'Every family I know has lost somebody to overdose' - Barbara Kingsolver on America's opioid crisis

Рет қаралды 11,120

Күн бұрын

For a generation growing up in the rural US state of Virginia, opioid addiction isn't an abstraction - it's neighbours, parents, and friends.
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Writer Barbara Kingsolver wanted to give these ‘lost boys’ of Appalachia a voice; to tell the story of the children forced into a life of foster care because their parents are dead, in prison or too incapacitated by addiction.
Today on Ways to Change the World, the award-winning author joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy to talk about America’s opioid crisis, the devastating impact it has on rural communities and how she set out to write ‘the great Appalachian novel’, tracing back the steps of Charles Dickens.
Produced by Silvia Maresca
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Пікірлер: 44

@Gunna5067 6 ай бұрын

Two of my favorite people having a conversation. What a treat!

@ONE1BEAT 8 ай бұрын

Thank you , exceptional journalism!

@jonathaneffemey944 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for posting

@narellecruickshank6919 11 ай бұрын

Great interview. Enjoyed it very much and agree with this author

@ONE1BEAT 8 ай бұрын

❤extraordinary ❤️

@j.p.9295 11 ай бұрын

This is quite compelling book to read for me . I am interested in Appalachian mountains area . It has always been different than the rest of usa , secretive and closed community . Intriguing. Couldnt figure it out . Few movies have been made about this fascinating area . "Justified ", one of them , that got me first interested in Apalachian mountains region. I am definitely going to explore it more, books and movies. Also , problem with people addicted to drugs , especially vulnerable being a targeted, is worldwide problem.

@ageoflove1980 11 ай бұрын

" Also , problem with people addicted to drugs , especially vulnerable being a targeted, is worldwide problem." No it is not, at least not to the extend of the situation in North America. I really dont like it how you phrase that because its almost seems to suggest that "its just what people do, nothing you can do about it" and that is of course certainly not the case as many countries around the world show.

@j.p.9295 11 ай бұрын

That's how you see it , because you're short - sigted . It is not how I suggest it , that's in your head and I didn't compare it with North America .

@ageoflove1980 11 ай бұрын

@@j.p.9295 Maybe. But still, what you say is simply incorrect. It's not a worldwide problem.

@j.p.9295 11 ай бұрын

Grow up .

@mikeharvey9811 11 ай бұрын

I’m going to try to read this again! Barb

@michelemcguire8995 11 ай бұрын

My friends sister, gave her son a birthday gift that literally took his lifeso instead of celebrating his birthday 🎂 his older brother had to help make funeral arrangements, he died on his 24th birthday August 14,2022..his own mother gave him drugs abd he ODed..😢..he left behind his brother Dad,Aunt's, uncles, cousins and a grandma..

@evif9377 11 ай бұрын

That's so tragic. So sorry for your community.

@alingard1 9 ай бұрын

There's an Appalachia in every country. Poor, proud, disenfranchised. This book can teach you a lot about how government treats such people with disdain and uses them for their own purposes. So many issues recur, war on drugs, fight in crime etc etc. You see this effect in UK where the north vote for brexit and the south say ohhh they're so stupid. It's the same. Except it keeps getting worse...... Amazing book, push it on everyone u know.

@davidmurphy563 11 ай бұрын

The evidence seems to point to her being a dealer.

@ednamode2881 11 ай бұрын

Sure you aren’t on anything mate?

@davidmurphy563 11 ай бұрын

@@ednamode2881 A chair. Comfy one too.

@ONE1BEAT 8 ай бұрын

Book dealer 🙄 ? Poor dear , off your meds ?

@davidmurphy563 8 ай бұрын

@@ONE1BEAT Quite the reverse, I'm on ten Kingsolvers a day.

@eniotanaka2229 11 ай бұрын

"every" ?

@inventorylady53 11 ай бұрын

Not my family.

@victoriagrove5344 5 ай бұрын

I don’t know anyone who has overdosed.

@cheetoesgal5229 11 ай бұрын

The people in my life who got cancer did nothing proactively to contract their specific forms of cancer. Unlike some individuals I know who yes, consciously and willingly engaged in taking drugs and acquired proactively an addiction. I distingush between cancer patients and (most) drug addicts, despite Mrs Kingsolver's view that drug addiction is simply a "disease" and her implication that they contracted that "disease" by no fault of their own. Nobody in my family has been lost to drug addiction. I suggest that Mrs Kingsolver keep her day job and quit trying to be a "drug addiction specialist".

@JasonBrown-dd7dj 9 ай бұрын

You plank

@miguelvelez7221 8 ай бұрын

I guarantee if we widened the definition of "drugs" to include alcohol and tobacco your circle of friends will indeed include addicts, point blank. Some will die of liver disease, lung cancer etc. Also, at least you are consistent with your disdain of those struggling with addiction. It's STILL Reagan era bovine excrement, but I can respect not asking for empathy NOW as opposed to the previous 40 years where somehow the response was draconian sentencing and moral scolding for people of color in urban areas but once Opioids and Meth started hollowing out "small town America" we had to open our hearts. So... You at least have consistency. Nothing approaching actual human sympathy or even supposed Christian charity and forgiveness, but again... Consistent.

@ashleylesiak4114 Ай бұрын

What about people who smoke and then get lung cancer years later?

@caravanstuff2827 11 ай бұрын

Here's the thing...not everyone will live to old age , some will die by some illness or unfortunate accident and some in war defending their home land and freedom and others will make bad choices despite their parents advice and will experiment with drugs and alcohol and as a result kill them selves... it's just the way it is and it will always be so just deal with it and move on!!!.❤️🇺🇲🇺🇦

@jason6296 11 ай бұрын

This has got to be one of the stupidest youtube comments I've ever seen, are you suggesting society shouldn't try to minimize avoidable deaths?

@miguelvelez7221 8 ай бұрын

MAGA Conservatism in a nutshell.

@42Chewbacca 11 ай бұрын

She must be the problem then

@hysteria2831 11 ай бұрын

My family hasnt.

@R8V10 11 ай бұрын

She must not know many people.

@JohnHuxleySavage 11 ай бұрын

Come visit Vancouver in Canada. Seven people a day die in BC on average from ODing, usually because of fentanyl. Multiple people have overdosed in the building I live in. If you walk through the downtown eastside, you'll see paramedics and firefighters treating people on the street every day. And it is not just marginalized people who are affected. The problem is extremely widespread, and if you live here long enough, it will be affecting your neighbours, friends, coworkers, acquaintances, especially as the rising cost of living drives more people to desperation and hopelessness.

@Lucy-Noodles 11 ай бұрын

"Activism"..living in a unrealistic fairy tale world of sparkles and rainbows and go through their whole life mesmerised by their idyllic fantasy and totally unprepaired to deal with the real worlds challenges, no wonder they have mental breakdowns.

@MostHigh777 6 ай бұрын

This is what comes from being non critically thinking and ignorant. Why did they start taking the drugs in the first place and why didn't they move someplace they could get a job?

@ashleylesiak4114 Ай бұрын

Some people started because they were prescribed it by doctors and then became addicted.

@user-yl3dr1bz8f 11 ай бұрын

Taking recreational drugs is a hobby and enjoyable for some people, but also comes with the risk of death. Just like many other hobbies such as climbing, horse riding, swimming, literally everything. Do we ban all of those things as well? If people want to have fun and know the risks, it should be their decision. Simple.