The Blind Chick

1. Episode Summary What happens when getting sober means losing the very people you thought would stand beside you? In this powerful and deeply personal episode of The Blind Chick, Penn Street joins Stephen Vine, host of Disability Diaries, for an honest conversation about addiction, alcoholism, disability, and the difficult road toward recovery. Both Penn and Stephen have firsthand experience nav...

Episode Summary What does financial independence look like when you're living with vision loss? And how do you build a secure financial future when the very systems designed to support you can sometimes make saving money more difficult? On this episode of The Blind Chick, Penn and Moses Street welcome Rachel Christian, journalist, financial writer, and founder of Unseen Wealth, a financial coachin...

Episode Summary What happens when getting older reminds us that disability can become part of anyone's story? And what happens when a dream to help people regain their independence finally reaches beyond state lines? Penn and Moses Street are back with stories from their latest Colorado hot springs adventure and Moses's 60th high school reunion. Between questionable jokes about aging, memories of...

Summary Liam Erven has been blind since birth, but growing up, his family largely expected him to experience the world the same way other kids did. He climbed things, ran into walls, got lost, learned to find his way back, and eventually discovered a Nintendo his grandparents bought him simply because other kids had one too. That gift introduced him to what he describes as a whole world inside a b...

Episode Summary   Penn and Moses sit down with licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Brittany Adams Yee for a candid conversation about mental health, disability, trauma, and adapting when life changes in ways you never expected.   Dr. Adams Yee shares her own experience with vision loss, the barriers she encountered while becoming a psychologist, and why those experiences shaped her work with people...

Episode Summary Penn and Moses are back together in the Aftersight studio, recovering from an incredible weekend at the annual hike with No Barriers USA. More than 40 people joined the event, bringing together friends from across the blind and low-vision community, including climbers, artists, advocates, families, and longtime supporters. Penn and Moses reflect on the people who made the weekend m...

Episode Summary   Country singer-songwriter Sarah Hardwig joins Penn Street and Moses Street for a wide-ranging conversation about music, blindness, ambition, creativity, and what success actually means.   Sarah shares how growing up blind with Leber congenital amaurosis never stopped her from developing an early love for country music. From singing Carrie Underwood in the car as a child to record...

1. Episode Summary Penn and Moses catch up on a full stretch of life: Penn’s inclusion in Jennifer Chassman Brown’s upcoming book See Us, Know Us: Profiles of Disability , a restorative Buena Vista getaway, Charlotte Hot Springs, a nostalgic drive-in movie night, and Aftersight’s upcoming No Barriers hike. The conversation then turns sharply toward independence and advocacy. Penn shares how Model...

1. Episode Summary   At 17, Avital “Avi” Drel heard a deceptively simple story: a blind diner could not independently find out what was on a restaurant menu. Instead of treating that as a minor inconvenience, Avi spent hours interviewing blind and low-vision people across the country. Again and again, he heard the same word: independence .   In this episode of The Blind Chick , Penn and Moses talk...

Episode Summary   Penn and Moses are back for a summer catch-up filled with the kind of highs and lows that make life feel like a roller coaster. Between Penn’s health struggles, a packed schedule, concerts, baseball, family time, and plenty of classic Blind Chick humor, there has been no shortage of stories. They share a memorable night with friends Jim and Kathy that included dinner in Denver an...

Episode Summary Robert Lamm returns to The Blind Chick several years after his first appearance, and this time Penn and Moses get to look at something rare: what happened after the goals, struggles, and dreams Robert talked about the first time around. Robert has now graduated from Colorado State University, transitioned from an internship into a full-time career with Stantec, and is beginning the...

Episode Summary Chris Felder was 21 years old, working toward a future as an EMT and raising his young son when he was shot twice in the head and once in the shoulder during an attempted robbery. He survived, but the shooting took his sight and sent him into an eight-year struggle with depression, isolation, anger, and the loss of the independent life he once knew. Chris joins Penn and Moses for a...

Episode Summary Jeff Skoglund, better known online as The Blind Outdoorsman, joins Penn and Moses for an honest conversation about vision loss, resilience, relationships, recovery, and the importance of continuing to live fully. Jeff shares how retinitis pigmentosa gradually changed his vision, why he made the difficult decision to stop driving, and how posting ordinary moments from his life becam...

