Informed Dissent News for the Week December 6, 2025

Segment One — Conversation with Glenna Goldis

We open the episode with Glenna Goldis and a breakdown of the week’s biggest stories:

* The New York Times piece on the secretly recorded surgery consultation

* Chase Strangio, taking one for the team with a public-facing optimism that change is possible within current advocacy structures — and why that message feels (because it is) another kind of fake believe.

Glenna provides legally grounded analysis, highlighting how weak or ideologically driven legal defense strategies can create long-term consequences for everyone — eroding public trust, distorting precedent, and reshaping the legal landscape in ways that harm both patients and professionals. Her critique underscores how fragile the rule of law becomes when institutions abandon rigor.

Segment Two — Interview with Journalist Ben Ryan

Next, we sit down with journalist Ben Ryan for an in-depth historical and cultural discussion of the HIV landscape:

* The origins and development of AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs)

* How these organizations became federally funded and what that funding structure meant for their long-term mission and operations

* The history, promise, and limitations of PrEP, including how it reshaped the HIV prevention paradigm

* How medical interventions, public-health messaging, and funding priorities can influence — and sometimes transform — community culture, norms, and expectations

Ben offers rich historical context and a nuanced understanding of how institutions evolve, how public-health decisions ripple outward, and how medicine can shape a community’s identity and trajectory.

Our Guest: Journalist Ben Ryan

Ben Ryan is an independent journalist specializing in science and health care coverage. You can find more here: http://www.benryan.net/bio.html

Bluesky: @benryanwriter

Twitter: @benryanwriter

Substack: Hazard Ratio

Additional Notes: Guest Glenna Goldis

Here’s her 2024 piece on Chase Strangio that quotes her saying gender identity isn’t real, etc. -

Glenna on X:

https://x.com/glennagoldis

Thank you for joining us this week.

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As always:Stay informed, and stay ready to dissent.

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