Disability activist and historian Mark Bookman talks about how accessibility progress is bolstered by the international spotlight of the Paralympics but hampered by the lack of accessibility at the policy-making table.

Ollie interrogates the patriarchy.

Bobby seems pretty consumed by his anxiety about how much time we have left.

Topics discussed on this episode range from:

• Ollie's disastrous start to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and how a Brian intervened to save the Day
• How AirBNB does in terms of accessibility
• How Japan travel accommodations do with accessibility overall
• What Mark's work as a disability activist entails, and how his daily life and interactions inform his activism
• The concrete web of support that's required to make a disabled person's
• The challenging of advocating for people with invisible disabilities in Japan
• The importance of inclusivity in accessibility conversations
• The Paralympics as an opportunity to reflect and improve on accessibility
• How Corona has illustrated some of Japan's social barriers to accessibility
• Japan's over-reliance on care networks for disable people
• How Japan's aging population and shortage of caregivers highlights disability and accessibility issues
• The chance that the Paralympics offers to address some of these issues
• How incredibly sporty we all are
• Mark's experience being consulted by the Japanese government to work on accessibility issues
• How Japan's attitude towards accessibility compares to other countries
• Japan's legal history around accessibility
• How transportation accessibility has rippled out to other areas
• How Japan's inclusion TARGETS set them apart from other countries
• A brief history of Japanese disability welfare laws and where they excel
• WHY they excel in those areas
• Disability visibility in government, and how it affects public perception
• Japan's history of high-profiled disability
• How the Paralympics can function to create "undesirable accessibility"
• How the Paralympics can be helpful to some and harmful to others
• Some really disastrously bad Paralympic advertising messaging
• What Mark tells a government when they ask what they should do
• Why the government needs to do more than just ask Mark what they should do

Topics discussed on the extras include:

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Content links:

Mark's Ted Talk: Paralympics as Possibility: The Past, Present, and Future of Accessibility in Japan
Article on Covid-19: The Coronavirus Crisis: Disability Politics and Activism in Contemporary Japan
Accessibility Mapping Project

Social Media Links:

Mark Bookman: Twitter | Bookman Research

Ollie Horn: Twitter | Instagram
Bobby Judo: Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Other things to click on
Some are affiliate links because we're sell-outs

• We record remotely using Squadcast and the podcast is hosted on Transistor. 
• Bobby uses the Samson Go Mic and Ollie uses the AT2005USB mic