"New Normal" on Transom & NPR

Gina Velasquez always wanted to be a mother, but when she was 27, she was diagnosed with HIV and AIDS. This was the '90s, and doctors told her she had just a few years to live. Gina survived though, and as treatments improved, her health did too. When she was stable, she decided to pursue the dream she had put on hold — having a child. That is when doctors gave her another warning. Her baby would be healthy, but pregnancy would accelerate the loss of her vision, which was already damaged by the virus. Gina decided to move forward. Her vision continued to decline after having her son.

That was around 2002. When I met her, in 2019, she had lost most of her vision but she could still make out my silhouette. Now, in 2025, as she puts it, she’s “almost completely in the black” — with only the faintest sliver of light remaining, “as thin as a single hair,” she says.

The documentary follows Gina during her last five years before going completly blind and how she holds on to memories and creates new ones with her son.

• Long version: Featured on Transom, 2025, here (26-Minute Listen)

• Short version: Produced for NPR All Things Considered, 2025, here (8-Minute Listen)

• Finalist at Berliner Hörspielfestival 2024

• Recorded, edited and sound designed by Vivien Schütz

• Music by Ives Schachtschabel, Blue Dot Sessions and Podington Bear