Hey folks, I’m experimenting here. I usually put together a monthly newsletter on various topics, but I read about 100 articles a week, and there’s always something that catches my attention and feels worth sharing sooner rather than later. Over the last two weeks alone, I had about 30 links I wanted to share with you—way too much for one newsletter. So I’m breaking them up into a weekly newsletter instead. This one covers genuinely good health news, some overdue reflection on Deaf representation, and tackling my mountain of unread books. Not sure yet if I’ll stick with weekly or go back to monthly—we’ll see how this feels.

Let’s start with some genuinely good news for once.

There are about 40 million people worldwide living with HIV, and we all take medications for life to suppress the virus and ensure we don’t develop symptoms or transmit it. I’ve been HIV+ for 29 years next month. And yes, I’ve always longed for a cure.

I’ve heard about potential HIV cures over the last few years—plenty of “breakthroughs” that fizzled out. But when I read about researchers in Australia developing a new method using mRNA technology to deliver drugs into white blood cells where HIV hides, this one actually feels promising. The breakthrough allows scientists to force the virus out of hiding, potentially paving the way to fully clear it from the body. The scientists were “overwhelmed” by how well the approach worked compared to previous failed attempts.

Overwhelmed. I get it.

I’ve been taking medication forever, but I’m grateful that HIV therapy has evolved so much. I remember when I first got my diagnosis—my doctor prescribed a cocktail therapy (three medications separately), totaling about 13-15 pills every day! And one or two were huge pills, gosh. Now I’m just taking one pill a day.

I’ve also heard about cabotegravir/rilpivirine (CAB/RPV), an injectable treatment for people living with HIV that you only have to take every two months. I might switch to that—I’ll have to ask my doctor about it.

Medical breakthroughs like this make me think about what could have been. My papaw (grandfather) had lung cancer and died, I think, a week after Christmas about 34 years ago. It was devastating for my family and relatives. He was loved by many. I loved him, and I missed him so much. He accepted me for who I am as a deaf person. Even though he would try to teach me how to pronounce “Papaw” and “Mamaw.” I think I got Papaw almost right, but I never pronounced Mamaw right. I have many good memories with my papaw, and they will be remembered forever.

What if my papaw could have gotten a shot instead of a death sentence? I am amazed at how medical technology has evolved and continues to improve every day. Now, they’re conducting the world’s first clinical trial of LungVax, a preventative vaccine designed to stop lung cancer before it starts. The vaccine uses technology similar to the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to train the immune system to recognize and destroy abnormal lung cells displaying “red flag” proteins.

The phase 1 trial will begin in the summer of 2026, focusing on people at high risk of lung cancer, including those previously treated for early-stage disease. If it goes well in the clinical trial, the future will brighten and help millions prevent it. Maybe some kid out there won’t have to lose their papaw at all.

On a completely different note, PBS American Masters just premiered “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore,” directed by fellow Deaf actress Shoshannah Stern. I haven’t watched it yet, but I plan to.

I remembered when Marlee won her first Oscar in 1987—it shook the Deaf community because she spoke at the ceremony rather than signing, and we were shocked and disappointed. We made many negative comments about that. I don’t blame her for keeping her distance after what we did to her.

But decades later? Marlee still stood firm and fought for our human rights, including closed captioning on every TV. From what I’ve heard about the documentary and her memoir, I’ll Scream Later, she opened up about things way beyond Oscar controversies—she didn’t know about Deaf Culture back then, plus drugs, domestic abuse, and isolation. We judged her without knowing any of this.

It’s not about who wins 1st, 2nd, or 3rd anymore. I’m glad to see more Deaf people getting involved in Hollywood now. Yet, she still stands and refuses to be invisible, and she made damn sure we wouldn’t be either.

That got me thinking about reading. I miss reading. I used to devour books in the 1990s and 2000s. Then I drifted away, spending more time online reading instead. Not only that, but I’ve also bought a lot of books in the last few years—unfortunately, most are DNF (Did Not Finish), creating a mountain of unread books sitting on shelves waiting for me to come back.

My go-to genres have always been legal thrillers, medical thrillers, mystery, sci-fi, and fantasy. But I want to push myself beyond my comfort zone and explore something different. Studies show that reading different kinds of books helps you understand what other people are thinking and feeling—it’s called “theory of mind,” and it’s important for getting along with others. Reading across genres can also make your brain more flexible, helping you think in new ways and solve problems more effectively. Plus, you might discover a new favorite genre you never knew you’d love.

Book Riot’s 2026 Read Harder Challenge offers 24 diverse prompts to push you beyond your usual choices: read a microhistory, a book by a d/Deaf author, a gothic novel published in the last ten years, a nonfiction book about AI or social media, a genre book in translation. You can even pick challenges from previous years to customize your reading journey.

See you in the next one.