To attempt to understand more about how opioid use had become so common, along with Minnesota’s long history of leadership in the addiction and recovery fields, Sullivan did what she knew well: read, researched, and recorded oral histories. She interviewed nearly 60 people with connections to the opioid epidemic. These narratives, woven with her own story over several years, culminated in the book Opioid Reckoning: Love, Loss, and Redemption in the Rehab State, which was a Minnesota Book Award finalist.

We hosted a Changemakers Alliance (CALL) conversation with Sullivan, enabling members to ask questions and share their own stories, which fueled the stories in this magazine. This is excerpted from that conversation, in Sullivan’s voice.

Read the interview at Minnesota Women's Press.