For public health advocate Cleve Jones, the early years of the AIDS epidemic were defined by stigma, unfathomable grief and the failure of public health systems to respond, calling it “deliberate cruelty” and saying, “We understood very clearly that there was no cavalry riding over the hill to rescue us.” He witnessed thousands of people, including many close friends, die in San Francisco’s Castro District before effective treatments were made available. More than 40 years after the first cases emerged in the United States, Jones is noticing troubling similarities in how the public health landscape is responding to viral outbreaks like measles and COVID-19. He discusses how lessons learned from the AIDS epidemic can be applied to modern disease outbreaks and why empathy, compassion and community are more important now than ever.
Guest: Cleve Jones, public health organizer, founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and author of When We Rise
Lost boys
What causes some boys to become unmotivated and disengaged? A family physician and psychologist believes sleep deprivation, an over-indulgence in video games and online communities that promote the “manosphere” could be to blame. He discusses how these forces can pull boys away from the real world and lead them to fall behind at school and in social circles. He also provides tips on how families, educators and health professionals can help them reconnect to their studies, peers and motivation.
Guest: Dr. Leonard Sax, family physician, psychologist and author of Boys Adrift: The Six Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men