Let the Record Show, a history of ACT UP
Sarah Schulman's 737-page history
Available below as the broadcast file, with most pitching removed; also available below in 5 segments without pitches.
Tune into a two-hour Out-FM fundraising special on Tues., September 14, 2021 from 7:00 PM (an hour earlier than usual) to 9:00 PM EST, on WBAI/NY (99.5 FM) or listen at https://www.wbai.org/listen-live
Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP/New York 1987-1993
Interview with Sarah Schulman, author of this brilliant, 700+-page analytical book
"Twenty years in the making, Sarah Schulman's Let the Record Show is the most comprehensive political history ever assembled of ACT UP and American AIDS activism. Based on more than 200 interviews with ACT UP members and rich with lessons for today’s activists, Let the Record Show is a revelatory exploration—and long-overdue reassessment—of the coalition’s inner workings, conflicts, achievements, and ultimate fracture. Schulman, one of the most revered queer writers and thinkers of her generation, explores the how and the why, examining, with her characteristic rigor and bite, how a group of desperate outcasts changed America forever, and in the process created a livable future for generations of people across the world.
Author Sarah Schulman
Sarah moves beyond narratives reducing ACT UP’s impact to the simplistic narrative that it sped up the development and availability of life-extending drugs for HIV and AIDS, which it did do, but what she highlights are ACT UP's tremendous achievements in many realms of social and economic benefits, scientific research, prevention, and human rights which kept many people alive to later benefit from the drugs.
ACT UP's story has inspired thousands of people to continue activism around other issues mixing new and old methods of organizing. Tune in to hear more about this amazing history of a group that continues to this day.