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Rodney King talks about what happened the night of March 3, 1991, when he was beaten and tasered by L.A. police officers—an incident caught on videotape, sparking national outrage. When the four police officers were acquitted 13 months later, riots broke out in Los Angeles. In The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption, King writes about his struggle with alcohol addiction and coming to terms with the incident that made him a household name and caused him emotional and physical damage. He’s joined by his fiancée, Cynthia Kelley, who was one of the jurors from his civil trial against the city of Los Angeles.

Chances are you use email. If you’re like 88 percent of Americans, you also own a cell phone. And if you’re among the well-connected 46 percent, you check your email ON your cell phone. All of this can make us feel more connected. But it can also make us less connected to those who are sitting right next to us. And it can be addictive. What to do?

Emmy Award-winning actress Kristen Johnston discusses her memoir, Guts: The Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster, in which she writes about her addictions to alcohol and drugs and how she overcame them. She also talks about the stigma that’s often attached to recovery and her efforts to open the city’s first addiction-recovery high school.

Howard Markel and Amanda Smith discuss the evolution of the term “addiction.” Howard Markel's An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine traces the story of two Sigmund Freud and William Halsted, a New York surgeon. The book analyzes their powerful addiction to cocaine and how they ultimately changed the world in spite of it—or because of it. One became the father of psychoanalysis; the other of modern surgery. Amanda Smith is the author of Newspaper Titan: The Infamous Life and Monumental Times of Cissy Patterson, which touches upon the drinking life of Patterson's daughter Felicia, who, in 1943, was one of the first women to enter Alcoholics Anonymous.

Storm Large talks about her rocky life and her memoir, Crazy Enough. She grew up with a mentally ill mother who was often institutionalized,  and set out on a destructive path to live her own life to the fullest, developing an addiction to heroin. She tells how reconnecting with her love of music brought her back from the edge.

Katherine Eban discusses her article “Oxycontin: Painful Medicine” in the November issue of Fortune magazine. Two decades ago opioid sales were a small fraction of today’s figures, bu in recent years, doctors have started prescribing these powerful painkillers more commonly, and addiction to them has skyrocketed. Eban looks at what the strange saga of Purdue Pharma—and its $3 billion drug, OxyContin— tells us about our national dependence on painkillers.

The mental side effects of a drug withdrawal are often debilitating, and can include anxiety, confusion or mild to severe depression. This is true of cigarettes, alcohol, and heroin. But could it apply to the internet as well? According to a study conducted by the London based behavior research company Intersperience, 53 percent of people feel upset when they are separated from the internet, and 40 percent feel "lonely." Do these withdrawal symptoms mean that the Internet is a drug? And if so, what should be done to curb our national addiction?

Steven “Steve-O” Glover, one of the stars of MTV’s "Jackass," talks about becoming famous for his crazy stunts and developing—and overcoming—a crippling addiction to drugs and alcohol. Professional Idiot: A Memoir recounts his rise to fame through risk-taking, skateboarding, stunts, and clown college. He writes candidly about his lunacy, debauchery, and stunts on "Jackass," and how they led to an obsession with fame, drug abuse, and, eventually, an intervention.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a tenfold increase in prescriptions for opioids like OxyContin in the U.S. since 1990, and during that time the number of accidental deaths from drug overdose have nearly quintupled. In a growing number of states, unintentional overdoses replaced motor-vehicle incidents as the leading cause of accidental death. New York Times reporter Sabrina Tavernise discusses the factors behind prescription painkiller abuse, how these controlled substances are readily accessible to so many, new legislation aimed at curbing the problem, and why prescription pill abuse is so prevalent in Appalachia.

David Colman, contributing writer for The New York Times, reflects on the idea of anonymity and addiction in an age when more people are open about their recovery. He recently wrote about Alcoholics Anonymous in the New York Times.

Actor Charlie Sheen has publicly denounced Alcoholics Anonymous a number of times over the past few weeks. He has also claimed that he "cured" himself of alcoholism "with his mind." Charlie Sheen is only one celebrity, only one dissenting voice among a chorus of professionals who believe in AA. But, thanks to a number of recent, highly-publicized interviews, some psychologists are concerned that Sheen’s comments about AA and alcoholism might affect the way their patients think of the twelve step program and the disease.

Mackenzie Phillips talks about her lifelong battle with addiction, her personal demons, and her complex, damaging relationship with her father, John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas. Her memoir High on Arrival tells the story of growing up with no boundaries, surrounded by rock and roll and drugs, and of her struggle to recover.

New York Times journalist Dave Itzkoff talks about the ways his father’s drug addiction colored his life. In Cocaine's Son, he chronicles his coming of age in the shadow of his father, who was a strong protector and provider, as well as a junkie.

On Alcoholics Anonymous' 75th anniversary, contributing editor at Wired magazine Brendan Koerner investigates why and how AA's 12-step process to kick addiction seems to work for some people.

Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler shares his story of spinning out of control, enduring twenty-eight ODs, three suicide attempts, two heart attacks, jail stints, and a debilitating stroke. In My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, Drugs, and Guns N’ Roses, he recounts his years with Guns N' Roses, being banished by the band, and diving into nearly 20 years of addiction that eroded his mind and his health until he finally kicked his drug habits.

On Alcoholics Anonymous' 75th anniversary, contributing editor at Wired magazine Brendan Koerner investigates why and how AA's 12-step process to kick addiction seems to work for some people.  

This week Alcoholics Anonymous holds its annual meeting where they are celebrating their 75th anniversary. More than a million Americans attend one of the 55,000 meeting groups, and countless more have been through the program since Bill Wilson and and Ebby Thatcher began spreading the gospel of surrender in 1935. What still isn't clear though, is why it works, or more accurately, why it works for some and not for others.

For this week's tech segment, we talk with esteemed graphic novelist James Sturm about his attempts to live without Web access.

For this week’s food segment, we sit down with our friend Kim Severson, food writer for our partner The New York Times, and star of such past Takeaway cooking segments as “The Girl Scout Cookie Smackdown” and “Food Writers Compete to Feed Six for Fifty Dollars.”

• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT: To paraphrase the Vice President's now immortal exaltation, President Obama's signing of an historic health care bill into law last week was "a big deal." But some of the nation's biggest lobbyists want to make sure that legislative lightening doesn't strike twice. Louise Story, New York Times Wall Street and finance reporter tells us how pro-business lobby groups are preparing to lock horns with the Obama Administration over national finance reform.
• LISTENER TAKEOUT: We hear your reactions on the sexual abuse cases rocking the Catholic Church, along with the prospect of living to see your 100th birthday.