Blindspot

The podcast delves into the lives of individuals living with HIV, including an artist born HIV-positive and an activist who fought in the trenches. It highlights the ongoing challenges and stigma faced by those affected, as well as the importance of storytelling and resilience. The episode also touches on personal experiences of loss, the impact of HIV/AIDS on families, and the need for continued support and awareness.

Exploring the impact of the HIV epidemic in the South Bronx, focusing on illegal needle exchange efforts led by Joyce Rivera. Highlighting the consequences of treating drug addiction as a criminal issue rather than a public health concern. Stories of resilience, advocacy, and the human side of addressing HIV and drug-related issues.

The podcast discusses the challenges faced by the Black community during the AIDS crisis, including the lack of support from important institutions and rejection within their own community. It highlights the activism of individuals and organizations, such as Pernessa Seal and her efforts to mobilize the black clergy. The podcast also explores the impact of the AIDS crisis on the Black community, the challenges faced by black leadership, and the controversy surrounding needle exchanges in New York.

Women with HIV and AIDS were largely ignored by the public, government, and medical establishment. In the late 1980s, Katrina Haslip, an AIDS activist, helped found an organization for women with HIV and AIDS in prison. She continued her advocacy outside of prison, demanding recognition and dignity for women with AIDS. The podcast also explores the role of negative messaging in the black community and the influence of the church on attitudes towards HIV.

In the height of the HIV and AIDS epidemics in 1980s Harlem, the pediatric ward of a struggling public hospital becomes a makeshift home for sick children. Princess Diana's visit and the impact of her HIV activism is explored. A child's first adventure outside the hospital is a surprising experience. Heartwarming relationships, stigma surrounding HIV, and devastating loss are discussed. The lack of support for children with AIDS is highlighted, and incarcerated individuals challenge the definition of AIDS in a maximum security prison.

In this podcast, the first episode of Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows, they explore how HIV and AIDS were misunderstood from the start, shaping reactions from governments and communities. They discuss the early spread of the virus in Lower Manhattan and the impact on injection drug use. A woman shares her experience of discovering she is HIV positive and navigating her life after the diagnosis. Valerie's activism is highlighted, along with the early days of the AIDS epidemic in America. They reveal President Ronald Reagan's overlooked role in the crisis and the first media report on AIDS. The podcast also focuses on the lesser-known figure of Gil Gerald and his leadership in the early days of the epidemic.

This podcast explores the origins and stigma of HIV during the late 1970s and 80s in New York City, where drugs and poverty allowed for its spread. It also reflects on the rising number of children with HIV/AIDS and advocacy for marginalized groups.

Blindspot introduces a new podcast: Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery New Jersey politics is not for the faint of heart. But the brutal killing of John and Joyce Sheridan, a prominent couple with personal ties to three governors, shocks even the most cynical operatives. The mystery surrounding the crime sends their son on a quest for truth. Dead End is a story of crime and corruption at the highest levels of society in the Garden State. Jim O'Grady (Blindspot, Season 1) in conversation with investigative reporter and Dead End's host, Nancy Solomon.

Twenty years after the attacks that changed our world, we revisit the evidence and question the people at the center of the story.

The centennial of the massacre attracted international coverage; camera crews, T-shirt vendors, and even a visit from President Joe Biden. It seemed as though all this attention might ensure that history finally, would never be forgotten. But a month later some Tulsans worry that a backlash has begun. The city’s mayor and other elected officials have spoken against reparations for victims of the massacre and their descendents. A new law in Oklahoma limits how teachers can teach the massacre in schools. "If you care about the history of America's Black victims of racial violence,” says educator Karlos Hill, “You live in the world differently than if you are indifferent or simply ignorant about it." EPILOGUE In the days following the massacre, some 6,000 Black residents were forced to live in internment camps and many were made to clean up the destruction of their own community. The Red Cross set up tents and hospitals; they stayed for nearly six months. Many people and organizations outside of Tulsa sent money and other contributions. Soon after, Tulsa’s city officials declined any additional aid saying that what happened “was strictly a Tulsa affair and that the work of restrictions and charity would be taken care of by Tulsa people.” Nearly half of Greenwood’s residents left, never to return. But those that remained rebuilt Greenwood and many say it came back even stronger. That is, until the 1960s, when the city allowed a highway to bisect the neighborhood. Like so many other thriving Black communities, Greenwood was divested from and disenfranchised.  The people featured in this podcast series who survived the massacre went on to live rich and varied lives:   Mary Elizabeth Jones Parrish—the journalist whose book Events of a Tulsa Disaster is a primary source for much of what we know about the massacre—taught high school in Muskogee and ultimately returned to Tulsa.    Buck Colbert Franklin—one of the first Black lawyers in Oklahoma and who served Greenwood residents from an internment camp tent following the attack—practiced law for more than 50 years. He published his autobiography My Life and An Era with the help of his son, the legendary civil rights leader and historian John Hope Franklin.   A.J. Smitherman—the crusading newspaper publisher of The Tulsa Star—lost his home and newspaper offices in the attack. He was among the dozens of people indicted for the massacre, blamed for inciting the violence. He fled east, ultimately to Buffalo, New York, where he founded another newspaper, The Buffalo Star. He never returned to Greenwood and died in 1961, at age 77. Nearly fifty years after his death, Tulsa County finally dropped the charges against him.    Mabel Little—who ran a beauty salon in Greenwood—also lost everything during the attack. In the years afterward, she and her husband Pressley built a modest three-bedroom house and adopted 11 children. Pressley died in 1927 from pneumonia; Mabel blamed the massacre for his declining health. In her later years, she was a tireless activist for desegregating Tulsa’s public schools. When she died in 2001, she was 104 years old.   Learn more about Greenwood and the massacre: Riot on Greenwood: The Total Destruction of Black Wall Street by Eddie Faye Gates Riot and Remembrance: America’s Worst Race Riot and Its Legacy by James S. Hirsch Reconstructing the Dreamland by Alfred L. Brophy Death in a Promised Land: The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 by Scott Ellsworth