Welcome to season three of the Three Letters Podcast! We’re switching things up, and dispensing with the awareness day format to bring in a variety of sexual health folks to chat.

This episodes guest is the lovely and luscious Alex Hall from the Bottom’s Digest. If you aren’t already familiar with Alex, or the Digest, imagine if Paula Dean, Barefoot Contessa or Martha Stewart had a cooking show where they made food just for bottoms! That’s the Bottom’s Digest in a nutshell! Alex and the Digest aspire to fill you up…with food that won’t drag you down when you’re in the mood. Join us as Alex and I get to the bottom of makes a recipe “bottom friendly”, and why you shouldn’t go without dinner for that top you just met on Grindr. We also talk about the need for sex education, how to clean your peach, the importance of educating your top, social media censorship, and why Barefoot Contessa is and always will be a gay icon. Like, subscribe now to joint he conversation!

Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.

Alex Hall - Hall was born and raised in Houston where he grew up cooking Mexican and Cajun dishes with his friends and family. family. Alex learned to cook from southern women, like his mom, grand mother, and gay icons like the Barefoot Contessa. Alex aims to use his food to impress the pants off someone, and bring you dish that keep you in the mood! Alex currently resides in Chicago. You can find him as “The Bottoms Digest” on Instagram, TickTock, YouTube, and Twitter.




https://www.thebottomsdigest.com/
https://futuremethod.com/
https://www.instagram.com/doctorcarlton/?hl=en
https://www.uberlube.com/
https://www.cheekycharity.org/

December first is World AIDS Day.! My guest this year is Eric Marcus who’s current season of the podcast series Making Gay History is an audio memoir of his coming of age during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City. ​

Community note! Frannie Peabody Center will be hosting multiple events, including a candlelight vigil on December 1st, in addition to viewings of AIDS Quilt panels and free HIV testing during select time slots from December 1st-5th. Go to peabodycenter.org/worldaidsday for more information.


Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.

Eric Marcus - Eric Marcus is the author of a dozen books, including, Why Suicide?, Breaking the Surface, the #1 New York Times bestselling autobiography of Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis, and two editions of Making Gay History. Making Gay History has been turned into a currently running podcast series of the same name based on the audio recordings Eric made for the original book. Eric is also the co-producer of Those Who Were There, a podcast drawn from the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Lastly, he is the founder and chair of the Stonewall 50 Consortium.

Making Gay History - https://makinggayhistory.com/

August 29th is National Faith and HIV/AIDS Awareness Day! My guest is Mike O’Loughlin who is the host of the podcast “Plague: The Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church,” and the author of the forthcoming book based on the podcast, Hidden Mercy (due out November 2021). In this episode we learn that beneath the Catholic Church’s many public mistakes concerning HIV/AIDS there were individuals of faith for whom compassion trumped over stigma and homophobia. Like, subscribe and listen now!

Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.

Michael J. O’Loughlin - Michael J. O’Loughlin is the national correspondent for America Media, where he writes regularly about the Catholic Church. He is also the host of the award winning podcast, "Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS and the Catholic Church.”

Mike is also author of The Tweetable Pope: A Spiritual Revolution in 140 Characters. Previously a staff writer for The Boston Globe's “Crux,” Mike has also written for The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Advocate, and Religion News Service. He has been interviewed on MSNBC, Fox News, ABC, CBS, NPR and by several local and regional media outlets.

Mike is a gay catholic who, when he's not writing, reading, or Tweeting, Mike enjoys running (he's run a few marathons) and cooking. He lives in Chicago.

He has a book based on the podcast called Hidden Mercy due out in November 2021 from Broadleaf Books. You can find him at his website mikeoloughlin.com and on social media.


https://www.mikeoloughlin.com/

June 27th is National HIV Testing day, and my guest for this episode is social media star, GI doc, and butt sex expert Dr. Carlton. You may already know Dr. Carlton from his star turn on social media (@doctorcarlton) where he has over 20 thousand followers (and counting)! Dr. Carlton gained a reputation for his fun, frisky, and medically sound advice about all things anal. Join us as we dive deep into a discussion about social media censorship, butt play, backdoor anatomy, and tips on how to protect your peach! Like and subscribe now to join the conversation!

Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.

Doctor Carlton - Dr. Carlton (he/him)

Dr. Carlton - Dr. Carlton is a gay gastroenterologist who was raised in a conservative tobacco town in the Deep South, but somehow made his way to training at the Mayo Clinic for a top tier medical education. He landed his dream job in San Diego where he is married to an amazing guy and has two kids. While he serves the entire community’s medical needs, he is particularly parody to serve the local LGBTQ community for healthcare without judgement or shame.

