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.
-
The powerful consulting firm McKinsey will "accept responsibility" and pay $650 million for helping to fuel the opioid crisis, but executives will once again dodge prosecution. -
Fatal overdoses from street drugs in the U.S. continue to plummet, according to the latest CDC data. Experts say the mysterious shift is saving thousands of lives.
-
Ohio's state supreme court has struck down one of the central legal arguments used against corporations accused of fueling America's opioid crisis. The ruling could have far-reaching implications.
-
With the arrest of Luigi Mangione, police have apprehended and charged a suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, though many questions remain unanswered.
-
Police in Altoona, Penn., detained a 26-year-old man, Luigi Mangione, who's being described as a "strong person of interest" in the killing of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson.
-
New York City is home to more than eight million people but NPR's Brian Mann mapped out an urban hike through solitude and parkland wildness. -
President-elect Donald Trump threatens to hit Canada, Mexico and China with tariffs. He says they aren't doing enough to stop undocumented migrants and fentanyl smugglers from crossing into the U.S.
-
President-elect Donald Trump has promised a crackdown on fentanyl dealers that could include military strikes against cartels in Mexico. Many experts worry his plan will do harm than good. -
President-elect Trump won landslide support in much of farm country, but his embrace of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his plan for a tariff fight with China alarms many farmers and agriculture experts. -
A new CDC report shows at least 16,000 lives were saved over a 12-month period. Experts say the U.S. is experiencing the biggest drop in fatal overdoses seen since the opioid crisis began in the 90s.
