Al—first names only this episode—is a member of MASK UP, a group of organizers who authored a 70-page doc called “How to Talk to Your Loved Ones About Covid,” which you can find at covid.tips.

I don't follow the usual format for this interview. COVID has given shape to This Is Your Afterlife in many ways, so I wanted to explore my current thoughts around it with Al directly, rather than mediated through the usual questions. Until the end!

Content warning: tick bite, microscopic feces and blood, chronic illness, fitting in = safety, fatphobia, anger on Twitter, holding complex feelings, experiences with spirits!

Patreon supporters make This Is Your Afterlife possible and get awesome bonus episodes. Become an Afterhead at patreon.com/davemaher.

Follow Al on Twitter: @Akshaps

Follow prominent MASK UP member Liz on Twitter: @RealGayArbys

After you learn how to talk to your loved ones about COVID at covid.tips, share your stories about these conversations with MASK UP at covidjournal.org.

Follow me @thisisdavemaher on Instagram and Twitter.

And check out my other podcast, Genre Reveal Party!, where I'm analyzing TV and movies with writer and cultural critic Madeline Lane-McKinley.

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Music = Future: "Use Me" / James Blackshaw: "The Cloud of Unknowing" / Johnnie Frierson: "Miracles"