Brian Mann
speaker
1,618 appearances
207 recordings
3 series
first heard Nov 2024
last heard today
Brian Mann’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 166 in all, peaking in Jan 2026 with 21.
Appearances
Consider This from NPR · Reporting on how America reduced the number of opioid deaths · 30 Mar 2025
podcast
I know that there are medical treatments that he could have had that I could have helped guide him toward. All of that, even back then, was out there and available. And I just, you know, I didn't clock it at the time.
Yeah, and I think about him all the time. When I'm on the streets in Philadelphia or Seattle or wherever, and I meet people who are so powerful in there, and I'm not romanticizing it, they're very unwell oftentimes, but they're also... living real lives. They are real people. They have thoughtful framing of how they see the world and what they hope for in the future.
And so, you know, Rick and my dad definitely are kind of along for the ride whenever I'm having those conversations. And whenever I'm really trying to listen, you know, that's that circle kind of comes full then.
All right. Thanks, Scott. Thanks for having me.
It is of utmost importance that it remain an independent federal agency so that it can remain the public service that it is.
Consider This from NPR · Fentanyl deaths are plunging, but it's just the first step · 11 Mar 2025
podcast
I do. I live in New York. She tells me she really wants to see New York, and her dad, Gary, speaks up.
When Nebra and Descupta's team at the University of North Carolina finished their new analysis of drug death data, they found a positive trend that seemed inconceivable a year ago.
Drug deaths tracked nationwide by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have already plunged 24% from peak levels. Every state has now seen improvement, with many states improving by 30, 40, even 50%. Dasgupta says the number of lives being saved left him stunned.
Data is one thing. Reality on the street can feel very different. This is Kensington, long known as one of the country's most drug-plagued neighborhoods in Philadelphia. On a warm afternoon, Elena and Vadim lean against a fence, smoking a mix of fentanyl and xylosine. NPR agreed not to use last names because their drug use is illegal. I ask how this national shift feels here.
And Elena says she's noticed the change.
Smoking fentanyl and xylosine is still incredibly risky, but it's considered safer than using needles. Vadim says many people who use fentanyl are also taking smaller doses.
They say there are more public health services here on the street, and people routinely carry naloxone or Narcan to reverse fentanyl overdoses. All this has contributed to nearly 2,000 fewer deaths a year in Pennsylvania alone compared with the peak. Dr. Nora Volkov, who heads the U.S. government's National Institute on Drug Abuse, says she believes the U.S. as a whole has reached a turning point.
While overall drug deaths are down 24 percent, Volkov says deaths linked specifically to fentanyl are dropping even faster, down more than 30 percent. If that trend holds, the U.S. could soon return to levels not seen since 2016 when fentanyl hit.
Volkov and Dasgupta also agree. This shift appears to be long-term and sustainable. Dasgupta's deep dive into CDC records found nearly half the states actually saw recoveries beginning much earlier than once understood, with fatal overdoses peaking back in 2021 and 2022, then beginning a steady decline.
The result nationally is roughly 25,000 fewer drug deaths every year. But does Gupta and other addiction experts say this isn't a time to declare victory? They describe these improvements more as a crucial first step, meaning less death, but also a lot more people surviving with severe addiction and chronic illness needing help. Dr. Ben Cotillaro treats addiction patients here in Kensington.
That's a tall order. The distance from where the U.S. is now in places like Kensington to that kind of public health response feels vast. On a late winter morning, Kaylee McLeod with Philadelphia's Overdose Response Unit sets off on foot across Kensington. She bends to check on a man huddled and unresponsive.
The complicated reality is that more people surviving fentanyl overdoses will mean more people needing a whole network of care.
A few blocks down the street, I meet Tracy Horvath, who says she's lived in Kensington most of her life, much of that time using fentanyl.
She looks weary and cold, but she is one of the survivors. Horvath, too, says fentanyl might have killed her if Narcan weren't so widely available.
I asked what she'd need to move beyond this life, beyond addiction. Horvath says her first goal is a safe place to live.
Showing 1481–1500 of 1,618 · page 75 of 81
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