Podcast appearances and mentions of andrew leland

Here's your favorite from Season 7. Qudsiya is a huge history nerd, and she had a blast unpacking blind history with Andrew Leland, author of the award-winning memoir, The Country of the Blind. Andrew and Qudsiya explored blind culture, blind politics, and their own relationships with blindness. It was a great conversation—thanks to all of you for giving us a chance to revisit it.Visit our website⁠ ⁠for⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ transcripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠-- Subscribe to Qudsiya's Substack, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Getting Down To It⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support the team behind the podcast ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠with a donation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Let us know what you think with a comment or review on⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple podcasts.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Dave and Chris are joined by Chris's pal (and former boss) Andrew Leland, who talks them through how he went from being sedentary to a marathon runner. Andrew discusses why he started running, the program he used to get in shape, and what his running journey was like, including the differences as a runner with retinitis pigmentosa. After, Dave and Chris talk about the scientifically ideal running playlist and go through Dave's and the listeners' playlists to see how they compare. Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Guest: Andrew Leland Video/Audio Producer: Victoria Valencia Majordomo Media Producers: Kelsey Rearden and David Meyer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's episode comes to us from our friends at Radiolab! Close your eyes and imagine a red apple. What do you see? Turns out there's a whole spectrum of answers to that question, and producer Sindhu Gnanasambandan is on one far end. In this episode, she explores what it means to see — and not see — in your mind. This episode was reported and produced by Sindhu Gnanasambandan with help from Annie McEwen. Original music and sound design contributed by Dylan Keefe. Mixing help from Jeremy Bloom and Arianne Wack. Mixing for Science Vs by Sam Bair. Fact-checking by Natalie Middleton. Edited by Pat Walters.  Special thanks to Kim Nederveen Pieterse, Nathan Peereboom, Lizzie Peabody, Kristin Lin, Jo Eidman, Mark Nakhla, Andrew Leland, Brian Radcliffe, Adam Zeman, John Green, Craig Venter, Dustin Grinnell, and Soraya Shockley. Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When does vision loss become blindness? This week we're revisiting a talk by writer, audio producer and editor Andrew Leland as he explains how his gradual loss of vision revealed a paradoxical truth about blindness — and shows why it might have implications for how all of us see the world.

Writer Andrew Leland talks with Phoebe about slowly losing his eyesight. He was diagnosed with the degenerative eye disease Retinitis pigmentosa when he was in high school. "It was like, 'I'm going out in the woods with my friends at night. And oddly enough, I'm bad at it.'" Andrew Leland's memoir, The Country of the Blind, A Memoir at the End of Sight, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Say hello on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Sign up for our occasional newsletter, The Accomplice. Follow the show and review us on Apple Podcasts. Sign up for Criminal Plus to get behind-the-scenes bonus episodes of Criminal, ad-free listening of all of our shows, special merch deals, and more.  We also make This is Love and Phoebe Reads a Mystery. Artwork by Julienne Alexander. Check out our online shop. Episode transcripts are posted on our website. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An unearthed experiment in podcasting. Special thanks to KCRW and The Believer Magazine, Andrew Leland and Ross Simonini.    You can hear more of Matt Holzman's work here:   If you would likey to pupport theesey project you can donate to the Patreon at  patreon.com/Randomtape 

L.K. Bowen's debut novel FOR WORSE was named a "Best Debut Novel" by CrimeReads and follows a wife who is diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa-a diagnoses that author Bowen also has received-and must survive at the hand of her abusive husband while simultaneously learning how to support herself on her own as she quickly loses her vision. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a degenerative eye disease that affects over 2 million people worldwide, slowly causing people to lose their vision over time until they become fully blind. With Pulitzer Prize finalists such as The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland putting focus on their life with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and celebrities such as Jake Gyllenhaal opening up about legal blindness, there is no better time to champion books by authors and featuring characters who have disabilities as we look ahead to Disability Pride Month (July). Bowen's journey has been a long one: one full of introspection, resilience, and hope. This is a journey that echoes throughout the pages of her debut, with the added intrigue of a psychological thriller reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's Wait Until Dark. Bowen wrote an emotionally wrought, yet hopeful essay for The Nerd Daily about her diagnosis, and recently appeared on a panel at ThrillerFest to discuss her debut novel and her work with RP. Compelled to bring light to her disease, Bowen became dedicated to putting a character like herself at the center of her novel, hoping her story (though fictional in many aspects) would reach people worldwide.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-unplugged-totally-uncut--994165/support.

Dave is revisiting some of his favorite episodes and interviews for his ‘Best of Dave Chang Show' series. In this episode, writer (and Chris's first boss out of college!) Andrew Leland joins the pod to talk about his experience with retinitis pigmentosa and common misconceptions about blind people. Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Guest: Andrew Leland Producers: Victoria Valencia, Gabi Marler, and Euno Lee Additional Production Supervision: Cory McConnell Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript: bit.ly/AIAe059Andrew Leland is the author of The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, named a best book of the year by The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and others. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, McSweeney's Quarterly, and The San Francisco Chronicle, among other outlets. From 2013 to 2019, he hosted and produced The Organist, an arts and culture podcast, for KCRW; he has also produced pieces for Radiolab and 99 Percent Invisible. Leland has been an editor at The Believer since 2003.Connect with Andrew:Andrew LelandThe Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland: 9781984881427 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: BooksThe Optacon Story - Part 1 of 2 (circa 1972) (youtube.com)Connect with the Rocky Mountain ADA Center at RockyMountainADA.org or find us on social media. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts!

L.K. Bowen's debut novel FOR WORSE was named a "Best Debut Novel" by CrimeReads and follows a wife who is diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa-a diagnoses that author Bowen also has received-and must survive at the hand of her abusive husband while simultaneously learning how to support herself on her own as she quickly loses her vision. Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a degenerative eye disease that affects over 2 million people worldwide, slowly causing people to lose their vision over time until they become fully blind. With Pulitzer Prize finalists such as The Country of the Blind by Andrew Leland putting focus on their life with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and celebrities such as Jake Gyllenhaal opening up about legal blindness, there is no better time to champion books by authors and featuring characters who have disabilities as we look ahead to Disability Pride Month (July). Bowen's journey has been a long one: one full of introspection, resilience, and hope. This is a journey that echoes throughout the pages of her debut, with the added intrigue of a psychological thriller reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn's Wait Until Dark. Bowen wrote an emotionally wrought, yet hopeful essay for The Nerd Daily about her diagnosis, and recently appeared on a panel at ThrillerFest to discuss her debut novel and her work with RP. Compelled to bring light to her disease, Bowen became dedicated to putting a character like herself at the center of her novel, hoping her story (though fictional in many aspects) would reach people worldwide.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.

