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'My Heart Still Beats' Part 6: Kate

A drawn portrait of Kate O'Neill.
Illustration: Janelle Sing | Design: Angela Evancie

"We're not alone. People who have this addiction, and people who love people who have this addiction — we're not alone."

My Heart Still Beats logo. Text says VPR My Heart Still Beats, a project of Writers for Recovery and has illustrations of six people.
Credit Janelle Sing

In this episode of My Heart Still Beats, Kate O'Neill talks about the life and death of her sister, Madelyn "Maddie" Linsenmeir, who struggled for years with opioid addiction.

Kate wrote a candid obituary for her sister that went viral, and is now spending the year writing for the Seven Days series Hooked: Stories and Solutions from Vermont's Opioid Crisis.

Transcript: My Heart Still Beats, Part 6

My Heart Still Beats is a project of Writers for Recovery and Vermont Public Radio. The series features conversations and original writing from Vermont's recovery community: people in recovery from substance use disorder, and people helping those in recovery rebuild their lives. 

Explore the full six-part series, and find a broadcast schedule, here.

My Heart Still Beats has support from the VPR Innovation Fund, and SB Signs. This series was produced by Bess O'Brien and Gary Miller, with editing by Erica Heilman and music by Brian Clark. 

Erica Heilman produces a podcast called Rumble Strip. Her shows have aired on NPR’s Day to Day, Hearing Voices, SOUNDPRINT, KCRW’s UnFictional, BBC Podcast Radio Hour, CBC Podcast Playlist and on public radio affiliates across the country. Rumble Strip airs monthly on Vermont Public. She lives in East Calais, Vermont.
Bess O'Brien is a documentary filmmaker and the producing director of Writers for Recovery, a series of workshops for people recovering from susbtance use disorder. She is the co-host of My Heart Still Beats, a project of Writers for Recovery and Vermont Public Radio.
Gary is the creative director of Writers for Recovery, a series of workshops for people recovering from susbtance use disorder. He is the co-host of My Heart Still Beats, a project of Writers for Recovery and Vermont Public Radio.
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