We are living in the midst of an epidemic. Over the past 15 years, the number of Americans dying from opioid-related overdoses has skyrocketed by more than 200%. Facing a mounting death toll, policymakers have proposed solutions from needle exchanges to reducing the availability of prescription opioids. But the crisis seems to rage on. Professor Keith Humphreys digs into how we got here, what we know about which policy responses actually work, and what might be next in the never ending fight against addiction.

For more on this topic:

• Check out his SSN brief, How America Can Effectively Fight the Opioid Crisis
• Read his opinion pieces for The Washington Post
• Find the Vox article mentioned in the episode on the rise of meth and cocaine overdoses

What should the next 10 or 20 years look like in the United States? Many Americans say we need to go back to the future. They want to restore something, or protect something they’re worried the United States is losing. And that’s not just the Make America Great Again crowd. But others argue that it’s not time to restore democracy -- it’s time to realize democracy. Dr. K. Sabeel Rahman explains what it would take to make America’s democracy work for everyone  and why the time for big, structural change is now.

For more on this topic:

• Check out Rahman’s article, Realizing Democracy Demands Addressing Deeper Structural Roots of Failure and Possibility of Shared Power, and the full Realizing Democracy series in the Stanford Social Innovation Review
• Visit the Demos website

Last year, climate change took center stage. With presidential candidates releasing bold plans to tackle the issue, massive protests organized by young people across the globe, and ever more dire reports coming out of the United Nations, this issue is getting attention unlike ever before. Doctor Fernando Tormos-Aponte discusses where climate organizing stands now, how some organizers are focusing on justice and equity in their work, and how this is all playing out in Puerto Rico after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in 2017.

For more on this topic:

• Check out Tormos-Aponte’s SSN brief, How Social Movements Build Power through Intersectionality
• Listen to Leah Stokes’ interview mentioned in the episode, Episode 172: The Battle over Clean Energy