America's Opioid Epidemic

Throughline

NPR

Society & Culture, History, Documentary

4.7 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 12 December 2019

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A record number of Americans have died from opioid overdoses in recent years. But how did we get here? And is this the first time Americans have faced this crisis? The short answer: no. Three stories of opioids that have plagued Americans for more than 150 years.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello.
0:01.0	Hi, Ron and Ron.
0:02.0	How's it going?
0:03.0	Hi, Ron and Ron.
0:04.0	How's it going?
0:05.0	Sherees and Andre are two listeners we called up to talk about an episode we did earlier
0:11.5	this year about Thornton and Ruthie Blackburn, a couple who escaped slavery during the Civil
0:16.3	War and started a new life together in Toronto.
0:19.6	Before successfully crossing the border, Thornton Blackburn found himself inside a Detroit
0:24.2	jail, which caused the first race riot in the city's history.
0:27.5	The sheriff comes the door of the jail with Thornton Blackburn beside him.
0:31.3	Thornton had chains on his hands, manacles on his feet.
0:35.5	But up, Braschett Street marched a crowd of 200 angry, yelling people.
0:42.5	Almost all African Americans, but with some whites amongst them.
0:45.6	At the end of the episode, we told you where you could visit the site of those riots,
0:49.5	called the Blackburn riots.
0:51.5	Where the jail used to be, there's now a library.
0:54.0	Yes, so we already had a trip to Toronto planned to celebrate our anniversary.
1:00.4	And then, you know, we heard the through line story and this was, you know, the great
1:05.6	addition to our trip that we added.
1:09.9	Yes, Sherees and Andre actually visited the site.
1:13.7	What I appreciate most about your show is that you open our minds to, hey, there are
	...

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