Always Looking Up

In this week’s episode I sat down with Ryan Haddad. Ryan is an actor and playwright. His autobiographical plays include Dark Disabled Stories, Hi, Are You Single?, Good Time Charlie, and Hold Me in the Water. Ryan received the Drama Desk’s 2023 Sam Norkin Off-Broadway Award, Vineyard Theatre’s 2021 Paula Vogel Playwriting Award, and a 2020 Disability Futures Fellowship. We discuss how Dark, Disabled, Stories came to life on stage, the impact in seeing disabled people tell their own stories, the power in creating a theatrical experience that is accessible for the audience and actors, the lack of accessible bathrooms on Broadway and much, much more.

Follow Ryan: @ryanjhaddad Twitter/X: @RyanJHaddad Website: http://www.ryanjhaddad.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 Chamiah Dewey. Chamiah is a UK-based fashion designer and founder of the label Chamiah Dewey Fashion, the UK’s first-ever clothing brand dedicated to catering to the fashion needs of individuals under 4’11”. As New York Fashion Week is just around the corner we discuss what motivated her to design clothing for little people, how she is expanding her brand to include all people of short stature, not just those in dwarfism, how the conversation around adaptive fashion often does not include people with dwarfism and how that needs to change and much, much more.

Follow Chamiah: Instagram: @chamiahdeweyfashion Facebook: Chamiah Dewey Fashion Website: https://chamiahdeweyfashion.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 Rachel Charlton-Dailey. Rachel is an award-winning disabled editor, journalist, and activist. She is a disability rights columnist for The Daily Mirror where she guest edited the series Disabled Britain: Doing it for Ourselves and is the  founding editor of The Unwritten, a publication for disabled people to share their authentic experiences. We discuss why disabled people are often not listened to when it comes to their own bodies and lived experiences, ableism in the news media, the importance and power of having disabled voices in newsrooms and much, much more.

Read Rachel's Column in The Mirror: https://www.mirror.co.uk/authors/Rachel_Charlton-Dailey/ 

Follow Rachel: Instagram: @rachelcdailey Twitter: @RachelCDailey Website: https://rachelcharltondailey.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 welcomed back Aubrey Smalls. Aubrey is an actor and filmmaker with dwarfism. We discuss the importance in learning and understanding dwarfism history, how the representation of dwarfism in media influences and perpetuates society’s treatment of people with dwarfism in the real world, question how the non-disabled and disabled communities see people with dwarfism, his upcoming documentary Dear Average Height People and much, much more.

Listen To Dwarfism History

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Follow Aubrey: Instagram: @theaubreysmalls , @dwarfismhistory TikTok: @aubreysmalls Website: https://www.dearaverageheightpeople.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 welcomed back Jenna Bainbridge. Jenna is an actor, singer, and disability rights activist. She is the co-founder of ConsultAbility, a consulting firm that provides advice and expertise on accessibility in theatre, focusing on creating a safe and inclusive environment for disabled actors and technicians. We discuss the disability representation in the Barbie movie (or lack thereof), yes, there may be spoilers, how the treatment of disability in the film and the Barbie properties as a whole reflects how society treats and thinks about disability in the real world, the role wheelchair Barbie could have and should have played in the film, and much more. 

Follow Jenna: Instagram: @bainbridgejenna TikTok @bainbridgejenna Website: https://www.jennabainbridge.com/home

Follow ConsultAbility: Instagram: @consultability Facebook: ConsultAbility Website: https://www.consultability.org

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 Sophie Morgan. Sophie is an award-winning TV presenter, one of the first female TV presenters in the world with a physical disability, producer, writer, disability rights advocate and artist. At present, she is currently spearheading the global disability rights campaign Rights On Flights and embarking on a ride across America which we’ll discuss later on in the episode. We compare and contrast what accessibility and inclusion looks like in the US vs. the UK, the Rights On Flights Campaign, the power in having a platform and using it to speak up and speak out and much, much more.

Follow Sophie: Instagram: @sophlmorg TikTok: @sophlmorg Facebook: Sophie Morgan Twitter: @sophmorgTV Website: https://www.sophiemorgan.com

Follow and Support Rights On Flights: Instagram: @rightsonflights Website: https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/rights-flights 

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 George Kashap. George is a little person and someone I have been friends with for nearly a decade if not longer. We examine the requirement, as little people, to constantly adapt, what it meant to say we were a little person in our childhood and teenage years vs. now as adults, the help and harm labels can cause and much, much more.

Follow George: Instagram: @littlegeorgey

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 episode I sat down with Emily Hanks. Emily is a content creator and host of the podcasts She Speaks Bravo, where she talks about all things Bravo from Housewives to Vanderpump Rules and everything in between, and She Speaks It All, where she talks about great television from other networks. This conversation was a fun one centered around one of our favorite shows Project Runway, now in its All Star Season. We discuss the evolution of the show from Season one to now, our thoughts on Season 20 so far, how the show has progressed in regards to diversity of models and clientele, and the fact that it still has quite a ways to go in regards to disability representation and advocate for change. And we tried our best, but there will be spoilers.

Follow Emily: Instagram: @shespeaksbravo, @shespeaksitallpod

Support Emily on Patreon HERE

Listen to She Speaks Bravo

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Listen to She Speaks It All

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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 V Spehar. V is a TikToker, podcast host, and political advocate. On their TikTok channel, Under The Desk News, V gives a brief, in-depth recap of each day’s most notable headlines. On their podcast V Interesting with V Spehar they highlight the most interesting part of stories that often get lost in the news cycle and explore the complex Big Issues that matter most. We discuss how they started their account and their approach to reporting the news, why it is so necessary to amplify voices and stories that are not often heard in the mainstream news media, the importance in understanding the lesser known ways in which current events such as the recent Supreme Court decisions and newly passed legislation are impacting marginalized communities, and much, much more.

Follow V: Tiktok: @underthedesknews Instagram: @underthedesknews Website: https://underthedesk.news

Support V on Patreon HERE

Listen to V Interesting with V Spehar:

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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 Dacey Triplett. Dacey is a little person, blogger, and one of my new best friends that I made at LPA’s National Conference in Austin. We discuss finding and creating our circle of friends (and why these friendships are so special), the highlights of conference from DAAA, pool days, dances at night and every moment in between, what it means when we say that being at conference is a week of normalcy and much, much, much more.

Follow Dacey: Instagram: @dace.trip TikTok: @dace.trip Website: https://beyoudace.wordpress.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.