Greta Thunberg How does climate change impact our lives with disabilities? Climate change is more than an added stress factor in our lives. From the deaths in floods and fire, to the power shutoffs to the evacuations as recurring gigantic storms power down the Atlantic, our lives are at risk. We honor Greta Thunberg, the youth leader of the climate strike, who is on the autism spectrum, as we take your calls for the climate strike today. We want to hear your thoughts at 510-848-4425 or 800-958-9...
Sep 20, 2019•30 min
What do you get when you put a group of people with disabilities, people who are fat, LGBTQIA+, elders and many other sorts on one street corner? No, not a bad joke! You get…a PROTEST to #CloseTheCamps because #NoBodyIsDisposable. Photo by Leslie Mah Hear highlights from speeches, interviews and other live recordings from this powerful show of solidarity at the August 28 ICE protest. The protest was designed to bring together fat & disability communities as a united front. It was part of the...
Sep 06, 2019•30 min
Scott Nance (with bullhorn) and Mike Ervin at Indiana ADAPT Protest, at Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse. Mike Ervin is a blogger, a blogger with a disability who does not say the nice things nice disabled people are expected to say. Pushing Limits radio has invited him to talk to the Northern California audience about all things crip. Mike calls himself “Smart Ass Cripple.” Host Eddie Ytuarte wants to be a Smart Ass Cripple. Let’s see what these two gentlemen come up wit...
Aug 30, 2019•30 min
A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The post Pushing Limits – August 16, 2019 appeared first on KPFA.
Aug 16, 2019•30 min
Deborah Kaplan P.G.& E. expects to cut off power when fire conditions are strong this year — it’s a fire prevention measure. But the consequences for people who use electricity for ventilators, oxygen, and other disability life supports have not been taken seriously. These sustained power outages will have dire consequences if better preparations aren’t made — as this letter of protest from Alameda Supervisor Keith Carson made plain over a year ago. Richard Skaff and Deborah Kaplan tell us w...
Jul 19, 2019•30 min
Hannah Karpilow We’ve all heard or said things like, “My attendant is part of my family,” or “I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning without an attendant – literally.” For many people with disabilities, attendants are a crucial part of daily life The Independent Living Movement fought for attendant wages so we weren’t entirely dependent on family members and friends. Women of color, who provide most of the attendant care in California, were the force behind the permanent adoption of the Califo...
Jul 05, 2019•30 min
Maytte Bustillos It’s ten years since her brain cancer diagnosis, a time when doctors gave her two years to live. Now, it’s three days before her fourth brain surgery and Maytte Bustillos is not thinking too much about all these numbers. She speaks with us about finding joy amidst the challenges of living with a chronic and terminal illness. Since we last talked with her, Maytte Bustilos has been raising her daughter, teaching school and dealing with the end of her marriage. She speaks openly of...
Jun 21, 2019•30 min
Are you free to move about the Bay Area? Reliably? Conveniently? Accessibly? Affordably? Does it bother you that people with cars can go anywhere they wish at any time, while you cannot? Are you forced to ride for several hours in a paratransit vehicle only to arrive at your destination too late for your appointment, or halfway through the concert? The Transportation Justice Project wants to help. See their vision statement here. The East Bay Center for the Blind (EBCB), an organization with dee...
Jun 07, 2019•30 min
A test group for the new Hideaway Hut retreat space for kids and adults with autism Now that the rain has finally stopped (we hope!), it’s time to go outside and play! But, if you have a disability, it’s not always that easy. The Magical Bridge Foundation is looking to change all that. They built their first fully accessible playground in Palo Alto in 2015, and are building more around the Bay Area and beyond. Find out how play can be fun and accessible for all as Maria Hassid from Magical Bridg...
May 31, 2019•30 min
A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The post Pushing Limits – May 3, 2019 appeared first on KPFA.
May 03, 2019•30 min
Theresa Stern with her guide dog, Wills Blind People and people with severe sight disabilities rely either on guide dogs or the often seen white canes to replace the function of eyes in sighted persons. We host Theresa Stern from Guide Dogs for the Blind to talk about this most valuable resource and the legal rights of the owners of these animals. What goes into training a guide dog? How to acquire one? What’s the difference between a guide dog and an emotional support animal? What should a pers...
Apr 19, 2019•30 min
The disability community can thank people with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities (and their allies) for an incredibly useful new tool. ABLE accounts have come to California. For the first time, many of us can now amass substantial savings without being penalized with dollars deducted from our Social Security or loss of Medi-Cal benefits! Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits limit savings to $2,000. — a very shaky safety net indeed. But the federal and state ABLE programs offer a...
Apr 05, 2019•30 min
Susan da Silva The State of Our Bodies (& Minds) The State of the World The State of the Pacifica Network We’re very proud to bring you a discussion with Susan da Silva, one of the newly elected listener representatives to KPFA’s local station board. Get behind the headlines on far-right President Bolsonaro’s effect on Brazil. Learn about a big financial challenge for the Pacifica network. All that, and more as we talk to this dynamic intelligent woman. Shelley Berman & Adrienne Lauby ho...
Mar 29, 2019•30 min
We’re blowing up language, we’re blowing up humanity in talking about expansion of who we are. JOIN us! Fresh! “Lev” White L-R Jessica Dene Schlesinger, Sharon-Peterson, Fresh! “Lev” White. Excerpts from the First Voice apprentice program’s Full Circle show on allyship. This show starts a conversation to re-imagine ourselves and our world…and teaches us A LOT! Jess Dene Schlesinger and Fresh! “Lev” White explore intersectionality and allyship with the LGBTQIA+ community and that of people with d...
Mar 15, 2019•30 min
Becky and Dena Taylor’s book tells the story of a girl with a quirky mind, an eccentric family, and oh yes, a disability. Born premature, Becky was given the usual prognosis “probably going to be blind, deaf and retarded.” Yet, at age four she was doing calculus in her head. One day her dad sought to stump his daughter-the-math-whiz by asking, “Is infinity an odd or an even number?” She thought about it for a bit, smiled, then replied, “Tell me the number before infinity. We talk to Becky and De...
Mar 01, 2019•1 hr
Shaman Woman Photo by Kathleen Finigan Shaman Woman is an activist. Shaman Woman is a person living with diabetes. Shaman Woman is a homeless person. And, Shaman Woman is a lawyer. Although she herself has no home, this remarkable woman practices civil rights law and defends homeless people in Santa Rosa, California. From driving the streets yelling, “¡Viva la revolución!” to taking statements in the local parks, Shaman Woman organizes, agitates and takes it to the court. She talks to Adrienne L...
Feb 15, 2019•30 min
“Half my life’s in books’ written pages. Live and learn from fools and from sages.” Aerosmith: Dream On Are you a bookworm, but you can’t read two-dimensional ink-drawn pictographs on parchment (print)? Can’t hold a physical book and/or turn its pages? Need large print, Braille or audio? Pushing Limits has an answer for you! The Braille and Talking Book Library (BTBL) is a state-run free program for people with print disabilities. It’s part of a nation-wide network of such programs across the co...
Feb 01, 2019•30 min
Jeff Thom What has happened legislatively and in advocacy for people who are blind or have visual impairments in 2018? What might be to come in 2019? We ask an expert. After graduating from Stanford, Jeff Thom worked as an attorney for the California Legislature for 30 years. He is the immediate past president of the California Council of the Blind and he has had his finger on the pulse of federal and California legislation for decades. Sheela Gunn-Cushman hosts. Honoring the Hands of Korea’s Fi...
Dec 21, 2018•30 min
A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The post Pushing Limits – December 07, 2018 appeared first on KPFA.
Dec 07, 2018•30 min
Sometimes it seems as though every community in the world has a community and cultural center here in the Bay Area. But what about the disability community? The Paul K. Longmore Institute at San Francisco State is helping the City of San Francisco create such a center just for us. The executive director of the Longmore Institute, Catherine Kudlick, joins us to discuss the possibilities for this center and the needs it could serve. What do you want to see in a Cultural Center? Take this survey. I...
Nov 30, 2018•24 min
Marty Omoto Marty Omoto watches the inner workings of the Sacramento governmental structure as an advocate/reporter, particularly as it affects people with disabilities. He advises and reports on this through his California Disability-Senior Community Action Network (CDCAN), an e-mail list that now serves 65,000 subscribers. Eddie Ytuarte, host of this Friday’s Pushing Limits radio program sometimes sees things from the “outside.” The two discuss the results of the recent elections and Marty rep...
Nov 16, 2018•24 min
William Walker Accessibility, lower fares, affordable housing, safety, broken escalators, over-surveillance… it’s all on the table in the last days of a hot election race. William Walker is a candidate for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) board to represent San Francisco’s eighth district. We ask his opinion on BART’s current service to people with disabilities, as well as his plans to serve our community should he be elected. Eddie Ytuarte and Sheela Gunn-Cushman host. Walker spent four years ...
Nov 02, 2018•18 min
Jonathan Lyens is a blind user of BART, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, and a former financial analyst in the San Francisco Mayor’s Budget Office. He believes the BART system needs more accountability and transparency. Jonathan Lyens As a candidate for the BART Board in District 8, he is promising open clean bathrooms, working elevators and escalators and a host of other improvements. Sheela Gunn-Cushman and Adrienne Lauby talk to Jonathan about how our beloved and beleaguered mass transit sy...
Oct 19, 2018•18 min
Stephanie Thomas If you’re finding a determination for resistance, a rage to protect vulnerable humans, or wishing for the joy of community strength; maybe it’s time for some direct action. Stephanie Thomas, a long-time organizer with ADAPT, the disability movement’s direct action arm, joins us to explain how ADAPT actions organize some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the U.S. to stand tall for our rights and our lives. Remember the photos of disabled people being dragged out of whe...
Sep 28, 2018•36 min
Mitch Jeserich from a video by Sandy Sanders All this week, Mitch Jeserich provided gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Now, he takes a break to talk about his disability and disability politics in general. How far has the disability community progressed in having representation in news media jobs? Is covering the Kavanaugh hearings every day as painful as it sounds? Eddie Ytuarte and Josh Elwood will ask the questions as Mitch Jeserich sits on the other...
Sep 07, 2018•18 min
Congo Handicap trains, hires and supports people with disabilities in South Kivu, DRC Although the eastern part of her country is engulfed in civil war, Francine Atosha Mbusa lives, works and takes empowering action in exactly that region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The government of the DRC was a strong supporter of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, local organizations like Congo Handicap are often the only protection for disabled peopl...
Aug 31, 2018•18 min
Brian Wheatle IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, has been the law of the land since 1975, longer even than the ADA. Thus, it should come as no surprise that our guest, Brian Wheatley, is a person with a disability who’s running for school board in San Jose. But it probably does, even to many of us. Join hosts Mark Romoser and Sheela Gunn-Cushman as we find out where we stand both in the classroom and on the campaign trail. The post Education Issues with Brian Wheatley appeare...
Aug 17, 2018•18 min
Kathy Peck of H.E.A.R. You remember when the Bay Area was filled with the sounds of punk rock? So does our guest Kathy Peck. She played bass for the San Francisco all-woman band The Contractions. Surprise! All those loud shows led to hearing loss. How did she deal with that? How does music, laughter and DIY sound? She talks about it all with Josh Elwood and Mark Romoser. It’s Hip To Hear Survival Guide (download) For over 30 years, Kathy Peck has been at the forefront of cutting edge music, comm...
Jul 20, 2018•18 min
Kathy Peck of H.E.A.R. You remember when the Bay Area was filled with the sounds of punk rock? So does our guest Kathy Peck. She played bass for the San Francisco all-woman band The Contractions. Surprise! All those loud shows led to hearing loss. How did she deal with that? How does music, laughter and DIY sound? She talks about it all with Josh Elwood and Mark Romoser. It’s Hip To Hear Survival Guide (download) For over 30 years, Kathy Peck has been at the forefront of cutting edge music, comm...
Jul 20, 20180
Santa Rosa, CA protest of Trump administration border policies 6-30-18. Photo by Jessica Wood. Shelley Berman hosts a different view of Independence Day through the heart-felt viewpoint of Disabled Native American Activist, Mercedes Trippo. Other disabled folks chime in on the question, “From what would you like to be Independent?” Shelley’s sarcastic, biting repartee pushes the limits of acceptability and reminds us that ALL children are under fire under the current Fascist Regime of “Divide an...
Jul 06, 2018•9 min
