A Shot in the Arm Podcast

Host Ben Plumley welcomes Professor Heidi Larson (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine) and Dr. Mark Anderson (Pattern Computer/Strategic News Service) to discuss innovation and equity in global health through the lens of “entropy” as chaos in human and data systems. Larson reflects on vaccine confidence as a window into societal trust in government, science, technology, and information, a...

Ben Plumley speaks with Dr. mike Reid and Eric Goosby about their new book Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, focusing on epistemology—how global health defines knowledge, evidence, and success. They argue global health has overprioritized biomedical metrics and donor-driven targets, often sidelining local knowledge, community co-design, and broader measures like sustainability, equity,...

Why does an undetectable HIV viral load sometimes flip to “detectable” — and what does that actually mean for the patient? Host Ben Plumley talks with Ben LaBrot (Professor of Global Medicine, USC; Medical Affairs Lead, Roche Molecular Diagnostics) and Daniel Griffin, MD (Chief of Infectious Disease, Island Infectious Disease Medical, Instructor of Clinical Medicine, Columbia University, Host, Thi...

In this second episode of AIDS2060, Ben sits down with Dr Andrew Kambugu, Executive Director of the Infectious Disease Institute at Makere University in Kampala Uganda. They discuss the state of the clinical response to HIV in Africa, and Andrew sets out a research and implementation agenda that gives equal weight to HIV prevention, treatment and diagnosis. He compares it to floor cleaning: you ha...

A Shot in the Arm Media in partnership with UCSF Institute for Global Health launched a nine-part series to explore the future of global health built around the book Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, co-authored by Dr. mike Reid (UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences) and Ambassador Eric Goosby (former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and former PEPFAR Chief Medical Officer). In this e...

A Shot in the Arm Media launches a new nine-part series produced in partnership with the UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences, built around the book Redefining Global Health in the 21st Century, co-authored by Dr. mike Reid (UCSF Institute for Global Health Sciences) and Ambassador Eric Goosby (former U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and former PEPFAR Chief Medical Officer). In this prologue epis...

Another candid update from Ben Plumley on life with stage four colorectal cancer, focusing on one of the most under appreciated challenges of treatment: the daily battle to eat. Treatment Update — Ben is continuing maintenance chemotherapy and awaiting a PET scan at the end of June. The goal is non-progression — holding the cancer steady — which counts as a win. --- 01:30 - The Food Fight — Ben br...

This is the first episode of AIDS 2060, a special multimedia mini-series of podcasts and Substack articles devoted to understanding what is needed to bring the HIV epidemic under control, how long that will take, and why the world has been unable to do so to date, notwithstanding overly ambitious public commitments that questionably are not rooted in science and hide the real threat HIV poses, eve...

Investigative journalist and public health expert Emily Bass returns to A Shot In The Arm with the most consequential update on the global HIV response in months. Drawing on a brand-new report from Physicians for Human Rights and South African partners — built from 40 oral histories — Emily walks Ben Plumley through the human cost of the Trump administration’s foreign aid disruptions, the staggeri...

What the hell has gone wrong with the global HIV and AIDS response? Does it matter? And what do we need to do to fix it? Ben Plumley introduces AIDS 2060, a new project from A Shot In The Arm Media asking the questions the global health community has been quietly dodging for a decade. With 40.8 million people living with HIV, 1.3 million new infections every year, and the US sending the world into...

Ben Plumley is joined by Ambassador Eric Goosby, and by Dr. mike Reid to react to Reid’s recently announced resignation from PEPFAR on Substack. Reid describes his growing moral dissonance with an administration he characterizes as authoritarian, citing concerns that lifesaving HIV services could be conditioned on geopolitical or commercial interests, a deprioritization of equity, reduced emphasis...

Ben discusses living with stage IV colorectal cancer, noting fluctuating wellbeing and chemotherapy side effects including pain, nausea, fatigue, itchy skin, brittle nails, and poor appetite. He mentions infusion logistics, new pains and temperature swings, as well as anxiety about his PET scan. He observes minor changes in tumor and thyroid SUV values and plans to review these with his oncologist...

