Down to the Struts

Over the next few weeks, we'll be bringing back some early episodes of Down to the Struts to get ready for season 9. This episode, originally broadcast in November 2020, dives into the world of adaptive sports, and specifically looks at Goalball, a sport designed for blind and visually impaired people. Qudsiya is an athlete herself, and in this episode interviews Karla Gilbride and Justin Chan, the co-founders of the Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes. Their conversation explores the importance of design in making athletics accessible, the power of sports to transform lives, and beating stereotypes on and off the court. Visit our website for a video about Goalball from the Paralympic Games, information about this episode’s guests, and photos of the MWABA Goalball players, and for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Subscribe to Qudsiya's Substack, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Let us know what you think with a comment or review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Qudsiya shared her love of libraries with Emily Drabinski, the president of the American Library Association. They chatted about ALA's innovative Libraries Transforming Communities program, which is dedicated to providing libraries with the tools and resources they need to be more accessible for people with disabilities, and to enhancing the capacity of small and rural libraries to address the needs of their communities. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our website for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Loving Down to the Struts? Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know what you think in the Spotify Q+A, or leave a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Qudsiya's newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Justice Shorter is a skilled organizer and facilitator, disability justice amplifier, and senior advisor on issues at the intersection of race, disability, gender, climate, and crisis. She is a national expert on disability inclusive, disaster protections, and emergency management. And, she is a rare return guest on Down to the Struts. Justice joined the podcast in season one, alongside Conchita Hernandez Legorreta and Melissa Lomax for the episode ⁠WOC World⁠, about an online community dedicated to uplifting and supporting blind women of color. On her second visit to the podcast, Justice talks to Qudsiya about her newly published Disaster Justice Guidebook for people of color with disabilities. The book weaves together storytelling, practical advice, and the collective wisdom of six phenomenal people to create a roadmap for environmental crisis response, rooted in and centered on the lived experiences of people of color. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our website for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Loving Down to the Struts? Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know what you think in the Spotify Q+A, or leave a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Qudsiya's newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Diego Mariscal is the founder, CEO and Chief Disabled Officer of 2Gether-International (2GI), the leading nonprofit startup accelerator run by and for disabled entrepreneurs. A trailblazer at the intersection of advocacy and entrepreneurship, Diego joins Qudsiya to discuss his entrepreneurial origin story, how he started 2GI, and his advice for aspiring disabled entrepreneurs. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our website for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Loving Down to the Struts? Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know what you think in the Spotify Q+A, or leave a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Qudsiya's newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Down to the Struts welcomes disability equity researcher Bonnie Swenor for a conversation about one of Qudsiya's favorite topics: advancing data and research on the disability experience. They dive into the early experiences that spurred Bonnie's love of science, how her disability journey impacted her pursuit of a career in public health, and using data to uplift the disabled scientists and researchers who contribute in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our website for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Loving Down to the Struts? Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know what you think in the Spotify Q+A, or leave a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Qudsiya's newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Award-winning recording artist and social entrepreneur Lachi joins Down to the Struts to talk about her love of music, and her vision for how disability culture can transform the music industry. Lachi also tells Qudsiya about her experience hosting the pilot episode of Day Al-Mohamed's PBS Masters Series, Renegades. If you want to learn more about Renegades, head back to episode 2 of this season. Finally, be sure to listen through to the end of this episode for a very special clip from Lachi’s incredible song Lift Me Up, produced in 2023 to honor the life and legacy of lifelong Disability Rights Advocate and Down to the Struts alum, Judy Heumann. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our website for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Loving Down to the Struts? Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know what you think in the Spotify Q+A, or leave a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Qudsiya's newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

What is disability culture? Qudsiya is joined in conversation by author, filmmaker, and policy expert Day Al-Mohamed. They talk about Day's approach to transforming social and cultural attitudes about disability. Day sees this as a central tool that goes hand-in-hand with advancing policies that ensure rights and legal protections for disabled people. Day wants people to see disability culture as cool -- and Qudsiya thinks that’s a worthy objective too. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Visit our website for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Loving Down to the Struts? Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know what you think in the Spotify Q+A, or leave a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Qudsiya's newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 8 kicks off with a very special first episode—a love story, just in time for Valentine's Day. On August 19th, 2023, Qudsiya married the love of her life, Sean Collins, in a small celebration in Chicago. Listeners may remember hearing from Sean in the season 1 bonus episode Accessing the News, where he shared his gift of crafting vivid image descriptions to bring important news events to life for blind, low vision, and disabled news readers. Qudsiya and Sean enlisted photographer Jasmine Oliver (J Lauryn Photography) and access artist Cheryl Green (Social Audio Description Collective), also a past Down to the Struts guest, to create an immersive accessible platform so they could forever cherish their wedding day both visually and through audio.  In this episode, Qudsiya, Jasmine, and Cheryl take a behind the scenes look at how they created the accessible wedding album, how the experience transformed Jasmine's perspective on her craft as a photographer, and the new possibilities for access art that Cheryl uncovered in the process. Access is not just about having what we need as disabled people to equitably participate in things like work and education. It's equally about being a part of the moments in our lives that bring us joy, bonding us all in shared humanity, disabled and non-disabled alike. In this episode, you will hear music from Qudsiya and Sean's wedding by Adrian Morris of Quartetto Solo, the song “Made of Gold” by Ibeyi, and “The Way I Am” by Ingrid Michelson, performed by Qudsiya's niece, Zoha Hasan. Image descriptions were performed by Ramya Amuthan. ⁠⁠⁠Visit our website for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- Loving Down to the Struts? Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠⁠. Let us know what you think in the Spotify Q+A, or leave a review on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Qudsiya's newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Season 8 of Down to the Struts is coming to your podcast feeds on Tuesday, February 13. Listen now for a sneak peek into this season's interviews with disabled filmmakers, access artists, entrepreneurs, and scientists, all of whom are leveraging their disabled genius to create a more just, accessible, and inclusive world. Music by Adrian Morris of Quartetto Solo. ⁠⁠Visit our website for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠ -- Loving Down to the Struts? Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠. Let us know what you think in the Spotify Q+A, or leave a review on ⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Qudsiya's newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠.

A bonus discussion between Down to the Struts host Qudsiya Naqui and friend and Getting Down To It editor, Avery Anapol. Get to know the voice, the history and the motivation behind the podcast. ⁠⁠Visit our website for transcripts.⁠⁠⁠ -- Loving Down to the Struts? Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠. Follow us on Instagram ⁠⁠⁠@DownToTheStruts⁠⁠⁠. Leave a review on ⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to Qudsiya's newsletter, ⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠.