BROADCASTS.com

b'Opium Slavery
Guest:\\xa0Jonathan S. Jones, postdoctoral scholar in Civil War History at Penn State University and author of the upcoming \\u201cOpium Slavery: Veterans and Addiction in the American Civil War Era\\u201d\\xa0
Opioid addiction is nothing new to our day\\u2014it was an issue during and after the Civil War too, when successful treatment was hampered by social norms about manliness and pain.\\xa0
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The Tangled History of Opium
Guest: David Blistein, co-author with John H. Halpern of "Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned our World"
Our opioid epidemic is nothing new, as the Chinese could tell you\\u2014they fought for years to keep British opium out of their country, to no avail. So many cultures have tackled the double-edged sword of opium use. It\'s relieved more pain than it\'s caused, according to Blistein, but it certainly has caused a great deal of pain.'