Contra*

Contra*

By Aimi HamraieArtsDesign
Download on the App Store

Contra* episodes

  • Episode 41: Alice Wong Takes a Trip to the White House

    What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at two articles documenting Alice Wong’s 2015 trip to the White House via a robot.

    In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at documents that highligt an innovative remote access technology and the importance of remote access before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

    For an episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com

    Links:

    Disability Visibility Project

    Remote Access Archive

    6 min
  • Episode 40: Contra* Podcasting in Community with Qudsiya Naqui

    This episode, we hear from Qudsiya Naqui, a blind South Asian lawyer and podcast creator. Qudsiya shares how remote access has transformed her daily work and inspired her to start her own podcast, Down to the Struts, welcoming her into the broader disability community. 

    Themes: 

    • Disability advocacy and justice

    • Advocating for remote workplace access 

    • Blindness and screen readers 

    • Podcast remote recordings and production

    • Navigating access in cross disability communities 

    • Links: 

      • Qudsiya’s podcast, Down to the Struts

      • Qudsiya on Linkedin

      • Remote Access Archive 

      • 37 min
      • Episode 39: UCLA Hybrid Access Strike

        At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times. This season we’re sharing some of those conversations. We’re also taking a closer look at some of the documents in the remote access archive.

        What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at documents associated with the UCLA Hybrid Access Strike and reflects on solidarity.  

        For an episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com


        Links:

        Remote Access Archive


        9 min
      • Episode 38: Contra* Remote Access History with Corbett O’Toole

        This season of Contra*, we’re sharing oral history interviews from the Remote Access Archives. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times. 

        What did remote access look like 20 years ago? 30 years ago? How has the disability community been innovating with phones, emails and the internet since these were emerging technologies? This episode features a conversation with Corbett O’Toole, a white, queer, disabled elder, artist and author, who discusses the significance of remote access technologies over the past few decades – from her role in the polio community to the early disability rights movement to disability justice today. 


        For an episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com.


        Themes: 

        • Disability advocacy and justice

        • Anti-colonialism and the disability community 

        • Remote participation and conferences 

        • Queer feminism and the disability community

        • COVID-19 pandemic and long COVID 

        • Nomad community and internet access 

        • Links: 

          • Corbett’s website

          • Corbett’s scholarship in UC Berkeley’s Bancroft Library

          • Corbett’s scholarship in the SF Public Library History Archives 

          • Remote Access Archive

          • 49 min
          • Episode 37: The Toomey Gazette

            At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times. This season we’re sharing some of those conversations. We’re also taking a closer look at some of the documents in the remote access archive in mini-episodes, like the one you're listening to today!

            What was the role of remote access before the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? In this mini-episode, Kelsie looks at documents associated with the Toomey Gazette, later known as the Rehabilitation Gazette, a print newspaper sent out by a rehabilitation center to its broader community starting in 1955. 

            For an episode transcript, visit criticaldesignlab.com.

            Links:

            Remote Access Archive

            Crip News

            8 min
          • Episode 36: Contra* Remote Access with Hector Ramirez

            Welcome to Season 4 of Contra*! We’re back with new episodes from the Remote Access Archives. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times. This season we’re sharing some of those conversations. 

            For an episode transcript, please visit criticaldesignlab.com.

            What has been the role of remote access before and during the COVID-19 pandemic for the disability community? Aimi’s conversation with Hector Ramirez, a disabled, queer and Two-Spirit, and biracial disability rights advocate focuses on how remote access has transformed during the pandemic, and the implications of the pandemic on his disability community and culture. 


            Themes: 

            • Disability politics and advocacy

            • Remote access and workplace participation

            • COVID-19 pandemic era 

            • institutionalization and isolation 

            • Public policy and access

            • Links: 

              • Hector Ramirez

              • Hector Ramirez on Linkedin


              • 48 min
              • Season 4 Trailer

                Welcome to Season 4 of Contra*!

                On this season of Contra*, we’re sharing oral history interviews from the Remote Access Archives. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we spoke with a number of scholars and activists about mutual aid and pandemic times.  This season, we'll be sharing some of these conversations.


                For a transcript of this episode, please visit criticaldesignlab.com.

                4 min

              About Contra*

              From the publisher's feed

              Contra* is a podcast about disability, design justice, and the lifeworld. Episodes will feature interviews, analyses of the built environment, reviews, and more.