Saved specially for the season closer, Bobby & Jake welcome musical theatre writers Caitlyn Burt and Amir Shoenfeld to discuss the intersection between musical theatre and vision impairment, as well as the fascinating story of Otto Weidt. Amir & Caitlyn are the writing partnerships behind the accessible musical project "Otto Weidt's Brush & Broom Workshop for the Blind" starring Jake as Otto and featuring Bobby as musical director.

Otto Weidt Musical on Instagram @ootoweidtmusical

More on Otto Weidt himself

Visit shoenfeldandburt.com

@amir_shoenfeld

@caitlyn_burt_

Email [email protected]

• VocalEyes - Audio Description Services
• Alex Bulmer - Director
• Ben Wilson - Theatre Maker & AD Consultant
• Karina Jones - Actor & Aerialist
• Ramps On The Moon
• "Writing The Other" by Nisi Shawl
• Dr. Yusuf Osman

Mild irritations

• Jake - AD not available across all screens or streaming platforms
• Bobby - when you ask a stranger to take a photo of you on holiday and they take hundreds of identical shots, leaving you to play a horrible game of spot the difference

Wins of the Week

• Bobby - being forced to become extremely familiar with material you're working on making you do your job better
• Jake - the introduction of VoiceOver into his life helping prepare more efficiently for meetings

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More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

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As Season 1 guest Karl Schwonik says at the front of every episode: "There has never been a better time to be disabled"

The current technological revolution has advanced the accessibility of our planet and our society exponentially.

Jake and Bobby were teenagers when the earliest Apple products came out, which many visually impaired people agree have been complete game-changers when it comes to visual access.

As well as Apple, the pair discuss the impact of AI and a variety of other apps, software and physical gadgets which help either professionally or in everyday life.

"Seeing AI" - mobile app for reading and describing what's in front of your phone camera

"Be My Eyes" - mobile app connecting you via video call to a real sighted volunteer assistant

"Optelec" - producing handheld and tabletop video magnifiers

RNIB Shop for specialist household gadgets

Call out to social media users to add 'Alt Text' to their photos so that screenreader can describe them properly.

Mild Inconveniences:

• Jake: People leading straightaway with "what's your condition" rather than "hello" / "what do you do?"
• Bobby: Catching the eye of bar/wait staff

Wins of the Week

• Jake: Proving to the culprit of the above story what an expert problem solver he is
• Bobby: Improving productivity because of the necessity to learn and create keyboard shortcuts

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More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

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In this episode and the previous, Jake and Bobby discuss everything from the complications and anxieties of simple domestic travels to globe-trotting adventures far outside their comfort zones.

New Zealand glow-worm cave jumping, Bulgarian scoter emergencies, waking up in Woolwich, Airport politics and much more.

Wins of the week:

• Jake has been able to work abroad in various capacities as a direct result of his visual impairment.
• Bobby found he was the best qualified of the group to jump backwards into a cave lit only by glow-worms.

Mild inconveniences in episode 7.

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More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

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Across two episodes, Jake and Bobby discuss everything from the complications and anxieties of simple domestic travels to globe-trotting adventures far outside their comfort zones.

Porto Airbnb code euphoria, California zip-line instructing, Andean hiking, Amazonian monkey-spotting and much more!

• What’s special assistance like at airports and rail stations?
• What kinds of trips are well-suited to V.I. people?
• Jake & Bobby reflect on their own individual solo trips across the USA
• Learning and growing in confidence by throwing yourself into unfamiliar situations
• Some refreshingly positive examples of good audio access.

Mild inconveniences

• Cryptic toilet signs
• Unnecessary fear of inanimate everyday objects mistaken for dead animals

Wins of the Week to follow in Part 2...

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More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Learning lines, recording audio books, preparing for an audition, rehearsing and performing plays, leading workshops - how does Jake do it all with severe sight loss?

RNIB Talking Books @ 90 - Pride And Prejudice

Mild inconveniences:

• Jake: The 'small print' in subscriptions' Ts & Cs
• Bobby: Shampoo & Conditioner bottles

Wins of the Week

• Jake: Unlikely sightings of the lucky horse
• Bobby: Brother breaking the world record for blindfolded marathon, London 2026, raising for RSBC.

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More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jake grills Bobby to the fine detail of how he practically goes about doing his musical exploits. Learning music on the piano by ear, MD-ing shows, taking rehearsals, creating scores and audio tracks, running a wedding band and composing for screen - all of these things pose their own wide-ranging visual challenges, so how does Bobby get around them?

"Sound Of A Masterpiece" is available on Amazon Music, Apple Music and Tidal. Commissioned by Dolby Atmos, it was a collaboration between Bobby and the New Radiophonic Workshop.

The music heard from 34.55 is original music written and recorded by Bobby as one of several pieces for a set of short films commissioned this year by Care Access.

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More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

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Part 2 of the 'Life In The Arts' mini series takes us behind the curtain to get a sense of the challenges and rewards of being a professional in the theatre and music orlds. Jake and Bobby cover topics like networking, explaining their conditions to new groups of people, how much to reveal about sight on professional profiles and much more! This episode will be followed by 2 intensive deep dives into the practicalities of their creative endeavours.

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More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is it like to go to the theatre or cinema with low vision? Aside from the viewing experience itself, the befores and afters present their own sets of challenges. Then there are complications surrounding audio description and the overall accessibility of the piece. How do Jake and Bobby navigate all of this?

• What specifically makes.a show naturally accessible, or particularly inaccessible?
• What are the useful aids and props to take with you to the theatre or cinema?
• What's it like using Audio Description?
• Going to theatre/cinema alone vs with a companion.

Mild inconveniences of the week

• Card Machine etiquette
• Pairing Socks

Wins of the week to follow in Part 2...

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Email [email protected]

More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

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What was it like being a visually impaired child? Education, socialising, family dynamics, new places and faces - all complicated enough at the best of times, but all the more challenging and, at times, entertaining with low vision.

Follow @legallyblind_pod

Email [email protected]

More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Musician Bobby Goulder and actor Jake Sawyers join forces for the next series bringing together their perspectives as visually impaired creative professionals.

Follow @legallyblind_pod

Email [email protected]

More about Bobby Goulder

More about Jake Sawyers

Bobby's condition - Stargardt Disease

Jake's condition - Norie Disease

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.