Still Here: A Podcast From The Sick Times

To wrap up LGBTQ+ Pride Month 2026, The Sick Times hosted Virtual Pride, a COVID-conscious drag show featuring queer and disabled performers in the Long COVID community from across the country, hosted by Sick Times contributor and poet Khalil Dennis. In this episode of Still Here, we’re sharing the Q&A that followed the show. Performers Taipei, Mondo Millions, King LOTUS BOY, Ginger Ail, and K...

In June, the Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Xocova (ensitrelvir) as the very first post-exposure prophylaxis for Sars-CoV-2, and if taken within 72 hours, it could stop a SARS-CoV-2 infection in its tracks. The drug is also being studied as a potential Long COVID treatment and even maybe as a preventative. But how accessible will this drug be? In this episode of Still Here, Betsy L...

As many governments shutter and defund their Long COVID programs, Minnesota is ramping up. In this episode of Still Here, co-host Betsy Ladyzhets talks to Kate Murray (Minnesota Dept. of Health) and Terri Wilder (#MEAction) about Minnesota’s recently launched Roadmap to address Long COVID and other post-viral conditions, and how their broad coalition led to a human-centric plan forward. Subscribe...

When you’re sick, eating can be pretty miserable. In this episode, Miles Griffis talks to writer and artist Aisha Mirza, founder of misery collective and author of misery meals: a crip community anti-cookbook for when eating and cooking is hard. Miles and Aisha discuss the book, how Aisha went from an anti-foodie to a cookbook author, and what it looks like to be in community even from the solitud...

The U.S.'s flagship Long COVID research program has received over a billion dollars in funding and had years of input from people with the disease. But its first round of clinical trials are failing, at least in the results out so far. In this episode of Still Here , producer Melanie Marich talks to co-host and Sick Times co-founder Betsy Ladyzhets about the initial results from the NIH’s RECOVER...

What happens when your body and the climate break down at the same time? In this episode, Still Here co-host Miles Griffis talks to Lorraine Boissoneault, science journalist and Sick Times contributor, about her new book, Body Weather: Notes on Chronic Illness in the Anthropocene. Lorraine shares how she came to see the links between her own chronic illness and the broader climate crisis, from bar...

As one of the last newsrooms still reporting on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we get a lot of questions about how we track the SARS-CoV-2 virus, from whether or not to trust CDC data to how wastewater data monitoring works. To answer those questions and assist in finding and interpreting data on COVID-19 and other pathogens,  The Sick Times  hosted a webinar on April 28, 2026. This episode is an...

Why is Long COVID so underreported worldwide? Hosts Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets speak with health journalist Jamie Ducharme about why Long COVID is dramatically underreported globally, and hear from South African advocate Mlindeni Gabela about fighting for diagnosis and breaking stigma in his community. Subscribe to Still Here wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review telling us...

What can love look like when you’re disabled — and how do you write about grief when the crisis is still ongoing? In this episode of Still Here, hosts Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets sit down with poet, author, and disability justice organizer Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarsinha to discuss their new poetry collection, The Way Disabled People Love Each Other . Leah shares how the book came to be, wha...

In this episode of Still Here, hosts Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis talk about the latest updates from the US Department of Health and Human Services and their efforts on Long COVID, as well as the criticisms they face from members of the community. Subscribe to Still Here wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review, telling us what you think of this episode.

Long COVID Awareness Day is gaining official recognition around the world, driven by a growing network of people with Long COVID and their allies. In our season two premiere of Still Here, hosts Betsy Ladyzhets and Miles Griffis talk to Nicholas Rodelo of Clean Air Los Angeles about how he and his fellow organizers secured a City Council resolution recognizing Long COVID Awareness Day, and how the...

In this episode of Still Here, the finale of our season 1 ends the way it started, with a recap of the latest RECOVER-TLC workshop. The transcript for this episode can be ⁠⁠⁠⁠found on our website ⁠⁠⁠⁠, or jump to a specific part of the podcast below: (00:00:00) ⁠⁠Intro⁠⁠ (00:01:30) ⁠⁠ Recap of 2025 RECOVER-TLC workshop (00:28:00) ⁠ Outro⁠ - Mentioned in this episode (in order of appearance): The S...

In this 2-way episode of Still Here: Co-host Betsy Ladyzhets interviews Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health and author of the popular newsletter, Force of Infection , as well as the book Crisis Averted: The Hidden Science of Fighting Outbreaks . Rivers discussed which data sources she relies on for her trend updates, interpreting data f...