Close your eyes and imagine a red apple. What do you see? Turns out there's a whole spectrum of answers to that question and Producer Sindhu Gnanasambandan is on one far end. In this episode, she explores what it means to see – and not see – in your mind.Special thanks to Kim Nederveen Pieterse, Nathan Peereboom, Lizzie Peabody, Kristin Lin, Jo Eidman, Mark Nakhla, Andrew Leland and Brian Radcliffe.We have some exciting news! In this “Zoozve” episode, Radiolab named its first-ever quasi-moon, and now it's your turn! Radiolab has teamed up with The International Astronomical Union to launch a global naming contest for one of Earth's quasi-moons. This is your chance to make your mark on the heavens. Submit your name ideas now through September, or vote on your favorites starting in November: https://radiolab.org/moonEPISODE CREDITS: Reported by - Sindhu GnanasambandanProduced by - Sindhu Gnanasambandanwith help from - Annie McEwenOriginal music and sound design contributed by - Dylan Keefe (?)with mixing help from - Jeremy Bloom and Arianne WackFact-checking by - Natalie Middletonand Edited by - Pat WaltersSign up for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)!Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org.Leadership support for Radiolab's science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Dr. Rebekah Wanic is all that and more. She grew up in Chicagoland and decided to major in Psychology during her undergraduate work. She continued her studies after moving to San Diego where she still resides today. Rebekah and I talk about a number of topics from making and being responsible for your choices to reading Braille. Really, reading Braille as you will see turns out to be a quite fascinating and thought-provoking topic. Dr. Wanic offers many thoughtful insights and absolutely wonderful life lessons we all can use. She is the epitome of unstoppable as you will see. She has faced challenges, and she has chosen to work through and overcome them. About the Guest: Dr. Rebekah Wanic is a dynamic motivator who thrives on pushing her boundaries and those of others. Fueled with a passion for hard work and building relationships, she has worked with students, entrepreneurs and individual clients in the U.S. and abroad as a university lecturer and mindset psychologist. Originally from the Chicagoland area, she graduated with a B.S. in Psychology with University Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before moving to Southern California. There, she earned her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego with an emphasis in applied social psychology studying the role of power in relationship health and the influence of mindset on social comparison outcomes. Passionate about inspiring the success of others, she has worked as a professional development trainer and adjunct faculty advocate and the internal mindset coach for a company supporting emerging entrepreneurs. Currently, she is a university lecturer, conference speaker, and blogger in addition to working with individual clients on mindset mastery. Dr. Wanic has taught over 16 different psychology courses, ranging from introductory to graduate level. She has taught courses at several different colleges and universities, including National University of Singapore, Nevada State University, Columbia College South Carolina and several community colleges in the San Diego area. Dr. Wanic's home university now is University of San Diego and she also teaches courses at San Diego State University and Nova Southeastern University. Dr. Wanic is also an avid writer. Her work has appeared in academic journals and online publications, including Times Higher Education, Minding the Campus, and Spiked Online. She maintains two blogs, PsychSkeptics and Optimization Notes, aimed at social critique through a psychological lens and self-development. She has a novella set to be released early next year and is working on the manuscript for her next book. She and her twin sister recently created a podcast, Unwarp Reality, designed to help uncover the bias and manipulation in the mainstream media. In addition to her work, she enjoys being active with a healthy balance of reading, watching sports, and just relaxing. Ways to connect with Dr. Rebekah: https://linktr.ee/rebekahwanic https://www.venttoreinvent.com https://venttoreinvent.substack.com/ https://unwarpreality.substack.com/ https://psychskeptics.substack.com/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can also subscribe in your favorite podcast app. Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Hi there, and welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're back again. Yep, you haven't lost us yet. Thanks for being here to listen, we really appreciate it. And if you're on YouTube, thanks for being here to watch. Yes, we are on YouTube, as well as all the places where podcasts go. And you are listening to unstoppable mindset. We're inclusion, diversity in the unexpected meet. And it's that way, because inclusion goes a lot further than diversity does. And sometimes we talk about that. And sometimes we don't. And we'll see with our guest today, whether we get to that or not. I don't know whether it'll even come up but it did. And so now it's here. Anyway, I'd like you to meet Rebekah Wanic. Rebekah is a very dynamic individual in a lot of different ways. She's a dynamic motivator, she pushes boundaries. She's an author. She's done a lot in the world of psychology and most important of all, she lives in San Diego, California, which makes me extremely jealous. So Rebekah, welcome to unstoppable mindset.   Rebekah Wanic ** 02:19 Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's so great to be here to have this conversation.   Michael Hingson ** 02:24 Well, I lived in Vista for six years, so I know what it's like, which is why I'm jealous. Yes.   Rebekah Wanic ** 02:29 And I appreciate San Diego so much coming from Chicago originally. Every day, especially in the winter is a nice one.   Michael Hingson ** 02:38 When did you leave Chicago?   Rebekah Wanic ** 02:39 I moved to Southern California in 2003. So right when I finished my undergraduate degree.   Michael Hingson ** 02:48 Well, I was born in Chicago, but we moved out when I was five. So I grew up in Palmdale, California, so about 55 miles west of here. So the weather was relatively similar to what we have in Victorville. Not totally similar to what we have in San Diego, but we cope.   Rebekah Wanic ** 03:08 You get more of the extremes than we do. We're pretty insulated here on the coast. Oh, I   Michael Hingson ** 03:13 know. I think it's still the best climate certainly in the whole US if not the whole world. We we didn't get the extremes in San Diego that we get here. And in the winter. We don't get the snow because we're down in the valley. But all the ski resorts around us get the snow. We had two inches of snow one Saturday during this last year. And it was gone by the next day. So as I love to say the kids didn't get even get a snow day.   Rebekah Wanic ** 03:39 But then you also didn't have to shovel Right? Right.   Michael Hingson ** 03:42 When I'm not concerned about needing to have snow. I'm perfectly happy not to have snow here. It doesn't really make a lot of sense to do that. I mean, if we get that much snow here, it must really be bad around us. Although, earlier this year, I heard that mammoth ski resort actually didn't close their doors for the winter. Until August 6 of this year. Like a six they're skiing. Wow. Holy Jamali, as Colombo would say, you know, that's that's kind of crazy. Well, why don't we start? I love to do this with maybe you telling us a little bit about kind of the earlier Rebecca growing up and in Chicago, what life was like and all that sort of stuff?   Rebekah Wanic ** 04:30 Sure. Yeah. So the early Rebecca I think was a malformed version of the Rebecca that exists today. I was really lucky because I have a twin sister. So growing up I always had a companion to kind of play around with and she's super fun interesting person so we it's kind of a built in friends to go explore places with him and I also have an older brother, but you know, because he was a boy and a little bit older wasn't as close with us. But we did a lot of the traditional Midwest growing up things. So most of our vacations were to go visit our grandparents up north in various parts of Michigan, which was quite fun. But I growing up, I had really bad asthma. And so as a consequence of that, I had to be careful being outdoors, I had to be careful going over to friends houses that had dogs, I had to be careful with exercising and everything. So I was kind of the sick one in the family. And my sister to her credit, had to put up with a lot of we need to leave the sleepover, we need to leave this event because she'd be dragged along with me whenever we had to go. And so I don't like the cold as we were just talking about the weather. And as soon as I was able to sort of break out of the Midwest, which was after college, I don't think I was mature enough to move away from home for undergrad. So as soon as I finished my undergrad degree, though, a roommate of mine got a job in Torrance, California, and she said she was going to go out to SoCal. And so I just was like, Well, you know what, I think I'll move out with you. Because I knew I wanted to go to graduate school. And California has a lot of really good graduate programs. And at the time, when I was looking at psychology, some of the top programs were out here. So I just moved out with her lived and worked as a waitress for a year in Redondo Beach. And then, luckily was accepted to UCSD for graduate school. So that's when I moved down to San Diego. And I've been here ever since, with the exception of a small trip to Singapore for a couple of years during COVID.   Michael Hingson ** 06:33 Wow, that's interesting going to Singapore, what took you to Singapore, a   Rebekah Wanic ** 06:39 job, I got a really great opportunity to teach at their National University of Singapore, which is consistently one of the top schools in Asia. So it was really fortunate to be offered the position there. If the unfortunate thing was just the timing, because I went in November of 2020. And so I was mostly there during COVID. And there was a lot of restrictions. And so it was really difficult to kind of integrate and develop, you know, a social life when you don't know anybody. And you're in a totally new place. But it was still a great experience, I would say,   Michael Hingson ** 07:09 what's your sister's name, by the way, Liz, Liz. So you're not identical twins.   Rebekah Wanic ** 07:14 We are identical for you. But   Michael Hingson ** 07:16 you didn't have names that began with the same letter? No,   Rebekah Wanic ** 07:19 we are not saddled with that. But all of our names are biblical names. So my grandpa was a Lutheran pastor. So my sister and I have names from the Bible, and then most of our cousins do as well. What's your older brother's name? My brother's name is Andrew. So he's, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 07:38 that's fair. Okay. My late wife's relatives, a lot of the girls had middle names of Lynn. Oh, Tracy, Lynn, Vicki Lynn and so on. So on. Chelsea Lynn and Chelsea is Tracy's daughter Vicki was Karen sister, and Tracy's mom. But Chelsea when she started having her two kids decided she did not want Lynn for their names. And she has one name Scarlet. And the other is Charlie. Charlie is Charlie Rose. And I forget what Scarlett who's a year older as her middle name is, but not Lynne.   Rebekah Wanic ** 08:18 That Lynn Excellent.   Michael Hingson ** 08:21 But yeah, I you know, I remember Chicago a little bit. I don't remember a lot of snow. But I remember school. I remember walking to the local candy store and doing some things around Chicago. And I was was blind back then as well. I was blind from birth due to being born prematurely and being given too much oxygen, which is something that happens. But, but nevertheless, you know, we survived. And it all worked out pretty well. So, and I had a lot of fun in Chicago. I was back there a few years ago. And it was in March. I was visiting cousins who still live there. I think they were in DeKalb. Okay. And it was a Sunday and it was the day I was going to be leaving to fly back out to California. But that morning, it was the morning of the polar plunge into Lake Michigan. Oh, okay. So Jimmy Fallon and Rahm Emanuel were to two of the people who were there. Rahm was the mayor at that time. And of course, Jimmy Fallon. And they were going to do the polar plunge and the reporters after they did it had a lot of not nice things to say about them because they said, these guys were dumb. They went into the lake dressed in their full business suits. And right around the same time they went in there was this woman near them who went in in her skimpy bathing suit so when she came out, they all went into the warming tent. You can imagine how long it took Fallon's and the manuals clothes to dry and she was drying Oh time. I agree Sir Porter was not well planned was fun. But it was pretty cold. I think we were down. The temperature was I think minus, no, I guess it was like three degrees. So it wasn't quite zero, but it was close.   Rebekah Wanic ** 10:16 Yeah, I was there last winter. It wasn't really that bad of a winter, we didn't have some of the extreme stuff. I remember one time growing up, it had rained, and then it froze overnight. So when we got to walk to school, everything was coated in ice. And on the trees, it looks really, really cool because it was kind of like crystals all over, you know, it was left to the branches and stuff. But walking on the sidewalk was not pleasant, because you just sort of slipped as you walked up a hill, you were slipping back down as   Michael Hingson ** 10:51 well, in May of 2001. So September 11, hadn't happened yet. They had a late snowstorm. Now our house was on what we call a pie shape, lots of the driveway, went out to the street, and then came in 65 feet, and then the lat spread out so we could build so we could have a house. But it was I guess sort of terrorist. Our basement was a walkout basement. And then on the first floor, there was a deck that was built in it was over the place where you could walk out on the basement side to go outside. But as soon as you walk outside from the basement, you got to go down a hill. And that's where I would take the dogs to do their business. There was not a fenced yard. But right at the end of what our property would be, it was kind of a small forest. And on one side on the other side was route 22, which was really noisy, but the snow came, which was no big deal. But the next day, the sun came out and melted some of the snow. So that night, the ice was as slick as glass, oh man, and I put on my boots and took the dogs out and went down that hill. Somehow I made it down. And I even made it back up. But then I decided after that I am not going to do that anymore. So I have a long leash, a flex leash. And I stood at the top of the hill and I let the dogs go down. And I didn't do it.   Rebekah Wanic ** 12:19 Very smart.   Michael Hingson ** 12:20 It was I'd never experienced anything like that in the rest of the time that we had been in New Jersey. But that's what what happened that day. It was crazy. And it was that way for a couple of days.   Rebekah Wanic ** 12:31 Wow. And that can be really dangerous. Because you don't you don't necessarily even recognize that all the ice is there. I did. Luckily for you.   Michael Hingson ** 12:41 Yeah, well, it was pretty treacherous. But I'm you know, the dogs didn't seem to have any problem with it. Bless them. That was great. Yeah. Not i I'm glad I didn't go go out anymore. But then I'm warmed up. And now all went well. But you know, it's it's it's interesting, I love the United States, because we do get to talk about the weather and, and the fact that it's so different throughout various parts of the country. I visited excessively in Israel in August. And they kind of can kind of can talk about the weather there because in the south or near the ocean or near the ocean, there's a lot more humidity and less than the North. It gets as hot as it does here. I don't know that they really believe that. But it does. We get at least as hot as Israel. But we don't get the humidity here. But they talk about the weather from a standpoint in part of humidity, but they don't have to worry about as much snow.   Rebekah Wanic ** 13:40 That's true. Yes, Singapore is this. It's pretty much hot there. Every day it rains somewhere every day. Not really a lot of seasonal variation, except in terms of the amount of rain that you're getting. But for me, it's I don't like cold. I was happy to be in 95 degrees every day. Most people wouldn't like it, but I loved it.   Michael Hingson ** 14:03 Well, you're not doing too bad in San Diego. And as you said, at least you don't have the extreme so on on any given day, you can go out to do cafe and have dinner. Yeah. Not suffer too much. So Halloween won't be probably as cold for you as it usually is for us. It gets it gets cold at night and I'm afraid it's going to do it again. The temperature was warm last week, but it's cooling off. And I'm afraid by next Tuesday it will be cold.   Rebekah Wanic ** 14:30 Yes. Are you gonna dress up for Halloween?   Michael Hingson ** 14:33 No. The lady who helps me here doing paperwork and stuff my my assistant, my office worker, if you will, or my sidekick has five children, one of whom doesn't like to go out and Trick or treat. He broke his ankle a couple of years ago so it really hurts to walk a lot. So he wants to stay with me if I'm not going to go out and do anything on Halloween. So I'm going to stay home we're not even going to give out candy we're going to close the door. Watch and turn off the light. Well, I don't know whether we're showing off all the lights, but we're not gonna give out candy and we'll watch a movie because that's what he wants to do.   Rebekah Wanic ** 15:06 Oh, fun, that'll be nice.   Michael Hingson ** 15:10 And he can play with the dog and the cat.   Rebekah Wanic ** 15:12 Awesome. I love Halloween. It's my favorite holiday because my birthday is the day afterwards. So we would always when we were kids, my sister and I, you know, since we're twins, we would have our, obviously a joint party together, but it'll always be a costume party. So I just because I love getting dressed up and stuff. So Halloween is definitely a fun day for me. That's   Michael Hingson ** 15:32 pretty cool. Well, that'll be fun. Sorry, you're going to dress up this year.   Rebekah Wanic ** 15:38 So this I mean, I'm teaching you know, I teach psychology classes. So I have to come up with something that doesn't look too wacky in front of the classroom. So I will wear a wig of some sort, since I will take any excuse to wear a wig and then figure out what I'm going to tell the students I am probably I've probably figured out Monday nights. But this weekend, when I go out with some friends, I'm going to be Sandra Bullock's character from the movie Speed. Okay, see how many people recognize it? Because I know it's getting dated now. But obviously, people my age or older ones still understand it? Well, you   Michael Hingson ** 16:12 mentioned where you could always try to dress up like Hermione Granger from Harry Potter.   Rebekah Wanic ** 16:18 I don't need that my hair looks like her.   Michael Hingson ** 16:24 There you go, Well, that is going well then just walk in with a wand and see if they figured out I actually   Rebekah Wanic ** 16:31 do have a Dumbledore one that I got from Universal Studio. Oh, I've all set.   Michael Hingson ** 16:39 So it's an elder one, does it? Yes. Oh, good.   Rebekah Wanic ** 16:43 Well, as a professor, you know, you have to have the professor one.   Michael Hingson ** 16:46 You certainly do. Well, so you mentioned that you have a neuromuscular condition?   Rebekah Wanic ** 16:55 Yes, I do. And it's one of those fun things where there's no actual answers for me. So I would say probably now about five years ago, I used to work out quite a bit. And I noticed I just couldn't run every time I ran, I felt like I ran a marathon, I'd have to take like hour long naps to try to recover from it. And my fingers and my toes started hurting and tingling. And until you know, when I first went to the doctor, they were I was really scared because they were like, Oh, it sounds like it might be Ms. But I had all the tests and screening for that. And nothing showed up. And then I had a bunch of other tests and nothing showed up. And then because you know, I'm used to doing research, I was researching online. And I thought I have a lot of evidence that suggests this might be small fiber neuropathy. So I had a fight with a bunch of doctors because you know, you're middle aged women, you go into the doctor, they tell you everything stress, oh, it's stress. And I was like, I have a PhD in psychology, I'm fairly certain if this was stressed, I would be able to diagnose that. So I had to fight a quite a bit. I probably saw like eight different doctors before I finally got to a doctor, I said, this is what I think I have, I need you to give me this test. And he didn't want to give me the test because it's kind of invasive. But lo and behold, after I got the test, it showed I had small fiber neuropathy. But that's not a super helpful diagnosis. Because it's sort of like you have a blue crown that's blue. You're just labeling something that you already know exists. Why do I have it? What do I do about it, all of that still unknown. And then when I was in Singapore, I went to the hospital there because I the whole bottom part of my leg was just numb. And so I was having trouble walking because I couldn't feel when my foot was hitting the ground effectively. And so there went through a whole nother round of tests. And he told me I have my atonia which again, is not that helpful, because it's just like your muscles are overactive, they're always tight. And I'm like, I know what I was telling you when I first came in. So it's kind of been at first it was really a struggle of you know, this fear of the unknown is it going to keep getting worse now I think I'm fortunate I've gotten to a place of acceptance, where I just accept this stuff will hurt me all the time. I have to regulate the amount of physical activity I do. So I don't get you know, overly exhausted. And I'm kind of getting myself to the place where I can have a bunch of extra energy so I can go back and interface with the medical community to try to see if there's new answers or a new doctor I could talk to you about what might be able to be done about it now.   19:27 Does lose have any of this? She doesn't she   Rebekah Wanic ** 19:30 doesn't. It's funny because I always say like I'm the twin that got stuck with all two of us because like when we were growing up we went to get contacts I couldn't really get contacts I'd really bad a stigmatism I was allergic to the contact lens. I was allergic to the context solution had really bad asthma. She has asthma but it wasn't to the extent that mine was I was hospitalized for it multiple times. And then when I started getting the this muscle stuff, I told her I was like you know we're twins You better watch jailed for this. And she was like, I think I'll be fine. Like, you're the one that takes all of it.   Michael Hingson ** 20:06 Just you're just the troublesome kid. Hmm, exactly.   Rebekah Wanic ** 20:11 Through no fault of my own, I would say but yeah. So   Michael Hingson ** 20:14 when you were in college, what did you study as an undergrad?   Rebekah Wanic ** 20:17 I studied psychology. And then I also spent a lot of time taking philosophy courses and comparative literature courses. And that my major was psychology. Wow.   Michael Hingson ** 20:28 And so you just stuck with that all the way through the PhD world coming out here? Yeah,   Rebekah Wanic ** 20:33 yeah. I mean, to me, it's, it's one of those fascinating topics where the more you learn the I mean, if you're motivated, I don't think everybody does this. But for me, everything I learned, I'm like, how does this relate to my own experience? And how can I use it to try to make my own experience better and more functional. So my focus was on social psychology in particular, because the way that people interact with each other was really fascinating to me, you know, growing up with a twin and seeing some of the ways that it was really helpful for me in terms of overcoming stuff dealing with life, but also some of the ways that it made me a little bit, I think, more timid than I otherwise would have been, because my sister is really dominant. And she really great, but it took it took us kind of separating for me to sort of grow more into my own and develop some of the self confidence that she had more so when we were growing up, but that that interplay between self and situation has always been something that's really been part of my focus of attention.   Michael Hingson ** 21:33 So what does she do since you're in psychology? Oh, my   Rebekah Wanic ** 21:36 sister is awesome. She's done everything. She when we, her undergraduate degree was in anthropology and I think maybe international business. When she finished, she went to Japan for three years to teach English. Then she came back and she lived in New York City. And she got she was teaching in an inner city school. And she got through City College, a teaching credential, a master's in education, too. And then when she finished that, she started working for the UN. And then she got placements in several countries in Africa, working for the UN, eventually came back to the States after getting sick, went to Naval Postgraduate School up in Monterey, California, and got her degree in cybersecurity. And this is a woman who never took a computer science class her entire life, graduated the top student in her class. And so now she went back to New York City, and she's working in a big financial institution right now. Wow. Yeah, she my sister is like one of those people who she is. She's one of the smartest people I know, hands down.   Michael Hingson ** 22:43 Well, that's a neat story. She's certainly gotten around and done lots of stuff. And the two of you sound like you complement each other very well.   22:51 I hope so. I   Michael Hingson ** 22:52 hope so. So, you went to Singapore, which certainly had to be extremely fascinating, especially when you intellectually look back on it, because it happened during COVID. You mentioned something earlier? Well, when we were chatting, and then you sent me some information about it that you had a big challenge getting over to Singapore in the first place. Yes.   Rebekah Wanic ** 23:14 Okay. So first of all, I got I went over there in January 2020, for my interview, and then I found out that I got the job, the beginning slash middle of March. So I found that I got the job right before everything kind of hit the fan in terms of, you know, lock downs and stuff. And so I had sent my acceptance for the position was and said, I was going to go over there in July of 2020. The day after I sent them my acceptance, I got a message from them that was like, yeah, there's no way you're coming over here in July. No one's coming in every everything shut down. We don't know exactly when you're going to be able to come. So then I had to like, you know, re assess. Because, you know, I had started making plans, like giving up my job here in the States moving all that stuff. So I had to like reevaluate, got my job back to teach classes in the fall semester, 2020 here in the US, but I was basically on standby. Because Singapore said, you know, we'll let you know when you can come we'll give you maybe like a two week notice in terms of the window of time that you can arrive. And then at the time they approved you to enter the country during a three day window to 72 hours to get there. Wow, you had to have a COVID test that was done within that 72 hour window. So I was getting ready to go and then because it was COVID the flight I normally would have taken which was from San Diego to San Francisco, San Francisco over to Singapore. That wasn't operational. So I had to fly San Diego to Seattle, Seattle to Narita in Japan, and then Rita to Singapore. So when I checked in to the airport in San Diego I had my paperwork my you know, if the letter from the government saying I can enter see pour my COVID tests, all this stuff checked off. When I get to the transfer window up in Seattle, they call me up to the counter or my passport check COVID test, check paperwork, check, check me off, I'm good to go all the way to Singapore, I get to Japan, Japan wants to look at my paperwork and says my paperwork is not correct. Because I didn't have my passport number on top of the COVID test. And they would not let me through. So So basically, I'm in Japan, and you know, I'm trying not to, like freak out, but I'm freaking out. But you know, I was like, Rebecca, you're an international airport, you can't create an incident you're gonna live in prison, right? So I had to kind of, you know, like, stifle things. And then basically, they they walked me from this, this counter to a plane to go back to the United States. And I said, I can't go back to San Diego, I have no apartment. I have no staff. I have no job. I have no family. Can you at least send me to New York City, because my sister at the time was living in New York City. So they put me on this plane to go back to New York City. And I've wasted about a day's worth of travel through all this iteration. It's about 1214 hours for me to get from Japan to New York City. So the first couple of hours, I'm on the plane, and I'm the only person on this plane. I was like, Rebecca, this is it, your life is over. Just get off the plane, don't even tell your sister landing in New York go be you know, like a homeless person, whatever, like, you know, like your life is over. But then of course, you know, after I let myself wallow for a few minutes, I was like, No, like rally, okay, you're going to New York, if there's any place that you need to be to get to Singapore in time, it's New York, it's going to have the most options in terms of flights. But my COVID test at this point would have expired. So I had to figure out to how to get a COVID test within less than four hours. Because I figured out there was one flight that I could take from New York, that would get me to Singapore within the window of time that I needed to get in during the 72 hour approval time. One flight. And so in order for me to get there, I needed to leave my sister's house at a certain time. So I had four hours from when I landed in a at JFK to get to the airport in Newark in order to get out to fly to get to Singapore in time. So I googled, there was a place in New York that would do this, because New York is the place where you can get everything for money. So six hours later, $5,000 later, I was on a plane to Singapore, and I made it within the window of time, but it was basically about 72 hours worth of traveling. So when I got to Singapore, they had a COVID a COVID quarantine so I had to stay in a hotel for two weeks. They basically met you at baggage claim, took your stuff and you put you on a bus and sent you to a hotel. So I was so drained at this point and stressed that the first three days, I didn't care that I was stuck in a hotel room, I just slept and recuperated and stuff. And then I always think you know, it's like, you can be in the midst of stuff that's really not going well for you. But that there's there's gems of hope. So I was so lucky because the hotel that I got put up in for my quarantine was the Swiss hotel, really nice hotel, and I was on like the 36th floor, my room had a balcony overlooking the bay. So I had fresh air I had a great view. So overall, my quarantine experience was not nearly as bad as it could have been. But I think the contrast of the horror of it probably made it really good.   28:30 And it was warm. And   Rebekah Wanic ** 28:31 it was warm. Yes.   