Blindspot
45 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 months ago - ★★★★ - 574 ratingsHIV and AIDS changed the United States and the world. In this series, we reveal untold stories from the defining years of the epidemic, and we’ll consider: How could some of the pain have been avoided? Most crucial of all, what lessons can we still learn from it today? Blindspot is a co-production of The HISTORYⓇ Channel and WNYC Studios.
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Episodes
There Was Love Here
February 22, 2024 11:00 - 38 minutes - 34.8 MBIn this final episode, we turn to people living with HIV today — longtime survivors of a plague who, despite their pain, frustrations and desires to just be done with it, realize they can’t be done with it. These are people like Kia LaBeija, an artist born HIV-positive, who turned to photography at 16, a couple years after her mother died, to help make sense of her story. And they are people like Phill Wilson, an activist who still bears the scars of his decades fighting in the HIV and AIDS ...
What If I Could Have Grown Old With My Brother?
February 15, 2024 11:00 - 39 minutes - 36.6 MBIn 1985, doctors at a methadone clinic in the South Bronx made the harrowing discovery: 50 percent of its patients had HIV. Three years later, in the same neighborhood, a pair of epidemiologists estimated that as many as one in five young men were positive for the disease. Those numbers made the South Bronx one of most critical hotspots for HIV in the country. Joyce Rivera was born and raised in the South Bronx. She watched as heroin flooded into her neighborhood followed by HIV. When River...
Respectability Politics and the AIDS Crisis
February 08, 2024 11:00 - 47 minutes - 43.7 MBBy 1986, almost 40 percent of people diagnosed with AIDS in the United States were either Black or Latino. As the full contours of the crisis became apparent, a group of Black gay men began to organize in cities across the country, demanding attention and support for the people dying in their midst. This effort required them to confront big, important institutions in both the medical establishment and the government — and it meant they had to stare down racism in the broader LGBTQ+ community...
'Women Don’t Get AIDS, They Just Die From It'
February 01, 2024 11:00 - 44 minutes - 40.4 MBFrom the very earliest days of the epidemic, women got infected with HIV and died from AIDS — just like men. But from the earliest days, this undeniable fact was largely ignored — by the public, the government and even the medical establishment. The consequences of this blindspot were profound. Many women didn’t know they could get HIV. But in the late 1980s, something remarkable happened. At a maximum security prison in upstate New York, a group of women came together to fight the terror a...
If I Didn't Have HIV, I Wouldn't Have Met You
January 25, 2024 11:00 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBIt’s the 1980s — Harlem, USA — and the 17th floor of the area’s struggling public hospital is filling up with infants and children who arrive and then never leave. Some spend their whole lives on the pediatric ward, celebrating birthdays, first steps and first words with the nurses and doctors who’ve become their surrogate family. Welcome to Harlem Hospital at the height of the HIV and AIDS epidemics. When the nurses and doctors at this community hospital first began to see infants sufferin...
Mourning in America
January 18, 2024 11:00 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MBValerie Reyes-Jimenez called it “The Monster.” That’s how some people described HIV and AIDS in the 1980s. Valerie thinks as many as 75 people from her block on New York City’s Lower East Side died. They were succumbing to an illness that was not recognized as the same virus that was killing young, white, gay men just across town in the West Village. At the same time, in Washington, D.C., Gil Gerald, a Black LGBTQ+ activist, saw his own friends and colleagues begin to disappear, dying out o...
Introducing Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows
January 11, 2024 11:00 - 3 minutes - 3.45 MBIn this season of Blindspot: The Plague in the Shadows, we travel back to a pivotal moment in the history of this country, and we trace how, decades before Covid-19, a virus tore through some of our most vulnerable communities while the wider world looked away. We go to a pediatric ward in Harlem, a women’s prison in upstate New York, a drug market in the South Bronx, and the inner sanctum of the National Institutes of Health. And we meet people who demanded that they, and their illness, be ...
Blindspot introduces Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery
June 02, 2022 08:00 - 1 hour - 87.8 MBBlindspot introduces a new podcast: Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery New Jersey politics is not for the faint of heart. But the brutal killing of John and Joyce Sheridan, a prominent couple with personal ties to three governors, shocks even the most cynical operatives. The mystery surrounding the crime sends their son on a quest for truth. Dead End is a story of crime and corruption at the highest levels of society in the Garden State. Jim O'Grady (Blindspot, Season 1) in co...
