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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Over the weekend, the gymnastics and track and field athletes who will represent the United States at this month's Paris Olympics were finalized. They include a few surprises.
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We look at the Supreme Court decision to throw out a multi-billion dollar bankruptcy deal involving the makers of Oxycontin, that would've shielded the owners of Purdue Pharma from civil lawsuits.
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Relatives of overdose victims felt uncertainty and frustration after the Supreme Court overturned a controversial settlement with Purdue. It could delay funds for communities battling addiction. -
A Supreme Court decision striking down a bankruptcy deal also lifts a shield against lawsuits over the harms caused by the highly addictive opioid Oxycontin.
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The Supreme Court struck down a controversial Purdue Pharma bankruptcy plan, affecting compensation to thousands of opioid victims and sending legal shockwaves through the U.S. bankruptcy system.
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In a 5-4 decision, the justices ruled that the multibillion opioid settlement inappropriately protected the Sackler family. -
On Capitol Hill, Michael Phelps and fellow Olympic swimming star Alison Schmitt testified about doping by elite Chinese athletes and demanded reforms to the World Anti-Doping Agency. -
At age 46, Gabrielle Rose knew the Paris Olympics were out of reach. But the swimmer still went head-to-head with athletes half her age at the USA Swimming Olympic trials in Indianapolis. -
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen unveiled new financial sanctions against La Nueva Familia Michoacana, part of a Biden administration effort to target and seize fentanyl profits. -
The U.S. Olympic swimming trials are continuing in Indianapolis. More than 1,000 athletes are trying to make a 60-member squad. The stories of triumph and agony are equally compelling.
