In the second Open Forum Infectious Diseases podcast, Editor in Chief Paul Sax, MD, discusses the early days of HIV/AIDS with John Bartlett, MD – an HIV specialist and a leading infectious diseases (ID) physician. As an early responder to the epidemic in Baltimore, Dr. Bartlett reflects on the stigma and fear that rang through the medical community and society at large, and the heroes who emerged. Dr. Bartlett is a Stanhope Bayne Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University and served as chief of ID at the school for 26 years, stepping down in June of 2006