Michael Hingson ** 28:33 I, I understand a lot of those sentiments, my inlaws and Karen and I and two other people, two other relatives, went to Spain in 1992. And Karen and I had been working at the company we worked for putting in long hours and like even the night before we left, we work till 10 o'clock just to get everything done. And literally when we got to Spain, we were in Tenerife for the first week, okay. And mostly, we'd go to sleep, and we slept till three in the afternoon, both of us Wow. And then we would get up and we would be with people. And we did that for most of the first week until we finally caught up on sleep. Yeah, and we didn't mind a bit. We enjoyed it. It was great. It was amazing. But then we got up and we had a late breakfast, which was usually a burger or something else because it was three in the afternoon. It was fun, but we really enjoyed going over but we didn't have the kind of airline challenges that you did. I had a little bit because they insisted that being blind I had to sit in a specific place in the airport until the next flight, even though I was with a family all of whom could see and they didn't even restrict Karen Being in a wheelchair her whole life. But they, they insisted that I had to be somewhere and they separated me from everyone, which did not make me very happy at all. Needless to say, it was crazy. It was ridiculous to do. But you know, so what's the lesson you learn from all the traveling and all the challenges that you had going to Singapore? And all that happened? What do you learn from that? What do you take away?   Rebekah Wanic ** 30:23 So the first thing that I learned was to, like, double up on everything, because I think if I had had like, an extra piece of paper with my COVID test, I would have just written my, my password number on it and been like, oh, wait a minute, do you think it was this piece of paper that you wanted me to have? But I think the other thing, I mean, honestly, this is what I always tell people about challenges. And like, I am one of those people who like if stuffs gonna go wrong, it's gonna go horribly wrong. But the older I get, the more I appreciate it. Because now, you know, I can I can laugh at it doesn't mean it doesn't bother you when it's happening. But I get over stuff so much more quickly. I'm just kind of like, alright, you know, come at me life right here. Here's a new challenge that you've thrown my way. And let's see how I'm gonna go and get over it. So it just teaches you that you're way more resilient than you oftentimes give yourself credit for. And you don't know your resilience unless you're presented with the challenge that you have to overcome. So I think that's that's the biggest takeaway for me and my sister a lot of times, what has she, you know, big international traveler, and I think I had told her before I was moving to Singapore, like, I'm a little bit nervous. And she's like, you just figure it out. Because you have to, you know, and I think that the more that you go through those kinds of experiences, the more that you realize that that is true, right, you have to rise to the challenge. So you figure out a way to do it, and you just move on.   Michael Hingson ** 31:44 Were you afraid at all, when the whole stuff was happening with Singapore.   Rebekah Wanic ** 31:50 I was like, for that short period of time, when when I got on that plane to leave Japan to go to New York, I was afraid that everything that I had planned for was completely crashing to the ground. But then I thought to myself, even if it is, you have two options. Option one is you let it happen, right, you let it crumble, but option two is you fight against it, you fight for what you want. And so that's what gave me you know, the strength to like rally and investigate. And of course, I mean, you know, when I talk about how amazing my sister is, because she's she's always there when you need her. She's like one of those great people to have and, and I knew that if I asked her for help, she was going to be able to help me. And you know, she didn't just help him with the logistical things. But like, you know, she's just like a good person to have in your corner. So the other thing is like, Don't ever be afraid to use your network and keep the people in your life who are going to be the ones that are there for you. You know, a lot of times we encounter people who are takers, not not givers, and you obviously, you want to be a giver yourself. But keep keeping good relationships with the people who are the ones that our stand up, and we'll be there to help you is really important than then be appreciative to them. You know, I tell my sister all the time, how awesome she is. And I think that she really knows that I'm so appreciative of everything she's done to help me in my life.   Michael Hingson ** 33:13 But that goes both ways, though.   Rebekah Wanic ** 33:16 I hope so. I mean, I feel you know, how you You never feel like you're good enough to give somebody who's awesome held, like, I hope that I helped my sister, but I, I feel like the nature of the relationship. And that one, I think, unfortunately, I'm a little bit more of a taker than a giver. But I hope that you know, I can give her what she needs when she needs it. Well, something   Michael Hingson ** 33:35 must be going right, because the two of you get along very well. Where is she these days? Where does she live now in New York. She   Rebekah Wanic ** 33:41 was living in Long Island City for a long time, and that she just just bought a house in New Jersey. So it's super, super exciting. So her and her husband, it's our first home. So that's really, really exciting. She's like, we've got space. We're not you know, living in our cramped New York, one bedroom apartment on top of each other anymore. So it's super, super exciting.   Michael Hingson ** 34:01 We're in New Jersey   Rebekah Wanic ** 34:03 in Bernardsville. I think that it is yeah. We   Michael Hingson ** 34:08 lived in Westfield for six years. And we built our home so that it was wheelchair accessible. And that was a lot of fun. And we had an elevator and I know for a week after September 11. I use the elevator a whole lot more than Karen did. We had to have a two storey home because that was the only kind of home that would allow you to build there was no room for ranch homes. So we had to have an elevator. And I was so stiff and sore for the week after September 11. And I use that elevator all the time. Wow. I couldn't walk up or down the stairs at all it was it was pretty bad. But you know it happens. But it's it's interesting to to hear what you're saying though, because we we all have the ability to help each other. And one of the things that strikes me is we all want to be independent. We all think that we want to do stuff ourselves. It's just me. I'm independent. I don't don't need any help. But yet, we want to stay connected, or we mostly want to stay connected except for people who don't understand the wisdom of it. How do you? How do you do both be independent and stay connected?   Rebekah Wanic ** 35:12 Yeah, that's a great question. I think I think about that a lot, right? Because, you know, I live, none of my family lives in San Diego, I decided, you know, I just I need to go out and be on my own. But what I, what I sometimes have to do, to be honest with you, is put little reminders in my phone, like if I, something's happening with someone in my family, like they have a job interview or an important doctor's appointment, as soon as I hear about it, I put it in my phone, so that I can make a note to like, call them or text them to follow up on it. And it's as a way of showing that, like, I'm keeping them in what's going on with them as a priority in their mind. But I think it helps, at least for me with balancing sort of, you know, the connection and independence is, a lot of times when we seek connection, it's just because we need something. And so I try really hard to make sure that when I'm reaching out to people, it's not because I need something, it's when I'm coming at it from a position of strength so that you don't feel like you're always you know, taking, taking taking that you can feel like you're being a giver, you want to share some things that are fun, share some good news with people. But I think the other thing that I always keep in mind is, every time you ask for help, you're taking some limited amount of resources from someone else. So it doesn't mean that you should ever feel bad asking for help, or that you shouldn't ask for help. But by recognizing that when you do, it puts you in a mindset to make sure that you're not going to take more than what you need. And that you're going to position yourself to be oriented towards figuring out how to give something back. And I'm not saying this as it's like a tit for tat, it's just being cognizant of that really helps you to sort of manage recognizing, okay, this is something that I can do on my own, I don't need to ask for assistance on this. So that you can free yourself up to take advantage of assistance when you need it the most, when it's going to be the most beneficial for you.   Michael Hingson ** 37:10 At the same time be prepared to offer when the opportunities arise. I. So I mentioned my wife passed away last November, we had been married 40 years, and her caregivers, Josie and Dolores and Janette, who was actually our in is our housekeeping lady who comes in keeps us honest, by keeping the house clean once a week and I work on it the rest of the time. I even bought a Roomba lately. It works pretty well, you know, the cat's not impressed with it. We haven't been able to get the cat to watch the TV commercials where another cat writes a Roomba. But one of the things that that almost immediately happened is that Josie said, you know, let me help you in doing things. And I was reluctant because I didn't want her to feel obligated. But I realized pretty quickly, she wanted to help me get back to continuing to be able to move on. So Josie now works for me. She's here for five days, four or five hours a day. And we do paperwork, and she helps looking for speaking opportunities and all the other things that that I do. Yeah. And Dolores is doing a bunch of other stuff. So we don't see each other quite as often. And Jeanette comes once a week. And one of the things that she said early on after Karen passed was, I'm going to come over on Tuesday nights and bring you dinner. Well, we've modified that slightly. So sometimes she brings in her and sometimes I take her out for dinner because I think that it's good to get out. And frankly, it's good for me to get out a little bit. She's cleaning houses all week. So she's out and then she doesn't have to cook all the time. But I do believe that it's symbiotic is probably the wrong word. But it is a mutually beneficial kind of a relationship with both of them. And actually all three, and it should be that way. It's we do need to connect, and we do need to help each other. So I do like to think that I help some too. Yeah, absolutely.   Rebekah Wanic ** 39:17 You're reminding me of, um, I write a blog about, you know, self improvement, self motivation. I call it self optimization. But I was thinking about, you know, I'm a professor and I know just from conversations with students that a lot of times students, look, look up to me, but when I start doubting myself, and I wrote this article about it, where it's like you have to give yourself credit for being the helper to other people, but also for being in a position to let other people help you because in doing that you're kind of empowering them to to get a lot of the gratification that comes from being connected. And it sounds like these people are we be wonderful individuals. So it sounds it's great that you're able to kind of keep them in your life. And it sounds exactly like you're saying that you're both benefiting from the nature of the relationship, which is huge. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 40:10 it is it helps a lot. One of the things that I did, we we had a wheelchair accessible van, which we sold back to the company that sold it to us so that they could get it to someone else who could use it once Karen passed, because I didn't need it. But I also didn't want to impose on Josie and Jeanette and Dolores to use their car when I needed to go somewhere. So we did, I bought me another car. And it's smaller than the van. So it does fit in the garage a lot better. And now I can walk all the way around it and things like that, because the minivan took up most of the garage. But again, I felt that that was something that was important to do so that I'm not using up their car. And that works out pretty well. Yeah.   Rebekah Wanic ** 40:55 Do you like your new car? Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 40:59 it was a little hard to find one. Because, well, the reason it was hard was because being a passenger, I want to be able to do what other passengers could do, we had looked at a new 2023 Hyundai Tucson, the problem is the radio was all touchscreen. And for that reason alone went on not doing that. And so we ended up with a 2021 Pre Owned Tucson, but the radio has buttons and I can do with most of it. And all the other parts about the car are much more physical buttons so I can do the things that I need to do, rather than relying on a touchscreen that I'm never going to be able to to navigate and negotiate. All   Rebekah Wanic ** 41:43 right. And most of those touchscreens too, even if they have like an audio interface, you have to touch it to activate the audio interface. Right. So they're not particularly friendly to people that are visually impaired, correct? Well,   Michael Hingson ** 41:57 they're not, they're not at all friendly to people who are blind and, or low vision. And you know, and it seems to me, drivers would probably disagree, but I don't think they're friendly for drivers, you still have to take your eyes off the road to see where to touch on the screen. And there ought to be more of a code word that you can just say like with an echo device or whatever, to activate it rather than using the touchscreen. But even then, it isn't just that it is also that the audio interface doesn't give you the same level of control that you get with a touchscreen. Now, there in reality are ways to have a touchscreen that I could use. iPhones and Android phones on smartphones, which are all touchscreens, do have technology that has been created to allow me to use it. So instead of like clicking a button, just tapping a button and it executes it, when it's in the mode that I have to use. And I suppose to what you have to use, I double tap and that activates it. So they could put all that smarts in that technology and the touchscreens on cars, which would then make it usable for me, but they don't. So it's very unfortunate that they they still continue to exclude a lot, which is very unfortunate, then really continues to say we just don't think that you're as valuable as we are.   Rebekah Wanic ** 43:31 Yeah, I think I had heard you talking about the the touchscreen thing on cars. And I it's it's one of those things I think a lot of people wouldn't wouldn't even come to their mind. Because when when we have the privilege of being sighted for example, then we don't we don't recognize, you know, all of the things that may potentially be an issue. But when it's brought up and like you're saying there's some relatively simple fixes that can be made, but people aren't doing it, it does definitely send a certain kind of message. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 43:58 what it gets back down to is that diversity doesn't tend to be very inclusive, we don't deal with disabilities. And as I've said, and I don't know whether you've heard any of the podcasts where I've said it is I believe everyone has a disability and the disability for most of you is your light dependent. You have to have light in order to function. And as soon as there's a power failure, or something like that you're in a world of hurt unless you can grab a flashlight or a smartphone and activate it and turn the flashlight on. And the fact of the matter is, disability doesn't mean a lack of ability. Disability should really be recognized as a characteristic that manifests itself differently, but still manifests itself in every single person in the world.   Rebekah Wanic ** 44:37 And yes, you're talking Michael, you're reminding me I think the movie is called wait until dark with Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn, right. You know what I'm talking about me? You were just reminding me of that where she's like it shows to me that was really impactful because it showed you know, in a very creative way like yeah, there. We all have different skill sets basically as a function of what we've been born with and given?   Michael Hingson ** 45:00 Well, even though today in our world, we still keep hearing people talk about people who are visually impaired, which is a disgusting, horrible way to describe us.   Rebekah Wanic ** 45:13 I said that I'm sorry, no, no, but no, no, but it   Michael Hingson ** 45:16 comes up all the time, I was just reading another book where it came up. And the reason it is, is because visually, we're not different simply because we're blind, and impaired equates us to eyesight. So blind and low vision within something that deaf people realized a long time ago, that you don't say deaf or hearing impaired is deaf or hard of hearing. And that's, that hasn't progressed that way in the in the blindness world. And I think, in large part because blind people haven't collectively created the same level of community that deaf people have. And so that level of understanding hasn't gotten to blind people to the point where they're willing to take that stand and push back a lot more about the concept of visually impaired. Interesting. Yeah, I   Rebekah Wanic ** 46:07 think there's a difference in the cultivation of community. Do you ever hypothesis on it?   Michael Hingson ** 46:12 Deaf people have worked very hard to, to rally around each other. They know they need to do that they have been very standardized on mostly on signing and some on lip lip reading and so on. But they've just developed a stronger sense of community, overall their death, they're a culture. And you don't see that same level in the blindness world. Yeah,   Rebekah Wanic ** 46:39 that's, it's interesting. So one of the things I would love to hear your opinion on this, one of the things that we sometimes talk about in psychology classes is that people oftentimes report that one of the things that you lose from with the experience of deafness is social connection. Yeah. And that tends to be sort of lost less for people that are blind, because we can still Converse, which is one of the primary sources of social connections. I'm just wondering if maybe the deaf community cultivates community more, because that's something that's so noticeably lost without the extra effort,   Michael Hingson ** 47:18 I think it's an interesting concept, and it could very well be the case. But for whatever reason they've done it. And I, I've been around a number of deaf people, and I've actually talked to them about this discussion of hearing impaired or hard of hearing. And they're very adamant that hard of hearing is much more appropriate than because they don't want to be compared to a person who can hear in terms of how much you can hear or you're impaired in terms of hearing. And it's, it makes a lot of sense. words do matter. And we need to recognize that a lot more than we do.   Rebekah Wanic ** 47:51 Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I apologize. Well, no, don't   Michael Hingson ** 47:54 it's fine. You know, I understand. But But yeah, that's something to grow on. So when we need to get more people to understand it. Tell me about making choices. So since we're talking about about this, and we're making a choice to, to do that, and I appreciate it. But you know, in our world today, so many people blame people for so much stuff, it seems to me and they'll make a choice, and then they blame somebody else when it doesn't go the way they saw it. How do we deal with that? Yeah,   Rebekah Wanic ** 48:25 I think that's a great thing to kind of talk about. So I am a firm believer, and I talk about this with my clients a lot that if you make a choice, even if the outcome is not what you wanted, you own that choice, because that's the most empowering way for you to move forward. blaming other people puts you in a position where you're outsourcing control. If I say I didn't get what I wanted, because the world is against me, this person doesn't like me, whatever external reason, then there's really not much that you can do about it. But if you recognize that, first of all, you're not always going to get what you want. Sometimes the choices that we make don't lead to the outcomes that we desire, recognizing that is the first important step. But then above and beyond that, if you if you own the consequences of your actions, you're much more motivated to change so that you don't get the same consequences the next time around. If we don't take ownership of the consequences of our choices, then we're not putting ourselves in a position to learn right, basic psychology tells us that the consequence will alter the action. If the consequence is not something that you desire to have happen again, then you're less likely to engage in that same behavior. But when we remove the consequences when we tell people that they're not responsible for the outcomes of the choices that they make, we're actually hampering them in their ability to make adjustments that will help them move forward in a more positive direction to get more of the things that they want.   Michael Hingson ** 49:51 We also focus so much on trying to control everything in our world and everything around us when in reality, we don't have control over everything. We don't learn to focus on things that we do have control over. We worry about everything else. It drives people crazy, I'm sure.   Rebekah Wanic ** 50:06 Yeah, that is absolutely true. So a lot of what we can work on just in terms of helping ourselves to be more functional, less worrying, you know, less angry all the time when things don't work out is to recognize the sphere of control that you have. And I've written about this, too, that this idea of circle of control is not unique to me, other people have originated like Dale Carnegie talks about your social control. But realistically, what you want to do is thinking about within every domain, what are the things that I can control? And what are the things that I can't, and you have to work to control the things you can to get more of what you value. And at minimum, what you can control is, where you are, and how you emotionally respond. So it's not the case that people make you feel happy or sad, or whatever events can have a tendency to push you in one direction or another. But you ultimately have control over how you're choosing to respond. This is why I think mindset is so important. And I work with clients to work on mindset adjustments, because your mindset is key to controlling your emotional reaction. When I have something negative happened to me, I'm perfectly within my right to feel bad about it. But if I can adjust my mindset, so I can see what I have control over. And I'm a big fan of humor, I always try to see what's funny in a situation. Because the minute you can laugh at it, you take a step back, you're less, you're less directly connected, and it puts you in a new position to see all of the actions that you can take to help yourself move forward in a more positive direction.   Michael Hingson ** 51:42 I absolutely agree. And I think it's it's very important that we understand that, you know, it's all about making choices, we can choose to deal with things or not, we had no control over I don't think the World Trade Center incident happening. I'm not convinced we would have figured it out, even if all the government agencies really did talk to each other, which they certainly seem to not know how to do. But the bottom line is that it happened. And that is something that we certainly didn't have control over. I didn't have control over it happening. But I do have control over how I deal with it. And I think that's the important part about it.   Rebekah Wanic ** 52:20 Yeah, absolutely. I totally agree with you. I mean, even you know, when I mentioned earlier, I said I'm one of those people that if things are gonna go wrong, they're gonna go really wrong. But now it's like, when I say it, I'm not saying it because I am in a woe is me mindset, or I feel like, you know, the world is treating me poorly. It also is something I always tell people, I'm like, you know, I have some really great stories because of the stuff that I've gone through. And because I like to find the humor in them, like when I retell the story, I will, like accentuate the parts of it that are humorous. And that helps me get get over it as well. So the the thing that you have maximum control over is how you respond to every situation. And the thing that makes you powerful is when you own the outcome of the choices you made. And you own your reactions in situations where you don't have a lot of control.   Michael Hingson ** 53:08 When things happen where I know, in my case, something occurred and it wasn't funny at the time. But I always work to go back and think about it and like you I love to find humor in it and and recognize what a dingdong, I got lost or this happened that happened? And what do I learn from it? And that's the real adventure. What do I learn from and how do I move forward?   Rebekah Wanic ** 53:31 Yeah, definitely, definitely. And I agree with you, I think in the moment to tell to tell everybody, when bad things are happening, like find, find the humor in it, that's not appropriate. It takes a little bit of time and distance. But the best way to help to make sure that things don't linger and continue to be problems for you, like you're saying is to reflect on it. Think about the lesson and think about what's funny about it moving forward for sure.   Michael Hingson ** 53:55 Yeah, I think, you know, it all gets back to preparation. And I know, today that I function well in the time of the World Trade Center, because I prepared I learned what to do. And although I didn't really think about it, or if I understood it, I didn't know how to verbalize it at the time. But I've since learned, I developed a mindset that said, Something's happening. You can deal with it because you know what to do. And yeah, the building could have collapsed all around us. And in that case, wouldn't have to worry about it actually. But never nevertheless. I knew what to do. And that mindset that preparation created that mindset and that mindset and learning to control fear helped a lot.   Rebekah Wanic ** 54:40 Yeah, absolutely. I was, you know, reading more about you sharing about the story. And I think that that's so true. And like you were just saying it's like you control what you can you didn't have control over what ultimately was going to happen to the building or when but given that you can control something you have a choice again, you have a choice to choose to do something or to choose To do nothing, and most of the time, the choice to choose to do something is going to help you get closer to what you want. But we don't ultimately have control over how things are going to turn out. But I always think, at the end of the day, do I want to look back and say that I gave up on my opportunities? Or do I want to look back and say, I tried as hard as I could. And some things just didn't work out. For me. That's the option I would rather sit with at the end of the day. And   Michael Hingson ** 55:23 I don't know intellectually, whether my parents understood it, but they worked really hard to allow me to explore and do things. And as a result, as I say, they took risks. And they allowed me to, by societal standards, take risks, that would not be risk for anybody who could see, but they, they let me learn things. And they, they allowed me to explore. And I find it really interesting. I know any number of blind people, but any number of parents today that just shelter their kids, and they don't let them really explore, they don't learn how to make choices. And they'll never if they don't get that opportunity, learn how to create a mindset that allows them to be more unstoppable and less fearful.   Rebekah Wanic ** 56:07 Yeah, Michael, that's absolutely correct. I mean, we're seeing the consequences of this culture of safety is a manifesting itself in all of this teen anxiety. Because if if parents, of course, parents want to protect their kids, but there has to be a balance of letting them go out and do things, make choices, not have parents around all the time to tell them what they should and should not be doing. That's how you you learn. That's how you develop, that's how you grow your resilience. Also, if you're not making choices, you don't have consequences of those choices, because you didn't make them you can't learn and you can't grow from that. So of course, there needs to be a balance, but we're seeing lots of negative consequences from the inability to allow children to take risks. And part of that is just not letting kids play by themselves. I hear so many stories from my friends who are parents that like, when I was a kid, if there was a birthday party, your parent was like so weak, they would drop you off at the party and run away and do stuff on their own. Now, parents hang out collectively at the birthday party where the kids are, that is insane. To me, it's like give them some space to just be on their own and do what they need to do. I   Michael Hingson ** 57:17 understand that we live in a society where there are a number of crazy people who take advantage of kids and so on. So I'm all in favor of having some way to observe. And I don't know necessarily what that is, but I can appreciate the concern. But you've got to let kids play you got to let kids explore you got to let kids be kids. That doesn't mean and I'm sure with me, for example, my parents probably monitored a lot of what I did, from a distance. Yeah, exactly.   Rebekah Wanic ** 57:49 But I mean, in my birthday party scenario, there are adults there, there are people to monitor, you, as the parent don't need to be the one monitoring all the time, you know, like, you wouldn't just send, you know, a group of eight year olds to a house by themselves. But if there's a responsible adult there, you could safely assume that they're probably going to be okay. You know, I mean, there's all that really startling data about like, kids are not having sex, kids are not driving, kids are not dating. They're not doing any of the normal things that kids are supposed to be doing as they move into adulthood, in large part because of all of this pressure of safety as them that they've grown up in so that they're not being put in a position to sort of move effectively, Trent and take that transition from childhood to adulthood in any kind of effective way.   Michael Hingson ** 58:33 Recently, I read a New York Tim

