How did we get here? Leo Herrera meditates on the Monkeypox virus in Berlin and around the globe. Drawing on personal experience, AIDS history, and his conversations with those affected, Leo proposes several calls to action from his fellow Queers. He shares from his past as an HIV activist and poses the theory that diseases which have run through the gay community are symptoms of systemic failure and neglect.

Words written and performed by Leo Herrera
Episode produced by Jacob Roger Sperber

A Bumpy Ride Ep 1: It's not a punishment, it's neglect...

Leo Herrera cruises the famous Tiergarten park in Berlin and talks sex and harm-reduction. Monkeypox cases continue to rise in Berlin and paranoia (and blue balls) are starting to set in. 

Words written and performed by Leo Herrera
Episode produced by Jacob Roger Sperber

A Bumpy Ride Ep 2: Don't get lost in the dark…

Leo Herrera navigates the search for a Monkeypox vaccine as Germany finally starts its vaccination program.

Words written and performed by Leo Herrera

Episode produced by Jacob Roger Sperber

A Bumpy Ride Ep 3: A pox on both your houses...

Leo Herrera finally gets the MPX vaccine and in a fever, reads the outbreak as an allegory for how the Queer community maps itself.

Words written and performed by Leo Herrera

Episode produced by Jacob Roger Sperber

A Bumpy Ride Ep 4: The Topography of us...

Leo Herrera celebrates Pride and a birthday far from home and discusses how the language about Monkeypox can be as harmful as the virus.

Words by Leo Herrera

Produced by Jacob Roger Sperber

A Bumpy Ride Podcast

A Bumpy Ride Ep 5: Word Sick...

In the series finale, Leo Herrera leaves Berlin for his home in Louisiana, facing the aftermath of Monkeypox outbreak in America and the questions it left behind.

Words by Leo Herrera
Produced by Jacob Roger Sperber

A Bumpy Ride Ep 6: We've got a problem...

Leo Herrera is a Mexican writer, activist and filmmaker. His work focuses on the American queer experience. His short films explore LGBTQ culture, politics and history, paying homage to our past and educating a younger generation. Leo is the director of Fathers, a sci-fi documentary and multimedia project which imagines the AIDS pandemic never existed and a generation lived to change the world. Fathers weaves real-life events, survivor histories and fiction, creating a surreal vision of an alternative universe (streaming now at iftheylived.org). Leo’s viral “essay memes” explore queerness, race, Covid and HIV stigma, and can be found on Instagram @herreraimages

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