In this 2-way episode of Still Here: In spring 2025, Salvatore and Stephanie Mattera launched the new site Help for Long COVID, inspired by Salvatore’s challenges finding healthcare after he developed the disease. Salvatore talks with podcast co-host Betsy Ladyzhets about how the project — which he describes as a community Wikipedia-type database — came about, feedback they’ve received so far, his...

In this episode of Still Here: A two-way between Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets comparing and contrasting Long COVID and ME clinical trial designs for drugs targeting immune dysregulation and viral persistence. The transcript for this episode can be ⁠⁠ ⁠found on our website⁠ ⁠⁠, or jump to a specific part of the podcast below: (00:00:00) ⁠Intro⁠ (00:01:36) ⁠Recap of 2nd Keystone Symposia on Lon...

In this episode of Still Here: A two-way between Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets comparing and contrasting Long COVID and ME clinical trial designs for drugs targeting immune dysregulation and viral persistence. The transcript for this episode can be ⁠⁠ ⁠found on our website⁠ ⁠⁠, or jump to a specific part of the podcast below: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:05) 2-way: Long COVID clinical trial design...

In this episode of Still Here: A two-way between Felicity Nelson and Betsy Ladyzhets comparing and contrasting the BC 007 and rapamycin Long COVID and ME clinical trial designs. The transcript for this episode can be ⁠⁠ found on our website ⁠⁠, or jump to a specific part of the podcast below: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:15) 2-way: Long COVID clinical trial design, BC 007 and rapamycin (00:27:47) Outro...

In this episode of Still Here: The Sick Times' team recaps the Patient-Led Research Fund summer 2025 webinar. Plus, an update about the National Institutes of Health's RECOVER-Treating Long COVID initiative. The transcript for this episode can be ⁠found on our website⁠ , or jump to a specific part of the podcast below: (00:00:00) Intro (00:01:25) Recapping the PLRF summer '25 webinar (00:19:17) Re...

In this episode of Still Here: Contributing writer Simon Spichak discusses what experts say are Canada's "contradictory" and "concerning" latest guidelines for Long COVID, the CAN-PCC. Plus, in research, we talk about a new study group to test the monoclonal antibody Pemgarda for Long COVID and post-vaccine syndrome, as well as a new study from Taiwan that found 14% of children developed Long COVI...

In this episode of Still Here: Contributing writer Britta Shoot discusses the patchwork of care for people with complex chronic illnesses, like myalgic encephalomyelitis, and how insurance providers create a lose-lose situation for patients and healthcare providers. Plus, in research, we're looking at a study published in Nature Communications about a new antiviral drug prototype that prevented Lo...

In this 2-way episode of Still Here: Paul Hennessy, a COVID-19 safety advocate based in the Los Angeles area and the Activism Director for Mask Together America, shares more about getting involved in local COVID-19 organizing, a LA budget proposal that reallocated COVID-19 funds meant for cleaner air to other infrastructure upgrades, and considerations for demonstrations centering Long COVID. The...

In this episode of Still Here: Disabled writer and photographer Megan E. Doherty talks about her recent op-ed covering Illinois advocates' work on legislation that would ban mask bans in Illinois. And writer and artist Kelsey Simpkins discusses a gallery exhibit that opened last month in Colorado showcasing the work of artists with Long COVID. Plus, in research, we're looking at the rapid response...

In this episode of Still Here: Reporter Laura Weiss covers the slew of COVID-19 vaccine policy changes that have occurred since Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy assumed office. Plus, in research, we're looking at a study published in Pediatric Research that found pregnant people who were infected with SARS-CoV-2 during their first trimester were more likely to ha...

In this episode of Still Here: The Sick Times' team recaps the Spring 2025 PolyBio Research Symposium on Long COVID. And disabled journalist Lygia Navarro talks about the language we use for Long COVID, rounding up reader responses to a survey about terms used to describe aspects of the Long COVID experience. The transcript for this podcast is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ available on The Sick Times’ website ⁠⁠⁠...

In this episode of Still Here: Journalist Kate Fishman talks about how game designers have used their medium to showcase experiences of Long COVID, highlight COVID risk, and offer an opportunity for people to think more deeply about ableism. And science and medicine journalist Felicity Nelson shares her experience participating in a Long COVID clinical trial (for low-dose naltrexone). Also in this...