In which John Heilemann talks with Danny Strong, the creator, showrunner, and writer of Dopesick, the eight-part Hulu miniseries chronicling the Oxycontin epidemic and the broader opioid crisis it unleashed on America. Heilemann and Strong explore the human costs of that crisis, along with the corporate malfeasance of Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, who relentlessly, deceptively, and indeed criminally marketed Oxycontin as non-addictive; Strong's early work as an actor on popular TV shows such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Gilmore Girls; and his career transition to acclaimed screenwriter on movies including Recount and Game Change (his Emmy Award-winning adaptation of Heilemann's book about the 2008 election), co-creator and executive producer of the runaway hit series Empire, and director of the final two episodes of Dopesick as well as the J.D. Salinger biopic Rebel in the Rye. Strong also discloses his own addiction to the recent HBO series White Lotus.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices