Next week, Britain will hear the pilot episode of a new weekly programme all about the virus, and it’s called HIV Happy Hour. BuzzFeed News talks to its inspiring host.
After more than 30 years of HIV/AIDS, Britain is to have its first radio show devoted entirely to the virus, and it’s called HIV Happy Hour.
Paul Thorn, presenter and founder of HIV Happy Hour.
The magazine-style programme, in the mould of Radio 4's Woman's Hour, will mix serious health-related discussions with lifestyle features, music, expert guests, and phone-ins for HIV-positive people.
Having secured funding for the project for the next year, HIV Happy Hour will broadcast its first show on 1 October and will run weekly on Radio Reverb (97.2FM), a Brighton-based station, every Thursday at 7pm. (It will also be available for streaming online, on iTunes and via podcast.)
The landmark show is the brainchild of presenter Paul Thorn, a 45-year-old journalist, author, and activist, who has written a column about HIV for Gay Times and recently published a self-help book called HIV Happy.
"A lot of HIV-positive people hold negative opinions about themselves – there's a lot of internalised stigma – so the programme will try and challenge that," he told BuzzFeed News. "The name of the show appealed to my sense of humour, but also it refers to the fact that there was a time when the goal for HIV-positive people was simply survival. Now that goal is about grasping the second chance in life and being happy."
Paul Thorn in the studio with his producer.
In the pilot episode, heard exclusively by BuzzFeed News, a searching interview with the head of a care facility for people with HIV sits alongside tips for HIV-positive listeners to set up their own business, and a light chat with a hairdresser about the importance of self-image.
Although not a political programme aimed at government departments or NGOs, there will be politically orientated topics arising over the coming months, including NHS access to PrEP, the treatment that prevents HIV transmission, and adjacent issues such as hepatitis C, and "chem sex" (drug use with sex).
"It's a programme by and for people with HIV," he said. "I want HIV-positive people speaking about their experiences. Some people have told me they're not ready to do that yet so I want to get to the point where people feel able to talk about it. Hopefully this platform will go some way to achieving that."
Thorn has ambitious plans for the show, his first foray in radio. Disclosure – coming out about being HIV-positive – is, for Thorn, one of the key tools for reducing shame, stigma, and ignorance around the virus, and will be central to the programming.