IRE Radio Podcast | Fighting Fentanyl

Opioid addiction is a decades-long crisis that killed roughly 47,000 people in 2017 alone, largely due to the potency of fentanyl. But despite all the warning signs, Congress didn’t pass any legislation on opioids until 2016. On this week’s episode, we’ll hear how Katie Zezima of the Washington Post tracked inaction in Congress and visited a small town in rural Massachusetts to witness the consequences firsthand.

You can find the podcast on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Google Play. If you have a story you think we should feature on the show, drop us a note at web@ire.org. We’d love to hear from you.

RESOURCES

Looking for links to the stories and resources we discussed on this week's podcast? We've collected them for you.

• Read Kate Zezima’s story “Flailing on Fentanyl”
• Listen to the Post Reports episode: “‘They weren’t listening’: How Congress failed to act on a deadly drug’s harrowing rise”
• Members only: Download the tipsheet “Using data to track the opioid epidemic” by Charles Ornstein and Amanda Latimore
• Members only: Download the tipsheet “Tips for Covering Opioids and Drug Misuse” by Maia Szalavitz
• Members only: Download the tipsheet “Reporting on Recovery” by Holly Baltz

MUSIC

Noe Noe (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

The Yards (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Keo Keo  (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Daymaze (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

McCarthy (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

Tarte Tatin (Blue Dot Sessions) / CC BY-NC 4.0

CREDITS

Kelly Kenoyer reported this episode. IRE Editorial Director Sarah Hutchins edits the podcast. We are recorded in the studios of KBIA at the University of Missouri.