Published by Dr. Carmen Logie, Canada Research Chair
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Hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie, Canada Research Chair in Global Health Equity & Social Justice with Marginalized Populations, and Professor at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. Supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). This podcast invites a range of weekly guests to talk about all different kinds of stigma. Why does it matter? What does it look like? What can we do about it?Thank you for listening! Follow us on Twitter (@let_stigma) and Instagram (@thestigmapodcast)
In this episode we discuss stigma and homicide violence, in particular its impacts on Black communities, with Dr. Tanya Sharpe. Dr. Sharpe, Professor and Endowed Chair in Social Work in the Global Community at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, founded and directs the Centre for Research and Innovation for Black Survivors of Homicide Victims ( The CRIB ). Her research focus on coping strategies of Black family members and friends of homicide victims. We talk about links between homicide violence and historical, structural and collective trauma, the role of anti-Black racism in shaping narratives around homicide in Black communities, and the social determinants of homicide. We also talk about solutions, including culturally responsive practice, cultural curiosity and humility. Learn about Dr. Sharpe's favourite shows and dream dinner destination as well as what drives her passion. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Cozmic Cat , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Lori Brotto: Let's talk about sex!
Dr. Lori Brotto i s internationally recognized as a leader in sexual health research. She has evaluated psychological interventions for sexual dysfunction and genital pain, which collectively impact 1/3 of women. Her work influences practice internationally, with mindfulness now implemented in sexual medicine centres and recommended as front line care in international guidelines. In recognition of her contributions, she holds a Canada Research Chair in women’s sexual health, has received recent awards in mentoring junior faculty, excellent public education through media, book awards, and is listed among the top 2% cited scientists by Stanford/Elsevier (SCOPUS citations). We talk about stigma around things sex: sexual anatomy, sexual pleasure, sexual relationships, and the harms from stigma for individuals, relationships, and society. You can find Lori's book 'Better Sex through Mindfulness: How Women Can Cultivate Desire' here and you can also find her on Netflix . We also shout out Cliterate and the World Association for Sexual Health ! Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Cozmic Cat , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
"Sometimes when you share a story it frees the storyteller from stigma": On digital storytelling and stigma reduction with Dr. Mike Lang and Kristy Wolfe
This podcast invited Dr. Mike Lang and Kristy Wolfe , digital storytelling experts at Common Language Digital Storytelling to reflect on the power of digital storytelling and stigma reduction. Carmen met Mike and Kristy at the First International Digital Storytelling Festival in Greece in 2024 where she was blown away by their powerful stories across the world. Carmen was then a podcast guest on the Common Language Digital Storytelling Podcast Co-Created , hosted by Kristy Wolfe. We discuss the potential power of digital storytelling in both freeing the storyteller from internalized and anticipated stigma, as well as increasing awareness and empathy among people watching and listening. Telling stories matters- they help us to understand, and this deeper understanding of oneself and others can reduce stigma. We talk about stigma spanning a range of issues, HIV, substance use, heart disease, suicide, autism, PTSD- and how both the storyteller and the listener can shift socio-cultural norms and expectations to generate more community support. Digital Storytelling can highlight strengths-based perspectives on coping, ingenuity, hope and wisdom in the face of challenges. "When we change the questions we ask, we change the answers we get." Learn more about how to meaningfully engage with digital stories from Mike's article . As our podcast guests remind us: "If no-one is willing to tell the story, nothing is ever going to change."
Dr. Angela Kaida: What does it mean to practice allyship in contexts of stigma?
Dr. Angela Kaida is a Simon Fraser University Distinguished Professor and the Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute for Gender and Health. Dr. Kaida’s research interests pertain to understanding the impact of expanding access to HIV treatment and prevention services on sexual and reproductive intentions, behaviours, and outcomes of HIV-affected individuals and couples in high HIV prevalence global settings and in Canada. You can read some of her work here . Angela talks about what it meant to practice allyship in contexts of stigma, in all areas of life and specifically throughout the research process. We talk about gender differences in HIV stigma, the challenges getting rid of stigma even while we make biomedical advances, and steps for us all to take in becoming aware of and working to dismantle stigma and inequity. She discusses recommendations for advancing sexual and reproductive health among women living with HIV in Canada that centre on creating enabling environments that amplify the voices of women in their diversity and challenge stigma and marginalization. We also learn about Angela's inspiring namesake. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Kim Canady on HIV-related stigma: Make the uncomfortable, comfortable
Kim Canady is an HIV/AIDS activist, advocate, mother, and wife born with HIV. Throughout her adolescence, Kimberly became a member of many HIV/AIDS awareness organizations. These organizations include Theo, Heat, UNICEF, YWCHAC, co-chair of YACAC, spokesmodel for New York State Department of Health campaign HIVSTOPSWITHME, and Love Heals. As an African American woman born and raised in Brooklyn, Kimberly faced having to combat the ignorance and stigma that surround HIV and AIDS within her community. Kimberly continues to move forward, not only educating others and living in her truth, but working locally and on a national and global level to help those living with and affected by HIV. Kim is a community advisory board member for The Well Project and her work advances pleasure as a human right and aspect of justice. In this podcast we talk about the ways that HIV stigma still arises in day-to-day living, the importance of experiencing pleasure in all aspects of life (including and expanding beyond sexual pleasure), and ways to make the uncomfortable-comfortable (and the incredible superpower from talking about difficult things). Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Bridgette Picou: Challenge HIV stigma-Educate Yourself and Get Tested!
Bridgette Picou is a nurse with several years of HIV and infectious disease experience and an avid blogger with The Well Project . She also writes a guest column with Positively Aware Magazine called " Being Bridgette. " In addition to her LVN license, Bridgette has been certified as an AIDS Care Nurse (ACLPN) and received the 2022 Patrick Kenny Certified Nurse of the year award. Serving as the President of the Greater Palm Springs Chapter of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (ANAC), it's important to her to not only continue to build relationships between providers and patients but also partner with other members of the HIV medical community for education and advances. She finds that in advocating for others she advocates for herself and affirms her own journey. You can also find her on Twitter . In this podcast we discuss Bridgette's journey and advocacy to thrive with HIV. We talk about the need to better understand the lives of women living with HIV--in particular Black women-- whose voices are often missing from research and media. Bridgette explains the importance of seeing HIV as a LIFE (vs. a disease) process and encourages us all to educate ourselves and learn more about HIV (see The Well Project for up to date info). She recommends that we all get tested to know our HIV status, and perhaps become humbled to the experiences of stigma in the process. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Ciarra "Ci Ci" Covin on HIV Stigma: People living with HIV are still human, with the same desires
Ciarra “Ci Ci” Covin is a mother, advocate, and lover of all human beings. Diagnosed with HIV at the age of 20, Ci Ci has curated a life of HIV and mental advocacy through both her lived experience and education. Ci Ci is program manager at The Well Project , past Ambassador for the CDC’s Let’s Stop HIV Together Campaign, and Owner of Healing Is Voluntary, LLC. In these roles, Ci Ci has been able to connect with other leaders from around the world to further the mission of destigmatizing HIV and providing a community for women who are living with HIV. Learn more about HIV and the work at The Well Project here and follow them on Twitter . Check out Ci Ci's A Girl Like Me series. In this podcast we talk about the persistence of HIV stigma in society and how it affects self-stigma and self-acceptance, advances with U=U, breastfeeding and HIV, and how people living with HIV are still human, with the same desires that might just look a little different. Ci Ci shares simple and powerful ways we can all challenge HIV stigma. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Chelsea Wald on Sanitation Stigma: Potty Talk with the Author of 'Pipe Dreams'
