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Please read this thread. I have thoughts on yesterday's @Radiolab episode and its attempt to understand some problems people face in Eastern Kentucky. @petersm_th, @mattfitzkielty @CecilLawson, @TheMoreheadNews @KY_Press, @BGPolitics, @kimhuntprice, @yesnicksearcy 1/17
Hi Radiolab. I live near the events described in yesterday's episode. I take issue with the line, "drug manufacturers flooded communities with pharmaceutical-grade opioids." That position oversimplifies blame here and forecasts a lack of understanding of our history/culture. 2/17
Your analysis fails to discuss lawyers/judges/doctors who conspired in well-documented cases where otherwise healthy patients were diagnosed with chronic injuries in order to receive government aid and pain meds. Big Pharma was not in the room for those misdeeds. 3/17
You also ignored all the fraud that went on by the PEOPLE in Appalachia to procure opioids. People traveled across multiple states to get pain meds. Google "Florida Pill Pipeline" for more info. Many went to multiple doctors in each state to maximize their pill cache. 4/17
Some people bribed dying cancer patients. Others directly stole from them. Some people invented back or teeth pain that could not be challenged by exams. Stories are everywhere of people having all their teeth removed because each dentist trip earned them more pills. 5/17
Examples of addicts you use are people who were legitimately injured and ended up addicted. This is a common approach when outsiders come here to talk about the problem. You infantilize us. You find people who may have caught bad luck and ignore those who made bad choices. 6/17
Even in a case you cited, you have a man claim he had kidney stones when he took his first pain med (given to him by a relative). Did you verify his story? You then jump ahead judgement-free to years later when he's abusing Fentanyl in the presence of a baby. That was quick! 7/17
What did this man have to say to trigger any skepticism from you? Seems your desire to see him as a victim was strong. We have many charming addicts here who all have a story to tell. They want outsiders to come to town and tell them it wasn't their fault. You did that. 8/17
Even if true, his story does not represent the epidemic in Appalachia. Ask around. Ask people how their friend/cousin/neighbor initially got hooked on opioids. See how often "legitimate pain/injury" does NOT come up. But those aren't the victim narratives you want to tell. 9/17
Exclusively assigning blame to BigPharma is naive & like saying liquor companies are to blame for "flooding colleges with booze" or Morton is to blame for "flooding dinner tables with salt." We don't need that analysis. We believe in individual responsibility in Appalachia. 10/17
Or at least we used to believe that. Tell that story. We need Radiolab to come to Appalachia and ask why the people in our community got hooked on these drugs at skyrocketing rates. Didn't they also have access to OxyContin in Utah, Brooklyn and Hawaii? 11/17
Why was the problem not as bad there? KY had 1/4 of early overdoses nationally. Why? It's easy to realize why you'll never understand the roots of this problem: you're not of this culture. You sent people from New York to tell a story about people they know nothing about. 12/17
People in your field understand the folly of allowing stories about ANY OTHER GROUP to be told by outsiders. We're living in a time when the lack of Asian writers on MagnumPI was a story. Newsrooms routinely flaunt the diversity of their staff because that gives legitimacy. 13/17
Why isn't Appalachia treated as a unique, complex community? Journalists understand why it's a problem when stories are told by outsiders, unless you're talking about us. Why isn't there a concern to make sure we're the people telling stories ABOUT us? Are we that simple? 14/17
Many were fine when another New Yorker came South to make S-Town, a podcast series littered with condescending narration about Trump, racism, bigotry and corrupt cops. Even if well-intentioned, journalists who are so confidently "better" than their subjects is a bad look. 15/17
What would coastal elites say if a few good-old-boys wanted to report on their gilded communities? How much pushback would you give to two journalists from rural Kentucky who came to you and wanted to produce a story about the people of Bedford–Stuyvesant? Or Borough Park? 16/17
How far would they get with the gatekeepers in the media? You can probably recognize it would not be received well to have Appalachians comment on folks from NY/LA; that's how we feel when you come here and do the same to us. Please stop. You're never going to get it right. 17/17
