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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Nabarun Dasgupta, a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, won a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant for his work to understand the U.S. overdose crisis and help reduce deaths.
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Nabarun Dasgupta was recognized with a MacArthur "genius" award for work studying the deadly overdose crisis. He's also a front-line organizer, helping people survive. -
President Trump says one part of the answer to homelessness is civil commitment and forced medical care. Some Democrats agree. -
Judy Thompson fought to have her son, Alton, institutionalized when his mental illness spiraled out of control. The experience left both mother and son wary of the "civil confinement" process.
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On the first day of the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration froze "roughly $18 billion" in infrastructure projects for New York City, home to two of Trump's Democratic congressional opponents. It's not the first time Trump has threatened city funding over politics. -
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Sunday that he would be ending his bid for reelection, setting up what could be a more difficult contest for the Democratic front-runner Zohran Mamdani.
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New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani got a major endorsement this week from former Vice President Kamala Harris. But many Democratic leaders remain distant, fueling growing tension.
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President Trump wants far more homeless people forced into mandatory "long-term addiction" for mental health treatment. Critics say forcing Americans off the streets into institutions would be risky and expensive.
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Zohran Mamdani is leading in the polls in the NYC Mayor's race. Kamala Harris says he's earned Democratic backing, but some party leaders have been slow to endorse the Democratic-Socialist candidate. -
A plan backed by President Trump could force far more unhoused Americans into long-term treatment for addiction and mental illness. Experts fear people who aren't dangerous could be swept up.
