Latest news with #Bolduan
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kate Bolduan Reveals the Whole Story Behind 2-Year Fentanyl Investigation
Kate Bolduan has seen-and covered-a lot during her nearly two decade tenure at CNN. But the anchor and host still finds herself doing some things for the first time. Bolduan experienced two notable firsts during the two-year process of making Fentanyl in America: A Way Out, a one-hour Whole Story report from the front lines of America's opioid crisis. Premiering Sunday night at 8 p.m., the episode features the voices of addicts and their families, as well as the doctors and first responders that treat them. Bolduan watches and listens to their frequently-wrenching stories, allowing them to shape the story's narrative rather than the other way around. 'It's the first time I've done something in true documentary style,' she tells TVNewser. 'I did not have a thesis statement going in-it only came to us at the end. That was a spectacular learning experience as a journalist and as a person.' Bolduan also made the difficult decision to get personal in the midst of reporting out the episode, speaking on-camera for the first time about her mother's longtime struggle with alcoholism. 'I did not intend to do that, and I'm still not comfortable or ready to talk about it too much,' she says now. 'But as the episode evolved, it felt very natural for me to talk about it in the way that I do.' Certainly, having seen addiction firsthand put Bolduan on common ground with many of her subjects. And she believes that the process of interviewing other family members of addicts over the course of two years helped her better understand her mother, who passed away in 2023. 'I would have loved for her to have seen this,' Bolduan says wistfully. 'I've gained new insight and understanding into some of what she fought through so courageously for a very long time.' Watch an exclusive clip from Fentanyl in America: One family you won't hear mentioned in Fentanyl in America are the Sacklers, the former owners of Purdue Pharma. That company created and marketed OxyContin, the painkiller that's frequently identified as one of the contributing factors to the ongoing opioid crisis. The Sackler family has been at the center of numerous lawsuits over the years. In January, they reached a $7.4 billion settlement with 15 states that prevents them from selling opioids and ends their control of Purdue. Bolduan says that the decision to leave the Sacklers out of the narrative was rooted in her desire to look at the present and future rather than back to the past. 'For most of the people we spoke with, their path towards addiction began with some sort of accident or injury and then being prescribed opioids,' she explains. 'When they became addicted, they sought out heroin and then fentanyl started flooding the supply because it was cheaper.' 'My singular goal with this report was to look at fentanyl in a way that it hasn't been looked at or talked about,' Bolduan adds. 'It's not because we wanted to shy away from [the Sacklers], but it was more about [emphasizing] the fentanyl piece of the crisis.' One of Bolduan's key takeaways from her two years observing the fallout of fentanyl's destructive rise is that there are no easy solutions to the current stage of the opioid crisis. Even as deaths decline and supply chains are cut off, medically-assisted treatments-aided by medications like narcan and buprenorphine-require extensive commitments of time and money. 'It has evolved into a crisis of recovery,' Bolduan notes. 'Most addicts can't just kick this, and that means access, that means education-and that means money. It's not what they want, it's what they need.' Interestingly, the recovery crisis is an area where the Donald Trump administration could choose to have a positive impact. Since taking office, President Trump and other officials in his orbit have focused on the supply side of the fentanyl question through controversial means, such as levying tariffs against countries like Canada and Mexico and pursuing widespread deportations by invoking centuries-old laws. During the 2024 presidential campaign, though, Trump had a memorable interview with podcaster Theo Von where he discussed how addiction impacted his own family. (Trump's brother, Fred Trump Jr., battled alcoholism, which contributed to his death in 1981.) Based on her experience with her mother, Bolduan remembers being struck by those interviews at the time. 'That really resonated,' she says. 'If you have seen addiction personally, you are inherently more invested in trying to find a solution, because the person you love is in there and you want to help them be them again.' 'Supply is part of the problem, but the other side of it that we really explore in the report is the demand problem,' Bolduan adds. 'They have to work in tandem for a long-term solution. Tackling a piece of [the opioid crisis] can be a good thing-but it's not the whole story.'
CNN
24-03-2025
- Health
- CNN
CNN's Kate Bolduan Reports in 'Fentanyl in America: A Way Out'
March 24th, 2025 EPISODE PREMIERES SUNDAY, MARCH 30 AT 8PM ET/PT Promo: NEW YORK, NY – (March 24, 2024) – The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper , a five-time Emmy® Award-winning CNN Original, returns with a visceral examination of how the opioid crisis in America is evolving. 'Fentanyl in America: A Way Out' with CNN Anchor Kate Bolduan premieres Sunday, March 30 at 8pm ET/PT on CNN. The result of over two years of on-the-ground reporting, Bolduan embeds with those most impacted by America's opioid overdose epidemic. As the crisis enters its 'third wave,' Bolduan engages with emergency medical technicians, physicians at treatment centers and people struggling with addiction themselves, all seeking new solutions to a decades-old problem. 'These past two years have been a uniquely powerful and educational experience for our team. I am grateful to all our interviewees who bravely allowed us in and shared their stories,' said Bolduan. 'We witnessed first-hand the extraordinary challenges that come with breaking free from the cycles of addiction, and I am hopeful this project will illuminate the human element of the crisis and encourage others who are struggling to seek treatment.' 'Fentanyl in America' features remarkably candid and intimate interviews with people struggling with addiction. Pregnant women, families, and even drug dealers reveal to Bolduan the harsh realities of illicit fentanyl, a crisis that has propelled new treatment programs. She rides along with the first emergency medical service in the nation to carry buprenorphine, a treatment for fentanyl withdrawal that a study has associated with a nearly sixfold increase in the odds of engagement with addiction treatment. Bolduan also visits a center providing methadone treatments, where some people must visit every day for their daily dose. The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper is a collection of unique and immersive single subject, one-hour episodes from CNN's Emmy® and Peabody Award-winning longform storytelling team showcasing character-driven stories, special interviews, and investigative deep dives featuring reporting from CNN's anchors and correspondents . The series is executive produced by Susan Chun. The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper will stream live for pay TV subscribers via CNN connected TV and mobile apps on Sunday, March 30. 'Fentanyl in America: A Way Out' will also be available on demand beginning Monday, March 31 to pay TV subscribers via CNN connected TV and mobile apps, and Cable Operator Platforms. Past episodes of The Whole Story are available to stream on demand now on Max. The Whole Story is also available as a CNN Audio showcast. Visit or listen wherever you get your podcasts. ### About CNN Originals The CNN Originals group develops, produces and acquires original, long-form unscripted programming for CNN Worldwide. Amy Entelis, executive vice president of talent, CNN Originals and creative development, oversees the award-winning CNN Originals portfolio that includes the following premium content brands: CNN Original Series, CNN Films, CNN Flashdocs, and the newly formed CNN Studios, an internal production studio which creates long-form programming for CNN's global platforms. Since 2012, the team has overseen and executive produced more than 45 multi-part documentary series and 60 feature-length documentary films, earning more than 110 awards and 445 nominations for the cable network, including CNN Films' first Academy Award® for Navalny . Acclaimed titles include the Peabody Award winning and 13-time Emmy® Award-winning Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown ; five time Emmy® nominee, Apollo 11 , directed by Todd Douglas Miller; Carville: Winning is Everything, Stupid directed by Matt Tyrnauer; Emmy® nominated Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico ; the Emmy® Award-nominated 'Decades Series': The Sixties , The Seventies , The Eighties , The Nineties , The 2000s , and The 2010s, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman; The Last Movie Stars , directed by Ethan Hawke about the lives and careers of actors and humanitarians Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman; the Emmy® Award winning Little Richard: I Am Everything , directed by Lisa Cortés; Luther Vandross: Never Too Much , directed by Dawn Porter; The Many Lives of Martha Stewart ; This is Life with Lisa Ling ; Primetime Emmy® and duPont-Columbia Award-winning, RBG , directed by Betsy West and Julie Cohen; See It Loud: The History of Black Television , executive produced by LeBron James and Maverick Carter; Space Shuttle Columbia: The Final Flight in partnership with the BBC; the Producers Guild Award and three-time Emmy® Award-winning Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy ; BAFTA nominee and Directors Guild Award winner, Three Identical Strangers , directed by Tim Wardle; the American version of the British institution Have I Got News For You; and the five-time Emmy® Award-winning United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell ; and The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper . CNN Originals can be seen on CNN, the CNN Original Hub on Max and discovery+, the CNN Originals FAST channel, and for pay TV subscription via CNN apps and cable operator platforms. About Warner Bros. Discovery Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ: WBD) is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world's most differentiated and complete portfolio of content and brands across television, film and streaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, discovery+, CNN, DC, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, Max, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Film Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit Press Contacts The Whole Story Press Contacts Kate Bolduan Press Contact
