Disability After Dark

Episode Notes On E335, I sit down with guest Kate McLennan as we talk about experiences with a starter pack of disabilities including CMT and Bechet’s.  We go into Kate’s experience feeling shame around disability but also we delve into what brings Kate joy and so much more in this episode.  Enjoy it!  Sign up to be on Disability After Dark + send in minisode letters and show ideas to: andrew@andr...

Episode Notes Happy Disability Pride Month! On Episode 334, I sit down with a disabled drag king who has the best drag name ever (I’m jealous!) Ru Palsy.  We talk about their experience of Cerebral Palsy & being blind in one eye, the comedy in disability, the accessibility of drag and so much more!  Enjoy!  Follow Ru Palsy here: www.instagram.com/rupalsy   Sign up to be on Disability After Dar...

Episode Notes Outside of Disability, I love everything Paranormal and spooky, and also true crime! It is absolutely my favorite genre. So, I want to start a new podcast called "Chairanormal Activity", where I read your spooky/paranormal/ghost/true crime stories from my wheelchair each and every week. I like that it veers away from disability a little, and is a fun thing to do. So, if you...

Episode Notes In this special episode, Disability After Dark has partnered with KUOW in Seattle to bring you an episode of one of the most notable podcasts of 2023, Ten Thousand Things, where host Shin Yu Pai -- the current reigning Civic Poet of Seattle! -- sits down with award-winning disability rights activist Alice Wong to discuss her long history of advocacy. From lobbying her university for...

Episode Notes On episode 333, I sit down with transmasc drag performer Sev Faust.  We talk about their experience of multiple disabilities including Ankylosing Spondylitis, PMDD + so much more.  We talk about drag and disability, and that time a disability insurance agent followed Sev to a drag show + the broken system that is disability + so much more good stuff.  Enjoy! Sign up to be on the show...

Episode Notes On Episode 332, I sit down with mixed media painter and artist, Elle Billing.  She talks about her experience of being disabled while also being a caregiver to her mother.  We explore what you feel like when all of a sudden your body can’t do something, the grief that comes alongside that; plus so much more.  Follow Elle’s work here: bio.site/elleandwink   Episode Sponsor  Clone-A-Wi...

Episode Notes On episode 331 I sit down with my guest Maylan Chavez as we explore her experiences with Spinal Muscular Atrophy; we talk about advocacy, intimacy, CureSMA, her love of Fall Out Boy & so much more. Enjoy!  Follow Maylan at www.instagram.com/maythesunrise Follow me at www.andrewgurza.com Episode Sponsors Clone-A-Willy or Clone-A-Pussy all your own and get 20% off sitewide by using...

Episode Notes On this very special bonus episode I sit down with my co-actors Ken and Frank as we talk about our new play Access Me, opening in Toronto June 16-24th.  We talk about what it’s like to be queer and disabled, share insights into creating disability theater, we talk working as a team, what it’s like being three power chair users on stage + so much more.  Enjoy!  Episode Sponsors: Clone...

Episode Notes On Episode 330, Andrew sits down with author of the book, Disability Pride, Ben Mattlin.  We talk about his reconnecting to his cripdom, what laws like the ADA need to do to be better, what brings him disability pride + so much more.   Enjoy!  Follow his work and buy the book here: www.benmattlin.com   Episode Sponsors: Clone-A-Willy or Clone-A-Pussy all your own and get 20% off site...

Episode Notes On episode 329, I sit down with my Black, Queer, Disabled Bestie - Jay Baldwin.  We talk about queerness and disability, representing disability on Canadian TV shows; what it means to be Black, Queer and Disabled, their badass Facebook Group + so much more.  Enjoy!  You can follow me at www.andrewgurza.com   You can follow Jay: linktr.ee/JayBaldwin Episode Sponsors: Clone-A-Willy or...

Episode Notes On episode 328, I sit down with my new BFF Martha and we chat about her life with Down Syndrome at 23; how she wants to be a public policy advocate for people with disabilities and why she should be in a rom-com kissing Zac Efron.   This one was really, really fun and made me look at my own internalized ableism around intellectual disabilities.  Enjoy!  You can follow Martha here: ww...

Episode Notes In episode 327, I sit down with my new friend, queer disabled cartoonist and essayist, A Andrews.  We talk about their experiences being a queer disabled person with Spina Bifida.  We take a deep dive into our experiences of queerness and disability and it felt so good.  A talks about their book A Quick & Easy Guide to Sex and Disability, getting profiled in The Advocate, saying...

Episode Notes In episode 326, I sit down with my friend, songwriter Dani Saldo. We talk about her experiences being a songwriter with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and possibly a Traumatic Brain Injury. We talk about the hustle and grind culture of the music industry and how her disabilities play a role in that, we explore disability grief, talk about talking about disability in music + s...

Episode Notes One of the things that I love doing on this show is hearing people’s journey with disability; how they view it, come to understand it, etc. On episode 325, I sit down with my friend Jeremy Osslund, and he talks about his journey being queer and autistic and he shares why he sees his autism as a super power + so much more. Follow Jeremy’s work here: https://hiddenoasis.space/ Follow m...

Episode Notes The incomparable Judy Heumann, pioneer of disability rights, passed away at 75 years old on March 4, 2023. I had the immeasurable pleasure of interviewing her back in 2020, and I felt it was important to replay this gem of an interview with her for you today instead of anything else. Judy you were a big bright light. Rest in Peace! Thank you for everything. This podcast is powered by...

Episode Notes On Episode 324, I sit down with author Joe Meno, who lives with hearing loss and has written a great book, Book of Extraordinary Tragedies about a family living in Chicago, each dealing with their own journey of disabilities.  I talk with Joe about his own experience of hearing loss and how that made it into one of the characters in this story + so much more.  Enjoy.  Follow Joe’s wo...

Episode Notes On episode 323, I sit down with disabled actor, writer and producer Teal Sherer.  We talk about disabled motherhood, her great show My Gimpy Life, her injury and so much more.  She was so cool and fun to sit down with and I hope you enjoy it!  Follow Teal here: www.tealsherer.com   Follow my work at www.aagurza.com Episode Sponsors: Clone-A-Willy or Clone-A-Pussy all your own and get...

Episode Notes This one is jam-packed as I sit down with co-creators of a great new show out of Australia called Latecomers all about sexuality and disability, starring real live disabled people.  I chat with co-creators Emma and Angus, and I loved talking with them about their work so very much, and I hope you will all tune into Latecomers.  Enjoy! You can watch Latecomers in Australia by going he...

Episode Notes Happy New Year!  On episode 321, I sit down with the President of QCarePlus Quinton Rasberry as we talk about the accessibility and the importance of at home testing kits for HIV and why home delivery of things like PREP is important for the disabled community.  I also give Quinton the opportunity to ask me questions about disability, because I believe that one of the ways that we di...

Episode Notes For holiday time, I wanted to re-release one of my fave episodes over the last few years. My interview w/ my sex worker and friend, Jon Shield in December 2019. We talk about our relationship as client and worker, the importance of sex work and disability + so much more. Enjoy this re-listen if you've heard it before, and enjoy it for the first time if you are just catching up. You c...

Episode Notes On Episode 320, I sit down with disability activist Derek Schmitz as they share with us what it’s like to be 18 and have Cerebral Palsy, but also what it’s like to be queer and disabled.  We talk about queerness and disability, they/them pronouns and their connection to disability, the abject policy failure around Covid & disability + heaps more.  Enjoy! ‘ Follow Derek here: http...

Episode Notes On episode 319, I sit down with my friend and colleague, the multihyphenate, Tiffany Yu, CEO and Founder of Diversability.  We talk about her journey to acceptance of disability, and how there are so many layers to that acceptance that we don’t really explore.  Tiffany and I explore those layers here.  We also talk about what it’s like when family doesn’t acknowledge your work in dis...

Episode Notes BONUS EPISODE!!!! **** On this bonus episode of Disability After Dark, I sit down with my friend and disabled writer EC O’Reilly.  We talk about her new book Who’s Afraid of The Chair? OUT NOVEMBER 25, 2022,  and how it centers around a disabled character and her experiences, but it is also a sexy thriller with the disability experience at its core!  We also talk about her disabiliti...

Episode Notes In episode 318, I sit down with filmmaker and dancer Kelsey Peterson as she shares all about her important new documentary “Move Me” now streaming on the PBS Video App.  We also have a big talk about internalized ableism and how Kelsey is navigating that, 10 years after her accident.  We talk about this, and that Kelsey is still learning so much about disability.  We have a really ra...

Episode Notes On this episode of Disability After Dark, we sit down again with Jeremy Andrew Davis to talk about his experiences of learning he was autistic at 40, what having multiple disabilities is like for him AND we talk about the kind of roles around disability we want to see in movies. Like, what if James Bond were a wheelchair user?  Plus so much more, enjoy!  Follow Jeremy here: https://w...