On this episode, Aimi Hamraie and Kelsie Acton reflect on this season of Contra*, their work with the Remote Access Archives, and their hopes for how the archives will be used. They also share about their own experiences of finding remote access in their disability communities,and how they archived remote access with the Critical Design Lab team.
On this episode, Aimi Hamraie and Kelsie Acton reflect on this season of Contra*, their work with the Remote Access Archives, and their hopes for how the archives will be used. They also share about their own experiences of finding remote access in their disability communities,and how they archived remote access with the Critical Design Lab team.
Themes:
Remote access and archiving remote access
Disability communities and collaborative access
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Links:
Themes:
Remote access and archiving remote access
Disability communities and collaborative access
Links:
This episode, we hear from India Harville, an African American, queer, disabled activist, consultant, public speaker, somatics practitioner, and performance artist. India details her own experience with remote access before and during the pandemic, and the ways that the disability community continues to innovate and experiment to find more ways to connect, find joy, and build community across space and access.
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Themes:
Disability advocacy and justice
Remote access in the chronic illness community
Zoom participation and community building
Links:
India’s website,Embraced Body
This episode, we hear from Brian Lobel, a white man who was diagnosed with cancer and co-founded of the Sex with Cancer project. Lobel takes us into the world of cancer, queer sex advocacy, disabled pleasure, and the role of hotlines and online spaces as essential remote access for anyone searching for answers to their most intimate questions.
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Themes:
Body change and cancer
Cancer and disability community / culture
COVID-19 pandemic era and disability advocacy
Disabled pleasure, disabled sex
Patient-led advocacy,
Queer sex education, sex toys
social model of disability,
Telephone hotlines and remote access
Links:
Sex with Cancer website
Brian Lobel’s website
What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at Cripping Pandemic Learning, documents developed by Danielle E. Lorenz and Hannah Sullivan Facknitz to support access for disabled students to online learning. These documents highlight the collaboration and simplicity of access-knowledge sharing common to disability culture.
For a full episode description, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Links:
This episode, we hear from Katie Goldfinch, a white, nonbinary person and solidarity worker with Touretteshero. Katie gives us insight into the disability arts scene in the UK, how Touretteshero navigates the pandemic, and how they are working hard to share collective joy, education, creativity, and curiosity with kids and teachers remotely.
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Themes:
Remote access, collaborative access, and education
Creating joy and collaboration remotely
Disabled kids and disability arts
Play and performance
Links:
What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at Crips for E-sims for Gaza, an effort by Alice Wong, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha and Jane Shi to encourage disabled people and their allies to donate to get eSims to people in Gaza. Kelsie reflects on the relationship between mutual aid, remote access and the importance of doing something, however small.
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Links:
Donate to Crips for Esims for Gaza
This episode, we hear from Sky Cubacub, a Filipinx, non-binary disabled activist, designer and educator, who founded Rebirth Garments. They discuss their journey to gender-affirming fashion, fashion newsletters, and navigating social media. And, they share their current project with kids – at the intersection of education, performance, and interdependence that is rooted in community care and trust.
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Themes:
Fashion, performance, and fashion shows
Social media and remote community building
Hybrid and remote performances
Immunocompromised and remote community
Zoom participation and community building
Youth education and disability justice
Non-gender confirming identity and fashion creation
Links:
Sky’s instagram
Sky’s website,Rebirth Garments
What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at the Olmstead Quality of Life Survey and reflects on the limits of remote access.
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Links:
On this episode, we hear from moira williams, an Indigenous disabled artist. moira shares their experience with pre-pandemic and pandemic forms of remote access, especially as it pertains to joy, community-building, performance, nightlife and parties, visual protests and more.
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Themes:
Joy as resistance
Hybrid and remote parties and community building
Movement in disability spaces and communities
Zoom participation and community building
Indigenous communities and disability justice
Land acknowledgement in remote digital settings
Disability arts
Crip nightlife / remote access parties
Links:
What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie shares a bit about Glitch Realm, a piece of digital art by Yo-Yo Lin and Kevin Gotkin, developed for one of the Remote Access parties and reflects on joy and access magic.
