Episode One: Dr. Joseph Sonnabend

On July 3, 1981, the New York Times publishes an article titled "Rare Cancer Seen in 41 Homosexuals." This article is the first mention of AIDS in a mainstream media outlet and marks a turning point in queer history. But, the article could have been published much earlier.

This is the story of Dr. Joseph Sonnabend, a physician in New York's West Village, and his early push to get the medical establishment to act quickly on a new illness that was impacting gay men.

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Sources for today's episode include:

• An interview with Joseph Sonnabend from the ACT UP Oral History Project (November 12, 2015 / Joseph Sonnabend / Sarah Schulman)
• Hold Tight Gently: Michael Callen, Essex Hemphill, and the Battlefield of AIDS. Martin Duberman. 2014. (Book)
• How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tames AIDS. David France. 2016. (Book)
• A Look Back at the Year a Rare Cancer Was First Seen in Gay Men. POZ Magazine. Joseph Sonnabend. 2020.
• Joseph Sonnabend, Early Force in Fight Against AIDS, Dies at 88. New York Times. Katharine Q. Seelye. 2021.
• The Good Doctor. POZ Magazine. Sean Strub. 1998.
• RARE CANCER SEEN IN 41 HOMOSEXUALS. New York Times. Lawrence K. Altman. 1981.
• Interview with Sean Strub, founder of POZ Magazine.
• Interview with Miriam Lewis Sabin, who is working on an upcoming biography of Joseph Sonnabend.

This episode was researched, hosted, and edited by Dane Stewart with music by Dane Stewart & Matthew Rogers. The episode was produced by Dane Stewart & Matthew Kariatsumari. Our outro track is called 'Easy to Love' by Clara Jones.

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