Episode 18: Left in the cold, Kept in the Dark

Episode 18: Left in the cold, Kept in the Dark

From The Persistence by Angélica Cordero

May 29, 2026 · 59 min · Season 1 · Episode 18

About this episode

This episode explores the AIDS crisis during the Reagan era, focusing on stigma, personal responsibility politics, and community activism.

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…

People in this episode

Host: Angélica Cordero

Topics covered

  • AIDS history
  • ACT UP
  • Reagan era
  • personal responsibility politics
  • LGBTQ history
  • community care networks
  • direct action

Keywords

  • AIDS
  • ACT UP
  • Reagan era
  • personal responsibility
  • stigma
  • community care
  • political history
  • mutual aid
  • LGBTQ
  • health activism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: ACT UP, FDA, Gay Men’s Health Crisis

Products: AZT

Books & works: And the Band Played On

Places: America

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