Still Here: A Podcast From The Sick Times

The Sick Times

Every week, co-hosts Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets talk with guests about Long COVID news, commentary, and research. No pandemic minimizing, gaslighting, or denial here. The Sick Times is a nonprofit newsroom chronicling the ongoing Long COVID crisis.

  1. How are disabled artists redefining Pride?

    1d ago

    How are disabled artists redefining Pride?

    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 Katie Drackert open up about the ancestors and mentors who shape their work, camp and absurdism as tools against denial and fascism, the unlearning required to embrace disability, and where they find queer joy outside of Pride Month.Subscribe to Still Here wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review letting us know what you think of the show.

    52 min
  2. Will the new COVID-19 antiviral be accessible?

    5d ago

    Will the new COVID-19 antiviral be accessible?

    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 Ladyzhets talks to co-host and Sick Times co-founder Miles Griffis about his reporting on the drug, the manufacturers, the studies behind it, and what it could mean for the disease.Subscribe to Still Here wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review letting us know what you think of the show. Links Mentioned: FDA approves COVID-19 antiviral Xocova as PEP. But will it be accessible? - The Sick TimesResearch updates, June 23 - The Sick Times

    23 min
  3. How is Minnesota addressing Long COVID?

    Jun 15

    How is Minnesota addressing Long COVID?

    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 to Still Here wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review or a comment telling us how you like this episode. Links Mentioned: Minnesota’s Statewide Roadmap to Address Long COVID and Post-Viral Chronic Conditions  Long COVID Funding Opportunities - MN Dept. of Health More Resources from Minnesota: Long COVID A Post-COVID Condition - MN Dept. of Health www.meaction.net Past stories from The Sick Times on Minnesota’s Long COVID program: Minnesota’s unique Long COVID program retains funding following advocacy - The Sick Times Minnesota House budget proposes eliminating state Long COVID program - The Sick Times $11 billion CDC funding cuts may decimate Long COVID response in several states - The Sick Times Millions of Americans have Long COVID. Will Kamala Harris acknowledge them? - The Sick Times

    28 min
  4. How can we eat when we’re too sick to cook?

    Jun 4

    How can we eat when we’re too sick to cook?

    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 solitude of your own home. Subscribe to Still Here wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review letting us know what you think of today’s episode. Links mentioned in this episode: Buy misery meals (worldwide shipping): https://ko-fi.com/miseryparty Sign up for misery's newsletter: https://miseryparty.substack.com/subscribeFollow misery on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miseryparty/ Follow nutritionist Kaysha Thomas on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayshathomas/Cooking is terrible by Misha FletcherDepression Cooking by Sonali MenezesCookbooks by Ruby TandohResearch UpdatesVyvgart brought us back to life, but the Long COVID trial was canceled. We are calling on the NIH and HHS to study the drug.

    27 min
  5. Why are RECOVER's first round of Long COVID clinical trials failing?

    Jun 2

    Why are RECOVER's first round of Long COVID clinical trials failing?

    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 trials, and why those results have left many patients and advocates in the Long COVID community disappointed. Subscribe to Still Here wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review telling us what you think of this episode.

    33 min
  6. What is the link between climate change and chronic illness?

    May 14

    What is the link between climate change and chronic illness?

    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 barometric pressure and wildfire smoke to mold and flooding, and why she believes the crises facing chronically ill people and the planet are two sides of the same coin.Subscribe to Still Here wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review telling us what you think of this episode.

    28 min
  7. How do we track COVID-19 in 2026?

    May 7

    How do we track COVID-19 in 2026?

    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 abridged version of that webinar. Still Here co-hosts Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets were joined by Caitlin Rivers, an infectious disease epidemiologist who directs the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation at Johns Hopkins and runs the popular newsletter Force of Infection; and Tea Burns, a disabled trans nurse and first aid instructor with Action Readiness Collective of NYC (ARC-NYC).  Subscribe to Still Here wherever you get your podcasts, and leave us a review telling us what you think of this episode. Links Mentioned: Full webinar video on YoutubeCOVID-19 spreads year round. Here's how to track it.

    57 min
  8. “People are dying because of the stigma”: Long COVID’s global underreporting problem

    Apr 30

    “People are dying because of the stigma”: Long COVID’s global underreporting problem

    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 you think of this episode.

    21 min
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Every week, co-hosts Miles Griffis and Betsy Ladyzhets talk with guests about Long COVID news, commentary, and research. No pandemic minimizing, gaslighting, or denial here. The Sick Times is a nonprofit newsroom chronicling the ongoing Long COVID crisis.

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