Chelsea Wald has repeatedly plunged into the topic of toilets since 2013, when editors first approached her to write about the latent potential in our stagnating infrastructure. Since then she has traveled to Italy, South Africa, Indonesia, and Haiti, as well as throughout the Netherlands and the United States, in search of the past and future of toilet systems. With a degree in astronomy from Columbia University and a master’s in journalism from Indiana University, Chelsea has more than fifteen years of experience in writing about science and the environment. She has won several awards and reporting grants, including from the Society of Environmental Journalists, the European Geosciences Union, and the European Journalism Centre. She lives with her family in the Netherlands, in a region renowned for its water-related innovations. Her book Pipe Dreams is fascinating- and filled with humour. In this podcast episode, we talk about shame and disgust around toilets; the need for choice and valuing socio-cultural understandings, history, and preferences in developing community sanitation solutions; and the future of the toilet. We also discuss how humour can cut through shame around toilets- and the need to make toilets cooler. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Lezlie Lowe on Sanitation Stigma: "We are taught that toilets are funny or toilets are gross"
Lezlie Lowe began her freelance radio, newspaper, and magazine career in 1996. She has penned and produced pieces on urban rats, roadkill cemeteries and, prominently, public toilets. Lowe has been a finalist and multiple winner at the Radio Television Digital News Association Awards, the Atlantic Journalism Awards, and the Canadian Association of Journalists Awards, and has taught journalism at the University of King's College since 2003. Her first book, No Place To Go: How Public Toilets Fail Our Private Needs was nominated for two Atlantic Book Awards. Lowe, a failed urban planner, has an abiding interest in equity in public spaces. In this podcast episode, we talk about how stigma shapes the ways in which public toilets are designed (note: usually poorly or not at all), how sanitation needs are universal yet most impact marginalized communities, period poverty, and why there are always lines for women's toilets. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Dr. Caetano Dorea on Sanitation Stigma: It's More Than Just a Toilet
Dr. Caetano Dorea is a Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, at the University of Victoria. His interests and expertise are at the crossroads of environmental and public health engineering. You can learn more about his Public Health & Environmental Engineering (PH2E) Lab research here , his publications here , and follow him on Twitter here . We talk about the stigma around sanitation-and in particular 'shit'-and the 'flush and forget' culture. Caetano discusses the stigma experienced by sanitation workers, how sanitation services and water treatment are being reframed to show their value, gendered sanitation needs and experiences, and how sanitation systems must address the needs of the most marginalized (and the relevance of Paul Farmer's teachings), and how we need to transform (and learn more about!) these sanitation systems we use every day. And the importance of toilet humour! Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Dr. David Brennan: GB2M Stigma, HIV, Blood Donation Bans, Monkeypox and Pride
Professor David J. Brennan is the Associate Dean, Research at Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto. He is the founder and director of the CRUISElab , an interdisciplinary, community-based social work research lab dedicated to addressing the sexual, mental, physical, and emotional health of gay, bisexual, two-spirit, cis- and trans-gender men who have sex with other men (GB2M). Dr. Brennan has been directly involved in the HIV epidemic since 1983 in many social work roles, including case manager, clinical supervisor, psychotherapist, program manager, and researcher. Learn more about his research here and follow him on Twitter here. In this podcast we talk about the history of HIV stigma as well as stigma towards GB2M. We talk about what this stigma looks like in a day-to-day experience of getting dressed and walking down the street, as well as how it can be embedded in policies and practices. Using current examples of the recent changes in eligibility of GB2M in donating blood in Canada, and discourse around Monkeypox, David reminds us of how we can all engage in challenging stigma. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Dr. Steffanie Strathdee: Stigma and why phage therapy was forgotten