Ben talks with Birgit Poniatowski, the Executive Director of the International AIDS Society (IAS), about the role of professional associations in the HIV movement and IAS’s convening power. Poniatowski describes IAS’s origins in 1988, its 13,000-member multidisciplinary base including people living with HIV, and its three main conferences: the IAS Conference on HIV Science (odd years), the Interna...

Welcome to a new episode of 'Colon, Meet Cancer' from A Shot in the Arm Media. In this first episode of 2026, Ben shares his experiences of treatment side effects while living with stage four colorectal cancer, and how these impact his ability to live as near a normal life as possible. Also covered are unexpected complications like clostridioides difficile and pulmonary embolism, which had Ben hos...

In this powerful episode of A Shot in the Arm podcast, host Ben Plumley discusses the state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States under a hostile federal government with Dr. Tatyana Moaton, the Director of Strategic Innovation and Partnership at the San Francisco Community Health Center. Dr. Moaton unpacks the systemic challenges faced by the trans community, healthcare disparities, the si...

In this special World AIDS Day episode, Emily Bass and Ben Plumley delve into the current and future state of the global AIDS response. Join them as they discuss the rise of Emily's influential Substack, the impact of recent US administration policies, and the essential roles played by organizations like UNAIDS. The conversation highlights the challenges and opportunities in the fight against HIV/...

In this episode of 'A Shot in The Arm Podcast,' host Ben Plumley reconnects with his longtime friend and colleague, Andy Seale from the World Health Organization. The conversation spans decades of their personal and professional journeys across global health, with a primary focus on HIV, TB, and malaria. Ben and Andy discuss the challenges and triumphs of their work, including Andy's experience wi...

In this episode Ben Plumley catches up with Dr. Seth Berkley, founder of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, former CEO of GAVI and amongst other responsibilities, now a senior advisor at Brown University's School of Public Health's Pandemic Center. Seth has recently published a new book “Fair Doses: An Insider's Story of the Pandemic and the Global Fight for Vaccine Equity” and he and Ben...

Ben’s journey of battling stage four colorectal cancer with chemotherapy brings him to a fairly predictable pit stop; what significance does faith have in spiritual and physical care? , Whether its unravelling deeper issues of self-acceptance and self-faith., the episode explores faith from various perspectives, including personal conviction and religious doctrine, questioning the existence of an...

In this episode of 'Colon Meet Cancer,' Ben recounts the surprising success story of Henrik Gretzky's Symphony Number Three, how badly it was initially received by the musicology world and draws a surprising parallel to his chemotherapy journey. He shares the complex experience of managing an increasing range of chemo side effects, including white blood cell treatments, pain, and hair loss. Ben ca...

It’s a Paul Revere moment, “RFK Junior is coming!” Ben is joined by author and journalist Emily Bass and UCSF Professor Eric Goosby, co-host of the Global Health Diplomats podcast to diagnose and propose solutions to the Trump Administration’s assault on US public health. From the hollowing out of the CDC, to vaccine skepticism at the heart of the federal leadership, and savage, unconstitutional c...

In this episode of A Shot in the Arm Podcast, host Ben Plumley engages in a comprehensive discussion with journalist and author Emily Bass about the current state of global health, specifically focusing on HIV/AIDS. Recorded in sunny Sacramento, they reflect on the extraordinary events of the past few months and assess the alignment of innovation and equity in global health. Their conversation cov...

As Ben starts his first chemotherapy cycle, he explores the controversial yet essential role of chemotherapy in cancer treatment. He looks at its historical roots and tries to understand the scientific mechanisms of various chemotherapies. He shares an intimate look at the highs and lows of his first cycle of treatment, the importance of comprehensive, multidisciplinary care, as well as the physic...

Ben and Yvette catch up with Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, as the joint UN program on HIV and AIDS launched a global AIDS update report entitled “AIDS, crisis and the power to transform”. They explore what levers are left to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, including ending AIDS as a public health crisis by 2030, the continuing relevance of UNAIDS to lead the world’s r...

In this episode of A Shot in the Arm podcast, host Ben Plumley discusses the Kigali International AIDS Society Conference with guests Solange Baptiste from ITPC and Rosemary Mburu from WACI Health. They explore the importance of community voices in global health innovations, the challenges of funding cuts, and the significance of long-acting antiretroviral therapies. Additionally, they touch upon...