Reflections

Tipping, it’s something many of us do without thinking. But what’s really behind this cultural norm? Nisreen Abdel-Majid explores the psychological pressures and social expectations that shape how and why we tip.

We hear from Brody Robinson, a server at the Singing Chef in London, Ontario, who shares what tipping looks like from the front lines of the service industry. 

Dr. Cortney Norris brings us the service professional’s perspective, drawing on her review titled “50+ Years of Restaurant Tipping Research,” and what it reveals about power dynamics between customers and workers.

Dr. William Michael Lynn, author of The Psychology of Tipping, helps us unpack why we tip, even when service doesn’t meet expectations.

From real-life experiences to decades of research, let's take a closer look at what happens when the bill arrives.

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

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Is inaccessible voting a direct violation of people’s rights? Is accessible voting the key to ensuring more citizens are engaged in their municipal, provincial, and federal politics? New Brunswickers are going to the polls to cast their votes on May 11, 2026, and Elections

Chief Electoral Office Kim Poffenroth joins Joeita to explain the accessibility measures available for citizens in New Brunswick.

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

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Whether you’re a student, professional, or you just love languages, come along on this multilingual journey. Grant Hardy hears from hobbyists and pros alike as we tackle language learning from an accessibility perspective.

Youssef Mohammad is a Professional Conference and Community Arabic-English interpreter. He discusses his bilingual experiences both at a school for the blind and in mainstream education.

Carolyn Cresswell is an Instructor at the W. Ross School for the Blind in Brantford, Ontario. She shares her experiences teaching English to newcomers to Canada.

Ariana Noughira is passionate about language learning; we learn how she’s picked up languages like Japanese and Russian on her own.

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
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There are many ways to find your community.  Sometimes, you find community through shared interest or proximity, like school or your neighbourhood gym.  Other communities are carefully and thoughtfully put together by connecting passionate people.  

In this episode, Kelly MacDonald highlights one of those passionate, expanding communities.  

For the last 12 years, Connect4Life, has been offering training programs for persons with disabilities in Canada.  The organization is now expanding its programming into South Africa.  Sharing knowledge and experience with like-minded people. 

Melanie Taddeo, President and CEO of Connect4Life, tells Kelly about the history of Connect4Life and its expansion into South Africa.

Mr. Tap is a disability advocate in South Africa, and runs Skills Village Radio, a station creating programming for and with persons with disabilities.

Kelly also speaks to Steven Christianson, a Connect4Life board member who was instrumental in the global expansion of the organization.

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
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We talk a lot about accessibility in public spaces, but some of the hardest conversations don’t happen there. They happen in private, with family and friends. And unfortunately, they happen in the spaces that we are supposed to feel the safest.

In this episode, Beth Deer along with her two guests, Disability Inclusion Expert Bean Gill and Registered Clinical Counsellor Dan Spring, unpack what happens when accessibility becomes negotiable with family and friends. Dan and Bean offer their perspectives on how quickly our family and friends’ boundaries can turn into something deeper and make us feel like we don’t belong. 

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
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• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
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Nisreen Abdel-Majid dives into Lynn Jensen’s journey of losing her sight and finding her way back to the world through travel.

After sudden vision loss at 27, Lynn faced the emotional and practical realities of starting over, learning new ways to navigate, rebuilding confidence, and making the life-changing decision to work with a guide dog she never wanted.

Through conversations with Lynn and her rehabilitation specialist, Rochelle De Vries, we explore what sudden vision loss can feel like, the challenges of mobility training, and how instructors support people as they regain independence.

We also hear from Lynn’s twin sister, whose perspective offers an intimate look at their bond and what it meant to witness such a profound life shift up close.

This is a story about reclaiming a sense of adventure on your own terms.

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
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• Email [email protected]

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How does our history of segregation and discrimination towards minority communities impact the way social justice movements and disability rights organizations operate?

Joeita Gupta speaks with three individuals from the Black disability community to learn more about how conversations about race and disability are interconnected.

Dr. Sami Schalk, Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains Black disability politics and shares how the erasure of Black disabled history impacts conversations around disability rights.

Scholar and activist Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware discusses the history of the Black Panther Party and tells us how social justice movements across Canada are organized.

Disability rights activist Gift Tshuma examines how race and disability cause attitudinal barriers in the workplace, dissecting how facing these barriers allowed Gift to create their own opportunities.

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
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• Email [email protected]

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How does AI continue to help blind people interpret the visual world?

Grant Hardy learns about a new accessibility tool called ViddyScribe. He talks to Developer and Co Founder Aaditya Vaze, a Graduate of OCAD University's Digital Futures Program, and CEO and Co Founder Patrick Burton, about this app that uses AI to make video content accessible for blind and low vision users.

We hear from Dr. Alexis Morris, Associate Professor at OCAD U’s Digital Futures Program, about the evolution of AI more broadly. We also hear from AMI-audio's Jacob Shymanski about how AI powered apps are changing the accessibility landscape

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
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• Email [email protected]

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Kelly MacDonald highlights Tim's Fencing Academy in Toronto, a space and program that started building safety, recreation, and community since the moment it opened its doors.

Founder and Coach Tim Svidnytskiy reflects on his journey into Canada from The Ukraine, taking his passion for fencing with him into this new world, and cultivating this space for anyone willing to try it out with him.

Hooley McLaughlin, a life-long student and adventurer, shares his story of picking up fencing well into his retirement years, and enjoying the heck out of the activity!

Coach Viktor Melnyk, a younger Instructor at the academy, tells us how he learned to embrace a new language, a new life, and a whole lot of new people through the art of fencing.

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

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From sparing someone’s feelings to smoothing over awkward social moments, most of us tell white lies more often than we confess to.

Are these little lies harmless or is honesty really the best policy? Nisreen Abdel-Majid unpacks the psychology behind white lies.

Clinical Counsellor Dillon Lewchuk explains why we all feel compelled to bend the truth and offers us empathy to help us sit with these social choices.

Jim Krysko shares his humble opinions as a parent; when he believes honesty matters, and when a small white lie is more appropriate for the situation.

We hear white lie confessions from friends and colleagues, as well as their justifications behind those very human moments.

Sometimes the truth is simple… Sometimes it’s complicated.

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

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