Dr. Carlton stumbled onto Tik Tok during the pandemic and realized the need and hunger for anal sex education…and not just from LGBTQ family but also from women and straight men interested in butt play. So many people are embarrassed to talk about anal sex or ask questions about it, but let’s face it…most people want to know how to do it right, do it well, and do it safely! Who better than a gay GI doctor who not only knows the medical side of things, but is no stranger to anal sex himself!

Doctor Carlton on social media
Instagram and Tik Tock @doctor_carlton
Gay and Lesbian Medical Association
http://www.glma.org

May 18th is National HIV Vaccine Awareness Day. Our guest is the wonderful Chloe Manchester from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Ren and Chloe discuss vaccine safety, and the importance of adult vaccines for those living with HIV. Tune in, like, and subscribe!

Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.

Chloe Manchester, MSc- Chloe (she/her) is an Epidemiologist at the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Her work focus on Vaccine-Preventable Disease surveillance for the State of Maine. Chloe studied epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and has worked in multiple countries around the world. Chloe’s career has focused on maternal, reproductive and child health, including the fields of family planning, HIV/ AIDS and immunization. This work has brough Chloe to Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and Nepal, to name a few. Chloe’s passion for improving health outcomes, inclusion and elevation of people living with HIV is inspired by her father who dedicated his life’s work to this cause. Chloe enjoys running, sailing, cooking and playing at the beach with her son.

Chloe Manchester MSc -
• CDC Vaccines and Immunizations
• https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html

March 10th is National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Today we welcome the multi- talented Anthony Giorgio of the Queer Teen Podcast on to the show. Join Anthony and Ren as they discuss what is like to grow up queer, the importance of queer inclusive, evidence based sexual education, queer faith, what adults can learn from youth, the special magic of queer youth, and whether or not you can still call yourself a baby dyke or a twink after 30 (spoiler: you can!) Tune in, like, and subscribe!
Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.
Anthony Giorgio (QT: Queer Teen Podcast) - Anthony is the host of Queer Teen Podcast encouraging the next generation of Queer Youth from across the world to stand up for what's right. Having worked in both America and India for LGBTQ+ rights he has seen, heard and experienced a spectrum of Queer life. The purpose of starting this podcast was to elevate and give a bigger voice to Queer Youth and their leaders. He often partners and runs workshops with Garden State Equality, Make it Better for Youth, Broadway to Bombay with Prince Manvendra Sing Gohil of India, GLSEN Maryland/ New Jersey and The Los Angeles LGBTQ Centers annual Models of Pride conference. He enjoys working with the Queer Youth community and creating transformative experiences for the future leaders of the world.
• QT: Queer Teen Podcast
• QT can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
• http://Queerteenpodcast.podbean.com/
• [email protected]
• Beloved Arise
• https://www.belovedarise.org/
• Make It Better For Youth
• https://makeitbetter4youth.org/

March 20th is National Native American HIV/AIDS Awareness Day! We are thrilled to have Curtis Harris-Davia (San Carlos Apache) on to the show! Curtis has spent his career serving indigenous people, and honored us with a one of a kind history lesson on the two-spirit movement, and how native people were and are a vital part of the LGBTQ+ community. We also cover meth use, World Pride, the Two-Spirit HIV Conference, the importance of connecting with our history, and the unique challenges native people living HIV face. Like and subscribe to join the conversation! Tune in, like, and subscribe!

Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.

Curtis Harris-Davia - Curtis Harris-Davia (San Carlos Apache) is an organizer of the Two-Spirit Indigenous People’s Association (TSIPA), one of the founding members of New York City’s “We’Wah and Bar-Chee-Ampe” – the second ever Two-Spirit organization in the United States, and has been advocating for the Two-Spirit community since 1989. He continued to do so at the Heritage of Pride (HOP) NYC town hall meeting on August 13th where he demanded that HOP include the “TS” in “TSLGBTQ” on all print media and communication for WorldPride 2019/Stonewall 50. This gesture would show respect for the First People of Turtle Island as well as honor Two-Spirit Indigenous People who are an integral part of the modern LGBTQ+ movement. He also worked at the Indian Community House for many years as director of programs to serve indigenous and two-spirit people living with HIV.

American Indian House (NYC)
https://www.aich.org/
Healthy Elders Network
https://aichhen.org/
Albert McLeod
https://www.uwinnipeg.ca/awards-distinctions/honorary-doctorate/mcleod.html
Trevor Stratton
https://canfar.com/story/trevor-stratton/

March 12th is National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day! I am joined by the wonderful and every positive Dee Otaler from the Positively Dee Podcast. If there is one thing Dee wants you to know it is undetectable = untransmittable! We talk about her work as an advocate for the Prevention Access Campaign, living with HIV, health disparities, and what we can do when it comes to stigma. Special guest host from Bowdoin College, Blaine Stevens! Like, subscribe and listen now!

Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.

Blaine Stevens (guest host) - Blaine is a student at Bowdoin College in Maine. She is a volunteer with Frannie Peabody Center’s prevention program.

Davina Conner Oteler - Davina Conner Otalor otherwise known as “Pozitively Dee”. Dee is an HIV-positive activist, educator, international speaker, and is the community engagements outreach specialist for U=U Prevention Access Campaign. Most recently, she served as a keynote speaker at an international HIV Conference in Sweden on behalf of Prevention Access Campaign. She is the founder of the non-profit Poz Haven Foundation, which works to provide mentoring to women recently diagnosed with HIV, and is the host of Pozitively Dee’s Discussion Podcast, an award-winning podcast that touches upon all things related to HIV advocacy. Dee has an Associate’s Degree in Public Health and resides in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she works to end HIV stigma for women and to provide a voice for those underrepresented in HIV advocacy.

Dee’s Podcast
Dee’s podcast can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook under “Pozitively Dee”.
Dee can be reached via e-mail: [email protected]
Christy's Place
http://www.christiesplace.org/
The Well project
https://www.thewellproject.org/
Sister Love
https://www.sisterlove.org/
Postive People Network Inc.
https://positivepeoplenetworkinc.org

February 7th is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day! I am joined by none other than the marvelous Dr. Justin Terry-Smith to talk about it all, basically. HIV/AIDS impact on black Americans, long-term survivors, changing attitudes towards PrEP, and U=U, how black Americans can get better access to healthcare, the COVID/HIV comparisons, Black Lives Matters and HIV, and much more! You also might find out why otters are so intimidating! Like, subscribe and listen now!

Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.

Dr. Justin Terry-Smith - Dr. Justin Terry-Smith - My guest today is Dr. Justin Terry-Smith. Dr. Terry-Smith is an HIV positive activist, actor, educator, speaker, and writer. He has contributed to many publications including Black AIDS Institute, thebody.com, as well as regional and national news video and radio outlets. Justin created ‘Justin’s HIV Journal’ on Youtube.com to advocate for HIV/AIDS education, prevention, awareness, and his experience living with HIV. Justin has his Doctorate in Public Health with a concentration in Infectious Disease. His dissertation “Factors Influencing Use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis: Among Men Who Have Sex With Men" was recently published. Dr. Terry-Smith is also a Black Gay Jewish man, and a professor at Anne Arundel Community College. He resides in Maryland with his husband Dr. Philip Terry-Smith. They have two children. His website is: www.justinterrysmith.com

•Justin’s Website
•www.justinterrysmith.com
•Tuskegee Syphilis Experiments
• CDC Timeline of the Study
•Your Wrong About Podcast did a wonderful two-part episode on the Tuskegee study. It’s irreverent but very informative.
•Black AIDS Institute - https://blackaids.org/
•Last Men Standing - https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2016/last-men-standing-film/
•Whitman-Walker Health - https://www.whitman-walker.org/
•Us Helping Us - https://www.ushelpingus.org/

December 1st is World AIDS Day, a day to unite in the fight to end the HIV epidemic, support people living with HIV, and honor those who have lost their life.

One of the most most famous AIDS-related icons is the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt. Conceived in 1985 by Cleave Jones and then co-founded as the NAMES Project with Mike Smith in 1987, the quilt has blossomed into a 48,000 panel memorial. Smith joins me to talk about the how the quilt began, the struggle to maintain a memorial made of spangles and cloth, and how the busiest quilt in American history went virtual.

Like, subscribe, and listen!

Ren Morrill (Host) - Ren is The Three Letter Podcast’s creator and host. He is a Maine native with a life long passion for HIV. He works for Frannie Peabody Center as the prevention program coordinator. He also serves as the co-chair of Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board.

Mike Smith- Today is World AIDS day and my guest is Mike Smith. Mike is the co-founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and served as managing director there from 1987 to 1989. He returned in 1996 to produce the last full-scale display of the Quilt in Washington DC that year. Mike was executive director of the LGBT Community Center of Colorado from 1997 to 2001 and then, from 2002 to 2015, he led AIDS Emergency Fund & Breast Cancer Emergency Fund (AEF & BCEF), agencies that annually help more than 3,000 people disabled by HIV/AIDS or breast cancer pay their bills while too sick to work. He has recently rejoined the Quilt team as a consultant to the National AIDS Memorial, the new stewards of the Quilt.

Mike’s undergraduate degree is from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He received his MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.


•NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt
•Pride Portland’s HIV Advisory Board Virtual Hosting Of 8 Panels