Thank you to the following people: Mary Bergman, Maureen Clarke, Lola Deneault, Hank Deneault, Erica George, Alena Graedon, Gabrielle Griffis, Andrew Leland, Julia Madsen, Sanchia Semere, Peter Semere, Akhil Sharma, Gary Shteyngart, Deborah Treisman, Jackie Welham We miss you, Gabe. Thank you for being our teacher and forever a student of life and the craft. -Jude Brewer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amy Julia was a high-achieving, religiously devout Princeton grad who lived with the nagging feeling that there must something *more* to life than what she had experienced so far. Then her first child was diagnosed with Down syndrome, and Amy Julia began her journey into a version of “the good life” that she never expected. Amy Julia joins Katherine for a deeply vulnerable conversation about the theological reckoning that took place in her heart and mind when she became a parent to a child with intellectual disabilities. She emerged with a new understanding of God's love and her own inherent value. Today, eighteen years later, she's inviting us all to re-imagine what belonging and belovedness really looks like for people with AND without disabilities.  What We'll Cover: How to determine if you're settling for a lesser version of the good life The one place in the Bible where we get an “equation” for God and what it means about how we see ourselves and other people Why there are no such things as “special needs,” only human needs https://amyjuliabecker.com/ https://www.instagram.com/amyjuliabecker/ Reimagining the Good Life Podcast: https://amyjuliabecker.com/podcast/ Hope Heals Camp: https://hopeheals.com/camp/ “The Blurring Is Part of the Beauty”: https://comment.org/the-blurring-is-part-of-the-beauty/ Andrew Leland: https://www.andrewleland.org/ Mend Coffee & Goods: https://www.mendcoffee.org/ “Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.” - Philip Yancey  Scriptures referenced in this episode:  Luke 14:15-24 *** Subscribe to The GoodHard Story Podcast! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-hard-story-podcast/id1496882479 Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/0OYz6G9Q2tNNVOX9YSdmFb?si=043bd6b10a664beb Want a little hope in your inbox? ⁠⁠Sign up for the Hope Note⁠⁠, our twice-a-month digest of only the good stuff, like reflections from Katherine and a curated digest of the Internet's most redemptive content: https://hopeheals.com/hopenote