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Links:
On this episode of Contra*, Aimi talks to Susan Molloy, a white disabled woman and environmental illness activist. Susan is a resident of a remote, disability community outside of Snowflake, Arizona. Susan shares how she found her way to remote disability advocacy, the barriers to remote access faced by folks with environmental illnesses, and how she and others in her neighborhood advocate, innovate, and design living spaces that fit their needs.
For a full episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Themes:
Remote access and navigating different sensitivities
Chemical sensitivities, electrical sensitivities, and electronics shielding
Environmental Illness
Negotiating access and remote access pre-COVID
Disability communities and collaborative access
Links:
What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at five documents sent to us by Communication First. Communication First works to advance the rights of people who cannot rely on speech. These documents highlight the need for some disabled people to have in person support, including in person support to participate in remote access.
Find the full epsiode transcript at criticaldesignlab.com.
Links:
This episode, we hear from Thomas Reid, who is a Black disabled and blind man, podcast producer extraordinaire, and host of Reid My Mind Radio. Thomas discusses audio description and access, especially in the film industry, Blackness and disability, accessibility and blindness, and cross-disability community as he has navigated becoming blind as an adult.
He also shares his reasons for hope in the audio description and narration industry, and how remote access has transformed his ability to connect with and grow his community.
For a full transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com.
Themes:
Audio descriptions, visual descriptions, and access
Remote recording and podcasting
History of podcasting in the blind community
Disability innovation over the years
Blindness in adulthood
Links:
What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at two articles documenting Alice Wong’s 2015 trip to the White House via a robot.
In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at documents that highligt an innovative remote access technology and the importance of remote access before the COVID-19 pandemic.
For an episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Links:
This episode, we hear from Qudsiya Naqui, a blind South Asian lawyer and podcast creator. Qudsiya shares how remote access has transformed her daily work and inspired her to start her own podcast, Down to the Struts, welcoming her into the broader disability community.
Themes:
Disability advocacy and justice
Advocating for remote workplace access
Blindness and screen readers
Podcast remote recordings and production
Navigating access in cross disability communities
Links:
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times. This season we’re sharing some of those conversations. We’re also taking a closer look at some of the documents in the remote access archive.
What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at documents associated with the UCLA Hybrid Access Strike and reflects on solidarity.
For an episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com
Links:
This season of Contra*, we’re sharing oral history interviews from the Remote Access Archives. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times.
What did remote access look like 20 years ago? 30 years ago? How has the disability community been innovating with phones, emails and the internet since these were emerging technologies? This episode features a conversation with Corbett O’Toole, a white, queer, disabled elder, artist and author, who discusses the significance of remote access technologies over the past few decades – from her role in the polio community to the early disability rights movement to disability justice today.
For an episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com.
Themes:
Disability advocacy and justice
Anti-colonialism and the disability community
Remote participation and conferences
Queer feminism and the disability community
COVID-19 pandemic and long COVID
Nomad community and internet access
Links:
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times. This season we’re sharing some of those conversations. We’re also taking a closer look at some of the documents in the remote access archive in mini-episodes, like the one you're listening to today!
What was the role of remote access before the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at documents associated with the Toomey Gazette, later known as the Rehabilitation Gazette, a print newspaper sent out by a rehabilitation center to its broader community starting in 1955.
For an episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com.
Links:
Welcome to Season 4 of Contra*! We’re back with new episodes from the Remote Access Archives. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times. This season we’re sharing some of those conversations.
For an episode transcript, please visit criticaldesignlab.com.
What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? Aimi’s conversation with Hector Ramirez, a disabled, queer and Two-Spirit, and biracial disability rights advocate focuses on how remote access has transformed during the pandemic, and the implications of the pandemic on his disability community and culture.
Themes:
Disability politics and advocacy
Remote access and workplace participation
COVID-19 pandemic era
institutionalization and isolation
Public policy and access
Links:
Welcome to Season 4 of Contra*!
On this season of Contra*, we’re sharing oral history interviews from the Remote Access Archives. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times. This season, we'll be sharing some of these conversations.
For a transcript of this episode, please visit criticaldesignlab.com.