I've shared views and contributions in print, audio, and video for national and international outlets including TED.com, NPR, NYT, Wall street journal, and the Washington Post.

TED Talk

The United States accounts for five percent of the world's population but consumes almost 70 percent of the total global opioid supply, creating an epidemic that has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths each year. How did we get here, and what can we do about it?

Magazine and Popular Essays

1.     Travis N. Rieder. 2024. “Catastrophe Ethics and Charitable Giving.” Hastings Bioethics Forum.

2.     Travis Rieder. 2024. “How to Make Tough Choices in a Morally Exhausting World.” TIME.

3.     Travis N. Rieder. 2023. “What becoming a patient taught me about responsible opioid prescribing.” Baylor College of Medicine Blog.

4.     Travis Rieder. 2022. “We All Have Reasons.” Lincoln Center Theater Review, Fall 2022 Vol. 77.

5.     Travis Rieder. 2022. “Is Population Control a Climate Change Solution?” Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine.

6.     Travis Rieder. 2022. “A Father’s Wish, a Bioethicist’s Dilemma.” Johns Hopkins Magaazine.

7.     Travis N. Rieder. 2022. “Opioid Overdose: A Bioethicist Explains Why Restricting Supply May Not Be the Right Solution.” The Conversation.

8.     Justin Bernstein, Anne Barnhill, & Travis Rieder. 2021. “How Should Governments Make Covid-19 Policies?” The Philosophers’ Magazine.

9.     Travis N. Rieder. 2021. “There are plenty of reasons to get vaccinated—but that doesn’t mean it’s your ethical duty.” The Conversation.

10.  Travis N. Rieder. 2020. “We Can’t Forget the Nation’s Other Epidemic.” Hastings Bioethics Forum.

11.  Travis N. Rieder. 2020. “The Ethics of Social Distancing (and Why It Doesn’t Rule Out Protesting).” Daily Nous.

12.  Travis N. Rieder, Anne Barnhill, Justin Bernstein, & Brian Hutler. 2020. “When to Reopen the Nation is an Ethics Question—Not Only a Scientific One.” Hastings Bioethics Forum.

13.  Travis N. Rieder. 2020. “Managing Pain without Pills.” Saturday Evening Post. Excerpt from In Pain.

14.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “Responsible Opioid Prescribing.” Closler Magazine.

15.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “What Chronic Pain Patients are Deeply Afraid of.” The New York Times.

16.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “A Bioethicist Discovers the Pain of Withdrawal.” Excerpt from In Pain, adapted for Johns Hopkins Magazine.

17.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “A New Strategy for Opioids—Ethical Prescribing.” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine.

18.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “America’s Other Opioid Problem.” Psychology Today.

19.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “Pain, Opioids, and Addiction: Searching for a Nuanced Solution.” Lead Essay for the August 2019 issue of Cato Unbound.

20.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “Pain, Opioids, and the Constant Shadow of Stigma.” Closler Magazine.

21.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “People who use drugs need compassion, not judgment.” USA Today.

22.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “Why changing how we view pain can help us address the opioid crisis.” Excerpt from In Pain, adapted for ideas.ted.com.

23.  Travis N. Rieder. 2019. “The Perilous Blessing of Opioids.” Wall Street Journal.

24.  Travis N. Rieder. 2018. “Is it Wrong to Ask Your Doctor for Opioids?” The Conversation. Republished by Quartz and Business Insider.

25.  Travis N. Rieder. 2017. “Science Proves Kids are Bad for Earth. Morality Suggests We Shouldn’t Have Them.” NBC THINK.

26.  Travis N. Rieder. 2017. “An Ethical Dilemma for Doctors: When is it OK to Prescribe Opioids?” The Conversation. Republished by STAT and Salon.

27.  Travis N. Rieder. 2017. “The Ethics Issue: Should We Impose Population Controls?” New Scientist.

28.  Travis N. Rieder. 2017. “Pulling Out of the Paris Agreement is Unconscionable.” The Conversation.

29.  Travis N. Rieder. 2017. “Doctors Prescribed Me Pain Meds but Couldn’t Help Me Get Off Them.” Washington Post (excerpt from Health Affairs).

30.  Travis N. Rieder. 2016. “Dear Mr. Trump: Climate Policy Puts Lives in Your Hands.” The Conversation. 

31.  Travis N. Rieder. 2016. “Bioethicist: The Climate Crisis Calls for Fewer Babies.””  The Conversation.  Republished by The Guardian and The New Republic.

32.  Travis N. Rieder. 2016. “Is the ‘Lesser of Two Evils’ an Ethical Choice for Voters?” The Conversation. Republished by The Washington Post, and Salon.

33.  Travis N. Rieder. 2016. “It’s Time to Vote Environmentally.” Huffington Post Blog.

34.  Travis N. Rieder. 2015. “Don’t Make a Three-Person Baby. Adopt Instead.” Wired Magazine.

media Interviews & appearances

1.     “Exploring Medicine’s Moral and Ethical Questions with Travis Rieder.” 2024. UnSILOed Podcast with Greg LaBlanc.

2.     “John Baldoni with Travis Rieder.” 2024. Grace under Pressure.

3.     “How do you behave ethically in a climate crisis?” 2024. The Climate Pod.

4.     “Facing moral questions in a time of 'massive, collective structural problems’.” 2024. Radio New Zealand.

5.     “Catastrophe Ethics.” 2024. New Books Network.

6.     “Catastrophe Ethics: How Bioethics Shapes Medicine.” 2024. HSS Presents.

7.     “Catastrophe Ethics: How to Choose Well in a World of Tough Choices.” 2024. Population Balance.

8.     “In Surgical Care, Opioid Use is Complex.” 2024. American College of Surgeons Bulletin.

9.     “Super-procreators, sperm donors and risky procedures: From Nick Cannon and Elon Musk to the ‘Baldwinitos’.” 2023. The Independent.

10.  “Solving the Opioid Epidemic.” 2021. Bioethics for the People.

11.  “Is it immoral to refuse the vaccine?” 2021. BBC’s Moral Maze.

12.  “Having Fewer Children Massively Helps in Reducing CO2 Emissions.” 2021. KCRW’s Life Examined.

13.  “The Opioid Addiction Disaster & the Pandemic.” 2021. CovidCalls Podcast.

14.  “Medical Professionals Still Prescribing Dangerously High Amounts of Opioids in the U.S.” 2020. NPR’s Morning Edition.

15.  “In Pain—When No One Knows How to Taper Pain Pills.” 2020. Cover2 Resources.

16.  “Trump Admin Tackling Wrong Problems on Opioid Overdoses, says Bioethicist who Became Dependent on Prescriptions.” 2019. Newsweek.

17.  “Travis Rieder on Opioid Addiction in Modern Medicine.” 2019. Better Thinking.

18.  “Travis Rieder on the Opioid Crisis.” 2019. CSPAN’s Washington Journal.

19.  “Bioethicist’s Personal Struggle with Opioids.” 2019. YOU, the Owner’s Manual.

20.  “Interview.” 2019. The David Pakman Show.

21.  “Motorcycle Crash Shows Bioethicist the Dark Side of Quitting Opioids Alone.” 2019. NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

22.  “Bioethicist: Opioids are not the cure for all our ills.” 2019. MSNBC, Ali Velshi.

23.  “The Torment of Withdrawal.” 2019. WYPR’s On the Record.

24.  “Opioids and Pain: A Professor’s Story.” 2019. The Crime Report.

25.  “What one bioethicist learned from becoming dependent on opioids—and then weaning himself off.” 2019. WBUR’s Here & Now.

26.  “Bioethicist recalls struggle with getting off opioids.” 2019. KERA’s Think.

27.  “Book feature of In Pain.” 2019. The Georgia Straight.

28.  “Tapering Off Pain Medication Safely: A Patient’s Perspective On What Opioid Withdrawal Actually Feels Like.” 2019. Hotdoc, Australia.

29.  “Fighting the Opioid Crisis.” 2018. Voice of America’s Unplugged with Greta van Susteren.

30.  “What to Expect When You’re Expecting…Climate Change.” 2018. CBC’s Ideas podcast.

31.  “The Agony of Opioid Withdrawal—and What Doctors Should Tell Patients about It.” 2018. TED.com.

32.  “Travis Rieder on Bioethics.” 2018. Public Health United.

33.  “The Philosophy of Parenting—Part 1.” 2018. ABC Radio’s Philosopher’s Zone (Australia).

34.  “8 Billion Angels Documentary with Terry Spahr and Travis Rieder.” 2018. Wharton Business Radio Highlights podcast.

35.  “For some people, opioids can actually make pain worse.” 2017. CBC’s Quirks and Quarks.

36.  “How Closely are Patients Watched after being Prescribed Opioids?” 2017. WBALTV.

37.  “As Environmental Catastrophe Looms, Is It Ethical to Have Children?” 2017. Foreign Policy Magazine.

38.  “Interview with Travis Rieder – Population, Bioethics and Climate Change.” 2017. Climate Changer Podcast with Paul Gehres.

39.  “A Bioethical Framework for Opioid Prescribing.” 2017. APA’s Medical Mind Podcast.

40.  “Want to Save the World? Reconsider Having Kids.” 2017. SBS Life (Australia).

41.  Panelist on Bill Nye Saves the World, Episode 13 (Netflix). 2017.

42.  “The Species Barrier 42: Billboards and Breeding.” 2017. The Species Barrier.

43.  “Public Policy Brakes on Procreation? Travis Rieder.” 2017. Conversation Earth.

44.  “Moral Basis for Small Families: Travis Rieder.” 2017. Conversation Earth.

45.  “Is it Morally Acceptable to Have Children?” 2017. Serious Inquiries Only.

46.  “A Harrowing Story of Opioid Withdrawal,” 2017. WYPR’s On The Record.

47.  “A Scientist Shares his Lonely Battle to Withdraw from Painkillers.” 2017. Reuters.

48.  “Familias Paquenas.” 2016. Efecto Naim.  

49.  “Our Moral Obligation to Conceive Just One Child.” 2016. The Overpopulation Podcast.

50.  “Should We be Having Kids in the Age of Climate Change?” 2016. Wisconsin Public Radio, Joy Cardin Show.

51.  “Want to Slow Climate Change? Stop Having Babies.” 2016. Bloomberg.   

52.  “Should We be Having Kids in the Age of Climate Change?” 2016. NPR’s All Things Considered.

53.  “Let’s Talk about Babies.”  2016. The Adaptors Podcast.