In this episode of iCantCU, I discuss various engaging topics that have kept me busy over the past week. I begin with a humorous anecdote about a raffle where an unsold ticket wins. I reflect on my participation in a recent podcast episode of "That Real Blind Tech Show," where Brian and Ed critiqued Michael Schuman's article in The Atlantic,  I shift to local events, sharing my experiences at a transition fair aimed at assisting students moving between major educational stages. I also delve into challenges with accessibility, particularly highlighting frustrations with the Johnston and Murphy website and other digital platforms that fail to accommodate the visually impaired. A significant highlight is my account of an eclipse listening party, where a device from Harvard was supposed to enhance the experience for the visually impaired. Despite high expectations, the device was underwhelming to me, though the social aspect of the event was enriching. The episode also touches on systemic issues faced by disabled riders with SEPTA, Philadelphia's public transit authority. I criticize their outsourcing practices and lack of reliable service, which I illustrate with personal stories that underscore the inconvenience caused to disabled passengers. Episode 262 is packed with personal stories, advocacy, and a candid look at the intersection of technology, accessibility, and community in the life of a visually impaired individual. Show notes at https://www.iCantCU.com/262.    Links Mentioned (product links are affiliate links, so I may earn a commission.) Octobuddy for hands-free selfies & vlogs with your iPhone: https://amzn.to/49kmbHZ  The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland: https://amzn.to/46z0qT7 Find this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@iCantCU No-jab Ambutech White Cane: https://amzn.to/3NKpD5J  That Real Blind Tech Show episode 150: https://thatrealblindtechshow.libsyn.com/episode-150-csun-24-recap-irish-car-bombs-and-a-flaming-fischler  Support iCantCU When shopping at Amazon, I would appreciate it if you clicked on this link to make your purchases: https://www.iCantCU.com/amazon. I participate in the Amazon Associate Program and earn commissions on qualifying purchases. The best part is, you don't pay extra for doing this! White Canes Connect Podcast Episode 100 In episode 100, Lisa and I speak with National Federation of the Blind President Mark Riccobono. He reflects on the podcast's journey, emphasizing its role in amplifying the voices of the blind community and fostering a sense of belonging and empowerment. He shares his journey with blindness, highlighting the transformative impact of finding mentorship and a supportive community within the Federation.  We discussed the militant tag that some outside our organization give us. I especially enjoyed the story he told about being with some Federationists and being denied entry to a ride-share because of a guide dog. Listen to see what Gary Wunder did!   Find the podcast on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/white-canes-connect/id1592248709  Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1YDQSJqpoteGb1UMPwRSuI IHeartRadio https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-white-canes-connect-89603482/ YouTube Https://www.youtube.com/@pablindpodcast White Canes Connect On Twitter Https://www.twitter.com/PABlindPodcast My Podcast Gear Here is all my gear and links to it on Amazon. I participate in the Amazon Associates Program and earn a commission on qualifying purchases. Zoom Podtrak P4: https://amzn.to/33Ymjkt Zoom ZDM Mic & Headphone Pack: https://amzn.to/33vLn2s Zoom H1n Recorder: https://amzn.to/3zBxJ9O  Gator Frameworks Desk Mounted Boom Arm: https://amzn.to/3AjJuBK Shure SM58 S Mic: https://amzn.to/3JOzofg  Sennheiser Headset (1st 162 episodes): https://amzn.to/3fM0Hu0  Follow iCantCU on your favorite podcast directory! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/icantcu-podcast/id1445801370/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3nck2D5HgD9ckSaUQaWwW2  Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/iCantCU-Podcast-Podcast/B08JJM26BT  IHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-icantcu-podcast-31157111/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/davidbenj  Reach out on social media Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/davidbenj Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidbenj Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidbenj LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbenj Are You or Do You Know A Blind Boss? If you or someone you know is crushing it in their field and is also blind, I want to hear from you! Call me at (646) 926-6350 and leave a message. Please include your name and town, and tell me who the Blind Boss is and why I need to have them on an upcoming episode. You can also email the show at iCantCUPodcast@gmail.com.

