Still at Risk
Posted on July 21, 2014 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner Still at Risk July isn’t just another month on the AIDS awareness calendar; it’s the month we’ve all been looking forward to for the last two years: The XXth International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia, convenes July 25. Kicking off the international gathering of thousands of scientists, social workers, AIDS activists, [...]
Out Loud & Proud
Posted on June 4, 2014 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner Just the other day, a couple of friends of mine were talking about how they couldn’t wait for the second season of Orange Is the New Black, the hit television drama, currently available only on Netflix. I’m not surprised. It has the fastest growing fan base since AMC’s The Walking Dead. [...]
Matters of the Heart
Posted on May 7, 2014 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner Maybe I’m getting sappy in my middle age years, but I’m actually excited that May 25 will be the debut of Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart on HBO. After this year’s big Oscar win for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto’s performances in Dallas Buyers Club, who in HIV-positive America wouldn’t be [...]
Lost in Emotion
Posted on April 7, 2014 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner Lost in Emotion Airplanes disappear without a trace. Epidemics continue without an end in sight. What phenomenon makes the first a riveting mystery that demands closure and the second something that can be slowed to a crawl? What mystifies me is how much media attention has been paid to the loss [...]
The History Boys?
Posted on March 19, 2014 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner Martin Duberman is a great man whose collected works of history, fiction, nonfiction, and biography have influenced thousands of writers, probably more than any other post-Stonewall thinker on the planet. But his intellectual rigor is not, and never shall be, the sole reason to read him. His take on the AIDS [...]
Silent Movie
Posted on March 5, 2014 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner Films have played a large part in the history of AIDS—from the seminal Longtime Companion (1989) to Philadelphia (1993) to this year’s Oscar favorite, Dallas Buyers Club (released in 2013), Hollywood has made movie magic out of an oftentimes ignored and even silent epidemic. Certainly famous film directors have played an [...]
What’s Your Brand of AIDS Activism?
Posted on January 2, 2014 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner January is usually the coldest month for New Yorkers. But I’m not worried about the weather coming in the first month of the new year for each issue emanates warmth and vitality. A fire kindled over twenty-three years ago, A&U is both a labor of love and a personal history of [...]
The Next Generation
Posted on December 1, 2013 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner Do you ever wonder what is missing from the commercialized holidays and all the decorations and store trimmings? It isn’t holiday shoppers; it isn’t holiday gift wrappers at Barnes & Noble raising money for local charities by offering to wrap your literary presents; it isn’t even all the red holiday bows [...]
All in the Family
Posted on November 27, 2013 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner November is a month when we have to decide to which candidates we give our votes. Sometimes, as we all know, we feel buyer’s remorse when said candidate leaves campaign promises unfulfilled. Maybe November is a good time, then, for gathering family and friends around the Thanksgiving table, because honoring those [...]
October Surprise
Posted on October 8, 2013 by A&U in Columns, Frontdesk
Frontdesk by David Waggoner October Surprise Ordinarily the months leading up to the holidays are stressful for me: trying to figure out which grandkids (I’ve got five of them) have been naughty and nice starts with how well they share their Halloween candy. (They always do share.) Sharing treatment breakthroughs in the world of HIV [...]
