Alone in a cage with cocaine

Addiction is one of those words that seems obvious until you try to explain it. We tend to fall back on two simple stories. Either addiction is a moral failure or it’s a brain disease that robs people of agency entirely. But neither of those stories feels complete. Today’s guest is philosopher Hanna Pickard, author of What Would You Do Alone in a Cage With Nothing But Cocaine? Pickard argues that it’s a harmful mistake to treat addiction as either sin or sickness. Instead, it’s a form of behavior that’s shaped by trauma, isolation, identity, social conditions, and often deep psychological pain. Sean and Hanna talk about her theory of addiction and why our society has built the cage that so many people are trying to escape. Host: Sean Illing (@SeanIlling) Guest: Hanna Pickard, author of What Would You Do Alone in a Cage With Nothing But Cocaine? We would love to hear from you. To tell us what you thought of this episode, email us at thegrayarea@vox.com or leave us a voicemail at 1-800-214-5749. Your comments and questions help us make a better show. And you can watch new episodes of The Gray Area on YouTube. New episodes drop every Monday and Friday. Listen to The Gray Area ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Alone in a cage with cocaine is an episode from The Ezra Klein Show by Vox Media Podcast Network.

This episode is 48:37 long.

This episode was published on Mar 9, 2026.

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