Radical Surrender

Letting Go in a World Addicted to Control

By: Anna Lembke MD

Narrated by: Anna Lembke MD

In her new book, Radical Surrender, Anna Lembke—Stanford professor, physician, and New York Times bestselling author of Dopamine Nation, with more than 1.5 million copies sold—offers readers inspiring stories and transformative tools for letting go in a world engineered for certainty and control.

We’re living in a time of unprecedented control over almost every aspect of our day-to-day existence, from the precise way we brew and consume our favorite morning beverage, to the micro-regulation of the temperature and surround-sound audio in our car, to when and how we reproduce. No longer embedded in the greater tapestry of the universe, we now hold the world in the palms of our hands.

As such, we’ve become intolerant of uncertainty. When we encounter a circumstance we cannot predict or manage, we engage in the narcissistic defenses of denial and pathological willfulness, attempting to further bend the universe to our will.

The result? An epidemic of anxiety, loneliness, boredom, and self-loathing shame: anxiety born of the fear of choosing poorly. Loneliness a consequence of self-aggrandizement. Boredom the essence of living in a predictable world. Shame the natural byproduct of narcissism, wherein we have only ourselves to blame when life doesn’t go according to plan.

Blending relatable stories with neuroscience, Dr. Lembke argues that the antidote to modern despair is living a surrendered life. Using her personal story of loss and subsequent existential reckoning as a powerful entry point, Dr. Lembke defines surrender as the moment we acknowledge a power greater than ourselves, however we define it, and give our will over to that power: less mastery and more a return to mystery.

Science-based and deeply inspiring, Radical Surrender is the perfect book for anyone seeking more meaning and connection in our self-obsessed, hyperrational, disenchanted universe.

Critic reviews

"Radical Surrender is a brave, vulnerable and wise book that maps the ineffable: transformation from heart-crushing despair to transcendent peace with reality. Anna Lembke’s newest work, with its synchrony of the personal, spiritual, and scientific, will be a salve and a cherished soul-guide to many."
—Gabor Maté, MD, New York Times bestselling author of The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture

“A beautifully personal and deeply researched antidote to the often overwhelming time we’re living in. Through science, spirituality, and personal stories, Dr. Lembke makes an undeniable case for relinquishing control for a more fulfilling existence.”
–Lori Gottlieb, New York Times bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

“Anna Lembke writes with a rare combination of scientific clarity and spiritual humility. In a culture that glorifies achievement, certainty, and control, Radical Surrender offers a wiser and more soulful path to feeling more fully alive. This book is like a steady hand held out to us in the dark.”
–Robert Waldinger, MD, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Good Life

"A brave, luminous book. Anna Lembke takes one of the hardest experiences a person can endure and transforms it into hard-won wisdom about acceptance, humility, and finding peace. Radical Surrender is that rare book that doesn't just describe letting go, it teaches you how."
—Amir Levine, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Attached and coauthor of Secure