Once I began recovering from COVID-19, I wanted to understand what it means to be part of a growing cohort of survivors: What was happening in my body? And how should I think about my membership in this strange new class of people? I wanted to hear from scientists, survivors, and others who have been on the front lines of outbreaks before, to learn how I and others like me might help kickstart life after the plague.
That reporting led me to one of my own heroes, Peter Staley, a veteran HIV/AIDS activist and a central figure in ACT UP, a group that used the tools of direct action and civil disobedience to put AIDS on the map and crack open access to medical treatment—work that was featured in the 2012 documentary How to Survive a Plague.
Staley has also collaborated with Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, the top scientists on Trump’s coronavirus task force. In this interview, republished below, Staley reflects on how to keep Fauci and Birx in the room and in Trump’s ear during consequential tussles over public policy, as internal disagreements inevitably break into public view…
To read the entire article from Mother Jones, click https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/04/peter-staley-fauci-birx-podcast-transcript-coronavirus-aids-hiv/