Why protecting the 'viral underclass' can keep us all healthy

After years of covering HIV and AIDS, journalist <a href="https://twitter.com/thrasherxy?s=20&t=ho2_8NRx3zUa74xVnx1Q1A">Steven Thrasher</a> knew that the hardest hit communities were almost always the poorest and most marginalized ones. Then COVID-19 struck, and he saw that the same groups of people were suffering the most.<br/><br/>In his new book <em>The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide, </em>Thrasher explores how this pattern plays out in communities around the world. Guest host <a href="https://twitter.com/TracieHunte?s=20&t=ho2_8NRx3zUa74xVnx1Q1A">Tracie Hunte</a> talks to him about the ways that systemic oppression puts marginalized people at greater risk of infection for all diseases – and also blames them for transmission. <br/><br/><em>You can follow us on Twitter </em><a href="https://twitter.com/NPRItsBeenAMin?s=20&t=_6NHrHmmTYT5ZzGUXI4uaQ"><em>@NPRItsBeenAMin</em></a><em> and email us at </em><a href="mailto:ibam@npr.org"><em>ibam@npr.org</em></a><em>.</em>