'Backfired: Attention Deficit' podcast explores the world of ADHD

Editor's note: This segment was rebroadcasted on March 25, 2025. Find that audio here.

According to the latest data, more than 10% of American children have been diagnosed with ADHD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The number of adults with stimulant prescriptions to deal with the disorder has also increased dramatically in the past decade, with almost 15.3 million adults in the year 2021.

The use of the term ADHD is now also bandied about a lot almost as if it's just a personality trait, watering down the true meaning of the term for those who officially have ADHD and sometimes struggle with it.

A podcast, now available on Audible and produced by the team at Prologue Projects, looks into the wide-ranging world of ADHD: the history of the diagnosis, the medication used to 'treat' it, the pharmaceutical companies who profit from the drugs used by those with ADHD and most importantly the people who the diagnosis affects the most.

The podcast, called "Backfired: Attention Deficit," is co-hosted by journalists Arielle Pardes and Leon Neyfakh. They join Scott Tong for more on what they found in their investigations.