Dr. Steffanie Strathdee is Associate Dean of Global Health Sciences and Harold Simon Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. She co-directs UCSD’s new center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics (IPATH), Global Health Institute and the International Core of UCSD’s Center for AIDS Research. An infectious disease epidemiologist, she has spent the last two decades focusing on HIV prevention in marginalized populations and has published over 600 peer-reviewed publications . She has recently begun working to move bacteriophage therapy into clinical trials at IPATH. She has co-authored her memoir, The Perfect Predator: A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug . In this podcast we talk about Dr. Strathdee's experiences learning about bacteriophage (phage) therapy treatment through a personal experience where her husband became extremely ill from antimicrobial resistant bacteria. She learned that stigma in part was how phage therapy had become forgotten in North America--stigma toward scientists with different beliefs and training than the mainstream, stigma toward viruses that maybe perceived "at the borderline of life", and stigma toward research based on geopolitics (including the "Russian taint"). Steffanie inspires listeners with her discussion of the power of global collaboration, advocacy in healthcare, and the importance of making (rather than waiting for) miracles to happen. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
As a community organizer, artist, activist, academic and at times a “professional”, Jessica Lynn Whitbread is interested in doing work that creates spaces for dialogue about social justice and social change. She does this through public installations, consciousness raising, workshop development and facilitation, engaging in direct action, policy review, research and any other method that allows a variety of stakeholders to engage in a diversity of ways. She believes that acts of kindness are stronger than acts of fear and that strong, united hearts can overcome the inequalities of this world. Jessica was the youngest and first queer woman to be elected as the Global Chair for the International Community of Women Living with HIV – ICW (2012), the founder of the first International Chapter of Young Women, Adolescents and Girls living with HIV (2010) as well as a long standing Steering Committee member for AIDS ACTION NOW!, and a Board member of the Canadian HIV Legal Network. Learn more about Jessica here In this podcast we speak with the legendary Jessica Lynn Whitbread, whose projects include Tea Time, Love Positive Women, No Pants No Problem, and PosterVIRUS (AIDS ACTION NOW!). Jessica discusses how we can all engage in action and work for social change to improve the lives of women living with HIV. To learn more about how you can participate in, and contribute to, LOVE POSITIVE WOMEN: Romance Starts at Home! (LPW) visit here and check out this LPW implementation guide by WHAI. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Sabby Duthie & John E. Johnson: Stigma & Elder Abuse
Sabby Duthie and John E. Johnson are authors of ' Elder Abuse: You have a role to play '. This first-of-its-kind book undertakes the uncomfortable conversation that elder abuse is widespread and very real. John E. Johnson, a retired lawyer, and Sabby Duthie, a former retirement-home owner, share real stories from families of different generations and backgrounds. In this podcast, we discuss elder abuse and how stigma toward the elderly can fuel elder abuse and create a lack of awareness surrounding this issue. Sabby and John provide examples of the ways in which people can value the elderly, notice important signs of elder abuse, and be part of creating change. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Annie Philpott: Stigma, Sex and the Pleasure Revolution
Annie Philpott is a public health professional, pleasure propagandist and ‘guerrilla girl’ of HIV prevention. She founded The Pleasure Project in 2004, an international education and advocacy organization working to eroticize safer sex. The Pleasure Project builds bridges between the public health world and the pleasure and sex industry, and help to develop the evidence base for a sex-positive and pleasure-based approach to sexual health and rights. You can read more about her work here and follow The Pleasure Project on Twitter here . We talk about The Pleasure Project's important work in entering sexual pleasure as key to sexual rights and sexual health, and the ways that certain sex is more stigmatized than others. Annie talks about the exciting projects that The Pleasure Project is doing to put the sexy into safer sex, the importance of pleasure inclusive sexual health, and the pleasure wave. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Dr. Keosha Bond: Gendered Racism & Changing the Narrative
Dr. Keosha T. Bond is an Assistant Medical Professor in the Department of Community Health and Social Medicine at the CUNY School of Medicine. She is a trained behavioral scientist and sexual health educator who has centered her work on the complex intersections of race, sexuality, social justice, and health equity among individuals of marginalized genders. You can learn more about her research here , and follow her on twitter here . We talk about Keosha's work on the intersection of gender and race, and the ways that bias, stereotypes, laws and health practices impact the ability of Black women to live healthy and quality lives. We also discuss the stigma surrounding sex, and how this gets in the way of sexual and reproductive health care and safer sex. Keosha describes the multiple ways people can be part of reducing stigma and bias, including learning about histories and continued legacies of racism and becoming comfortable talking about sex. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Dr. Steve Bell: Seek to be surprised
