Backfired: Attention Deficit
Backfired: Attention Deficit Audiobook By Leon Neyfakh, Prologue Projects cover art

Backfired: Attention Deficit

Preview

$0.00 for first 30 days

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

Backfired: Attention Deficit

By: Leon Neyfakh, Prologue Projects
Narrated by: Leon Neyfakh, Arielle Pardes
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $29.90

Buy for $29.90

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

ADHD may be the defining diagnosis of our time. According to the latest data, more than 10 percent of American children (that’s 7.1 million kids) have been diagnosed with ADHD. And the number of stimulant prescriptions for adults in their 30s has shot up nearly threefold since 2012, hitting 15.3 million in 2021. It’s increasingly common to hear people who haven’t been diagnosed at all say they’re “so ADHD,” as if it’s more of a personality trait—or a zodiac sign—than a medical condition. In recent years, this explosion in demand has combined with other factors—including federally mandated limits on production—to create a widespread stimulant shortage in the US.

In the second installment of Backfired, cohosts Leon Neyfakh and Arielle Pardes look at the unintended consequences of the ADHD industry and trace the surprising path that brought us here.

Backfired: Attention Deficit is the latest podcast from Prologue Projects, the award-winning team behind Slow Burn, Fiasco, and Think Twice: Michael Jackson, and the second season of the Backfired franchise, a show about what happens when solving one problem inadvertently leads to a host of new ones. Backfired: Attention Deficit follows the acclaimed first season Backfired: The Vaping Wars.

For a list of books, articles, and documentaries used to research Backfired: Attention Deficit, please visit bit.ly/backfiredbib.

Backfired: Attention Deficit was hosted and produced by Leon Neyfakh and Arielle Pardes. The executive producer was Andrew Parsons. The senior producer and story editor was Madeline Kaplan. Producers were Dustin Desoto and Danielle Hewitt. Fact-checking by Maggie Duffy. Research by Frank Zhou. Archival research by Francis Carr. Theme song and score composed by Emma Munger. Audio mix by Aman Sahota. Backfired was co-created for Prologue Projects by Kim Gittleson.

©2024 Prologue Projects (P)2024 Audible Originals, LLC.
Medicine & Health Care Industry Politics & Government Public Health Public Policy Sociology

Interview: ADHD—and its meds—are everywhere. Has that "Backfired" for sufferers?

'I think ADHD is unique in that the boundaries that we can draw around it are so porous and so unstable.'
-0.00
  • Backfired: Attention Deficit
  • 'I think ADHD is unique in that the boundaries that we can draw around it are so porous and so unstable.'

About the Host

Leon Neyfakh is a journalist best known as the co-creator of Slow Burn, the host of Fiasco, and the co-host of Think Twice: Michael Jackson. Before starting Prologue Projects, a podcast production company based in New York, he was a reporter for Slate, The Boston Globe, and The New York Observer. He is the author of the book The Next Next Level.

About the Host

Arielle Pardes is a Bay Area-based journalist who specializes in stories about technology and business. Before launching the Backfired podcast, she was a features writer for The Information and a senior writer for WIRED Magazine. She has reported on some of the most influential companies in Silicon Valley, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tinder, Airbnb, and WeWork. She was previously a co-host of WIRED's Gadget Lab podcast.

Balanced Perspective • Thorough Research • Expert Editing • Engaging Storytelling • Insightful Interviews
Highly rated for:
All stars
Most relevant  
I appreciated the balanced retelling of the history of ADHD discovery, diagnosis & treatment. Now I want more info on the nonpharmacutical treatment options!

a balanced review of the course of ADHD

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Interesting listen on the cycle of ADHD and makes you wonder where we are headed with this diagnosis.

Very informative

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Without giving my entire personal history, let’s just say that ADHD is a large focus in my life. Going into this podcast, I was very skeptical and ready to be on the defensive.

Have it, parent it, study it, treatment it. Big part of my life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I really enjoyed this series that I just stumbled on! My husband has ADHD and I did a lot of medical research about the disease when we first moved in together.

I listen to podcasts as I fall asleep, but the one thing I didn’t hear them mention was the link to other “dopamine diseases” like Parkinsonian diseases. I wonder if more people knew about that link they’d be as eager to adopt ADHD as a personality trait.

It was also interesting to hear that Cereberal was basically single-handedly responsible for making our lives so miserable during the shortages.

Really fascinating look at the history of ADHD

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

this is not a book. it's a podcast. it's an interesting podcast, but it's not a book.

not an audiobook

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I felt that it gave a great overview and did a good job of not making it that everyone has adhd and informative about ahdd medicine

Informative no bias

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

“Backfired: Attention Deficit” was a good podcast series. I like that they showed the good of ADHD and associated medicines for those who truly have ADHD. It also revealed the dark side of those who abuse the medications related to ADHD. I appreciate the history behind the schools and past research practices. As an educator, it is good to understand why there are certain things we can’t “recommend” or “advise,” but understanding how the families choose to support their child with amazing ADHD will help you know the areas you can empower the student. My advice is to discover what areas of executive functioning and social skills the child is lacking, teach them those skills, and give them many opportunities to choose from. And… if you see a child is very wiggly at or around their desk, they are most likely a child who processed information through movement. Help that child by getting the class up and moving while learning to help support all your students’ academic success.

Good Historical View of ADHD

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I am a child psychiatrist retired one. Seen and lived with ADHD throughout my practice, starting from Connor to Adler. Interesting presentation, listen to every word of your discussion, and I believe all psychiatrist, including child. Psychiatrist should listen to this.

Dilemma of ADHD

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

The piece was well researched and presented multiple points of view, leaving The Listener to draw their own conclusions. A fascinating history of ADHD.

Thurough & well rounded research

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. this one has been outstanding in the depth of research, the clarity of presentation, tiny, the waving together of disparate threads, and the pacing, which kept it very understandable but also very dynamic.

well researched, well presented.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews