We’re Talking Human Lives Here: Jan Rader in conversation with Elaine McMillion Sheldon

Jan Rader joined the Huntington Fire Department in 1994, and is the first female fire chief in the State of West Virginia. Rader serves as a member of the Mayor’s Office of Drug Control Policy, and is devoted to serving on the frontlines to help fellow citizens who suffer from substance use disorder. In 2018, after gaining national attention for her appearance in the Netflix Original Documentary Heroin(e), Rader was chosen as one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Rader sat down with Elaine McMillion Sheldon, an Academy Award–nominated, and Emmy and Peabody Award–winning documentary filmmaker based in Charleston, West Virginia. She is the director of two Netflix Original Documentaries, Heroin(e) and Recovery Boys, that explore America’s opioid crisis. This interview has been edited and condensed for publication.