How We Got Here

How to sight-guide for a visually impaired friend when you use a wheelchair… In the season finale, we speak to the activist and Twitter sensation Dr Amy Kavanagh. Amy created the hashtag #JustAskDontGrab and started a global discussion of the non-consensual everyday touching that disabled people endure. In this episode, Amy teaches Katie how to sight-guide from her wheelchair as they take the bus from Angel to Kings Cross, with only one hiccup along the way… Amy talks to Katie about language, identity, and how finally allowing herself to use a white cane has bought her happiness (and less bruising). Produced and hosted by Katie Pennick, bought to you by Transport for All (TfA). TfA is fighting for inclusive transport systems and accessible streets for all, and needs the voices of disabled people to join the cause. If you fancy getting involved, sign up as a member by visiting our website, www.transportforall.org.uk

Parties, picnics, and protesting atop the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square... This is all in a day in the life of 94-year-old Gwynneth Pedler, who joins Katie for this episode. They take the DLR from Canary Wharf to Bank for a cultured afternoon at the Guildhall Art Gallery, and - despite their seventy year age difference, find much to bond over. They swap stories of patience, hope, and the disadvantages of being at wheelchair "bottom" height when out at pubs! Produced and hosted by Katie Pennick, bought to you by Transport for All (TfA). TfA is fighting for inclusive transport systems and accessible streets for all, and needs the voices of disabled people to join the cause. If you fancy getting involved, sign up as a member by visiting our website, www.transportforall.org.uk    

Politics, parliament and Paralympic athletes... In this episode we take a noisy Jubilee Line train from Bond Street to Westminster, as we are tagging along on Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson's commute to her place of work - the House of Lords! Parliament was pro-rogued that morning but luckily for this podcast Peers are still allowed in...! Tanni tells Katie how Brexit has been getting in the way of her train journeys, how her excessive tweeting resulted in a concerned phone call from her sister, and what her advice would be to young disabled people wanting to make a change. Produced and hosted by Katie Pennick, bought to you by Transport for All (TfA). TfA is fighting for accessible transport systems and inclusive streets, and needs the voices of disabled people to join the cause. If you fancy getting involved, sign up as a member by visiting our website: www.transportforall.org.uk 

Sex, drugs, and rock’n’rolling down an escalator in a wheelchair… This week we’re hopping on the Thameslink from St Pancras to London Bridge with the broadcaster/journalist/access + inclusion expert Mik Scarlet, and heading to a pub for a cheeky half pint. Mik describes what train travel looked like as a New-Romantic-wheelchair-user in the 80s – when trains weren’t accessible and he had to be carried across the tracks and thrown into the guards van. We also talk internalised ableism, how music and Sci-Fi cinema helped him out of depression, and how he found unlikely sex advice from lesbian women… Produced and hosted by Katie Pennick, bought to you by Transport for All. CW: Very strong language, sex, brief mention of suicidal thoughts

This is How We Got Here, the new podcast from leading disability rights charity Transport for All. This series we’ll speak to Mik Scarlet, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Gwynneth Pedler and Dr Amy Kavanagh. Launching Monday 25th November. #HowWeGotHere