Blindspot introduces Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery
June 02, 2022 08:00 - 5 minutes - 5.62 MBBlindspot introduces a new podcast: Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery New Jersey politics is not for the faint of heart. But the brutal killing of John and Joyce Sheridan, a prominent couple with personal ties to three governors, shocks even the most cynical operatives. The mystery surrounding the crime sends their son on a quest for truth. Dead End is a story of crime and corruption at the highest levels of society in the Garden State. Jim O'Grady (Blindspot, Season 1) in co...
Revisiting 9/11
September 01, 2021 16:00 - 2 minutes - 1.85 MBTwenty years after the attacks that changed our world, we revisit the evidence and question the people at the center of the story.
Revisiting 9/11
September 01, 2021 16:00 - 2 minutes - 2.24 MBTwenty years after the attacks that changed our world, we revisit the evidence and question the people at the center of the story.
Episode 6: The Lesson
July 02, 2021 04:01 - 33 minutes - 30.6 MBThe centennial of the massacre attracted international coverage; camera crews, T-shirt vendors, and even a visit from President Joe Biden. It seemed as though all this attention might ensure that history finally, would never be forgotten. But a month later some Tulsans worry that a backlash has begun. The city’s mayor and other elected officials have spoken against reparations for victims of the massacre and their descendents. A new law in Oklahoma limits how teachers can teach the massacre ...
Episode 6: The Lesson
July 02, 2021 04:01 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBThe centennial of the massacre attracted international coverage; camera crews, T-shirt vendors, and even a visit from President Joe Biden. It seemed as though all this attention might ensure that history finally, would never be forgotten. But a month later some Tulsans worry that a backlash has begun. The city’s mayor and other elected officials have spoken against reparations for victims of the massacre and their descendents. A new law in Oklahoma limits how teachers can teach the massacre ...
Episode 5: The Body
June 25, 2021 04:01 - 31 minutes - 29 MBThis episode contains descriptions of graphic violence. Ignored, erased, silenced… But Greenwood’s trauma from 1921 persists. Resmaa Menakem — a therapist and expert on healing from conflict and violence — explains how generations of people pass down the experiences of historical events, and how racialized trauma affects us all, no matter our skin color. He and KalaLea ask, how might healing happen for the descendants of survivors and perpetrators of the massacre?
Episode 5: The Body
June 25, 2021 04:01 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBThis episode contains descriptions of graphic violence. Ignored, erased, silenced… But Greenwood’s trauma from 1921 persists. Resmaa Menakem — a therapist and expert on healing from conflict and violence — explains how generations of people pass down the experiences of historical events, and how racialized trauma affects us all, no matter our skin color. He and KalaLea ask, how might healing happen for the descendants of survivors and perpetrators of the massacre?
Episode 4: The Massacre
June 18, 2021 04:01 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBThis episode contains descriptions of graphic violence and racially offensive language. Over two days — May 31 and June 1, 1921 — a mob of white attackers systematically looted Greenwood and burned it to the ground. Estimates vary, but reports say the marauders killed 100 to 300 people; and they left thousands homeless, faced with the daunting task of rebuilding. We experience the attack through the eyes of lawyer B.C. Franklin and reporter Mary Elizabeth Jones Parrish — each left personal,...
Episode 4: The Massacre
June 18, 2021 04:01 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBThis episode contains descriptions of graphic violence and racially offensive language. Over two days — May 31 and June 1, 1921 — a mob of white attackers systematically looted Greenwood and burned it to the ground. Estimates vary, but reports say the marauders killed 100 to 300 people; and they left thousands homeless, faced with the daunting task of rebuilding. We experience the attack through the eyes of lawyer B.C. Franklin and reporter Mary Elizabeth Jones Parrish — each left personal,...
Episode 3: The Two Wars
June 11, 2021 04:01 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MBThis episode contains descriptions of graphic violence and racially offensive language. When the U.S. entered World War I, W.E.B. DuBois and Tulsa lawyer B.C. Franklin saw a rare opportunity: Black Americans serving in the military might finally persuade white citizens that they deserved equal respect. But the discrimination they faced in civilian life continued in the trenches and on the homefront. After the war, white mobs plundered and burned Black neighborhoods throughout the country. A...
Episode 3: The Two Wars
June 11, 2021 04:01 - 39 minutes - 36 MBThis episode contains descriptions of graphic violence and racially offensive language. When the U.S. entered World War I, W.E.B. DuBois and Tulsa lawyer B.C. Franklin saw a rare opportunity: Black Americans serving in the military might finally persuade white citizens that they deserved equal respect. But the discrimination they faced in civilian life continued in the trenches and on the homefront. After the war, white mobs plundered and burned Black neighborhoods throughout the country. A...
