Inconvenient Health: Staying Safe in a Denialist World

Anna Pakman has participated in the Easter Seals Disability Film Challenge for seven out of the 11 years that the challenge has been running. This year, she made “Back to the Dark Ages,” a beautiful dramedy short about a woman with long Covid. Join Pakman as she shares her experiences as a filmmaker and health-justice advocate with cerebral palsy.

Where to Find Anna Pakman and “Back to the Dark Ages”

Instagram: @DarkAgesFilm, @Annatated

Twitter/X: @Annatated

YouTube: “Back to the Dark Ages”

Additional Resources

Easter Seals Disability Film Challenge

FDA Information on At-Home Covid Tests

Credits

Theme Music: “Acta Non Verba” by Alex Hamlin

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe

How has health-justice activism changed (or not) over the decades? What is it like advocating for your own and others’ health as a woman in a male-dominated space? Join ACT UP NY’s Ivy Kwan Arce as she discusses her journey from discovering that she was HIV-positive to becoming an activist herself.

Where to Find ACT UP NY

ActUpNY.com

Instagram

Facebook

Additional Resources

“The Price of Progress: Managing Prescription Drug Spending,” Duke University Press

“Save America’s Patent System,” The New York Times

Studies on Vaccine Uptake and Covid Variants:“The path towards herd immunity: Predicting COVID-19 vaccination uptake through results from a stated choice study across six continents”

“Perspective Overview of Changing Population Immunity to COVID-19 in the Context of Infection, Vaccination, and Emerging SARS-CoV-2 Variants”

“Effectiveness of Adapted COVID-19 Vaccines and Ability to Establish Herd Immunity against Omicron BA.1 and BA4-5 Variants of SARS-CoV-2”

Credits

Theme Music: “Acta Non Verba” by Alex Hamlin

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe

Join Dr. Marjorie Roberts, a doctor in business turned life coach and health-justice advocate, as she discusses her journey to advocacy for herself and her community. What lessons has she learned along the way, and what can she share with fellow activists? Tune in to find out!

Where to Find Dr. Roberts

“And Yet Again I Smile” Facebook Group

MaskTogetherAmerica Profile

Additional Resources

October 2025 Literature Review on the Effectiveness of Masks and Masking Policies

NIH RECOVER Initiative

MaskTogetherAmerica Resources Page

Survivor Corps

Survivor Corps Facebook Group

Credits

Theme Music: “Acta Non Verba” by Alex Hamlin

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe

Just dropping in quickly to wish you happy holidays and a joyous new year, whatever you celebrate (or don’t celebrate). Remember, you are not alone. We protect each other!

Additional Credits

Music: “Acta Non Verba” by Alex Hamilton

Wintry edition of the Inconvenient Health logo made with the help of Rawpixel.com.

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe

Join clinical-health psychologist and Tulane professor Dr. Michael Hoerger as he shares his work on collecting and sharing C19 data in the U.S. Learn what that data can tell us and get advice on what to do in response.Where to Find Dr. Hoerger

Website: https://pmc19.com/

Tulane Bio: https://sse.tulane.edu/michael-hoerger-phd-mscr

Social Media (X/Twitter, BlueSky, etc.): @Michael_Hoerger

Other Resources

Meta-Analysis on Mask and Respirator Usage: https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/cmr.00124-23

CDC Wastewater Data: https://www.cdc.gov/nwss/rv/COVID19-national-data.html

Additional Credit

Music: “Acta Non Verba” by Alex Hamilton

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe

MaskTogetherAmerica Founder Julie Lam discusses her advocacy, participation in research studies, and experiences with Long Covid. Where to Find Julie Lam and MaskTogetherAmerica

Website: https://masktogetheramerica.org/

Instagram: @MaskTogetherAmerica

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masktogetheramerica

ResourcesResearch on mRNA Vaccines and Cancer:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43018-025-01088-whttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09655-y

NIH RECOVER Homepage:

https://recovercovid.org

Studies and Meta-Analyses on Mask Effectiveness:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11715561/

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/cmr.00124-23

"Humanity Behind Masks," Julie Lam's 2020 Medium:

https://medium.com/new-york-voice/humanity-behind-masks-6dac2eafa1f3

Additional Credit

Music: “Acta Non Verba” by Alex Hamilton

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe

Kyle Stevens discusses how and why he founded Clean Air Events, a consulting service that helps people and organizations host safer events with advice and tools to help improve air quality in Oregon and Washington State. Tune in for this Halloween edition of Inconvenient Health and get pro tips on affordable ways to layer up precautions using far-UVC and more.

Where to Find Clean Air Events

Website: https://www.cleanairevents.com/

Instagram: @cleanairevents

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/cleanairevents

More Information on Far-UVC

GMS Hygiene and Infection Control: "The impact of far-UVC radiation (200–230 nm) on pathogens, cells, skin, and eyes – a collection and analysis of a hundred years of data," February 16, 2021

Columbia University, Irving Medical Center: "New Type of Ultraviolet Light Makes Indoor Air as Safe as Outdoors," March 25, 2022

BioMed Research Intermational: "Antimicrobial Activity of Filtered Far-UVC Light (222 nm) against Different Pathogens," October 31, 2023

Brands Mentioned in the Podcast

Nukit: https://www.nukit222.com/

Eden Park: Get 5% off with code "CleanAirEvents" — https://edenpark.com/

Additional Credit

Music: “Acta Non Verba” by Alex Hamilton

Halloween edition of the Inconvenient Health logo made with the help of Rawpixel.com.

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe

Join opera singer and Covid activist Julia Claire Taylor as she discusses what she’s learned from her experiences with Long Covid and her efforts to stay safe in the performing arts.

Julia Claire Taylor on Instagram: @JuliaClaireTaylor

Metformin and Covid-19: https://med.umn.edu/news/u-m-study-finds-metformin-reduces-covid-19-viral-load-viral-rebound

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12107632/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2836528

Acupuncture and Long Covid: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9248334/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10232723/

Craniosacral Therapy and Long Covid: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36938206/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9392656/

Music: “Acta Non Verba” by Alex Hamilton

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe

Daniel Bessonov, a clean-air activist in Southern California, shares advice on making Corsi-Rosenthal boxes (homemade air purifiers) and discusses his experiences advocating for improved indoor air quality and trying to keep himself, his friends, and his family healthy and safe.

Resources:

Daniel’s Substack, The Insomniac — https://suddenvalley.substack.com

Find a local mask bloc — maskbloc.org

More on Dr. Joseph Allen and the Healthy Buildings Program — https://healthybuildings.hsph.harvard.edu/

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe

Christine, an RN in Ohio, and Jennifer, a DC lawyer, discuss ways to stay safe(r) during doctor visits.Update, Oct. 28, 2025: PPEO.com has duckbills for $0.60 apiece, and we have discovered that the Laianzhi bifold, headstrap KN95s that PPEO sells are (fingers crossed) a more comfortable, easier-to-wear fit for Christine’s father.

Get full access to Washington Heights-Inwood Mask Bloc at wahiinwoodmaskbloc.substack.com/subscribe