Episode
Episode 18: Left in the cold, Kept in the Dark
- Podcast
- The Persistence
- Published
- May 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3534
- Processing state
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Summary
In the 1980s, America was sold a picture of recovery: morning light, trimmed lawns, rising confidence, and a country ready to feel good again. But recovery has a frame. And outside that frame, people were already being asked to survive what the official story refused to see. This episode of The Persistence looks at Reagan-era America, ACT UP, the community care networks, and the AIDS crisis as it moved from silence and stigma into public confrontation. From “personal responsibility” politics and the myth of deservingness, to the early framing of AIDS through stigma, to the rise of direct action and treatment activism, we trace how crisis becomes visible, what institutions do once they are forced to respond, and what people build when they are left to carry what the state will not. By the time something counted, it had already been sorted. And by the time response arrived, the work of surviving its absence had already been assigned. This episode traces the politics of personal responsibility, the stigmatizing early framing of AIDS, the rise of community care networks, and the direct action of ACT UP. 🎧 Listen if you’re interested in:AIDS history · ACT UP · Reagan era · Morning in America · Personal responsibility politics · Welfare queen mythology · LGBTQ history · Gay Men’s Health Crisis · Patient Zero · And the Band Played On · AZT · FDA activism · Lesbian caregiving · Mutual aid · Political history This episode was written by and produced by Angélica Cordero, with a little help from ChatGPT. Our theme song is Don’t Kid Yourself Baby by Fold , used with their blessings. Podcast artwork for The Persistence features Mexican-American activist Jovita Idar and was created by Tamra Collins of Sunroot Studio . Resources For Fellow Wascally Wabbits Books A People’s History of…