​Lies, Shame & Hope: Making Sense of Addiction

​Continuing their conversation from CBC’s Ideas, authors I. Michael Kaufmann and Jowita Bydlowska will engage in a candid and thought-provoking in-conversation event. Their distinct yet deeply connected perspectives offer a rare look at addiction and recovery from both medical and lived experience.

​Drawing from Drugs, Lies and Docs and Unshaming, this discussion explores how shame operates at every stage of addiction—from secrecy and self-contempt to relapse and the ongoing work of recovery. Together, Kaufmann and Bydlowska challenge the idea of a “clean” or linear healing journey, instead revealing recovery as complex, evolving, deeply personal, and hopefully enduring.

​Designed as a fireside-style, audience-engaged conversation, attendees will be invited into a meaningful dialogue that is honest, nuanced, and ultimately connective.

​About the Authors

​Dr. I. Michael Kaufmann has practiced family and addiction medicine for over 45 years. He is founding director of the Physician Health Program (PHP) of the Ontario Medical Association and a Fellow of both the American and International Societies of Addiction Medicine. Among his many awards are the Courage to Come Back award from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, a Lifetime Achievement in Addiction Medicine Award from the Addiction Medicine Section of the Ontario Medical Association, and Lifetime Membership Awards from both the Ontario and Canadian Medical Associations. The College of Family Physicians honoured him in 1991 with a Fellowship award and with lifetime membership in 2023.

​He is the author of Drugs, Lies & Docs: A Doctor’s Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, and More, currently PHP Emeritus Medical Director, and a physician health consultant, speaker, musician, and mentor. He and his wife, Judy, live in rural Ontario where they enjoy community volunteering and bringing people together for music and discussion in the barn that once housed chickens and sheep.

​Jowita Bydlowska is the author of Unshaming: A Memoir of Recovery, Relapse and What Comes After (March 2026).

​She is also the author of Monster (September 2024), Possessed, the best-selling memoir Drunk Mom, and the best-selling novel GUY.

​She's also a prolific short-story writer, journalist and a mentor. Her favourite review on Goodreads is a review of Possessed, which reads, "Jesus Christ." Her other favourite review is a one-star review of Monster, "If someone is interested in the sexual adventures of a mentally ill woman, this book is for them."

​She is currently working on a nonfiction book about and for the people who love addicts called How the Wolf Moves.