diff --git a/selfdrive/athena/athenad.py b/selfdrive/athena/athenad.py
index b55ce54ac0..5740c8f647 100755
--- a/selfdrive/athena/athenad.py
+++ b/selfdrive/athena/athenad.py
@@ -53,12 +53,12 @@ def handle_long_poll(ws):
   end_event = threading.Event()
 
   threads = [
-    threading.Thread(target=ws_recv, args=(ws, end_event)),
-    threading.Thread(target=ws_send, args=(ws, end_event)),
-    threading.Thread(target=upload_handler, args=(end_event,)),
-    threading.Thread(target=log_handler, args=(end_event,)),
+    threading.Thread(target=ws_recv, args=(ws, end_event), name='ws_recv'),
+    threading.Thread(target=ws_send, args=(ws, end_event), name='wc_send'),
+    threading.Thread(target=upload_handler, args=(end_event,), name='upload_handler'),
+    threading.Thread(target=log_handler, args=(end_event,), name='log_handler'),
   ] + [
-    threading.Thread(target=jsonrpc_handler, args=(end_event,))
+    threading.Thread(target=jsonrpc_handler, args=(end_event,), name=f'worker_{x}')
     for x in range(HANDLER_THREADS)
   ]
 
@@ -72,14 +72,17 @@ def handle_long_poll(ws):
     raise
   finally:
     for thread in threads:
+      cloudlog.debug(f"athena.joining {thread.name}")
       thread.join()
 
+
 def jsonrpc_handler(end_event):
   dispatcher["startLocalProxy"] = partial(startLocalProxy, end_event)
   while not end_event.is_set():
     try:
       data = recv_queue.get(timeout=1)
       if "method" in data:
+        cloudlog.debug(f"athena.jsonrpc_handler.call_method {data}")
         response = JSONRPCResponseManager.handle(data, dispatcher)
         send_queue.put_nowait(response.json)
       elif "result" in data and "id" in data:
@@ -211,6 +214,8 @@ def startLocalProxy(global_end_event, remote_ws_uri, local_port):
     if local_port not in LOCAL_PORT_WHITELIST:
       raise Exception("Requested local port not whitelisted")
 
+    cloudlog.debug("athena.startLocalProxy.starting")
+
     params = Params()
     dongle_id = params.get("DongleId").decode('utf8')
     identity_token = Api(dongle_id).get_token()
@@ -231,6 +236,7 @@ def startLocalProxy(global_end_event, remote_ws_uri, local_port):
     for thread in threads:
       thread.start()
 
+    cloudlog.debug("athena.startLocalProxy.started")
     return {"success": 1}
   except Exception as e:
     cloudlog.exception("athenad.startLocalProxy.exception")
@@ -303,7 +309,6 @@ def log_handler(end_event):
 
   log_files = []
   last_scan = 0
-  log_retries = 0
   while not end_event.is_set():
     try:
       try:
@@ -315,7 +320,8 @@ def log_handler(end_event):
           try:
             setxattr(log_path, LOG_ATTR_NAME, LOG_ATTR_VALUE_MAX_UNIX_TIME)
           except OSError:
-            pass # file could be deleted by log rotation
+            pass  # file could be deleted by log rotation
+
       except queue.Empty:
         pass
 
@@ -345,14 +351,10 @@ def log_handler(end_event):
           }
           log_send_queue.put_nowait(json.dumps(jsonrpc))
       except OSError:
-        pass # file could be deleted by log rotation
-      log_retries = 0
+        pass  # file could be deleted by log rotation
+
     except Exception:
       cloudlog.exception("athena.log_handler.exception")
-      log_retries += 1
-
-    if log_retries != 0:
-      time.sleep(backoff(log_retries))
 
 
 def ws_proxy_recv(ws, local_sock, ssock, end_event, global_end_event):
@@ -366,8 +368,11 @@ def ws_proxy_recv(ws, local_sock, ssock, end_event, global_end_event):
       cloudlog.exception("athenad.ws_proxy_recv.exception")
       break
 
+  cloudlog.debug("athena.ws_proxy_recv closing sockets")
   ssock.close()
   local_sock.close()
+  cloudlog.debug("athena.ws_proxy_recv done closing sockets")
+
   end_event.set()
 
 
@@ -391,7 +396,9 @@ def ws_proxy_send(ws, local_sock, signal_sock, end_event):
       cloudlog.exception("athenad.ws_proxy_send.exception")
       end_event.set()
 
+  cloudlog.debug("athena.ws_proxy_send closing sockets")
   signal_sock.close()
+  cloudlog.debug("athena.ws_proxy_send done closing sockets")
 
 
 def ws_recv(ws, end_event):