Laura Flanders and Friends: Solutions-Focused Progressive Perspectives on Politics, News, and Culture Alice Wong's Legacy: How “Disability Visibility” Strengthens Every Liberation Movement [episode cut]
Synopsis: In a powerful tribute to a fearless leader, friends and collaborators share stories of Alice Wong's unwavering commitment to centering disabled voices and challenging systemic inequality in all its forms.
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Description: Alice Wong lived longer than she expected, but not long enough. The celebrated disability activist lived by the principle that disability justice is integral to all liberation movements, and centered disabled stories with the Disability Visibility Project. When Alice Wong died on November 14 at the age of 51, people across social movements shared their grief and awe for her work, such as her bestselling 2022 memoir, “Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life”. She has been called an oracle, visionary, unapologetic and fearless, and our guests, Wong’s dear friends and collaborators, are committed to lifting up her legacy. Sandy Ho is the Executive Director of the Disability & Philanthropy Forum and partner with Alice Wong and Mia Mingus in the Access is Love campaign. She was asked by Alice Wong to post her letter after she passed, where Wong writes “. . . our wisdom is incisive and unflinching.” Steven Thrasher is an acclaimed journalist, professor and author of “The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality & Disease Collide”. He was suspended from teaching classes after speaking out — as Wong also did — on Palestine. Join us as we celebrate Alice Wong and ask what is the work to be done when it comes to healthcare and civil rights for disabled people. Plus a commentary from Laura on imagining the next 100 years.
“A lot of Alice's advocacy was focused around the systems that force disabled people to be at the margins . . . Whether it is the Black Lives Matter movement or the pandemic, we see the ways in which our society and political systems respond, and not in ways that prioritize those who are least privileged and have the least amount of power.” - Sandy Ho
“I remember talking to [Alice Wong] about the ways she had been conditioned as a disabled Asian American woman to try to accept crumbs, to not complain, to be very docile. I thought that she was really brilliant in bridging together not just Asian American communities, but queer communities, LGBTQ communities, all the communities where your body is made to feel like it doesn't belong.” - Steven Thrasher
Guests:
• Sandy Ho: Executive Director, Disability & Philanthropy Forum
• Steven Thrasher: Daniel Renberg Chair of Social Justice in Reporting, Northwestern University; Author, The Viral Underclass & The Overseer Class
*Recommended books:
“Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life” by Alice Wong, *Get the book
“The Viral Underclass: The Human Toll When Inequality and Disease Collide” by Steven Thrasher, *Get the book
(*Bookshop is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. The LF Show is an affiliate of bookshop.org and will receive a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.)
Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel 11:30am ET Sundays and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast January 14th, 2026.
Full Episode Notes are located HERE.
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Music Credit: Kibir La Alma rework of “Until Tomorrow Comes” by Marysia Osu from her full length remix ep ‘harp, beats & dreams,’ courtesy of Brownswood Recordings; 'Steppin' by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper
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RESOURCES:
Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:
• “The Future is Disabled”: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha: Watch / Listen: Episode Cut and Full Uncut Conversation
• The New Disabled Population in Gaza: Comedian & Disability Advocate Maysoon Zayid: Watch / Listen: Episode Cut and Full Uncut Conversation
• Anita Cameron & Keith Jones on The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Civil Rights Milestone With Miles To Go: Watch / Listen: Episode Cut
Related Articles and Resources:
• Disability Visibility Project, Founder: Alice Wong
• A Tribute to an Oracle, Alice Wong, by Rebecca Cokley, November 26, 2025, The Nation
• Trump Gutted AIDS Health. Care at the Worst Possible Time, by Steven W. Thrasher & Afeef Nessouli, December 1, 2025, The Intercept
• On Valentine’s Day, Let’s Recognize Why #AccessIsLove, by Alice Wong, February 14, 2019, Rooted In Rights
• Remembering Alice Wong: Writer, Advocate, Friend, by Steven W. Thrasher, November 17, 2025, LitHub
• Crips for eSims for Gaza, chuffed.org
• Alice Wong Interview with Steven Thrasher with subtitles, Watch
• Alice Wong, 2024 MacArthur Fellow, MacArthur Foundation
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