Cast your mind back, if you will, to the 1990s, when reality TV was new. Though the genre was young, many had already written off shows like The Real World as trash. But one young man saw an opportunity, and thought that maybe there was a way he could use television to save lives. His name was Pedro Zamora, and his work wound up changing the course of more lives than he could have possibly imagined. That story’s the subject of a new video that I just posted this weekend — about Pedro, about MTV, and about a turning point in the fight against AIDS.

When Pedro was on The Real World in 1994, one of his closest friends was an artist named Judd Winick. Judd very generously spoke to me about his time on The Real World for my video. I have excerpts from that interview in the video on YouTube. But Judd shared so many fascinating stories and insights that I wanted to make our full conversation available. So this week, for a special episode of the Sewers of Paris, you’ll hear my full interview with Judd Winick. We chatted about getting onto The Real World, about befriending Pedro, and about becoming part of a movement that changed the course of history.

Check the episode description for a link to my YouTube video about Pedro’s work and legacy.

And if you want to see more of Judd’s work, I’m also including links to his book Pedro & Me; to the upcoming 11th book in Judd’s HiLo series; and more information about the National AIDS Memorial and the Pedro Zamora Scholarship.

My video about Pedro: https://youtu.be/o2Le9Bf_s3w

Pedro & Me: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780805089646/pedroandme/ 

HiLo Book 11: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/741634/hilo-book-11-the-great-space-iguana-by-judd-winick/ 

The Pedro Zamora Scholarship: https://www.aidsmemorial.org/pedro-zamora-scholarship 

Donate to the National AIDS Memorial and the scholarship: https://www.aidsmemorial.org/donate-now