In this edition of the That’ll be the Day podcast, Tom Walker meets the writer and actor, Adam Fenton on the stage of the Unity Theatre in Liverpool. Tom  talks to Adam about his solo-show, Tuning In, which was one of the events to mark Disability History Month. During their conversation, they discuss the challenges Adam faces as a neuro-diverse person.

In this edition of the That'll be the Day podcast, Tom Walker talks to Sandy Taylor, a visually impaired man who has led numerous successful campaigns with the National Federation of the Blind UK for better street access for blind and partially sighted people in Scotland, and further afield. Sandy talks honestly and openly about the challenges he has faced while losing his sight and the adjustments he has had to make as a totally blind person. Before he lost his sight, Sandy was a successful businessman who enjoyed driving and sailing. Sandy's mother always said he was determined and there is no doubt that the National Federation of the Blind UK has benefited from that.

On March 22, 2020, just before the first lockdown, the Doors tribute band the Doors Rising were booked to play at Liverpool's Cavern Club but like everything else at that time, the gig was cancelled.

A couple of days ago, 18 months later, they finally made it and performed on the Cavern’s famous stage.

A few minutes before the gig, I went back stage and spoke to Stuart Capstick, aka Jim Morrison and Martyn Gilbert, aka Robbie kreiger.

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Dave Conway, a former extreme athlete from Australia, about the climbing accident which left him seriously disabled. Dave tells Tom about the accident, the impact on his life, and how, despite being blind, he is carving out a new career as an artist.

What does equality look and feel like for disabled people like me? What are we entitled to expect from service-providers and employers? Are the terms 'reasonable adjustments' and 'less favourable treatment' still relevant? For answers to these questions, I have spoken to the well-known visually impaired disability campaigner, Alun Davies. In the 1990s, Alun was involved in high-profile  demonstrations that led to the Disability Discrimination Act. although his approach is more emollient these days, Alun still has plenty to say on what needs to change to improve disabled people's lives.

In this edition of That'll be the Day, Tom Walker talks to three people who have concerns about the impact of e-Scooters on visually impaired people. Their campaign has enjoyed considerable success, capturing the attention of the national media. One of Tom's guests, Rachel Pereira, tells us about her experience of coming close to being mown down by an e-Scooter in Nottingham City Centre. 

In this podcast, Tom Walker talks to Dave Lloyd, a travel writer from New Brighton, about his experiences of losing his sight after a stroke. It started with what Dave was told were migraines but was in fact a blood clot on his visual cortex. In addition to losing a significant amount of his vision, Dave also had to contend with temporary Charles Bonnet Syndrome, visual hallucinations.

The visually impaired singer/song-writer, Joe Kenny from Northern Ireland, has just released his first single, Chasing a Dream. 

How accessible was the recording process for Joe who's totally blind? In this podcast, I discuss this with the musician, along with many other issues.

In this podcast, I'm talking to a visually impaired man who's written a book looking back at his time attending two schools for the blind in the 1960s and 70s.

Writing under the name Paul Tyrone, Arthur Turner from North Shields has just published Out of Bounds, which is an honest reflexion on his time at the Royal Victoria School for the Blind in Newcastle, and Worcester College for the Blind.

Not only did Arthur and his chums explore the roofs during his time at Worcester, he went underground as well. But there's much more in the book than these intrepid extra-curricular activities.

Could we ever replace guide dogs with a robotic alternative?

Zhongyu Li, a PhD researcher at the University of California, Berkeley,  thinks it might just be possible

In this podcast, Zhongyu tells me about his research. I also speak to Donna Waring from Salford, in Greater Manchester. Donna is an experienced guide dog user and has trained her own guide dogs.