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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The man convicted in the 1979 killing of 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City has had his conviction thrown out. A jury convicted Pedro Hernandez following his confession in the notorious abduction.
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President Trump signed bipartisan legislation Wednesday toughening criminal penalties for fentanyl traffickers. But some drug policy experts worry about funding for drug treatment and health care.
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President Trump is expected to sign legislation to toughen penalties for fentanyl traffickers -- but is also withholding roughly $140 million in approved grants to fund fentanyl addiction response.
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Families in the U.S. and much of the world are having so few babies, national populations are set to shrink and age. The trend is changing American politics and fueling the rise of global populism.
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Far more families are choosing to have fewer — or no — children. Many countries, including the U.S., now face a rapidly aging population that could begin to shrink. -
Purdue Pharma and Sackler family members who own the company have reached a $7.4 billion settlement with all 50 states and U.S. territories over the company's improper marketing of opioids.
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A new $7.4 billion opioid settlement for Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family has been approved by all U.S. states and territories -
Organizers say weekend protests against President Trump and his policies drew millions of people nationwide. The demonstrations were held as Trump hosted a military parade in Washington, D.C.
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GOP lawmakers on Thursday blasted Democratic immigration policies as coddling violent criminals. Democrats portrayed Trump's escalating migrant sweeps as a dangerous assault on civil liberties. -
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with addiction correspondent Brian Mann about the drop in overdose deaths among teens and young adults in the U.S.
