Hey everyone, I want to tell you about a new podcast from Wondry that I think you'll love.

It's called The Vaping Fix. It's the story of a silent killer, smoking,

and how one Silicon Valley tech startups planned to curb it may have done more harm than good.

In 2017, plumes of vape clouds surrounded schools across America and teen smoking rates skyrocketed.

As more and more children became addicted to e-cigarettes, parents, politicians, and health experts

looked for answers. All eyes turned to a company at the heart of this new epidemic.

Jewel. Jewel was founded to create an iPod-like device that could provide a safer alternative

to smoking, but their pitch-perfect marketing campaign, high levels of nicotine, and social media

influence or endorsements attracted users of all ages. Within a year, teenagers were getting

addicted. Was this an accident? Or did ambition blind them to the unintended consequences

that what they created put millions at risk? From Laura Beale, the host of Dr. Death and Bad

Batch, Wondry's new podcast mini-series, The Vaping Fix, is the story of how Jewel managed to

hook a new generation on vaping. I'm about to play you a preview of The Vaping Fix.

While you're listening, follow The Vaping Fix on Amazon Music or Apple Podcasts,

or you can listen early and ad-free by starting your free trial of Wondry Plus in the Wondry app.

It was a rainy day in Orangeburg, New York in 2018. John Luca Berecchio was hanging out in his

college dorm room between classes. An Italian flag hung on the wall above his bed as a homage to

his Italian family back in Connecticut. North Haven is all Italians, so most of them are actually

from the same area in Italy. So everyone always says when they see me around town, who am I not

related to? John Luca was a sophomore nursing major. His courses and exams could be intense,

but today he felt unusually tired. And just not really myself, like I didn't really have

much energy in me to do anything that day. And it felt almost like I had a cold too.

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