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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In its first public safety alert in six years, the Drug Enforcement Administration says many counterfeit prescription drugs sold online contain a potentially lethal dose of the opioid. -
Newly published U.S. data finds overdose deaths from methamphetamine use more than doubled in recent years. Use of the stimulant among Black Americans surged nearly tenfold. -
At least 49 people are confirmed dead, and in some areas, the search for the missing continues. Residents digging out from the wreckage are asking whether the region is prepared for the next storm. -
The decision by a federal bankruptcy judge grants members of the family who own Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, sweeping protection from any liability for the opioid crisis. -
With a federal judge poised to approve Purdue Pharma's controversial Chapter 11 plan, the company is working behind the scenes to preempt a legal challenge by the DOJ. -
Judge Robert Drain signaled he will approve the landmark bankruptcy for Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. But he called for new limits to legal protections for members of the Sackler family. -
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo marks his final day in office on Monday. Cuomo resigned after a sexual harassment scandal and will be replaced by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul.
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In the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy trial now underway, scrutiny has focused on the Sacklers' demand for immunity from opioid lawsuits that would extend to a vast network of individuals and businesses. -
Gov. Andrew Cuomo will leave office in two weeks after an investigation found he sexually harassed 11 women. Cuomo said the transition for Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul to take over "must be seamless."
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The Purdue Pharma bankruptcy process has focused on financial compensation to creditors, but court records include heartrending personal letters from families ravaged by Oxycontin.