As a teenager, Andrew Leland started to lose his sight. One day, in all likelihood, he will be blind. In his moving new memoir, "The Country of the Blind," he reckons with his soon-to-be blindness while also challenging us to think differently about our ablest world.

In Touch discusses whether your blindness should be at the front and centre of your life. Perhaps an ambiguous question because it can depend on the environment you're in, the company that you share, whether you need help and many other factors. What is undoubtedly true though, is that it's not that easy to go completely under the radar with poor sight or none. We tease this out with author Andrew Leland, who spent time researching visually impaired people and the way society interacts with us, Rachael Andrews, who is not afraid to campaign for herself, and other people at the same time, and stand-up comedian Jamie MacDonald, who uses his blindness as a tool to make other people laugh.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz Poole Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

In episode 261 of iCantCU, I dive into a heartfelt discussion, primarily focusing on an article from The Atlantic that caught my attention thanks to my sister-in-law. The piece, titled "I'm Disabled. Please Help Me." reflects on the challenges visually impaired individuals face in navigating public spaces and prompts me to share my own experiences and insights. I emphasize the importance of independence and the unnecessary help often imposed by sighted individuals, suggesting that such interventions can sometimes be more hindering than helpful. I critique the article's portrayal of visually impaired people as constantly in need of assistance, arguing that it perpetuates stereotypes and misunderstands the capabilities and adaptive strategies of those living with visual impairments. By sharing my journey of adapting to blindness, including leveraging technology like smartphones and screen readers, I advocate for a more nuanced understanding of independence among visually impaired individuals. I challenge the article's implications, highlighting the importance of asking for help when needed rather than assuming incapacity. My reflections extend beyond personal anecdotes to address broader misconceptions about blindness, employment challenges, and the importance of mobility training. I call for a shift in perspective that recognizes the competence and autonomy of visually impaired people, urging society to listen and respond to their actual needs rather than imposing misguided assistance. This episode is a powerful testament to my advocacy for independence and empowerment within the visually impaired community, challenging stereotypes and encouraging a more inclusive and understanding approach to disability. You can read the article at https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/03/disability-blindness-daily-life/677742/. Show notes at https://www.iCantCU.com/261.    Links Mentioned (product links are affiliate links, so I may earn a commission.) Octobuddy for hands-free selfies & vlogs with your iPhone: https://amzn.to/49kmbHZ  The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland: https://amzn.to/46z0qT7 Find this episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@iCantCU No-jab Ambutech White Cane: https://amzn.to/3NKpD5J   The new BenQ PD3420Q monitor I bought for my new Mac mini: https://amzn.to/4bAcOGv  Blind Organizations US: NFB - https://www.nfb.org; UK: RNIB - https://www.rnib.org.uk/, NFBUK - https://www.nfbuk.org/; Spain: ONCE - https://www.once.es/; Canada: CFB - https://www.cfb.ca, CNIB - https://www.cnib.ca; China: Orbis - https://www.orbis.org/. Support iCantCU When shopping at Amazon, I would appreciate it if you clicked on this link to make your purchases: https://www.iCantCU.com/amazon. I participate in the Amazon Associate Program and earn commissions on qualifying purchases. The best part is, you don't pay extra for doing this! White Canes Connect Podcast Episode 09 In episode 099, Simon Bonenfant speaks with Jason Gonzalez and Holly Short from the Delaware County Intermediate Unit about the upcoming transition fairs on April 9 and 10. There will be over 40 organizations to help students transition from middle school to high school and from high school to college. The pair also share what services the DCIU provides to students with disabilities.  Find the podcast on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/white-canes-connect/id1592248709  Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/1YDQSJqpoteGb1UMPwRSuI IHeartRadio https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-white-canes-connect-89603482/ YouTube Https://www.youtube.com/@pablindpodcast White Canes Connect On Twitter Https://www.twitter.com/PABlindPodcast My Podcast Gear Here is all my gear and links to it on Amazon. I participate in the Amazon Associates Program and earn a commission on qualifying purchases. Zoom Podtrak P4: https://amzn.to/33Ymjkt Zoom ZDM Mic & Headphone Pack: https://amzn.to/33vLn2s Zoom H1n Recorder: https://amzn.to/3zBxJ9O  Gator Frameworks Desk Mounted Boom Arm: https://amzn.to/3AjJuBK Shure SM58 S Mic: https://amzn.to/3JOzofg  Sennheiser Headset (1st 162 episodes): https://amzn.to/3fM0Hu0  Follow iCantCU on your favorite podcast directory! Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/icantcu-podcast/id1445801370/  Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3nck2D5HgD9ckSaUQaWwW2  Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/iCantCU-Podcast-Podcast/B08JJM26BT  IHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-icantcu-podcast-31157111/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/davidbenj  Reach out on social media Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/davidbenj Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davidbenj Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidbenj LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbenj Are You or Do You Know A Blind Boss? If you or someone you know is crushing it in their field and is also blind, I want to hear from you! Call me at (646) 926-6350 and leave a message. Please include your name and town, and tell me who the Blind Boss is and why I need to have them on an upcoming episode. You can also email the show at iCantCUPodcast@gmail.com.

In this latest episode I continue with my self-portrait. My conversation with Andrew Leland led me to consider, what exactly makes someone a disabled artist? This raised other topics including identity, ableism and the impact on my family. So I invited my daughters, Riana and Raven to join me. Which automatically makes it one of my favorites to produce! Subscribe/follow wherever you get podcasts.  FB & IG: @ReidMyMindRadio  Twitter: @tsreid  Transcripts & more: www.reidmymind.com.

Andrew Leland's first book, The Country of the Blind, isn't about a fictional place, rather it's about something much more real.   In this episode we cover; Writing - its importance and impact on his adjustment Internal Ableism His vote for President of the Country of the Blind and more! Subscribe/follow wherever you get podcasts.  FB & IG: @ReidMyMindRadio  Twitter: @tsreid  Transcripts & more: www.reidmymind.com

Notes and Links to Priscilla Gilman's Work      For Episode 226, Pete welcomes Priscilla Gilman, and the two discuss, among other topics, her famous and accomplished parents, and the perks and drawbacks that came with running in circles with dynamic writers and creatives, her voracious appetite for art and media and books, formational and informative works of art, books and not, her father's wonderful work, belief in the sanctity of childhood, grief and its manifestations, the ways in which her relationships were nurturing and not, and how she managed to write lovingly and honestly about such a towering and beloved figure.      Priscilla Gilman is the author of the memoir, The Anti-Romantic Child, and a former professor of English literature at Yale University and Vassar College. The Anti-Romantic Child received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly and Booklist, was selected as one the Best Books of 2011 by the Leonard Lopate Show and The Chicago Tribune, and was one of five nominees for a Books for a Better Life Award for Best First Book. Gilman's writing has appeared in the New York Times, O, the Oprah Magazine, and elsewhere. She lives in New York City.     Buy The Critic's Daughter: A Memoir   Priscilla's Wikipedia Page   WYNC Episode: "The Critic's Daughter' Explores the Marriage of Lynn Nesbit and Richard Gilman"    New York Times Review of The Critic's Daughter At about 2:00, Priscilla shouts out bookstores at which to buy her book and book events  At about 3:00, Pete and Priscilla fanboy and fangirl about Episode 42 guest Edoardo Ballerini At about 5:00, Priscila talks about early reading, texts, and authors who “enraptured” her At about 7:05, Priscilla and Pete talk about how her reading and writing life was shaped by her literary and artistic parents, Richard Gilman and Lynn Nesbit  At about 10:50, Priscilla responds to Pete's questions about what it has been like to know some many literary and artistic giants on a personal level At about 15:30, Priscilla speaks to early writing and reading and her path to academia and literature, including the wonderful role played by Brearley High School   At about 19:10, Priscilla references some of many contemporary writers like Sarah Watters,  Ishiguro, Louise Erdrich, Strout, Leslie Jamison, Claire Keegan, Rachel Cusk, Lore Siegal, and Yaa Gaasi, who inspire and thrill her At about 22:55, Pete and Priscilla discuss the book's epigraphs and their significances  At about 28:10, The two geek out about Priscilla's talented sister At about 28:40, Pete wonders about  At about 32:20, Shaina Taub is shouted out, as Priscilla talks about a cool collaboration with her son and his high school drama At about 33:05, Pete points out an interesting opening excerpt that compares and contrasts Priscilla's father and the NYC oeuvre he lived in; Priscilla also discusses the book's universality At about 35:30, Priscilla discusses the old days of being able to live comfortably as an artist/critic and the book as a sort of lament for long-gone neighborhoods At about 37:45, Priscilla compliments Joan Didion as a wonderful, “kind, thoughtful sweetheart and incredible genius” At about 38:45, The two discuss ideas of public intellectuals and Wolff's Old School At about 40:20, Pete asks Priscilla about being true to her father and to herself in writing her book-the two refer to a memorable George Bernard Shaw quote At about 44:15, Priscilla alludes to an often-quoted line from her book that speaks to ideas of “moving on” and grief At about 45:10, The two further discuss Richard Gilman's public life and fame At about 48:00, Pete cites a disappointing workshop experience in connecting to a powerful and poignant story that Priscilla relates-her first memory-that is a microcosm of so much in her and her father's lives At about 50:40, The two discuss how Richard Gilman “believed in childhood”  At about 54:30, Pete references excerpts about Priscilla's mindset after her parents' separation and her father's as well At about 55:30, Priscilla reference her father's vivaciousness and physical and mental frailties  At about 58:30, The two discuss some wonderful years late in Richard's life with his wife Yasuko At about 59:40, Priscilla underscores ideas of universality in her writing and beyond At about 1:02:15, Priscilla talks about “tak[ing] the long view” and a wondrous and moving line about the grieving process and hope      You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.    I am very excited that starting in February with Episode 220 with Neef Ekpoudom and Episode 222 with Andrew Leland, I will have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review-I'm looking forward to the partnership!    Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl     Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. New as of this week is the opportunity to be a "Well-Wisher and Cheerleader"-which is just $1 per month. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!       This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 227 with Gina Chung, author of the novel SEA CHANGE, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a 2023 B&N Discover Pick, and a New York Times Most Anticipated Book. The episode drops on March 12, Pub Day for her dynamic short story collection GREEN FROG.

In the 100th episode of The Doctor's Art, we reflect on the lessons and insights we have heard from guests over the past two years. We first share the story of how The Doctor's Art podcast came to be, then we discuss some of the most meaningful and impactful episodes for us and how the show has changed the way we practice medicine and approach life. Finally, we share exciting new directions in which we hope to take the program.In this episode, we discuss: 1:45 - How The Doctor's Art podcast came to be 9:20 - Reflections on the growth and evolution of the podcast16:05 - The deep meaning that Tyler found in recording Episode 19 (Art, Drama and a Terminal Illness, with Ellen Dunphy), which featured a terminally ill patient under his care shortly before her passing22:35 - How Episode 41 (Love and Mercy in the ICU, with Wes Ely) set Henry up for success as he began his career as a physician30:22 - The insights on suffering in Episode 52 (A Space for Mystery, with Elisha Waldman) that have influenced Tyler's personal and professional lives 33:25 - How Episode 65 (Everyday Wonder in Medicine and Beyond, with Dacher Keltner) helped Henry find awe in everyday moments while working in the hospital36:07 - The single sentence in Episode 73 (The Physician Who Cured Himself, with David Fajgenbaum) that has stayed with Henry and reminds him to cherish how our bodies work39:10 - The two episodes that challenged the way Tyler perceives the world (Episode 86: Reflections at the End of Sight, with Andrew Leland and Episode 91: Inside a Suicidal Mind, with Clancy Martin) 41:24 - How Dacher Keltner's explanation of awe points to the kinds of experiences and activities we can value and why some are more transformative than others44:01 - The unexpected effect that Episode 21 (Pain, Pleasure, and Finding the Balance, with Anna Lembke) had on Tyler's perception of addiction within our modern lives51:37 - What's next for The Doctor's Art podcast We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for listening to this show. We would also like to thank our guests for their generosity in sharing their time with us.Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.Copyright The Doctor's Art Podcast 2024

Is blindness an incidental characteristic, like hair color? Or is it an identity? What language should we use to talk about disability, and why does it matter? Andrew Leland, author of The Country of the Blind, joins Amy Julia Becker on the podcast for a conversation examining:Blindness and identityThe importance of language and the use of metaphors in relation to disabilityHow the experience of disability can involve beauty, power, and lossThe role of allies in advocating with disabled individualsHow Andrew has reimagined the good life_Amy Julia's upcoming events_Guest Bio:Andrew Leland is a writer, audio producer, editor, and teacher living in Western Massachusetts. His first book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, about the world of blindness (and figuring out his place in it), was published in July 2023 by Penguin Press. You can find links to order a copy here._Connect Online:Website: www.andrewleland.orgInstagram: @quailty_On the Podcast:Amy Julia's upcoming eventsLeland's New Yorker essay “How to Be Blind”National Federation of the BlindSara Hendren's book and podcast episode with Amy JuliaAmy S. F. Lutz's Chasing the Intact MindDeath Panel podcastJohn McWhorter's NYT essay: “When We Do, and Don't, Need a New Phrase to Describe Reality”Disability Language Style Guide TRANSCRIPT: amyjuliabecker.com/andrew-leland/_YouTube: video with closed captions_Reimagine the Good Life with me through the lens of disability, faith, and culture as we challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and envision a world of belonging. Find out more at amyjuliabecker.com.Connect with me: Instagram Facebook Twitter Website Thanks for listening!