Episode 2: The Rise of Greenwood
June 04, 2021 04:01 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBThe people beyond Greenwood’s borders ensured that the neighborhood could not prosper for long. To understand how and why, we travel back to the Trail of Tears and the forced resettlement of five Native American tribes. We examine the racist laws and policies that shaped the area. Despite Jim Crow segregation, the district flourished -- it even came to be called “Black Wall Street.” “The story of Greenwood is so complex,” says writer Victor Luckerson. “There's so much tragedy and trauma as p...
Episode 2: The Rise of Greenwood
June 04, 2021 04:01 - 35 minutes - 32.3 MBThe people beyond Greenwood’s borders ensured that the neighborhood could not prosper for long. To understand how and why, we travel back to the Trail of Tears and the forced resettlement of five Native American tribes. We examine the racist laws and policies that shaped the area. Despite Jim Crow segregation, the district flourished -- it even came to be called “Black Wall Street.” “The story of Greenwood is so complex,” says writer Victor Luckerson. “There's so much tragedy and trauma as p...
Episode 1: The Past Is Present
May 28, 2021 04:01 - 35 minutes - 32 MBThis episode contains descriptions of graphic violence and racially offensive language. On May 31, 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District was a thriving Black residential and business community — a city within a city. By June 1, a white mob, with the support of law enforcement, had reduced it to ashes. And yet the truth about the attack remained a secret to many for nearly a century. Chief Egunwale Amusan grew up in Tulsa — his grandfather survived the attack — and he’s dedicated his l...
Episode 1: The Past Is Present
May 28, 2021 04:01 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MBThis episode contains descriptions of graphic violence and racially offensive language. On May 31, 1921, Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Greenwood District was a thriving Black residential and business community — a city within a city. By June 1, a white mob, with the support of law enforcement, had reduced it to ashes. And yet the truth about the attack remained a secret to many for nearly a century.Chief Egunwale Amusan grew up in Tulsa — his grandfather survived the attack — and he’s dedicated his lif...
Introducing Blindspot: Tulsa Burning
May 21, 2021 17:47 - 1 minute - 936 KBOn May 31, 1921, the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma was a thriving city within a city -- a symbol of pride, success and wealth. The next morning, it was ashes. What happened remained a secret for almost a century. Voices featured in this trailer include: KalaLea, Chief Eguwale Amusan, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Raven Majia Williams, and Dr. Tiffany Crutcher. The first episode drops Friday, May 28. Subscribe now.
Introducing Blindspot: Tulsa Burning
May 21, 2021 17:47 - 59 seconds - 922 KBOn May 31, 1921, the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma was a thriving city within a city -- a symbol of pride, success and wealth. The next morning, it was ashes. What happened remained a secret for almost a century. Voices featured in this trailer include: KalaLea, Chief Eguwale Amusan, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Raven Majia Williams, and Dr. Tiffany Crutcher. The first episode drops Friday, May 28. Subscribe now.
Episode 8: The Ghost
October 21, 2020 08:00 - 52 minutes - 48.1 MB“The Ghost” is the nickname that Port Authority Detective Matthew Besheer and FBI Special Agent Frank Pellegrino give to the man they’ve been hunting for years but can’t quite catch: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- also known as KSM. He’s the uncle of Ramzi Yousef, and he picks up his plot to hijack planes and fly them into buildings. Without knowing his specific plans, Pellegrino and Besheer are acutely aware of the scope of KSM’s ambition, and the danger he presents to both military and civilian...
Episode 8: The Ghost
October 21, 2020 08:00 - 52 minutes - 47.9 MB“The Ghost” is the nickname that Port Authority Detective Matthew Besheer and FBI Special Agent Frank Pellegrino give to the man they’ve been hunting for years but can’t quite catch: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- also known as KSM. He’s the uncle of Ramzi Yousef, and he picks up his plot to hijack planes and fly them into buildings. Without knowing his specific plans, Pellegrino and Besheer are acutely aware of the scope of KSM’s ambition, and the danger he presents to both military and civilian...
Episode 7: The Falcon Hunt
October 14, 2020 08:00 - 54 minutes - 50.2 MBIt’s the late 1990s and the question tying policy makers at the highest levels of the U.S. government into knots: How should we respond to a relatively scattered group that is pulling off bloody attacks on our foreign installations and soldiers? In other words, how to deal with Al Qaeda? This is the group responsible for terror attacks such as the deadly bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. And its leader, Osama bin Laden, has promised more attacks. In this episode, we hear ...
