Charles Koehler interviews Bill LaRock, co-founder of St. Louis ACT UP, about the organization's mission and its inception. ACT UP is an AIDS activist group focused on nonviolent activism to address the AIDS crisis through public awareness and systemic change. LaRock highlights the frustration with the lack of progress in AIDS services and the bureaucratic obstacles, such as delays in Social Security disability benefits for people with AIDS. He shares a specific case where a person with AIDS was denied benefits despite having a documented opportunistic infection. The first ACT UP meeting in St. Louis attracted over 85 people, including mainstream individuals and county officials, underscoring the widespread frustration with the system.