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Always Looking Up
Always Looking Up episodes
- Ariella Elm On Transforming Frustration Through Action
In this week’s episode I sat down with Ariella Elm. Ariella is a queer, Jewish, disabled political influencer offering daily visibility into the stories of Democratic fighters and inspiring activism from a place of hope, rather than fear. We discuss how our community can speak up, speak out, make an impact and make a difference, even if our bodies do not always allow us to show up, even if that means we are working on the sidelines or behind the scenes.
Follow Ariella: Instagram: @ariella.elm TikTok: @ariella.elm YouTube: Ariella Elm Substack: https://ariellaelm.substack.com
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
1 hr 15 min - Richard Whitehead MBE On Paving The Way For Inclusion In Sport...One Marathon At A Time
In this week’s episode I sat down with Richard Whitehead MBE. Richard is a Paralympic Gold Medallist, world record holder, professional athlete, marathon runner and a passionate diversity and inclusion champion. Richard is now currently the fastest amputee runner in the world and is undertaking an epic 20 marathon challenge around the world throughout 2025, to bring him to an incredible 100 marathons of his career, connecting with communities and sharing his mission of true inclusion. Launched in 2021, Richard is also the founder and president of The Richard Whitehead Foundation, a charity which enables disabled people's ambitions through sport and activity and removes barriers. We discuss how running has changed his perceptions about life, the perceptions and realities about the inclusivity of the Paralympics, wanting to leave a lasting legacy everywhere he runs and much, much more.
Follow Richard: Instagram: @richard_whitehead_mbe TikTok: @richard_whitehead_mbe Website: https://richardwhiteheadmbe.com
Learn More About The Richard Whitehead Foundation: https://www.whitehead.foundation
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
1 hr 8 min - Ashton McGrady On The Limits, Accessibility, And Possibilities Of The Fashion And Beauty Industries
In this week’s episode I sat down with Ashton McGrady. Ashton is a Charlotte-based creator sharing beauty, fashion, and lifestyle content through the lens of someone living with a disability. She is especially passionate about accessibility in the beauty space and loves spotlighting inclusive products and creative ways to make your routine work for you. Alongside her creator work, Ashton is the co-founder and an accessibility consultant at Wishing Well Collective, where she partners with brands to build more inclusive beauty and fashion experiences. We discuss fashion as an art form, the difference between celebration and incorporation and much, much more.
Follow Ashton: Instagram: @radiantlygolden TikTok: @radiantlygolden YouTube: AshtonMcGrady
Follow The Wishing Well Collective: Instagram: @the.wishingwellco Website: https://www.wishingwellco.com Email: [email protected]
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
1 hr 10 min - Violet Ferguson On Materialists And The Perceptions Of Height And Stature
In this week’s episode I sat down with Violet Ferguson. Violet is an emerging producer, content creator, and disability advocate based near Toronto, Ontario. Over the past few years, she’s focused on sharing disability-led stories and supporting disabled voices through her filmmaking and advocacy work. She recently served as the associate producer on the award-nominated series The Squeaky Wheel: Canada, a disability-focused production that prioritized accessibility and disability representation both in front of and behind the camera—now heading into its second season. We discuss the 2025 film Materialists starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans. More specifically, we discuss a topic that’s not often mentioned on-screen. Spoilers ahead.
Follow Violet: Instagram: @itsvioletferguson TikTok: @itsvioletferguson Website: https://violetferguson.ca
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
58 min - Jillian Ilana Curwin On Looking Ahead, Looking Back, And Always Looking Up
This episode celebrates 200 episodes of Always Looking Up, an incredible milestone that I am so incredibly proud of and grateful for. I wanted to take the time to reflect on what it means having gotten this far and the journey to get here, highlighting some milestone moments, look ahead towards where I want to be, where I want the podcast to be, and to say thank you to my brother, the audience, and guests past, present and future.
As always, height is just a number, not a limit.
Read the transcript: HERE
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
30 min - Sheila Xu On Her Mission To Becoming The First Deaf Astronaut
In this week’s episode I sat down with Sheila Xu and her interpreter Justin Baldi. Sheila is an oral and signing Deaf woman who broke barriers as one of the first deaf commercial analog astronaut trainees and the first deaf Asian female pilot. As Director of Development at AstroAccess, a non-profit advancing disability inclusion in the space sector, she holds degrees from MIT, Harvard, and Wharton and promotes the leadership potential of deaf and hard-of-hearing people and people with disabilities in all sectors. Justin is an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter with over 20 years of experience focusing on space and other STEM related fields. We discuss the importance of investing in disability entrepreneurship, how she is redefining who can be an astronaut and making outer space accessible, and much, much more.
