Enabling Commons
The Enabling Commons podcast is a space for dialogue among persons with disabilities and their allies to explore strategies that will transform our environments, our commons, to be meaningfully enabling for all.
Every episode, we have conversations with activists, experts, and scholars at the intersections between disability and climate change, unpacking and sharing knowledge.
The music featured in the podcast is an excerpt of Piano Trio No7 in B-flat Major Op97 (Beethoven) by Claremont Trio, curated by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
S1E1: Knowers, Makers, and Doers of Climate Action - Conversation with Sébastien Jodoin
In this episode, I speak with Sébastien Jodoin, director of the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Programme and law professor at McGill University. Sébastien and I talk about the work of the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Program and the role of disabled persons in climate justice.
S1E2: Unpacking Ableism in Environmental Justice- Conversation with Yolanda Muñoz
In this episode, I have a conversation with Yolanda Muñoz, a co-investigator with the Disability-Inclusive Climate Action Research Program. We talk about the relationship of disability justice and climate justice with intersecting sources of oppression and the importance of challenging ableism, especially in the climate movement.
S1E3: Beyond Building Back Better- Conversation with Marcie Roth
In this episode, Marcie Roth, the CEO of the World Institute on Disability, and I talk about supporting disability-led organizations, emergency preparedness for people with disabilities, and not building back better, but building better environments, period.
To further support Marcie Roth and the work of the Global Alliance for Disaster Resource Acceleration (GADRA), please visit https://wid.org/global-alliance-for-disaster-resource-acceleration-gadra/.
S1E4: The Emperor’s New Clothes - Conversation with Carlos Kaiser
In this episode, I speak with Carlos Kaiser, the director of Inclusiva NGO in Chile. We talk about disaster risk reduction and climate change, the importance of binding formal agreements ensuring an inclusive climate justice, and the barriers facing Latin American organizations that are advocating for disabled persons.
To further support Carlos Kaiser and the work of ONG Inclusiva please visit https://onginclusiva.org/.
S1E5: Disability and Climate Justice in Lesotho - Conversation with Nkhasi Sefuthi
In this episode, I speak with Nkhasi Sefuthi, the Executive Director of Lesotho National Federation of Organizations of the Disabled (LNFOD), an umbrella body of organizations supporting people with disabilities in Lesotho. We talk about the intersection between climate and disability justice in Lesotho and strategies for engaging with policy makers and community-relations building.
To further support Nkhasi Sefuthi and his work with the Lesotho National Federal of Organisations of the Disabled (LNFOD) please visit http://www.lnfod.org.ls/contact-us.html.
S1E6: Act Locally, Start Small - Conversation with Fionn and Jonathan Angus
In this episode, I speak with Fionn and Jonathan Angus, the dynamic duo behind Fionnathan productions. We talk about the work of Fionnathan productions and many other things: the importance of citizen expertise in climate justice, the power of comedy, and what it means to have abundant relationships with nature and the world around you.
To support Fionn and Jonathan Angus, and the work of Fionnathan productions, please visit their website here at https://www.fionnathan.com/.
S1E7: Gatecrashing Climate Justice - Conversation with Ipul Powaseu
In this episode I chat with Ipul Powaseu, an advisor for the Papua New Guinea Assembly of Disabled Persons, as well as a leader and activist. We talk about the specific impacts of climate change on disabled Indigenous women in Papua New Guinea, Ipul’s experience in bringing these challenges to the forefront at both local and global levels, and her work on mainstreaming disability across policy areas.
S1E8: The Need for Leadership - Conversation with Gordon Rattray and Mary Keogh
In this episode I chat with Gordon Rattray, an International Cooperation Officer with European Disability Forum, and Mary Keogh, the Advocacy Director for CBM Global Disability Inclusion. We talk about the process behind the video they helped create on disability inclusive climate justice that shares perspectives from all around the globe (short version and long version here). We also talk about what it requires to support disabled people's organizations leadership on disability inclusive climate action.
Check out their video on disability inclusive climate action here!
S1E9: Grounded in Experience - Conversation with Pratima Gurung
In this episode, I chat with Pratima Gurung, the General Secretary for the Indigenous Persons with Disabilities Global Network, and the President of the National Indigenous Disabled Women Association of Nepal. Pratima speaks to how climate change is impacting people with disabilities in Nepal, including specific impacts facing Indigenous communities, and the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among many issues, we discuss the importance of an intersectional approach, ensuring that people with disabilities know their rights, and the importance of doing research and gathering data that can lay the groundwork for evidence-based advocacy.