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PODCAST

Always Looking Up

A podcast dedicated to telling honest and real stories about living in a world that was not necessarily designed for us.

society & culture personal journals

All Episodes

00:56:46

Liz Gutman On Enhancing The Content We Consume

Always Looking Up ·

2025/05/12

In this week’s episode I sat down with Liz Gutman. Liz is the Head Audio Description Writer at International Digital Centre in New York City. She has written award-winning AD for 850+ hours of movies and TV, and proudly works as an instructor with Audio Description Training Retreats. We discuss making and creating content that is digitally accessible, how she explains and defines access f*ckery and much, much more.Editor’s Note: This episode was recorded back in August of 2024 as a collaboration

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00:42:47

Kirsten Ferguson On Starting Her Healing Journey To...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/05/05

In celebration of May being Mental Health Awareness Month I am honored to have sat down with Kirsten Ferguson. A successful career woman turned Peloton fitness instructor, Kirsten wholeheartedly embraces the changes that life brings. After seven years of working with the NFL, she shifted her focus to family. Her journey to motherhood was not easy, and fitness helped Kirsten strengthen her body and soul during difficult times. She is now the proud mother of two beautiful daughters and uses her life

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00:54:19

Peet Montzingo On Growing Up Average-Height In A...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/04/28

In this week’s episode I sat down with Peet Montzingo. Peet Montzingo is one of the top social media content creators who has over 21.5M subscribers on his YouTube channel, 14.2M followers on his TikTok, and 3.1M followers on his Instagram. Known for his comedic videos that feature his family and daily life, his content also dabbles in the supernatural, where he formerly lived across the street from the infamous Cecil Hotel and documented its strange occurrences. Aside from being a star on social

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01:04:59

Keah Brown On Being Unapologetically Herself

Always Looking Up ·

2025/04/21

In this week’s episode I sat down with Keah Brown. Keah is an award winning journalist, author, and screenwriter. Her work on disability, identity, and pop culture has appeared in Town & Country Magazine, Teen Vogue, Elle, The LA Times, Marie Claire UK, And The New York Times, among other publications. We discuss the connection between disability and celebrity, not having time for imposter syndrome, the pressure of writing an acknowledgements page and much, much more.Join The Patreon:

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01:04:42

Anna Pakman, Margo Gignac and James Ian On Emergency...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/04/17

In this episode I sat down with Anna Pakman, Margo Gignac and James Ian, the writer/director and stars of Emergency Plan, a new short film for the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge. Emergency Plan stars Margo and James as a disabled couple forced to send their young son out alone after a catastrophic East Coast earthquake — when it becomes clear no one is coming to help them evacuate. Ali Stroker voices the radio anchor whose warnings grow increasingly urgent as the crisis unfolds. We discuss

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01:05:42

Rachel Handler On Saving Her Creative Heart And...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/04/16

In this episode I sat down with Rachel Handler. Rachel is a filmmaker and actor known for her stint as Peg Leg Doris on AMC’s “Interview With the Vampire” and her award-winning Slamdance films “Committed” and “HOW MUCH AM I WORTH?” We discuss the magic of theater and storytelling, her creative processes as both an actor and a writer, the importance of something like the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge for disabled artists and creatives and much, much more.Join The Patreon: Click ⁠⁠Here⁠⁠Follow

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01:04:02

Mariadeliz Santiago On The Beauty Industry And...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/04/14

In this week’s episode I sat down with Mariadeliz Santiago. Maria is a NYC-based disabled content creator, speaker, and advocate who uses her platform to champion authentic representation and accessibility in media. As a Latina with an upper limb difference and chronic conditions like Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and new daily persistent headache (NDPH), she creates impactful content that bridges beauty, lifestyle, and disability awareness. With a growing and engaged audience, Maria partners with

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01:11:17

Makenzie Morgan Gomez On Dancing (Disabled) Through Life

Always Looking Up ·

2025/04/07

In this week’s episode I sat down with Makenzie Morgan Gomez. Makenzie is a Mexican-American, queer, dynamically disabled performer based in Brooklyn, NY. She is a member of Actors' Equity Association and recently made her Off-Broadway debut starring as Libby in Neil Simon's I Ought To Be In Pictures at Theatre Row, where she used both a cane and a manual wheelchair on stage. We discuss going against society’s expectations of disability, how disability representation should not be limited,

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57:44

Mark Povinelli On The Return Of Benjamin Lay

Always Looking Up ·

2025/03/31

In this week’s episode I sat down with Mark Povinelli. Mark is an activist as well as an actor on stage and screen. He is currently portraying Benjamin Lay, shepherd, sailor, revolutionary, the British Empire's first revolutionary abolitionist, and someone whose story for too long has not been told, in the Off-Broadway production of The Return of Benjamin Lay. We discuss who Benjamin Lay was, how this show came to be, the importance of telling this story at this time, much more. Join The Patreon:

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01:07:26

Rachel Wherley, Erin Elswood and Shelby Holloway On...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/03/24

