Episode

Did the Opioid Epidemic Help Republicans Win?

Podcast
The Argument
Published
Feb 2, 2026
Duration seconds
3976
Processing state
not_requested
Canonical source
https://www.theargumentmag.com/s/the-argument-podcast
Audio
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2541989/episodes/18608390-did-the-opioid-epidemic-help-republicans-win.mp3
JSON
/v1/public/podcasts/the-argument-7510944/episodes/did-the-opioid-epidemic-help-republicans-win
Markdown
/podcast/the-argument-7510944/did-the-opioid-epidemic-help-republicans-win.md

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Summary

Over less than 25 years, the opioid epidemic killed over 800,000 Americans. These deaths and the resulting economic and political ramifications were unequally distributed across the country. Some places were ravaged, others barely noticed what was happening. In this episode, host Jerusalem Demsas is joined by economist Carolina Arteaga to unpack new research linking the opioid crisis to increasing vote share for the Republican party. They dig into how a public-health catastrophe came to...