Skip to content
America’s Endless Fentanyl Epidemic episode artwork

Feb 8, 2024 29 min

America’s Endless Fentanyl Epidemic

from From Our Own Correspondent Hosted by BBC Radio 4

Kate Adie presents stories from the US-Mexico border, Chile, Spain, the US and India. The synthetic opioid Fentanyl is fifty times stronger than heroin, and was responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the US last year. Relatively easy to produce, it is smuggled in large quantities across the Mexico-US border. Will Grant reports from El Paso in Texas, and hears how it is poisoning young lives. Chile held two days of national mourning this week after wildfires wreaked a path of destruction through the central coastal region of Valparaiso. More than 120 people were killed with many more are missing. Jane Chambers has spoken to those directly affected. Spain has one of the most powerful feminist movements in Europe and the country recently passed new laws to protect women against violence – but only women. Now, some Spaniards are asking, has feminism gone too far? Ellie House reports from Madrid. Over the past 20 years, a charity has flown hundreds of thousands of military veterans to Washington DC to visit the war memorials built in honour of their service and sacrifice. Sophie Williams went to meet veterans from WW2, and the Korean and Vietnam wars who'd taken these 'honor flights'. India's economic boom has created some 169 billionaires. Many of India’s super-rich choose Mumbai as their home yet alongside this great wealth is enormous poverty. Half of Mumbai’s population live in slums – some just a stone’s throw from the millionaire mansions. For some, this can be the inspiration they need – after all, Mumbai is known as the city of dreams. Philip McCreery met one teenager who’s close to seeing hers come true. Presenter: Kate Adie Producer: Sally Abrahams Production Co-ordinator: Sophie Hill Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Episode details come from the podcast's RSS feed.

Embed this episode

Ready to play

America’s Endless Fentanyl Epidemic

0:00 29:02

No transcript yet.

Requests help us decide what to transcribe next.

Frequently asked questions

How long is this episode of From Our Own Correspondent?

This episode is 29 minutes long.

When was this From Our Own Correspondent episode published?

This episode was published on February 8, 2024.

Can I download this From Our Own Correspondent episode?

Yes. Use the download control on the episode player to save the publisher-provided media file.