How the Opium Wars Worked

This 2021 episode covers Operation Paperclip, which was the U.S. effort to bring German scientists to work in the U.S. after World War II. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

Tracy talks about how she first became interested in Casimir Pulaski's story, and how her focus changed during research. She also talks about selecting episode topics and later learning the subject is problematic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. 

2/2. The British Empire aggressively pursued the opium trade well into the 19th century, fueling an addiction epidemic within China. The Qing government was determined to stamp out this destructive trade, leading to the First and Second Opium Wars. But the British Royal Navy w ...

Over the last two decades, the Taliban have moved from simply taxing Afghanistan's opium farmers to controlling every link in the chain of the world's biggest heroin supply. In Afghanistan's Opium Nation, we took you through the history of Afghanistan's opium and heroin industry ...  Show more

For decades, starting a few years even before the Taliban took power the first time around, Afghanistan has dominated the world’s opium and heroin market, in some years producing up to 90% of the global supply. It’s also provided hundreds of millions of all dollars for all sorts ...  Show more

The War on Drugs being waged against opioids is very different than the one that was fought against crack. Learn more about the politics of race and addiction in this episode of BrainStuff.