In the United States, drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death. Appalachian cities and towns are among the hardest hit by the epidemic, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. To better understand the opioid crisis, TruckBeat teamed up with Inside Appalachia for a special podcast episode exploring the impacts of opioid addiction on children and families.
What’s it like to be addicted to something? What's it like when your addiction makes all the rules, even how you care for your kids and whether you live or die?
We'll hear the story of Kristina Weaver, or Breezie, who grew up in southern West Virginia with a father who struggled with addiction. Her father, David Siers, died in June of 2015 of a heroin overdose.
And we'll hear a TruckBeat documentary called Life in the Crosshairs: Inside East Tennessee’s Addiction Crisis, featuring the stories and voices of people in East Tennessee's Roane County, about an hour outside of Knoxville.
Music in this special episode was provided by:
Sam Keenan, Ben Townsend, Jake Schepps and Michael Howard.
Inside Appalachia's show producer is Roxy Todd. This episode's editor is Glynis Board.
Jess MadorJess Mador is the creator of TruckBeat for WUOT. She's an award-winning public radio and multimedia journalist who has produced stories for news organizations around the country, including Minnesota Public Radio, NPR News and PBS member stations. She has a Master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Matt Shafer PowellMatt Shafer Powell manages the news department at WUOT in Knoxville, Tennessee. A two-time national Murrow Award winner, Powell is an audio junkie who has spent time as a disc jockey, news reporter, writer/producer of commercials and sound recording engineer. He created TruckBeat's sister project at WUOT, Tenn Words.
