Brian Mann
Brian Mann is NPR's first national addiction correspondent. He also covers breaking news in the U.S. and around the world.
Mann began covering drug policy and the opioid crisis as part of a partnership between NPR and North Country Public Radio in New York. After joining NPR full time in 2020, Mann was one of the first national journalists to track the deadly spread of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, reporting from California and Washington state to West Virginia.
After losing his father and stepbrother to substance abuse, Mann's reporting breaks down the stigma surrounding addiction and creates a factual basis for the ongoing national discussion.
Mann has also served on NPR teams covering the Beijing Winter Olympics and the war in Ukraine.
During a career in public radio that began in the 1980s, Mann has won numerous regional and national Edward R. Murrow awards. He is author of a 2006 book about small town politics called Welcome to the Homeland, described by The Atlantic as "one of the best books to date on the putative-red-blue divide."
Mann grew up in Alaska and is now based in New York's Adirondack Mountains. His audio postcards, broadcast on NPR, describe his backcountry trips into wild places around the world.
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American lawmakers threaten to withhold funding for the World Anti-Doping Agency. The sports watchdog group faces criticism over its secretive handling of positive drug tests by Chinese athletes. -
Simone Biles and the rest of the U.S. gymnasts compete in the team final. U.S. swimmers are back in the pool, but the triathlon is postponed due to dirty river water.
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Adam Peaty tested positive for COVID a day after joining American Nic Fink at a press conference after the 100 meter breaststroke final. USA Swimming say it's "taking the necessary precautions." -
On a night when American swimmers scored upsets to add to the U.S. medal count, it was French swimmer Leon Marchand who stole the show in Paris winning his first gold medal. -
Chinese athletes say they compete "clean" despite positive drug tests in 2021 that were kept secret. Diplomatic tensions over the case continue to escalate as U.S. officials push for reform. -
On a day when Australians often bested the U.S. in the swimming pool at the Paris Summer Olympics, four Americans seized gold from the Aussies in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay. -
Ledecky, the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history, won her first medal of these Games with a bronze in the 400-meter freestyle. She finished three seconds behind Australian Ariarne Titmus. -
Flavor Flav, co-founder of Public Enemy, has been embraced by Team USA's women's water polo team as "our hype man." In Paris he plans to cheer the team on to a fourth gold medal -
Nine figure skaters from the U.S. were denied their 2022 Olympic team gold medal in Beijing because of a Russian doping scandal linked to Kamila Valieva. Now the squad will get their medals in Paris. -
The U.S. wants changes to the World Anti-Doping Agency after a Chinese drug scandal. Olympic officials threatened to block Salt Lake City's bid to host the 2034 Games if the U.S. criticism persists.
