In this week’s episode I sat down with Dr. William Mackenzie. Dr. Mackenzie is a world-renowned pediatric orthopedics expert. He currently serves as chairman, Medical Advisory Board of Little People of America. In addition, he is someone who has known me my whole life and has helped my parents and I navigate being a little person in an average-sized world. We discuss the medical definition of being a dwarf, how medicine has evolved in treating dwarfism, and the implications of a “cure”.

Learn More: Skeletal Dysplasia | Nemours Children's Health System

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Twitter: @jillx3456 Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected] 

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin. 

In this week’s episode I sat down with Sarah Galli. Sarah is host of the Bravo podcast Andy’s Girls where she focuses on the psychology behind the Real Housewives franchise. We discuss Bravo’s current efforts to be more inclusive and diverse, the lack of disability representation on the network, and what it could mean to have a disabled housewife in the Bravo universe. 

Listen to Andy's Girls: https://spoti.fi/3NGxpvN Support Andy'S Girls on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AndysGirls 

Follow Sarah: Instagram: @damegalli Website: https://www.sarahgalli.com 

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Twitter: @jillx3456 Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin 

In this week’s episode I sat down with Cara Reedy. Cara is currently serving as the Director of the Disabled Journalists Association. Prior to that she was the program manager at the Disability Media Alliance Project and a contributing writer at CNN. We discuss being disabled in a newsroom, the fact that disabled stories need to be told by disabled voices, and why it is about time that disability organizations speak up and speak out to protect its members. 

Follow Cara: Instagram: @infamouslyshort Twitter: @infamouslsyshort 

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Twitter: @jillx3456 Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected] 

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin. 

In this week’s episode I sat down with Sid Marcos. Sid is a disabled writer, producer, and business developer who I met last summer while she was working on her documentary film about this generation of disability rights activists. We discuss the disability hierarchy, cultural differences and barriers between those who were born disabled and those who acquired their disability later in life, and how society values the lives of disabled individuals.

Follow Sid: Instagram: @sidmarcos Twitter: @SidMarcos Website: https://sidmarcos.com 

Follow Not So Special Film: @notsospecialfilm Website: http://www.elizabethplank.com/not-so-special-film 

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Twitter: jillx3456 Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected] 

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin

This week marks a year of Always Looking Up, and what a year it has been. Over the past 365 days I have been able to talk to the most amazing people who empower me on a daily basis and for that I am forever grateful to those who came on to share their story. To celebrate this milestone I invited back someone I have always looked up to, one of my first ever guests, Rebecca Cokley. Rebecca is currently serving as a program officer in the President’s Office of the Ford Foundation, developing the U.S. disability rights program strategy. We re-examine what it means to us to be a little person, discuss why it is so important to know and preserve our history, and contemplate how the definition of being a little person will evolve in the years to come.

Follow Rebecca: Twitter: @RebeccaCokley 

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Twitter: @jillx3456 Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin 

To start I would like to issue a trigger warning. In this episode myself and my guests talk about sexual harassment and sexual assault. If these are triggers for you, please feel free to skip this episode. 

This episode was recorded less than 24 hours after Justice Alito’s draft opinion indicating the Court was going to overturn Roe v. Wade was leaked by Politico. I sat down with Rebecca Cokley, a program officer at the Ford Foundation, and Bekah Bailey, a disability rights advocate, to talk about how we feel in the moment, how this decision impacts the little person community, and the ways in which the community can and should step up to support its members.

How To Find Your Loca Abortion Fund: https://abortionfunds.org/funds/ 

Where You Can Donate: 

Autistic Women and Non-Binary Network: https://awnnetwork.org/donate-to-awn/   

The YELLOWHAMMER FUND: https://www.yellowhammerfund.org 

WE TESTIFY: https://www.wetestify.org 

Follow Bekah Bailey: Instagram: @_poopatraitor_ 

Follow Rebecca Cokley: Twitter: @RebeccaCokley  

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected] 

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin. 

In this week’s episode I sat down with my cousin Sara Curwin. Sara is a teacher, teaching students with learning differences. We discuss her path to becoming a teacher, her approach to teaching, and the impact her students have made on her. We also talk about what it’s like being a part of the Curwin Cousin’s club.

Follow Sara: Instagram: @saracurwin

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]

This episode was edited was edited and produced by Ben Curwin. 

In this week’s episode, as we celebrate the 45th anniversary of the 504 Sit Ins, I was honored to speak to Judy Heumann. Judy is a lifelong disability rights activist and is recognized internationally as a leader in the disability community. We discuss the current state of accessibility, how to incorporate the history of the disability civil rights movement into education and advocacy, and what it means to say I’m disabled.

Follow Judy: Instagram: @theheumannperspective Twitter: @judithheumann Website: https://judithheumann.com 

Listen to The Heumann Perspective: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube

Buy her memoir: Being Heumann  

Follow Crip Camp: Instagram: @cripcampfilm Website: https://cripcamp.com 

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

In this week’s episode I sat down with Paula Carozzo. Paula is an inclusion advocate and disabled content creator based in Miami. We discuss: her journey from PR to content creator, how Miami is much more accessible than New York, and why disability does not necessarily have to be cured.

Follow Paula: Instagram: @pauuzzo  TikTok: @pauuzzoo 

Read Paula's Refinery29 article: Paula Carozzo On Redefining Disability

Follow the Inclusive Collective: @inclsvcollective

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin

Trigger warning: This conversation does include offensive language. Shelby and I do not condone the language that we use but felt it was necessary to say in order to provide context and to make a larger point.  

In this week’s episode I welcomed back Shelby Holloway. Shelby is a content creator on TikTok and one of my best friends. I invited her back because a TikTok video,that has since been taken down, recently came to our attention that was so shockingly offensive towards the little person community. We break the video down, explaining why the video is so hurtful, question why people would choose to be so ignorant, and talk about how we are using our platform to make a difference and hopefully change people’s perceptions.

Follow Shelby: TikTok @shelby_holloway Instagram: @shelbyhollowayy Listen to Shelby's first episode here.  

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana ; @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]

This episoded was edited and produced by Ben Curwin