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What are some of the big issues facing gay men’s health? On today’s show we’ve got the fabulous Jim Pickett- director of Advocacy for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and blogger for Lifelube, the gay […]
Tags: aids, gay mens health, hiv, jim pickett, lifelube
Fausto Fernós is the host of iTunes’ #1 LGBT talk show, the Feast of Fun podcast, which he produces and hosts with his partner, Marc Felion.
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Fausto Fernós created the Feast of Fools in 1998 as wacky artists variety show in Chicago, Illinois. Feast of Fun grew out of an audio blog to promote the live show into the world’s most downloaded talk show aimed for gay people.
When he’s not blogging, recording or sleeping, Fausto can be found at the gym or appreciating the beauty found in nature.
FOF #1253 – Rubber Lover – 09.15.10
FOF #752 – Good Sex, Bad Sex – 05.02.08
FOF #1358 – The Battle Over HIV Prevention – 04.08.11
FOF #1037 – Whose Death Panel is it Anyway? – 08.12.09
Comments
I dunno. I still don’t buy into the idea that dark-skinned people have lower access to healthcare per-se. I feel that statement has a lot of income-based and microcultural qualifiers… namely that some dark-skinned people can’t afford it, and that there are some cultural taboos that prevent status-checking in urban neighborhoods. Thus while there is evidence that dark-skinned MSM tend to have the worst rates of infection, the ones that have access to things like free clinics aren’t as inclined to use them.
But most problems like this are complicated in such ways. Thus, and there are some programs starting up that seem intent on tackling all the issues (a combination of free clinics for detection AND treatment… and community campaigns that essentially have neighbors and friends going “look, you should do this because otherwise you might get it and then infect other people, and that’s worse!”
Also, Jim provided most of the data where I am gleaning these thoughts (thanks for that, Jim!), and I am sure there are other and better interpretations than mine, and I don’t think they reflect at all on the racism aspects of the discussion. I’ve always figured that racism is so touchy because it’s hard to have a moderate response to it… Something where the wrong is corrected without wronging new people in the process. I like Jim’s idea of “stop assuming you know what is best for people with a different background and then vouching for them”. That is a good distillation of how some of the most FUBAR racist moments seem to happen.
Otherwise, thanks for the tips on booty health, and the hilarious image of world of chocolate after tunnel of love.
input your comment here…
Hey FOF, I just want to say I particularly enjoyed your show today. I got dumped last night and hearing you all being your usual jovial selves made my day. I’m going to an advance screening of “Milk” I’ll try and comment tomorrow to let you know how it is!
Hey K Travis- I’m so sorry to hear that! Well remember that “gay is good.”
Epi, can I get the Cliff Notes of what your’re trying to say?
I enjoyed to listen to this show a lot. It is always good to get some information about health.
Gay is great!
I am so sick of hearing people using the word gay (here in Germany: schwul) for something bad,weird or they don’t like.
I am so happy to be gay. If I weren’t gay, I would not have the wonderful friends I have, nor would I see or experience the world through such a fabulous lens!
Jim, thank you for doing all you do for gay men’s health. The other day, I was very proud to tell my best friend about sero-sorting, something that he had not heard of before. Now, I will tell him about the anal PAP smear. As Fausto says, you learn all sorts of things on the Feast of Fools! 🙂
I loved this show. I am super paranoid about my ass and it was great to hear about how to take of ur hole, and joking around about it all makes me feel so much more at ease…
Thanks guys!
Hey Mark,
just an FYI, the Vice Presidential residence is call the Naval Observatory while the Blair House is the official guest residence of the President of the United States.
;-P
I am so happy you guys like the blend of booty health and giggles ! It also just feels really good to know that you appreciate health info and find it useful. It doesn’t have to taste like medicine or come with a sad trombone. I hope to see all you Chicago FoFers at the Center on Halsted November 18 for a ride through the Tunnel of Love. Thanks for listening, and look forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks. MWAH.
Fausto: To Wit: Black Americans have higher rates of HIV infections, but I don’t think that increasing accessible (free/subsidized/etc) healthcare facilities is the only answer. It seems there needs to be a lot of community work too because it seems that going for testing/treatment and sometimes even using prevention is a big taboo in more urban cultures. I feel such community efforts could be included in the healthcare improvements Jim was alluding-to.
That, and your show was fun and cool and I’m sad I don’t live anywhere near Chicago.
Addressing lack of access to healthcare by racial minorities is not only about providing more free pr subsidized healthcare. It is about getting health insurance for people as well, and providing culturally literate services in communities — services that understand and address the sorts of issues that you bring up Epi. You could argue that many folks who only are able to access health care via the emergency room don’t have a huge incentive to find out their HIV status is they know they won’t be able to get the good, quality healthcare they will need. So, may folks, and many people of color, do not find out they have HIV until it has become AIDS, at an ER visit for pneumonia.
This was areally good show if nothing else but to shed some light on many subjects. I always enjoy when Jim is on. He has a great chemisty with the guys . . . And the eye candy thing never hurts either . . .
Wonderful show, just listened to it now. (I listen backwards – no jueges!) I always revel in these good ole’ discourse around sex and health. In particular, I appreciated the new research & information around HIV+ men who have sex without condoms. And the discussion around race was EXCEPTIONAL. In my experiences, even within queer activist movements, discussions that question positionality, race, and the spectrum of experiences can sometimes be the pin drop in a room – everyone goes quiet. Thank you for sharing your perspectives (these discussions need to happen much more *between* queer white men and men of color) and the ways that implications of race can affect the holistic and mental health of a person. Feast of Fools is a powerful way to get these discussions out there, which are too often avoided. Go girls!
Thank you for the glowing review Randall! If you have a moment, please go to the iTunes music store and share your review there:
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