In this episode, I am joined by Harriet Brown, journalist, advocate, mother, and accomplished author of numerous books including Body of Truth and Brave Girl Eating. Inspired by the experience chronicling her daughter’s eating disorder descent and recovery while writing Brave Girl Eating, Harriet has become an advocate for better eating-disorders treatment. She has edited two anthologies and has written for the New York Times Magazine, O, Prevention, and many other publications. Harriet is currently a professor at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University where she continues to write, research, and teach about eating disorders and body image as well as other issues, including family estrangement.

SOME OF THE TOPICS DISCUSSED:

• How Harriet found meaning and purpose from the trauma she endured while chronicling her daughter’s eating disorder in Brave Girl Eating.

• The ways that school health classes can contribute to a child's anxiety and judgement around food.

• The misguidedness and damage causes by using fat shaming as a motivation for weight loss.

• How one can have a starved brain in any body size and at any weight.

• The harm of living in a diet obsessed culture which dehumanizes individuals in creating a body centric society.

• Examining the multi billion-dollar diet industry’s worth to understand the the motives behind the lies it promotes.

ABOUT HARRIET BROWN:

Harriet Brown began her writing life at age 12 as a poet, and eventually made her way to nonfiction. Her 2006 New York Times article "One Spoonful at a Time" chronicled her daughter's descent into anorexia and recovery via family-based treatment, also known as the Maudsley approach. That article became the basis of her 2010 book, Brave Girl Eating, which inspired her to begin working as an advocate for better eating-disorders treatment.

Harriet writes on topics from the neurobiology of forgiveness to early childhood education. You can find her work in the New York Times Magazine, O, Prevention, and many other publications. Her latest book is Body of Truth: How Science, History, and Culture Drive Our Obsession with Weight - and What We Can Do About It is the result of five years of research into the complex relationships between weight and health, and some of the surprising and life-changing things Harriet learned in the process. Harriet’s earlier books include Brave Girl Eating: A Family’s Struggle with Anorexia, two anthologies (Feed Me! and Mr. Wrong), and The Good-Bye Window: A Year in the Life of a Day-Care Center.

Harriet has lived in New York City, Madison, Wisconsin, and now Syracuse, New York, where she teaches magazine journalism at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications in Syracuse, New York. As a professor, Brown continues to write, research, and teach about eating disorders and body image as well as other issues, including family estrangement.

CONNECT WITH HARRIET:

• Get to know Harriet Brown by visiting her online

• Follow Harriet on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

• Learn more about Harriet’s books including:

  • Body of Truth

  • Brave Girl Eating

  • Shadow Daughter

  • Feed Me

• View the reading guide for Brave Girl Eating

• Read an excerpt from Body of Truth

• Discover Harriet’s featured magazine stories

• Take a look at Harriet’s future events, speaking events, and featured press

ABOUT KARIN LEWIS:

Karin Lewis, MA, LMFT, CEDS has been recovered from Anorexia Nervosa for over 20 years and has been specializing in the prevention and treatment of eating disorders since 2005. Karin is the founder of the Karin Lewis Eating Disorder Center located in Boston, MA. You can visit Karin Lewis Eating Disorder Center online to learn more about Karin and her center’s services. You can also connect with Karin on social media by following her on Facebook and Instagram.