Always Looking Up

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

In this week’s episode, I sat down with Imani Barbarin. Imani is a content creator, disability blogger and activist. We discuss how she got her start in advocacy, #MyDisabledLifeIsWorthy, and why it is so important to listen to disabled people.

Follow Imani: Twitter: @Imani_Barbarin Instagram: @crutches_and_spice TikTok: @crutches_and_spice Website: www.crutchesandspice.com 

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

In this week’s episode, I sat down with Kaylee Perron. The Asheburn to my Mullins, she has been my best friend since we were three years old. We discuss when we realized she and I were different, how our views on the world have evolved in regards to disability and accessibility, and share some embarrassing stories along the way.

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

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin. 

In this week’s episode, I sat down with Clinton Brown. Clint is a member of the LPA community and founder of the DAAA team, the New York Towers. We discuss the the Dwarf Athletic Association of America, aka DAAA, how the New York Towers came to be, and why it is so important that little people get to participate in athletics. 

Follow Clint: Instagram: @thinklikeclint Twitter: @CB3inNYC 

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

In this week’s episode, I sat down with Dr. Erin Pritchard. Dr. Pritchard is a Lecturer in Disability Studies at Liverpool Hope University, author of the book Dwarfism, Spatiality and Disabling Experiences, and activist in the little person community. We discuss the differences between little person, person with dwarfism, and dwarf, the m-word, and inspiration porn. 

Follow Dr. Pritchard: Twitter: @ErinPritchard15 

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 Emily Voorde. Emily currently works in The White House as an Associate Director in the Office of Public Engagement. Prior to joining the Biden administration she worked on the Pete for America campaign as a body woman for Chasten Buttigieg. We discuss our learning of what it means to be a little person and to be disabled, why representation matters, especially because disability is so diverse, her current work in the Biden administration and the impact she is making on a daily basis.

Follow Emily: Twitter: @Voorde46 , Website: http://eepurl.com/hNzNLT

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

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin. 

In this week’s episode I am sitting down with the person who knows me best and has certainly known me the longest, my mom Audrey Curwin. We discuss how I got diagnosed, what it meant to her to become an average-height parent of a little person child, and how we both learned how to advocate for accessibility in an inaccessible world.

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

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin