this link will get you 15% off an annual plan to watch over 200 classes there including mine)Follow Dr. Anna Lembke Dr. Anna Lembke is a Stanford psychiatrist and New York Times bestselling author specializing in addiction, dopamine science, and behavioral health. Official Website → https://www.annalembke.com Bestselling Book → Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9781524746728 Stanford Profile → https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/Anna_Lembke Watch her class on MasterClass → http://masterclass.com/lovers Want more Lover?Receive the weekly Love Letter → http://loversbyshan.com/newsletterJoin the Lovers Community → https://www.loversbyshan.com/communityExplore quizzes and worksheets → http://loversbyshan.com/quizzes If you haven’t subscribed to Lemonada Premium yet, now’s the perfect time → lemonadapremium.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Lemonada.
0:02.0	Has your intimate life ever suffered because of addiction?
0:09.0	Someone else's, or maybe like me, because of your own.
0:12.0	I think I would be less ashamed to say that I had a doom scrolling issue.
0:19.0	I didn't. I had... Our drug of choice comes to replace human intimacy and connection.
0:26.6	We are in an unprecedented time where every single major habit-forming substance or tool
0:33.6	is now readily available to everyone at all times. We don't know that porn is going to be so damaging to us.
0:41.3	This is like a new age experiment that's gone terribly wrong.
0:44.3	We often think of addiction as the pursuit of pleasure, and it may start out that way, but really
0:50.3	addiction has very little pleasure in it. What it really is is the pursuit of control.
0:56.7	This episode of Lovers is the intervention that I promise you every single person needs.
1:02.5	When me and Shan got together, it was definitely treading on dangerous waters with...
1:09.2	Hi there, lovers. Welcome to the podcast.
1:11.2	My name is Shan and I'm your host with The Most.
1:13.4	My favorite quote is the key to happiness is managing expectations.
1:16.6	So here's what to expect in this episode.
1:18.8	First and foremost, I'm going to share my own personal story with addiction and how that
1:22.5	impacted my intimate relationships.
1:24.8	And then I'm going to bring on the expert of all experts, Dr.
1:28.1	Anna Lemke, to talk about her own experience with addiction when it comes to erotic novels,
1:34.0	smut in Romanticcy, in addition to shed some light on how this issue is more prevalent than ever
1:39.5	before. Then, if you are listening to the podcast, you'll get a special section afterwards, which is a
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Lemonada Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Lemonada Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.