Andrew Leland shares a deeply personal story of losing his vision due to retinitis pigmentosa. He shares some of the challenges and necessary adjustments that come with acquiring with his gradual disability. With courage and humor, Andrew navigates the complex emotional terrain of coming to terms with his changing abilities and sheds light on what can be found when losing sight. In this episode, you will be able to: More deeply understand the journey of acquiring a disability Understand the nature of identity and how it changes throughout stages of life Develop compassion and curiosity for those with with unique challenges Identify what it means to balance independence and interdependance Foster better communication for those living with differing abilities To learn more, click here!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Notes and Links to Andrew Leland's Work        For Episode 222, Pete welcomes Andrew Leland, and the two discuss, among other topics, his early balance of technology and art and creativity that continues to govern his writing and careers, early formative reading, the philosophy of “going blind” versus “becoming blind,” the spectrum of blindness, and salient themes in his book like intersectionality, ableism, and differing ideas of how society sees the blind and disabled, and how this affects Andrew and others in similar situations.      Andrew Leland is a writer, audio producer, editor, and teacher living in Western Massachusetts. His first book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, about the world of blindness (and figuring out his place in it), was published in July 2023 by Penguin Press. He has produced audio for a range of entities, including an interview with the DeafBlind poet John Lee Clark for the New Yorker Radio Hour; a story about disabled astronauts for Radiolab; and a story about reading technologies for the blind for 99 Percent Invisible. From 2013–2019, he hosted and produced the Organist, an arts-and-culture podcast, for KCRW. He has taught nonfiction writing, radio, and “digital storytelling” (?) at Smith College, UMass-Amherst, and the University of Missouri, he's been an editor at the Believer since 2003, and he's edited books for McSweeney's and Chronicle Books.   Buy The Country of the Blind   Andrew's Website   New York Times Review of The Country of the Blind   NPR Article on The Country of the Blind     At about 3:15, Andrew details his background with reading and writing, including how he was influenced by his parents in different ways, as well as how he was indirectly influenced by his uncle, the playwright Neil Simon At about 6:25, Andrew talks about a towering gift from his aunt that really energized his reading and writing journeys At about 9:30, Pete and Andrew discuss David Foster Wallace, his lasting literary legacy, and his marred legacy outside of writing At about 11:15, Andrew responds to Pete's questions about how his background in audio engineering, and how it has affected his writing At about 15:15, Pete reflects on the reading experience and Andrew reflects on how the book moved along due to his audio background, and Andrew shouts out Rachel Cunningham at Penguin Random House as being extremely helpful with structuring his book At about 17:10, Andrew discusses seeds for his book At about 21:00, The two lay out some exposition of the book and discuss the book's opening lines and contradictions; Andrew expands upon Will Butler's ideas of “going blind” vs. “becoming blind” At about 25:20, Andrew gives background on the book's title, and how it's based on a HG Wells' book At about 27:30, Andrew talks about long-held ideas or stereotypes of blind people and the consequences of same At about 30:05, Andrew discusses the myriad ways in which blindness has been used as metaphor, and shouts out a book that explores these tropes, There Plant Eyes, by M. Leona Godin At about 32:45, Andrew explains the difficulties he had with a meetup in Missouri that is featured in the book, as well as some immediate and later revelations that came from this At about 37:30, Andrew delves into his travels and conventions attended that adjusted his mindset and provided many beautiful moments and learning moments  At about 41:55, Andrew discusses genetic testing for his medical condition, and how he and his wife decided whether or not to have their son tested At about 44:00, The two discuss ideas of intersectionality and in Andrew's research and reporting and what he found regarding racism and the strong work put forth by queer women of color in disabled communities At about 48:10, Andrew and Pete reflect on the history of the Bay Area in the fight for disability justice At about 51:00, The two discuss the medical advancements and artificial sight that are coming to the forefront and the ways in which Andrew writes and thinks about them At about 54:20, Andrew details the importance of Ben McFall, the legendary bookseller, and how his obituary connects to how Andrew feels as he started to use a screen reader   At about 58:25, Andrew juxtaposes the Carroll Center for the Blind's philosophy versus that of other organizations that work for and with the blind At about 1:01:10, Pete and Andrew analyze an important set of encounters with a fellow guest at The Colorado Center for the Blind and the implications of their attitudes and philosophies and experiences At about 1:05:30, Andrew talks about exciting new projects      You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.    I am very excited that starting in February with Episode 220 with Neef Ekpoudom and this episode, I will have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review-I'm looking forward to the partnership!    Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl     Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!    NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast    This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 224 with Sarah Rose Etter, the author of 2023's Ripe, and The Book of X, which was the winner of the 2019 Shirley Jackson Award. Her short fiction collection, Tongue Party, was selected by Deb Olin Unferth to be published as the winner of the 2011 Caketrain Award.    The episode will air on February 13.

The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight by Andrew Leland (2023) VS A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy by Nathan Thrall (2023)

Notes and Links to Martha Anne Toll's Work         For Episode 221, Pete welcomes Martha Anne Toll, and the two discuss, among other topics, her early reading and writing and written word-heavy household, her love of music and other artistic pursuits, and the way muses have worked in her life and in her novel, ideas of grief, survivor's guilt and connection, real-life tragedies and heroes from the Holocaust that informed her writing, and other salient themes from her book like permanence, memory, and connection.     Martha Anne Toll's debut novel, THREE MUSES, was shortlisted for the Gotham Book Prize and won the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction. THREE MUSES has received glowing tributes since it came out in September 2022. She writes fiction, essays, and book reviews, and reads anything that's not nailed down.     She brings a long career in social justice to her work covering authors of color and women writers as a critic and author interviewer at NPR Books, the Washington Post, Pointe Magazine, The Millions, and elsewhere. She also publishes short fiction and essays in a wide variety of outlets. Toll is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and serves on the Board of Directors of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation. ' Her second novel, DUET FOR ONE, will be out in early 2025. Buy Three Muses   Martha's Website   New York Journal of Books Review of Three Muses     At about 2:00, Martha provides a cool definition At about 2:25, Martha talks about her future project-her book coming out in 2025, and she shouts out places to buy Three Muses At about 4:20, Martha discusses her early reading and writing life, and the ways in which her parents influenced her habits At about 7:15, Martha traces her writing journey At about 8:40, Martha talks about inspiring and beloved writers (like Alex Chee, Garth Greenwell, Kiese Laymon, Vikram seth and shirley hazzard) and writing in contemporary times, as well as how working as a book reviewer affects her own reading for pleasure At about 10:55, Martha speaks to Pete's questions  At about 12:10, Martha gives seeds for Three Muses, including how she had ideas based on a real-life story from the Holocaust and the Greek view of three muses At about 14:10, Pete and Martha lay out some of the book's exposition  At about 15:30, Martha responds to Pete wondering about how the protagonist John was roused by a dance from Katya/Katherine At about 16:45, Martha reflects on Katya's problematic and ongoing collaboration and personal relationship with the director Boris At about 20:05, Pete lays out some of Katya's traumas At about 20:50, Martha talks about Janko/John's horrific childhood and the loss of his family in Mainz, Germany, in the Holocaust-Martha describes how her cousin Alan Boucher's memoir informed some parts of the book At about 22:25, Martha speaks about the guilt-inducing “Sophie's Choice” that afflicts and saves John/Janko's; she expounds upon his survivor's guilt At about 24:30, Pete and Martha compare Janko's story with that of Elie Wiesel and the ways in which iit was so gutting to see people killed in the camps so close to Liberation  At about 26:30, The two discuss the idea of reinvention as seen through John in the book, and Martha expands on “unlikely heroes” who helped John to survive At about 29:20, Martha discusses Barney and Selma Katz, who “adopt” John, and she talks about John's own psychoanalysis and psychologist training At about 31:05, The two discuss themes in the book of memorializing, living “in the present tense,” and how memory guides the characters' actions At about 33:05, Pete traces John and Katya's connections, and Martha debates how and if the “innate” connections are there At about 36:00, Pete asks Martha about any responsibilities/urgency to get Holocaust stories on the page  At about 37:45, Martha speaks of art and its “incredibl[e] importan[ce]” and the power of fiction At about 38:55, Martha shouts out Forgottenness by Tanja Maljartschuk as an example of the power of memory At about 39:55, Martha responds to Pete's question about the emotional toll of writing her book    You can now subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, and leave me a five-star review. You can also ask for the podcast by name using Alexa, and find the pod on Stitcher, Spotify, and on Amazon Music. Follow me on IG, where I'm @chillsatwillpodcast, or on Twitter, where I'm @chillsatwillpo1. You can watch this and other episodes on YouTube-watch and subscribe to The Chills at Will Podcast Channel. Please subscribe to both my YouTube Channel and my podcast while you're checking out this episode.    I am very excited that starting in February with Episode 220, I will have one or two podcast episodes per month featured on the website of Chicago Review of Books. The audio will be posted, along with a written interview culled from the audio. A big thanks to Rachel León and Michael Welch at Chicago Review-I'm looking forward to the partnership!    Sign up now for The Chills at Will Podcast Patreon: it can be found at patreon.com/chillsatwillpodcastpeterriehl     Check out the page that describes the benefits of a Patreon membership, including cool swag and bonus episodes. Thanks in advance for supporting my one-man show, my DIY podcast and my extensive reading, research, editing, and promoting to keep this independent podcast pumping out high-quality content!    NEW MERCH! You can browse and buy here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChillsatWillPodcast    This is a passion project of mine, a DIY operation, and I'd love for your help in promoting what I'm convinced is a unique and spirited look at an often-ignored art form.    The intro song for The Chills at Will Podcast is “Wind Down” (Instrumental Version), and the other song played on this episode was “Hoops” (Instrumental)” by Matt Weidauer, and both songs are used through ArchesAudio.com.     Please tune in for Episode 221 with Andrew Leland, a writer, audio producer, editor, and teacher. His first book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, about the world of blindness (and figuring out his place in it), was published in July 2023 by Penguin Press, to great acclaim and receiving many awards.    The episode will air on January 31.

Ding ding! Andrew & Polly explore a world of bell sounds and sensations guided by blind author Andrew Leland and percussionist Abby Savell. Kora, Nora, Hazel, Max, Fortney and Berlin think about the use of bells in mindfulness and meditation, around the necks of cats and cows, and the language of fairies. Topics include the physics of sound, the spectrum of blindness, the British punk band Wire, and a vast array of bells including: Almglocken, Bell Trees, Bicycle Bells, Camel Bells, Cat Bells, Chimes, Church Bells, Cow Bells, Door Bells, Elephant Bells, Hand Bells, Microtonal Bells, Orchestral Bells, Sleigh Bells, Ship Bells, Telephone Bells, Tubular Bells and more! Many thanks to North American mammal and author Andrew Leland whose book helped us share about visual impairment, parenting with a disability, the spectrum of blindness and disabilities, and the importance of language regarding inclusion. The Country of the Blind is available wherever you get your books. Thanks to Abby Savell of L.A. Percussion Rentals for generously touring us around her cornucopia of over 1300+ percussion instruments available to rent for live and studio music productions in Southern California. This episode features "The Finest Drops" from A Bell is a Cup by Wire and original underscore by GRAMMY-nominated musicians, Andrew & Polly. Thanks to EVERYPLATE for sponsoring Ear Sncaks. Go to everyplate.com/podcast and enter code 49earsnacks for $1.49 per meal + $1 steaks for life. Subscription must be active to qualify and redeem $1 steak.

Although many hearing and sighted people imagine DeafBlind life in tragic terms, as an experience of isolation and darkness, the poet John Lee Clark's writing is full of joy. It's funny and surprising, mapping the contours of a regular life marked by common pleasures and frustrations. Clark, who was born Deaf and lost his sight at a young age, has established himself not just as a writer and translator but as a scholar of Deaf and DeafBlind literature. His recent collection, “How to Communicate,” which was nominated for a National Book Award this past year, includes original works and translations from American Sign Language and Protactile. He speaks with the contributor Andrew Leland, who is working on a book about his own experience of losing his sight in adulthood. This segment originally aired December 9, 2022.

Andrew Leland talks about his fears of going completely blind, how it would affect his marriage and family, and how he lives in a world largely hostile to blind people. Shannon Lee talks about “Warrior,” which follows a martial artist who immigrated to San Francisco in the 1800s. It's based on a TV pitch penned by her father.  Jake Shears' disco-heavy album, "Last Man Dancing,” features big-name artists like Kylie Minogue, Big Freedia, and Iggy Pop. 

