Over the past few years, a new threat has emerged as a leading cause of death in the United States: fentanyl. Yet even as the drug wreaks havoc on Americans lives, preventing its flow into the United States is complicated, partially because of the supply’s overseas origins, which is often China. What is China’s role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis?
Featured Gu ... Show More
Mar 2026
One Woman's Path From a U.S. College Campus to the Ukrainian Battlefield
This episode traces one young woman's journey home to a new kind of war—and Ukraine’s fight for survival. Host: Gabrielle Sierra, Director of Podcasting, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) Guest: Catarina Buchatskiy, Co-Founder & Director of Analytics, Snake Island Institute We d ... Show More
31m 35s
Mar 2026
Allies, Partners, or Frenemies?
This episode outlines the global network sustaining both sides of the war in Ukraine, with NATO allies on one side and Russia with backing from China, Iran, and North Korea on the other, and how the limits and tensions within these alliances are shaping the war’s next phase and r ... Show More
37m 32s
Jun 2022
Fentanyl's Surge from China To Mexico to St Louis
Over the last three years there's been an explosion of fentanyl on the streets of America and it's led to over 100,000 Americans dying from drug overdoses, the overwhelming majority because of fent. In this episode, Sean lays out the way producers in China have connected with Mex ... Show More
50m 38s
Mar 2023
Killer drug: Fentanyl in the US
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is destroying lives all over the United States. Manufactured illegally and at a huge profit by drug cartels in Mexico, it’s smuggled across the border into southern California and Arizona. The director at one entry point on the border acknowledges th ... Show More
28m 8s
Feb 2024
Bonus: Killer drug: Fentanyl in Mexico and the US
Fentanyl is deadly. Thousands of Americans die every year from a drug overdose – the majority of them after using a synthetic opioid like fentanyl. It was developed as a legal, and effective, pain killer. Now, fuelled by insatiable US demand, it is illicitly produced in makeshift ... Show More
53m 39s