Associate Professor Steve Bell is a Principal Research Fellow in the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at the University of Queensland. He is an applied health and social researcher with 20 years’ experience of qualitative, participatory and ethnographic research on sexual, reproductive and maternal health, HIV and other infectious diseases. He is currently working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in remote, regional and urban settings across Australia, and excluded and oppressed communities in Asia and the Pacific (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea), and has undertaken previous work in countries in Africa (Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and Asia (India and Nepal). Find his new book here and follow him on Twitter . We talk about the importance of community expertise and leadership in research, youth-centred research, and recognizing the solutions and agency within persons experiencing social exclusion. Steve calls for empathy and action to reduce stigma and inequity. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Calvin Hudson Hwang: Anti-Asian Racism & COVID-19
Calvin Hudson Hwang is an award winning Taiwanese Canadian director, producer and founder of SUPRE . SUPRE aims to empower underpowered voices and present often unheard points-of-view with insight, vulnerability and authenticity. They find unconventional ways to produce films to make them openly accessible for everyone to watch. Calvin's directorial work includes What Flowers They Bloom (2021), Miracle, Baby (2019), Exiting Hell Bar (2017), My Best Dress (2013), and Vestiaire (2011). You can follow SUPRE on Twitter here . In this podcast we talk about Calvin's new documentary ' What Flowers They Bloom ' (2021) on anti-Asian racism and COVID-19. Calvin discusses the importance of addressing both disinformation as well as pre-existing stigma, discrimination and bias toward Asian communities that has been amplified in the pandemic. What Flowers They Bloom explores the trauma created by anti-Asian racism, as well as the importance of solidarity and community in fighting back against this stigma. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Dr. Laura Ferguson: Dismantling hierarchies of power & knowledge
Laura Ferguson is an assistant professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California , the director of the Program on Global Health & Human Rights and the director of research at the USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. Her research focuses on understanding and addressing health system and societal factors affecting health and the uptake of health services, as well as how attention to human rights can improve health outcomes. She collaborates with a range of United Nations agencies as well as foundations, universities and non-governmental organizations. She is also an associate editor for the journal Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters . Learn more about her research here and follow her on Twitter . We talk about the social and structural forces that cause harm, such as laws and policies that criminalize sex work and same-sex sexual practices, that limit rights and produce barriers to health care access. Laura shares her experience working on changing these social and structural contexts of discrimination, including engaging judges in conversations with persons who are negatively impacted by laws. Laura details actions everyone can take to create a more just world. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
Dr. Ayden Scheim: Finding your place to plug in to challenge stigma
Dr. Ayden Scheim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health . He is also an Affiliate Scientist in the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation and Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital (Toronto) and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Western University . He studies the impacts of social, policy, and healthcare environments on the health of stigmatized populations. In particular, he conducts community-engaged research with transgender populations and people who use drugs, both domestically and globally. You can learn more about his research here and follow him on Twitter . Dr. Scheim discusses the varying ways that stigma and discrimination toward trans persons, persons who use drugs, and racialized persons show up to shape the everyday lives of people in ways that challenge basic humanity and harm health. We discuss the backlash following progress on human rights. Ayden shares how everybody has a role in reducing stigma, providing practical tips for engaging in personal reflection and growth, community engagement, political activism and shifting our interpersonal interactions. Episode hosted by Dr. Carmen Logie . Supported by funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canada Research Chairs program. Original music and podcast produced by Jupiter Productions , who have various production services available to support your podcast needs.
