2411 Encore of 1244 Hiking the Appalachian Trail Solo (Mar. 13, 2024)

Show Notes

A long hike can be much more than a walk in the woods. We’ll talk with Karl Ritter, also known as Bats, about long distance hiking including his end-to-end hike on the 2200 mile long Appalachian Trail. Karl has very little vision and did the first 500 miles alone. Learn how he used other senses and tools to compensate as well as what was in his first aid kit.

2410 The Hable One Keyboard (Mar. 6, 2024)

Show Notes

The Hable One is an external keyboard designed to make using a smartphone simpler and more convenient for those with visual impairments. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Freek van Welsenis, co-founder of Hable, about the intuitive design of this pocket-size device and how it can be used to control your smart phone and also enter Braille text.

2409 A Community of Medical Professionals (Feb. 28, 2024)

Show Notes

Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Andrea Lendaris, Bo (Kevin) Barley, and Silpa Tadavarthy about their experiences as visually impaired medical professionals and the impact that the Disability in Medical Mutual Mentorship Program (DM3P) has made in their training and careers. They discuss the community built by DM3P and the support it provides.

2408 The Disability in Medicine Mutual Mentorship Program (Feb. 21, 2024)

Show Notes

The Disability in Medicine Mutual Mentorship Program (DM3P) is a grassroots organization that supports disabled healthcare professionals and trainees as they navigate the field of medicine. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with members Erin Jarrell and Suchita Rastogi about why and how the organization was formed and how its members benefit each other.

2407 Biped – The Smart Mobility Aid (Feb. 14, 2024)

Show Notes

Now the technology used in self-driving cars comes to a smart harness worn by the blind to warn of obstacles and assist navigating using a combination of GPS and audio feedback. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with co-founder and CEO Maël Fabien about the development of the Biped device, the technology behind it, and how it works.

2406 From Science to Linguistics to Both (Feb. 7, 2024)

Show Notes

Sheri Wells-Jensen wanted to be a scientist when she was young. Unfortunately, being blind as well as female she was discouraged from pursuing such a career by those around her. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Sheri, now an Associate Professor of Linguistics, about her journey and how she was able to merge science into her career.

2405 Making Space Exploration Accessible (Jan. 31, 2024)

Show Notes

Sheri Wells-Jensen is a fully blind Associate Professor of Linguistics at Bowling Green State University who spent six days with four crew members in a hermetically sealed habitat at Biosphere 2, learning about what it would be like living on Mars or the Moon. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Sheri about the experience and what was learned.

2404 Court Reporter (Jan. 24, 2024)

Show Notes

Eden Kizer is a blind court reporter. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Eden about how she was drawn to the profession and what makes it a suitable profession for someone who is blind. You’ll learn about how she was trained, the technology that makes this possible, how the job is done, and why Eden finds it so rewarding.

2403 Echo Heart Rate App for iOS (Jan. 17, 2024)

Show Notes

Using Voiceover to monitor one’s heart rate while running on a noisy treadmill wearing an Apple Watch and noise cancelling AirPods is difficult. Hosts Nancy and Peter Torpey talk with Alex Weiner, developer at PK Fitness, about how he added Siri commands to provide on demand speech feedback in their Echo Heart Rate app, as well as about their Fat Burn app.

2402 Meet the Host – Nancy Goodman Torpey (Jan. 10, 2024)

Show Notes

The microphone is turned around on Nancy Torpey this week when she is interviewed by Glen Gordon, Software Fellow at Freedom Scientific and host of the FSCast podcast. In this episode you’ll learn how Nancy became interested in science, how she and Peter met, her education and career as a female scientist in a male dominated profession, and more.