Episode 7: The Falcon Hunt
October 14, 2020 08:00 - 55 minutes - 50.4 MBIt’s the late 1990s and the question tying policy makers at the highest levels of the U.S. government into knots: How should we respond to a relatively scattered group that is pulling off bloody attacks on our foreign installations and soldiers? In other words, how to deal with Al Qaeda? This is the group responsible for terror attacks such as the deadly bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. And its leader, Osama bin Laden, has promised more attacks. In this episode, we hear ...
Episode 6: The Choice
October 07, 2020 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.9 MBOsama bin Laden began his life as the son of a contractor made fabulously wealthy by the Saudi Arabian oil boom. From an early age, bin Laden shows himself to be different from his Western-leaning family. He forges a close relationship with the radical preacher Abdullah Azzam, who he joins as a mujahideen fighter in the Afghan War. Bin Laden will eventually be lionized by some in the Muslim world as the man who gave up the comforts of his upbringing to risk his life in battle -- and steered ...
Episode 6: The Choice
October 07, 2020 08:00 - 45 minutes - 42 MBOsama bin Laden began his life as the son of a contractor made fabulously wealthy by the Saudi Arabian oil boom. From an early age, bin Laden shows himself to be different from his Western-leaning family. He forges a close relationship with the radical preacher Abdullah Azzam, who he joins as a mujahideen fighter in the Afghan War. Bin Laden will eventually be lionized by some in the Muslim world as the man who gave up the comforts of his upbringing to risk his life in battle -- and steered ...
Episode 5: The Idea
September 30, 2020 08:00 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBThe World Trade Center was built with soaring expectations. Completed in 1973, its architect, Minoru Yamasaki, hoped the towers would stand as “a representation of man’s belief in humanity” and “world peace.” He even took inspiration from the Great Mosque in the holy city of Mecca with its tall minarets looking down on a sprawling plaza. What he did not expect was that the buildings would become a symbol to some of American imperialism and the strangling grip of global capitalism. Our story...
Episode 5: The Idea
September 30, 2020 08:00 - 50 minutes - 46.7 MBThe World Trade Center was built with soaring expectations. Completed in 1973, its architect, Minoru Yamasaki, hoped the towers would stand as “a representation of man’s belief in humanity” and “world peace.” He even took inspiration from the Great Mosque in the holy city of Mecca with its tall minarets looking down on a sprawling plaza. What he did not expect was that the buildings would become a symbol to some of American imperialism and the strangling grip of global capitalism. Our story...
Bonus Episode: The Double Life
September 25, 2020 08:00 - 34 minutes - 31.6 MBEmad Salem has been called one of the most successful undercover agents in the history of the FBI. In a rare interview, Salem opens up about the personal price he paid for foiling the Landmarks Plot and bringing down a dangerous terrorist cell. It’s been more than 20 years since Salem testified against terrorists linked to Al Qaeda in open court; he’s been in hiding ever since. He tells WNYC’s Jim O’Grady what it was like to win the confidence of terrorists who, if they’d found him out, mi...
Bonus Episode: The Double Life
September 25, 2020 08:00 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBEmad Salem has been called one of the most successful undercover agents in the history of the FBI. In a rare interview, Salem opens up about the personal price he paid for foiling the Landmarks Plot and bringing down a dangerous terrorist cell. It’s been more than 20 years since Salem testified against terrorists linked to Al Qaeda in open court; he’s been in hiding ever since. He tells WNYC’s Jim O’Grady what it was like to win the confidence of terrorists who, if they’d found him out, mi...
Episode 4: The Sheikh
September 23, 2020 08:00 - 40 minutes - 36.8 MBFBI informant Emad Salem is close to not only the Blind Sheikh but his trusted lieutenant, an ambitious terrorist named Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali. Salem soon finds himself at the Statue of Liberty with Siddig Ali; their goal is not to enjoy their visit but figure out how to destroy it with a bomb. It is one of five targets in what will come to be known as The Landmarks Plot -- a plan to cause mass casualties by attacking not only tourist sites but heavily trafficked crossings such as the Hol...
Episode 4: The Sheikh
September 23, 2020 08:00 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBFBI informant Emad Salem is close to not only the Blind Sheikh but his trusted lieutenant, an ambitious terrorist named Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali. Salem soon finds himself at the Statue of Liberty with Siddig Ali; their goal is not to enjoy their visit but figure out how to destroy it with a bomb. It is one of five targets in what will come to be known as The Landmarks Plot -- a plan to cause mass casualties by attacking not only tourist sites but heavily trafficked crossings such as the Hol...
Episode 3: The Bomb
September 16, 2020 08:00 - 32 minutes - 29.7 MBNYPD Detective Louis Napoli and FBI Special Agent John Anticev fear an attack is coming, but without their mole, Emad Salem, they’re blind to the machinations of the Brooklyn terror cell. Then on February 26, 1993, a bomb goes off in the basement parking garage of the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than a thousand. We follow investigators as they chase down clues and round up suspects, including one who bungles his way directly into the hands of the FBI. (His fellow...
Episode 3: The Bomb
September 16, 2020 08:00 - 32 minutes - 29.8 MBNYPD Detective Louis Napoli and FBI Special Agent John Anticev fear an attack is coming, but without their mole, Emad Salem, they’re blind to the machinations of the Brooklyn terror cell. Then on February 26, 1993, a bomb goes off in the basement parking garage of the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than a thousand. We follow investigators as they chase down clues and round up suspects, including one who bungles his way directly into the hands of the FBI. (His fellow...
Episode 2: The Mole
September 09, 2020 08:05 - 44 minutes - 41.1 MBIn 1981, the radical cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman -- known as The Blind Sheikh -- inspires the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat at a military ceremony. One of the soldiers present is Emad Salem. He swears revenge against the Sheikh. Cut to: 1990. Salem is retired from the Egyptian army and scratching out a living as an immigrant in New York. NYPD Detective Louis Napoli and FBI Special Agent John Anticev approach him with a potentially life-altering request. Would he be willing...
Episode 2: The Mole
September 09, 2020 08:05 - 45 minutes - 41.2 MBIn 1981, the radical cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman -- known as The Blind Sheikh -- inspires the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat at a military ceremony. One of the soldiers present is Emad Salem. He swears revenge against the Sheikh. Cut to: 1990. Salem is retired from the Egyptian army and scratching out a living as an immigrant in New York. NYPD Detective Louis Napoli and FBI Special Agent John Anticev approach him with a potentially life-altering request. Would he be willing...
Episode 1: The Bullet
September 09, 2020 08:00 - 48 minutes - 44 MBThe 9/11 attacks were so much more than a bolt from the blue on a crisp September morning. They were more than a decade in the making. Our story starts in a Midtown Manhattan hotel ballroom in 1990. Shots ring out and the extremist rabbi, Meir Kahane, lies mortally wounded. His assassin, El-Sayyid Nosair, is connected to members of a Brooklyn mosque who are training to fight with Islamic freedom fighters in Afghanistan. NYPD Detective Louis Napoli and FBI Special Agent John Anticev catch the...
Episode 1: The Bullet
September 09, 2020 08:00 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MBThe 9/11 attacks were so much more than a bolt from the blue on a crisp September morning. They were more than a decade in the making. Our story starts in a Midtown Manhattan hotel ballroom in 1990. Shots ring out and the extremist rabbi, Meir Kahane, lies mortally wounded. His assassin, El-Sayyid Nosair, is connected to members of a Brooklyn mosque who are training to fight with Islamic freedom fighters in Afghanistan. NYPD Detective Louis Napoli and FBI Special Agent John Anticev catch the...
Introducing Blindspot: The Road to 9/11
August 31, 2020 18:09 - 2 minutes - 2.43 MBTime has flattened our understanding of the 9/11 terror attacks. There’s a sense that they came out of the clear blue sky of the day itself. They didn’t. We'll revisit the evidence and question the people at the center of the story. Voices featured in this trailer include Jim O’Grady, Cofer Black, Steve Simon, John Anticev, Huthaifa Azzam, Michael Scheuer, Emad Salem, Mary Jo White, Cynthia Storer, and Matthew Besheer. The first two episodes drop Wednesday, September 9. Subscribe now.
Introducing Blindspot: The Road to 9/11
August 31, 2020 18:09 - 2 minutes - 2.43 MBTime has flattened our understanding of the 9/11 terror attacks. There’s a sense that they came out of the clear blue sky of the day itself. They didn’t. We'll revisit the evidence and question the people at the center of the story. Voices featured in this trailer include Jim O’Grady, Cofer Black, Steve Simon, John Anticev, Huthaifa Azzam, Michael Scheuer, Emad Salem, Mary Jo White, Cynthia Storer, and Matthew Besheer. The first two episodes drop Wednesday, September 9. Subscribe now.