Disability Ecologies

Presenting: From Soil to Seeding Local Foods Content:  Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:   Jason Grimm  Malik Salsberry  Ilsa DeWald  April Lawyer  Felicia Pieper  Scott Koepke  Highlights Join Emerson as they talk with the newest generation of GROW farmers, on why this work is meaningful, how food justice and food sovereignty overlap and depart, and what’s grown on site, beyond all of...

Presenting: From Soil to Seeding Local Foods  Content:  Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:   Scott Koepke Carly McAndrews  Alfred Matiyabo  Ilsa DeWald  Rod Sullivan  Jason Grimm  Highlights This chapter brings the story of the historic poor farm full circle, by documenting the work of GROW Johnson County. Co-founded in 2015 by John Boller, Scott Koepke, and Bob Andrik, GROW’s initial vi...

Presenting: A Witness Tree on the Land  Content: cemeteries and death care, the politics of restoration, land development, logics of “cure”  Featuring: Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:   V Fixmer-Oraiz  Rod Sullivan  Dr. Jennifer Mack  Chant Eicke  Geoff Mouming  Jason Grimm  Highlights This episode picks up with the preservation challenges of the early 2000s, as Johnson County debated...

Presenting: A Witness Tree on the Land   Content: forced removal, colonialism,  Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:   Geoff Mouming  Chant Eicke  Highlights This chapter tells the story of the Historic Poor Farm’s land from the point of view of a 250 year old Bur Oak on the southern edges of the property. Geoff and Emerson walk through the restored natural areas for Emerson’s first close-...

Presenting: Dignity Delayed  Content: historic records  Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:  Mary Helen Kennerly, Seen & Heard Facilitator, DAC Member  Becky Dewing, Johnson County Historic Society Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz  Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass  Kim Painter, Johnson County Recorder  Kevin Kolsto, DAC Member  Julie Watkins, DAC Co-Facilitator and Events Manager for Historic...

CHAPTER THREE, PART ONE Presenting: Dignity Delayed Content: discrimination, medicaid cuts Featuring: Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:  Mary Helen Kennerly   Highlights This chapter tells the story of how the Disability Advisory Committee came into being because of a random encounter between V Fixmer-Oraiz and Seen and Heard, an activity group focused on disability advocacy. Join Emers...

Presenting: Poor Farm Pathways Content: insanity diagnosis; eugenics; Bedlam; Snake Pit; “wellness farms,” animal confinement Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:  Julie Watkins, Events Manager, Johnson County Historic Poor Farm Dr. Jenell Johnson, Professor of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison  Dr. Aimi Hamraie, Canada Research Chair in Technology, Society, and Disabilit...

Poor Farm Pathways, Part One  Content: “idiotic,” asylums; confinement; “insanity law” Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:  Julie Watkins, Events Manager, Johnson County Historic Poor Farm Michael Hoenig, Project Coordinator, University of Iowa Center for Disabilities and Development Dr. Jennifer Mack, Lead Bioarcheologist, Asylum Hill Project, University of Mississippi Medical Center Hig...

Presenting: History is a Story, Part Two  Content: asylum, "insane," cemetery   Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Guests:   Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz, Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa (2022-present), & former Project Manager for the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm Master Plan (2017-2021) Supervisor Rod Sullivan, Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa (2004-present) Kim...

Presenting: History is a Story, Part One Content : "insanity," asylums, eugenics Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:   Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz, Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa (2022-present), and former Project Manager for the Johnson County Historic Poor Farm Master Plan (2017-2021) Supervisor Rod Sullivan, Board of Supervisors of Johnson County, Iowa (2004-prese...

Featuring: Main Voice(s): Emerson Cram  Special Guests:  Malik Salsberry, Farm Manager, GROW Johnson County Scott Koepke, Garden Bridge Outreach, and co-founder of GROW Johnson County Claire Trettin, 2025 Seasonal Farm Apprentice, GROW Johnson County Transcript For a full transcript of the trailer, visit: disabilityecologiespodcast.buzzsprout.com Credits Episode written and narrated by Emerson Cra...