Episode Summary Penn’s difficult 24 hours begins while filming a mobility video for a new guide-dog application. An inaccessible intersection, a vehicle blocking the crosswalk, and a driver trying to “help” leave her confused, shaken, and in danger. Penn explains why blind pedestrians rely on predictable traffic patterns and why drivers should follow the law instead of stopping unexpectedly, honki...

Summary  Penn and Moses are catching listeners up on a full summer of memories, baseball, travel, disability pride, and the small choices that can make life feel bigger. Penn shares how a monocular has helped her follow baseball games more fully, while Moses takes the usual scenic route through history, Hemingway, and childhood Pirates stories.  Listener Johnny Johnson's email opens a conversation...

Summary In this episode of The Blind Chick, Penn and Moses talk about digital accessibility, the ADA, and the recent delay of federal web accessibility deadlines. Penn shares her frustration over accessibility being treated like an optional kindness instead of a basic civil right, while Moses connects the issue to larger historical fights for equal access, voting rights, public infrastructure, tec...

1. Episode Summary   In this powerful episode of The Blind Chick , Penn and Moses sit down with Aaron Hale for a conversation that is raw, funny, sobering, and deeply human. Aaron shares his journey from Navy cook to Army EOD technician, the Afghanistan blast that took his sight, the later illness that took his hearing, and the long road of rebuilding a life that refused to stay broken. Along the...

1. Episode Summary   Penn and Moses Street return with their signature humor, honesty, and warmth after a full weekend at Cherry Creek State Park for Canes, Tails, and Trails , a collaborative walk with Foresight Adventure Guides for the Blind. They reflect on the joy of gathering with the blind and low-vision community, the exhaustion that follows meaningful work, and the possibility of making th...

1) Episode Summary In this episode of The Blind Chick , Penn and Moses Street welcome Shanell Matos for a powerful conversation about vision loss, motherhood, advocacy, and rebuilding life with courage and honesty. Shanell shares how she celebrated ten years of vision loss by completing a 44-mile tandem bike ride in New York City, reflects on losing her vision as a new mom, and talks about learnin...

1) Episode Summary   In this solo episode of The Blind Chick , Penn and Moses catch listeners up on life, travel, gardening, Memorial Day reflections, St. Louis adventures, and the power of learning to advocate for yourself. Moses opens with his “summer gym,” also known as the garden, before the conversation moves into honoring Memorial Day with the reverence it deserves. Penn shares highlights fr...

1) Episode Summary   In this episode of The Blind Chick , Penn and Moses Street welcome Elizabeth Long, an outdoor adventurer from Ridgway, Colorado, whose story moves through hearing loss, vision loss, spinal injury, adaptive sports, and the long process of learning how to stop hiding and start living fully.   Elizabeth shares how growing up around unspoken family attitudes toward disability shap...

1) Episode Summary   In this warm, funny, and reflective episode of The Blind Chick , Penn and Moses open with Mother’s Day reflections, their first Sprinter van camping trip of the season, and a very important audience assignment: help name the van. Their trip to Saratoga, Wyoming includes hot springs, a late-night knock from the police, a Google Maps prairie adventure, and the discovery that the...

1) Episode Summary   In this episode of The Blind Chick , Penn and Moses welcome back Jean Parker for a deeper and more powerful conversation about journalism, blindness, courage, emergency preparedness, and the kind of storytelling that does not come from a press release—it comes from walking into complicated places and refusing to look away.  Jean shares stories from her career as a blind female...

1) Episode Summary   In this episode of The Blind Chick , Penn and Moses Street jump into a fun, honest, slightly chaotic, and very human conversation about YouTube, listener comments, meaningful memories, photography, and the legacy of blind and low-vision creatives. After a hilarious “take two” opening, Penn and Moses celebrate the show’s move to YouTube and thank listeners for the growing engag...

1) Episode Summary   In this episode of The Blind Chick , Penn Street and Moses Street welcome Brandy Mimms AKA: Unique The Deaf Dancer for a powerful conversation about identity, resilience, art, and refusing to let other people’s limitations define your future. Brandy shares her story of being adopted, growing up hard of hearing, losing her parents at a young age, surviving Hurricane Katrina, an...