We are reflecting on a year of reading by tallying up the books that we just can't stop thinking about. Two professional readers – Miwa Messer, host of Barnes & Noble's book podcast Poured Over, and Andrew Limbong, host of NPR's Book of the Day podcast – join us to share their best of the year lists. Here are the books mentioned in the episode. For pictures, links and more details, head to our website! Andrew's picks:‘Landscapes' by Christine Lai‘Poverty by America' by Matthew Desmond‘Roaming' by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki‘Ringmaster' by Abraham Josephine RiesmanMiwa's picks:‘Loot' by Tania James‘Ordinary Notes' by Christina Sharpe‘Open Throat' by Henry Hoke‘Chain Gang All-Stars' by Nana Kwame Adjei-BrenyahGreta's picks:‘The Vaster Wilds' by Lauren Groff‘The Country of the Blind' by Andrew Leland‘The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi' by Shannon Chakraborty‘Same Bed Different Dreams' by Ed ParkListener picks: ‘The Fragile Threads of Power' by V.E. Schwab‘Shrines of Gaiety' by Kate Atkinson‘Land of Milk and Honey' by C Pam Zhang ‘In the Lives of Puppets' by TJ Klune‘Monsters' by Claire Dederer‘Black River Orchard' by Chuck Wendig ]]>

Imagine if, as a teenager, you were told that you would lose your vision over the course of a few decades. How would you approach your life, your world, and the people in it? Joining us to discuss these questions is writer Andrew Leland. Andrew has retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that affects the retina's ability to respond to light, leading to progressive irreversible vision loss. Andrew's works have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, and elsewhere, and he is the author of a 2023 memoir titled The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight. Over the course of our conversation, we explore the culture and language of blindness, what it's like to grieve the gradual loss of sight, how visual impairment changes the appreciation of beauty, how blind individuals can harness the full richness of the human senses, and more. Ultimately, Andrew's deeply personal stories and sharp insights remind us to see the dignity in those living with disabilities, both visible and invisible.In this episode, we discuss:2:16 - Andrew's journey with vision loss starting from his teenage years6:58 - The isolation of having a condition that most around you cannot experience or fully understand11:56 - How blindness exists on a spectrum and in many varieties13:23 - The milestones of gradual blindness that Andrew encountered over the course of his life16:49 - Andrew's advice for how be tactful when interacting people with disabilities such as blindness25:48 - Andrew's reflections on the internal psychology of ableism 28:12  - How blindness has altered Andrew's personal relationships30:16 - How Andrew's experiences as a sighted individual affects his current perceptions with low vision32:57 - How Andrew's loss of vision has shaped his relationship with his other senses and how visual impairment affects the appreciation of beauty44:19 - Andrew's advice to clinicians on how to best meet patients where they are with their disabilitiesLearn more about Andrew and his work at https://www.andrewleland.org/.Andrew is the author of the memoir The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight (2023).In this episode, we discussed John Hull's book Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness.You can follow Andrew on Twitter/X @Quailty.Visit our website www.TheDoctorsArt.com where you can find transcripts of all episodes.If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, rate, and review our show, available for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you know of a doctor, patient, or anyone working in health care who would love to explore meaning in medicine with us on the show, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments or send an email to info@thedoctorsart.com.Copyright The Doctor's Art Podcast 2023

When does vision loss become blindness? Writer, audio producer and editor Andrew Leland explains how his gradual loss of vision revealed a paradoxical truth about blindness — and shows why it might have implications for how all of us see the world.

When he was a teenager, Andrew Leland was diagnosed with a condition that causes a gradual loss of vision. Over the years, Andrew's literal view of the world has narrowed – but the ways in which he can explore and embrace life have widened. In this episode, Andrew talks about what his transition into blindness has taught him about life and how to navigate change. He also shares enlightening and humorous insights into the culture of blindness and disability and reveals what we can learn about bringing joy and fun into our accessibility practices. Andrew is a writer, teacher, and audio producer. His first book, “The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight” is out now. For the full text transcript, visit go.ted.com/BHTranscripts

Our selection this month is Andrew Leland's memoir ‘The Country of the Blind.' It's about Andrew's constantly shifting world as his vision deteriorates, and it explores the mythology that blindness is a binary. It's also about how seeing-culture perceives blindness, and the history of blindness in the US. The wide-ranging discussion includes M. Leona Godin, a self-described “blind punk” who wrote the 2021 book ‘There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness,' and Chloe Cooper Jones, the author of the memoir ‘Easy Beauty,' which came out last year.]]>

Andrew Leland started having trouble seeing when he was in high school. He learned about his degenerative condition that would slowly render him blind over the course of his life. Now, two decades into his career as a writer, editor and lecturer, Andrew continues to lose his vision and adapt to a world that has a very binary view of blindness. Andrew and Marc talk about technological advancements that help with loss of sight, the complicated emotional response to blindness, and the different factions within the blind community promoting conflicting agendas. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After living with the retinitis pigmentosa for decades, Andrew Leland; writer, audio producer, and teacher, decided to write about blindness in his debut book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight. We discuss how he thought about specificity while addressing a broad audience and why writing about ableism felt so risky to him. We also talk about the concept of "blind thought" and the ongoing debate around blindness being a neutral characteristic.The Stacks Book Club selection for August is You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi. We will discuss the book on August 30th with Sam Sanders.You can find everything we discuss on today's show on The Stacks' website:https://thestackspodcast.com/2023/08/16/ep-280-andrew-lelandEpisode TranscriptConnect with Andrew: Instagram | Twitter | Website Connect with The Stacks: Instagram | Twitter | Shop | Patreon | Goodreads | SubscribeSUPPORT THE STACKSJoin The Stacks Pack on PatreonTo support The Stacks and find out more from this week's sponsors, click here.Purchasing books through Bookshop.org or Amazon earns The Stacks a small commission.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Andrew Leland started losing his sight 20 years ago. He's now legally blind, although he still has a narrow field of vision, which allows him to see about 6% of what a fully-sighted person sees. In his new memoir, The Country of the Blind, he explores different kinds of perception, and shares his experience adapting to his new reality. Also, Justin Chang reviews the film Passages.

Nerdette Book Club's August selection is Andrew Leland's memoir The Country of the Blind. Andrew is gradually losing his sight due to a rare degenerative eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, which he was diagnosed with as a teen.In this vulnerable, funny conversation, host Greta Johnsen shares her own experience with a degenerative eye disease. The two dig into how blind people have advocated for themselves throughout American history, the intersectionality of blindness, and the importance of getting lost. We'll be back with two guest readers on the last Tuesday of the month for an in-depth discussion of the book. You're invited to read along with us and join the conversation! Record a voice memo on your smartphone and email the file to NerdettePodcast@gmail.com to contribute to the discussion. We can't wait to hear what you think! ]]>

When does vision loss become blindness? Writer, audio producer and editor Andrew Leland explains how his gradual loss of vision revealed a paradoxical truth about blindness -- and shows why it might have implications for how all of us see the world.

We interview writer Andrew Leland, who has been gradually losing his sight for two decades. Andrew takes us inside the blind internet, and teaches us how you deal with anxiety about the things you can't control that aren't going away. Check out Andrew's new book, The Country of the Blind. If you have questions or comments about this episode, or if you'd like to support the show, head here. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When does vision loss become blindness? Writer, audio producer and editor Andrew Leland explains how his gradual loss of vision revealed a paradoxical truth about blindness -- and shows why it might have implications for how all of us see the world.

In The Country of the Blind, where the writer Andrew Leland is guiding our tour, they do things differently. They have their own identity riddles, their network of heroes and not-so-heroes. They have their own ...

Andrew Leland grew up with full vision, but starting in his teenage years, his sight began to degrade from the outside in, such that he now sees the world as if through a narrow tube. Soon—but without knowing exactly when—he will likely have no vision left. In this episode, Andrew takes us through the fascinating history of alternative reading technologies designed for blind people and discusses his fantastic new book The Country of the Blind, which is out today!The Country of the Blind

Since the beginning of the space program, we've expected astronauts to be fully-abled athletic overachievers—one-part science geeks, two-part triathletes—a mix the writer Tom Wolfe called “the right stuff.” But what if, this whole time, we've had it wrong? In this episode from 2022, reporter Andrew Leland joins blind Linguistics Professor Sheri Wells-Jensen and a crew of 11 other disabled people. They embark on a mission to prove not just that they have what it takes to go to space, but that disability gives them an edge. On Mission AstroAccess, the crew members hop on an airplane to take a zero-gravity flight—the same NASA uses to train astronauts. With them, we learn that the challenges to making space accessible may not be the ones we thought. And Andrew, who is legally blind, confronts unexpected conclusions of his own. By the way, Andrew's new book is out. In The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight (https://zpr.io/nLZ8H), Andrew recounts his transition from sighted to blind. Suspended between anxiety and anticipation, he also begins to explore the many facets of blindness as a culture. It's well worth a read.  Read the article by Sheri Wells-Jensen, published in The Scientific American in 2018. “The Case for Disabled Astronaut” (https://zpr.io/nLZ8H).  This episode was reported by Andrew Leland and produced by María Paz Gutiérrez, Matt Kielty and Pat Walters. Jeremy Bloom contributed music and sound design. Production sound recording by Dan McCoy.Special thanks to William Pomerantz, Sheyna Gifford, Jim Vanderploeg, Tim Bailey, and Bill Barry Our newsletter comes out every Wednesday. It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today.   Follow our show on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.orgLeadership support for Radiolab's science programming is provided by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation Initiative, and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Many sighted people envision being blind as inhabiting an endless night, but the realities of blindness are often much richer and more varied. Andrew Leland offers glimpses from the Country of the Blind. Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast The Nyctalops Credits Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe. Music Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling Additional music: Kent Sparling // Jeffrey foster // Kid Otter Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast Find Andrew Leland, as well as information about his new memoir, The Country of the Blind, here. Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.  

Many sighted people envision being blind as inhabiting an endless night, but the realities of blindness are often much richer and more varied. Andrew Leland offers glimpses from the Country of the Blind. Support Nocturne by donating at www.patreon.com/nocturnepodcast The Nyctalops Credits Nocturne is produced by Vanessa Lowe. Music Nocturne theme music by Kent Sparling Additional music: Kent Sparling // Jeffrey foster // Kid Otter Episode art by Magdalena Metrycka Support Nocturne by donating at www.Patreon.com/nocturnepodcast Find Andrew Leland, as well as information about his new memoir, The Country of the Blind, here. Nocturne is a proud member of Hub and Spoke audio collective.

Andrew Leland is author of the new memoir, The Country of the Blind: a Memoir at the End of Sight and he is an editor at The Believer. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and 99 Percent Invisible, and he was host and producer of the podcast, The Organist. Gabe and Andrew have a fun and open-hearted conversation about Andrew's experiences in blind communities across America, his recent Radiolab piece where he joined a crew of disabled people in a training program for astronauts, the meaning of the word “disability,” how to be an ally to blind people, writing journalism for The New Yorker, and what it's like to be the grandson of the playwright Neil Simon. Follow Andrew Leland on Twitter and Instagram and visit his website Buy Andrew's new memoir The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight Find Gabe on Twitter and Instagram Rate/Review Kurt Vonnegut Radio Subscribe to Kurt Vonnegut Radio's Substack Jude Brewer was Executive Producer and Editor for this episode Other episodes for you to enjoy: Kurt Vonnegut George Saunders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's summer blockbuster season! Northwestern University's Arionne Nettles and Chalkbeat Chicago's Becky Vevea stop by to get excited about the opening week of both ‘Barbie' and ‘Oppenheimer.' We also chat about this year's Emmy nominations and what in the world “girl dinner” is. Then, Simon Pegg reflects on an extremely nerdy career, his role in the latest ‘Mission Impossible' movie, and whether he's jealous of Tom Cruise's absolutely deranged stunt skills.Plus, we have a book club announcement! August's Book Club pick is ‘The Country of the Blind' by Andrew Leland. It's a memoir about the author's transition from sightedness to blindness. You can send us a voice memo about it or July's book ‘Loot' at NerdettePodcast@gmail.com.]]>

It's a double-guest extravaganza as The Ringer senior staff writer Kevin O'Connor joins Dave and Chris to talk about Nikola Jokic's recent NBA championship win, and how to identify talent. Later, writer (and Chris's first boss out of college!) Andrew Leland joins the pod to talk about his experience with retinitis pigmentosa and common misconceptions about blind people. Host: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Guest: Kevin O'Connor and Andrew Leland Producer: Victoria Valencia, Cory McConnell, Gabi Marler, Euno Lee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices