Paralimited Access (w/Mark Bookman)

Japan By River Cruise

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

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