Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart is the oldest book we've discussed on the front porch; it was published in 1958 just as the European colonization of Africa was being dismantled. The book's setting is the beginning of colonization in the 1880's in what is now Nigeria, but was then Igboland. Achebe immerses us deeply into the culture of the Igbo people through the eyes of the esteemed, but highly flawed, Okonkwo. Near the end of the book, British missionaries and courts arrive and Okonkwo must decide how he will save his village and his way of life.

Picking up where Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Empire of Pain left off, journalist Aneri Pattani brings us up to date with the latest developments for Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family. Aneri is KFF Health News' award-winning senior correspondent. For the past two years, Aneri has been following the opioid settlement and the use of settlement funds. In June 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Sackler family could not claim immunity from lawsuits through the bankruptcy filing of their company, Purdue Pharma. This decision means the Sackler family is now vulnerable to civil suits and that the previous $4 billion settlement will likely be renegotiated. It's complicated but Aneri explains it all in a logical and accessible way.

In this investigative non-fiction book, Patrick Radden Keefe reveals the role of the Sackler family in the prescription opioid epidemic that has decimated communities and families since the 1990s. Empire of Pain is an unflinching and horrifying account of how the Sacklers, aware of the drug's addictiveness, pushed Oxycontin through clever marketing to doctors, willful manipulation of the FDA approval process, lying about research, and demonizing those who became addicted. Linny and Nancy discuss the impact of the opioid crisis nationally and personally. Empire of Pain made the New York Times Readers' List of 100 Best Books of the 21st Century. Nancy has begun giving copies of the book to family and friends in her personal quest to encourage everyone in America to read this book.