In this week’s episode I sat down with Rachel Wherley, Erin Elswood, and Shelby Holloway, the co-directors of the Mascots Matter campaign. Mascots Matter is an independent grassroots advocacy initiative calling for the retirement of offensive disability mascots. We discuss the origins of the “m” slur and its continued, harmful use through to present day, the founding of Mascots Matter and its advocacy efforts thus far, why discriminatory disability mascots are not just a local issue and much more

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01:27:39

Jillian Curwin And Felicia Gans On Turning 30, What...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/03/17

In this week’s episode I sat down with Felicia Gans Sobey. Felicia is a deputy editor of content strategy at The Philadelphia Inquirer. She is also a retired theater kid, an avid watcher of 90s/early 2000s TV, a Kindle obsessive, a dark chocolate lover, and a longtime friend of yours truly. As we are two Pisces girls turning 30, celebrating a friendship that has lasted half our lives thus far, I invited Felicia to ask and answer more audience questions about turning a decade older and much, much

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01:04:10

Melanie Waldman On Finding Comfort In Being Yourself

Always Looking Up ·

2025/03/10

In this week’s episode I sat down with Melanie Waldman. Melanie is a multi-award-winning filmmaker with the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, a member of SAG-AFTRA, an on-air talent member at QVC, host of the Disability Reality Podcast (which, yours truly, will be making an appearance on very soon talking all things on Bravo), and she STILL somehow finds time to teach adaptive yoga to the disability community & beyond! We discuss disability as a collective and the healing power of connection

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53:41

Eliza Orlins On Pushing For Change Within The System

Always Looking Up ·

2025/03/03

For context, this episode was recorded on February 19, 2025. In this week’s episode I sat down with Eliza Orlins. Eliza Orlins is a career public defender who has represented close to 4000 people charged with crimes in Manhattan over the last 13+ years. She’s an outspoken advocate and can be found raging against injustice on her social media platforms. We discuss the misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the criminal legal system, the ways in which the system and how it is designed impacts

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54:44

Jillian Curwin On Turning 30 And Healing In A World...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/02/24

In this week’s episode it is just me and the microphone as I sit down to answer your questions about my ongoing surgery recovery journey, healing in a world that was not necessarily designed for me, ending the chapter that was my twenties and preparing to enter the chapter that will be my thirties. Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires: Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/ United Spinal Disaster Relief

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01:02:25

Allison E. Lang On The Beauty Of Disabled Bodies

Always Looking Up ·

2025/02/17

In this week’s episode I sat down with Allison Lang. Allison is a content creator, speaker, model, and a medal-winning Paralympian, having just competed in the 2024 Paralympics on Team Canada’s seated volleyball team. Her advocacy focuses on self love and body acceptance with the hope of helping others who may be on a similar journey. We discuss connecting with authentic stories, what can happen when you feel seen and heard by a brand, being inspired by our accomplishments, not our existence, and

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58:47

Chuck Aoki On Wheelchair Rugby And Changing How The...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/02/10

In this week’s episode I sat down with Chuck Aoki. Chuck is an American wheelchair rugby, aka “murder ball” player, a 4-time Paralympic medalist and one of the most recognized and decorated athletes in the sport both on the court and off. He is also one of the co-founders of Culxtured, a media collective that is changing the ways in which the world views para sport. We discuss the evolution of wheelchair rugby and how he found the sport, the timelines it takes to become a Paralympian compared to an

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01:01:21

Violet On The Weight Of Words When Said Behind A...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/02/06

In this episode I sat down with Violet aka hi its vi. Violet is a disability advocate, filmmaker, and content creator with almost 100 thousand followers on TikTok. Violet’s advocacy focuses on the representation of people with dwarfism in the media. For context, we recorded this episode on February 3rd following remarks made by the President and the media about people with dwarfism. This is a conversation unpacking how society perceives, acts toward, and talks about people with dwarfism as well as

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01:07:55

Adam Ayers On The Wins That Happen On A Level Playing...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/02/03

In this week’s episode I sat down with Adam Ayers. Adam is the current president of the Dwarf Athletic Association of America, also known as DAAA. DAAA is a non-profit organization that provides athletic opportunities for people of short stature. The organization consists of a core Board of Directors who are supported by volunteers and philanthropic contributors. We discuss how DAAA has evolved since its founding in 1985, what happens behind the scenes to make the games accessible and successful,

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56:44

Keely Cat-Wells On Making Investments And Making...

Always Looking Up ·

2025/01/27

In this week’s episode I sat down with Keely Cat-Wells. Keely, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and Presidential Leadership Scholar, has been a dedicated advocate for disability rights since becoming Disabled in her teens. She is the CEO of Making Space, a talent acquisition and learning platform and co-founded Making Space Media, producing content that centers Disabled voices. We discuss investing in disability, the success of creating pipelines to companies such as NBC, Indeed, and Hello Sunshine,

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54:12

Julia Métraux On Media Literacy And Disability

Always Looking Up ·

2025/01/21

In this week’s episode I sat down with Julia Métraux. Julia is Mother Jones' disability reporter, where she covers disability, chronic illness and mental health as it relates to politics. Her experience is influenced by her lived experience with vasculitis, a TBI, ME/CFS and hearing loss. We discuss what it means to be a disability reporter, how reporting on disability has evolved over time, issues and stories she is looking out for in the upcoming administration and much, much more. Follow Julia:

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214 results

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