In this episode, Charlie talks with health equity advocate and systems strategist Austin Puca about living with lupus, chronic illness, and the everyday negotiations of being in a body you’re constantly learning how to live in. From avoiding the sun and navigating flares, to food, fatigue, trust, and care, this is a generous, funny, and free-flowing conversation between two friends. Austin also shares what it means to show up for one another through diagnosis and uncertainty — including being a steady source of care and knowledge when Charlie was first diagnosed with lupus — as together they explore community care, interdependence, and what futures shaped by sick and disabled wisdom can look, sound, and feel like.
Topics we discuss:
- Living with lupus and chronic illness
- Trust, communication, and being believed
- Community care and interdependence
- Food, cooking, and nourishment during flares
- Bodies, time, and change
- Imagining sick-led futures
Learn more about Austin:
Instagram: @likethecityintexas
Find the full episode transcript on our website: www.sickfuturescollective.org/podcast
Watch the full episode on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/Yk_RtjFWQAA
The Future is Sick is a podcast by Sick Futures Collective — made by and for sick and disabled people, and for anyone imagining more supportive, creative, and liberatory futures.
Topics we discuss:
- Chronic illness and diagnosis stories
- Art as language, survival, and care
- Narrative Medicine
- Grief, identity, and crip time
- Community-building and collective imagination
Learn more about Sick Futures Collective:
Website: www.sickfuturescollective.org
Podcast page: www.sickfuturescollective.org/podcast
To share your art, writing, or creative work with the Crip Commons Hub, visit the Sick Futures website or email [email protected]
The future is sick.
