154: Ruth Coker Burks | Part 1
Homo Sapiens
Christopher Sweeney
4.7 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 2 December 2021
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Merry Christmas! Yesterday, December 1st, marks the start of Christmas but also World Aids Day, so how do we merge such an important day with all the joy of Christmas? With a chat with Ruth Coker Burks, that’s how. Ruth nursed men dying of AIDS in 1980’s Arkansaw USA when even doctors wouldn’t go near them and their families had disowned them. She buried them on her family plot undercover of night because she knew these people needed dignity. Her patients survived 2 years longer than average because she gave them love. Today, we hear her incredible story, plus your emails about growing up gay in Wales, feeling the LGBTQ+ love if you’re bisexual, and we’re talking all about the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Chris x
Ruth's book 'All the Young Men' is published by Trapeze and you can buy it here!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum |
| 0:30.0 | The most turmeric substitution is for you. |
| 0:47.1 | later but turns out they're not sending salt drugs apparently so the road's just |
| 0:52.3 | freeze and then what happens is if the roads are snowy and then people drive |
| 0:56.3 | over it it gets slippery and slippery. I am not a good driver at the best of |
| 1:00.7 | times I'm going to say that I should probably not go out and drive so it's |
| 1:05.5 | strict milk rationings in this house because I love my husband dearly I love |
| 1:10.5 | him to death but boy does he blitz the milk on his cereal it's like hello there's |
| 1:15.8 | other people who want the milk. Now then it was World AIDS Day yesterday so we |
| 1:20.3 | have got such a special episode for you. I am going to be chatting too. Real life angel |
| 1:27.9 | is what I'm going to call her Ruth Cokaburks. She wrote a book called All the Young Men About |
| 1:34.2 | Her Time, caring for men dying of AIDS in Arkansas in America at the beginning of the crisis. |
| 1:40.0 | It is the most incredible story of compassion and love which is so relevant |
| 1:45.6 | today because I do feel like if we look at the news how low on compassion we are |
| 1:53.5 | running for members of the trans community, gender non-conforming community, |
| 1:59.0 | the vitriol that they are getting right now that used to be directed at gay men, lesbians |
| 2:05.7 | and particularly people with AIDS and still people with AIDS by the way. Basically to cut a |
| 2:11.8 | long story short with Ruth she was living in Arkansas in America not known for its liberalness |
| 2:19.0 | and she noticed a boy who was dying of AIDS in a hospital room when no one would even go into |
| 2:25.0 | the room to go near him because they thought they could catch it. She defied them all she went |
| 2:29.7 | in there she looked after that boy she then buried him on her family's land and went on to care |
| 2:35.8 | for thousands of other men who were dying of AIDS, burying them on her family's land so that they |
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