2/3/26 - Three interviews

Hello!

These interviews aren't related much. It just happened that the pieces I wanted to share today are all roughly in some kind of interview format. Sometimes it works out that way!

Note that I'm placing subscribe and donation buttons up top this week – hoping a few more readers will be able to provide some financial support to this newsletter.

They want to round up people with disabilities and put them in institutions

Anne Pasmanik interviewing Theo Braddy, Power Station Podcast - January 19, 2026

"As Theo Braddy executive director of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) says on this episode of Power Station, discrimination against and the oppression of people with disabilities is largely invisible in our society until it happens to us. And because we are all aging into disability, we face a steep learning curve and a responsibility to become advocates for ourselves and others. That is the ethos that guides Theo’s leadership of the NCIL, the longest running disability-led association in the nation. Its membership is comprised of some 660 centers across the county that empower people with disabilities to thrive in their communities and Statewide Independent Living Councils that are mandated to create independent living plans."

The range of topics discussed in this podcast interview is much broader than the title would indicate. Theo provides a very good, basic introduction, for a non-specialized audience, to centers or independent living, disability rights, and the forces and prejudices that continue to threaten our lives and independence. He also helps locate where disability issues in the current political landscape – less visible perhaps, but deeply integrated and critical to tens of millions of disabled Americans.

Disability Elders: An Interview with Keith Jones

Alex Green, (Un)Hidden - November 23, 2025

"The rarest thing in the moment of crisis is courage. And so, at these moments, I don’t get wrapped up in people who literally are just trying to go about their day. I don’t get wrapped up in people who literally are saying, 'I just want some food for my child.' Because that’s what you need and you should get it ... My frustration is with people who are in whatever lane this is that I’m in, or who are in academia or who are in advocacy or public policy, because you wake up and choose to do this work. Like, this is … you put energy into this shit. So, you put energy into it, and still [discriminate] anyway, and it’s pernicious. It’s insidious."

This is a challenging interview, in the best way. Here, Keith explains several long-standing weaknesses of disability communities and organizations – especially those connected with layers of privilege that we are often too neglectful or anxious to deal with honestly. But he clearly has hope. And his criticisms are clear and, easy to understand and act on. Now more than ever we need to hear about what we've not been doing well – not only celebrating our past victories. It's not discouraging to her this kind of discussion. It's energizing.

Indigenous artist born with one arm, one leg creates colorful world (Enable: The Disability Podcast)

Geoff Herbert, Cleveland.com - January 7, 2026

"In this episode of “Enable: The Disability Podcast,” he speaks about the use of prosthetics and other resources, the ways he tried to avoid feeling different as a child, and the healing power of humor and pop culture in his colorful artwork."

I love interviews with disabled people that have variety like this one – that dig into their interests that aren't necessarily connected with their disability.

Disability Thinking Weekday is a Monday-Friday newsletter with links and commentary on disability-related articles and other content. You can help promote Disability Thinking Weekday by forwarding it by email or posting on your social media. You can also comment by sending me an email at: apulrang@icloud.com. Collected comments are shared on the first of each month. A free subscription sends a newsletter to your email each weekday. Benefits of paid subscription include:

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