Outlook on Radio Western

• Outlook 2025-04-28 - Inside Blind Baseball With Zach Ship

  “Blind baseball - it’s like the great equaliser. I’ve found the experience of playing the adaptive sports just as fulfilling, motivating, and frankly competitive as the sports I played as a sighted person growing up.” Our guest on Outlook this week was used to adversity in life, having faced both grief and treatment of a serious chronic illness as a teenager. When Zach Ship was newly blind, years later, he was wished a “Happy Disability Pride Month” by The Lighthouse Guild and he didn’t believe there was much to be proud of though he soon learned otherwise. Zach explains to us some of the rules of blind baseball and about what it meant to him when he discovered the sport, in its adaptive form, which gave him something back of the years playing sports like baseball competitively. So when he heard a documentary on the blind baseball team was being made, he was thrilled others might see what blind baseball (difficult to imagine for so many) is like.. So from our friendly cross-border Major League team rivalry to the support group and club we three are all a part of/considering starting, Ship has been through everything( from acute/sudden and unexpected health situations/acquired disability to the loss of a parent at a young age) and shares some of the lessons on the possibilities of adaptation and the power of community. “No way of reacting is right or wrong, but focusing on what things we do still have, the things you can still enjoy. Even if it’s just you can eat this delicious meal or you can feel the sun on your face. It could be small things or it could be big things, always keeping that very very close in mind is critical.” We first heard Zach Ship on “It Happened to Me, A Rare Disease and Medical Challenges Podcast - It happened to me. I’m not alone and neither are you.” This is the message he both benefited from thanks to others, in his own journey, but also the message he believes as he’s become a disability advocate now himself. To learn more about Blind Baseball and the documentary being made about Zach Ship’s team, check out this Indiegogo page: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/blind-baseball-documentary-halfway-funded#/ Watch the documentary teaser trailer here: https://vimeo.com/963770229

  --------  

  57:47
• Outlook 2025-04-21 - Canadian 2025 Federal Pre Election Mixed Bag Monday

  “On the way to the library, I flew a kite.” We here on Outlook decide to begin this particular Mixed Bag episode with the above quote, start to a social media status, because we on this show love libraries/love books and love the outlook of writer Leona Godin, also close friend of this radio show/podcast, but really because elections make us want to take a break to fly a kite too. As the federal elections here in Canada approach, we’re together, just after Easter, to discuss some of the issues in our country’s politics from a disability perspective as issues facing disabled Canadians have been mostly overlooked during this election season, so soon off of the rushed Ontario provincial elections we just so recently dealt with. We’re telling about the realities of the PC Party being no-show’s at both provincial and now federal disability town halls and a still-totally inaccessible, inadequate, and inequitable voting system/process. Kerry shares about experiencing a new holiday, Irish style, after being in Ireland for Halloween and now Easter, along with being in Ireland last time during the presidential elections in the States and now, being back this time during our Canadian ones. Also, she and Barry celebrated Easter by having KFC fried chicken for their Easter meal, coming to the conclusion that KFC in Ireland seems better to her than eating it in Canada. Parades, Irish Sea gulls, and Kerry cuddling with an Oyster guide dog as we talk traditions, whether holidays or looking for change (but not necessarily only for change’s sake) when voting for politicians who often ignore the concerns of disabled voters. Kerry also shares about a plane ride conversation with a generation z stranger, about the multi-sensory experience of taking guide dog Oyster to her favourite park again, and Brian’s revisiting previous voting attempts and their inaccessibility as he’s off to try again himself. So, it’s Canada’s federal election on April 28th and we’re doing a mixed bag edition, one co-host in studio live and the other in Northern Ireland. With a bit of distance from the anxious Canadian citizenry, sister/co-host Kerry hasn’t flown a kite, but instead has flown like one into the future of the UK time zone five hours ahead of brother/co-host Brian and yet modern technology makes it possible to open up a bit of a pre-election mixed bag of discussion topics, both silly and serious as one voted already while the other is on his way after this show and we will continue with a post-election wrap-up shortly.

  --------  

  58:34
• Outlook 2025-04-14 - Welcoming Writer Amanda Leduc Into The Fold

  Speaking on the Canadian (Can lit) literary scene and on April/May’s The Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) specifically, Canadian author and accessibility advocate Amanda Leduc says: It’s impossible to have something that’s 100 percent accessible all the time. We’re always working towards a more accessible world, working towards making those adjustments, bit by bit by bit. And that’s where I think having a sense of humility about this and an openness and willingness to learn and to change and grow, for all of us, is really important. This week on Outlook we’re talking with Amanda and learning more about Cerebral Palsy and her own experience with the neurological condition causing everything from muscle weakness to fatigue to pain. Leduc tells us about her time getting her Masters at St. Andrew’s University in Scotland and something she calls “a monument to exclusion” when it comes to the inaccessibility of heritage buildings and old cities. From the built environment of capital Edinburgh to the natural environment of Canada’s winters, Amanda is speaking to us on the show about her own accessibility needs plus considering other’s accessibility considerations after being bullied for a visible limp in childhood to her practice of valuing rest and energy preservation (recharging and rejuvenating) in order to be at her most creatively as a writer. For Amanda Leduc, it’s about reimagining what storytelling can mean. Check out more on Amanda’s work by visiting her website: https://amandaleduc.com Leduc tells us about her previous role as the Festival’s Communications and Development Coordinator, about the origins of FOLD for filling a void in Canada’s literary and festival spaces as far as diversity and representation are concerned, and about some of the events being offered (both virtual and in-person) such as the Friday night Literary Cabaret and the Sunday High Tea and her involvement in some panels from April 27th to May 4th. And so as The FOLD celebrates its tenth year here in 2025, we’re talking bringing people of all experiences and perspectives into the fold with creativity and innovative opportunities for diversity, just as we do every week on Outlook On Radio Western. For more on FOLD go to: https://thefoldcanada.org

