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Join authors Shoshana Walters and Barbara Kingsolver as they discuss the opioid crisis and America's failure to address the epidemic and what can be done to help future generations.
Join us for a special conversation about the country’s failed response to the opioid crisis, and the malfeasance, corruption, and snake oil which blight the drug rehabilitation industry.
Today, more people have access to treatment than ever before. So why isn’t it working? The answer is that in America—where anyone can get addicted—only certain people get a real chance to recover. Despite record numbers of overdose deaths, our default response is still to punish, while rehabs across the United States fail to incorporate scientifically proven strategies and exploit patients.
Shoshana's book explores failures of the rehab-industrial complex, and the ways our treatment system often prevents recovery through first-hand accounts.
Register now to participate in this urgent conversation and learn insight on how we might fix the system to save lives.
About the Author: Shoshana Walter is a reporter for the Marshall Project covering the criminal justice system. Her reporting has been honored as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and Selden Ring, and she has won the Knight Award for Public Service, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. She started her work on the treatment system at The Center for Investigative Reporting, where her work appeared in The New York Times Magazine, in newspapers, and on NPR stations across the country. She is based in Oakland, California.
About the Guest Host:
Barbara Ellen Kingsolver is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include The Poisonwood Bible, the tale of a missionary family in the Congo, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a nonfiction account of her family's attempts to eat locally. In 2023, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the novel Demon Copperhead. Her work often focuses on topics such as social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments.
This program is brought to you through the generosity of the Friends of the Reading Public Library. Thank you, Friends!
Check out more upcoming virtual author talks and enjoy recordings from past events by exploring our Friends Speaker Series page.
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Virtual Event | Friends Sponsored Program | Friends Speaker Series | Brochure | Author Event |
We strive to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals to engage fully. To ask questions about accessibility or request accommodations, please contact the library at rdgadmin@noblenet.org.
If the Reading Public schools are closed due to snow, all Children's programming will be canceled.