Read The Transcript: HERE
Follow Sheila: Instagram: @sheilazxu LinkedIn: Sheila Xu Website: https://sheilaxu.com
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
49 min - Ellie Simmonds On Changing The Narrative In And Out Of The Pool
In the 200th episode of Always Looking Up I sat down with Ellie Simmonds. Ellie is a five-time Paralympic Champion and a fourteen time World Champion in the sport of para swimming. Ellie shot to fame when she won her first Paralympic Gold medal at just 13 years old at the Beijing Paralympics and after that summer success was the youngest ever recipient of an MBE, an award from the Queen at the age of 14. She then became an OBE after her home Paralympics in 2012. After announcing her retirement from the pool in 2021 she has transitioned to tv/documentary work with three documentaries to her name with My Secret Family being an awarded a BAFTA in 2024.
We discuss her journey to the Paralympics, why we are still talking about the London 2012 Games in 2025, her transition from champion to documentarian, how she decides on the stories she wants to tell and much, much more.
Follow Ellie: Instagram: @elliesimmonds
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
59 min - Jen Montzingo On Simply Being Herself In An Average-Height World
Trigger Warning: In this episode we do discuss sensitive topics related to mental health such as addiction and self harm. If these are triggers for you please feel free to skip this episode.
In this week’s episode I sat down with Jen Montzingo. Jen is proud to serve in Los Angeles local politics in various ways such as serving on the North Hollywood Neighborhood Council and sitting on the Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics Advisory Board on Accessibility for the upcoming 2028 Games. She has big aspirations for more public speaking while also being obsessed with her two mini goldendoodles and greenhouse cabinet of rare tropical plants. We have a candid and vulnerable conversation about simply being a little person or person with dwarfism in an average-height world.
Follow Jen: Instagram: @jenmontzingo
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Mental Health Resources:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://chat.988lifeline.org
StopBullying.Gov
SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration)
www.ADAA.org
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
1 hr 5 min - Aariana Rose Philip On Setting A New Precedent In The Fashion Industry
In this week’s episode I sat down with Aariana Rose Philip. Aariana is a groundbreaking trans model from The Bronx, by way of Antigua and Barbuda, known for championing representation for disabled and trans women of color in fashion. Represented by Supreme New York, she has starred in global campaigns, graced major magazine covers including British Vogue, and continues to push for a more inclusive industry. We discuss how what many call inspirational, we call survival, where disabled bodies belong in fashion, how “fabulous” is defined and should be represented and much, much more.
Follow Aariana: Instagram: @aarianaphilip TikTok: @aarirosephilip
Read "My Body Belongs In A Museum": https://www.jillianilana.com/home/my-body-belongs-in-a-museum
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
1 hr - Catarina Rivera On Building A Brand And Embracing Her Identities
In this week’s episode I sat down with Catarina Rivera. Catarina is a dynamic public speaker, DEIA consultant, and content creator. She works with companies to improve disability awareness, inclusion, and accessibility. As a disabled Latiné woman, she is passionate about sharing her own unique story to help build a more inclusive world. We discuss how her life experiences shaped her career, changing the narratives and language around disability, who The Blindish Latina is and the platform she’s built, and much, much more.
Follow Catarina: Instagram: @blindishlatina LinkedIn: Catarina Rivera TikTok: @blindishlatina YouTube: @CatarinaRivera Website: https://www.catarinarivera.com
Join Catarina's newsletter: https://catarinarivera.kit.com/newsletter
Watch Catarina's TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbXxhuraJsE
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: [email protected]
Read With Me:
Goodreads
The StoryGraph
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Relief For Disabled People Impacted By The Los Angeles Fires:
Richard Devylder Disaster Relief Fund: https://disabilitydisasteraccess.org/rd-relief-fund/
United Spinal Disaster Relief Grant: https://unitedspinal.org/disaster-relief-grant/
Inevitable Foundation Emergency Relief Fund: https://www.inevitable.foundation/erf
1 hr 8 min
About Always Looking Up
From the publisher's feed
A podcast dedicated to telling honest and real stories about living in a world that was not necessarily designed for us.