  --------  

  58:40
• Outlook 2025-04-07 - Brian's Big Apple Adventures

  Taking a big bite out of life, brother/co-host Brian has returned from a birthday celebration trip to New York City and he’s back and telling us all about it. He shares about his accessible travel and airport experiences at Toronto Pierson, JFK, and LaGuardia, the music show “An Evening With Ida and Tsunami” at Bowery Ballroom he attended with friend/Outlook guest Nefertiti Matos Olivares on Birthday Eve, and another round (after his experience in London, England) and again he set up an exploration of a city with greeter organisation Big Apple Greeters to be shown around by a local along with meeting up with friends from around the state, including sushi with an upcoming Outlook guest. His snapshot of NYC and most of its boroughs includes a tour of NYC transport including a tactile map of the subway system and its history (one puzzle pieced put together at a time) found Brian checking out the tactile further with an exhibit of subway station turnstyles through the years and an accessible touch tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For us at Outlook though, it wouldn’t be the same without audio to tell a fuller tale along with hearing about a few wild New York City encounters with security guards, allowing Brian to get a broader, more personalized feel of the place he’s in. Check out audio from the live show he attended, his latest subway and other NYC transport and being live at Grand Central Terminal, and his special time spent on Roosevelt Island and The East River. And time in New York wouldn’t be the same, especially a first visit, without stopping in Central Park to listen to some live saxophone music. Brian shares both audio and Be My AI image descriptions of some of the photos he took for sighted family and friends to see what he did, it’s a full multi-sensory glimpse of the landmark New York City as we meet Brian beneath the big clock. At one point, he stands with his NYC local guide at FDR’s statue there on Roosevelt Island, with The United Nations right there and the words of Roosevelt clearly underscoring some of the dangerous changes sweeping the States these days. Plus, also on The Island, they make a brief stop at the Accessibility Services booth to find out if they have any information for that spot available in braille. Stay tuned for the answer. Along with a sharing of some comforting cuisine prepared by a dear friend, plenty of King of the Hill watched, and a homestay at a Manhattan apartment, with the added benefit of getting to explore NYC with the blind leading the blind, he won’t ever forget his first Big Apple experience shown to him by its locals. Book your own personalized tour with Big Apple Greeters: https://bigapplegreeters.net/visitor/register Check out a segment from Ida’s Bowery Ballroom set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUTcW325GT4

  --------  

  59:54
• Ketchup On Pancakes Episode 24 - Farewell 2024...By The Fireside

  We’re running to keep up with the train of time, yet through slivers of memory, on this yearly audio diary looking back on the year that was. It’s our original podcast, Ketchup On Pancakes, and we’re recapping 2024 as 2025 rushes forward in a blur. On this one, we’re joined by friend/boyfriend Barry Toner from Ireland, someone who’s joined us in the past, down in the basement where it all took place. We’re looking back, on this annual By The Fireside with a tribute episode, dedicated to our dear friend Andrew. As we sit, beers in hand, by the crackling fire, Andrew’s very own drums nearby. We share a few songs featuring or in tribute to Andrew, as well as looking back on travel to Maine (for a drama club camp arts residency) and Ottawa (Kerry and Barry joining the parents on a road trip), and to the things we’re proud we tackled, in fitness and in mental health for instance. We keep up the silly and imaginative with feature Cassette Clip of the Week and new feature Word of the Year, while lamenting the loss of a once-in-a-lifetime sort of fellow, a friendship lost. So farewell, 2024 (with your last taste of security in the wider world), and to friends gone along the way in the march of time. That’s how that was. That’s how it was. That’s how it is. Find Fowler’s Meaning No Harm on streaming services and Bandcamp: https://fowlercanada.bandcamp.com/album/meaning-no-harm Check out Barry’s first appearance, down in the basement, on Ketchup On Pancakes from 2018: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ketchup-on-pancakes-episode-14-orange-so-it-is-feat/id1527876739?i=1000633134110 And take a listen to our two-parter Outlook show where we visit our new friends in Mount Vernon, Maine, for Drama Club Camp: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2024-10-14-our-week-in-maine-well-figure-it-out-pt-1/id1527876739?i=1000673780980 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2024-10-21-our-week-in-maine-well-figure-it-out-pt-2/id1527876739?i=1000675516532

  --------  

  1:51:30

Altri podcast di Scolastico

Podcast di tendenza in Scolastico

Su Outlook on Radio Western