Hello, DTTS community!
A huge welcome to our new subscribers. I know you have a seemingly infinite array of options when it comes to the media you consume, and I am eternally grateful to each and every one of our readers for choosing to invite Down to the Struts into your inboxes every month—on behalf of myself and the team, we are so thankful for your support.
It’s been quite a month! I married the love of my life, Sean Collins (of DTTS fame😊) on August 19, 2023. For so much of my life, I never imagined that romantic love would be a part of my story, let alone marriage. If you’re interested in my reflections on being a disabled bride in our image-obsessed, capitalistic society, you can check out my guest editor’s note in Hitha Palepu’s awesome newsletter, Only Smart Things. And stay tuned for more thoughts and surprises on access and weddings—I have lots more to say on that score now that the festivities are over.
Amidst the pre-wedding madness, with huge thanks to the indomitable Avery Anapol and Ilana Nevins, we managed to launch Season 7! You can check out our first two episodes with Dom Kelly of New Disabled South and Peter Torres Fremlin of the Disability Debrief wherever you love to listen.
Later in the season, you’ll also hear from Áine Kelly Costello, a disability, migration, and climate justice activist from New Zealand. Among the many hats they wear, Áine is an organizer with Migrants Against the Acceptable Standard of Health Aotearoa, which recently penned an open sign-on letter calling for the end of New Zealand’s acceptable standard of health criteria for visa approvals, which views disabled migrants and those with health conditions as cost burdens. The coalition continues to accept signatures to the sign-on letter.
And if you want to learn more about ableism and migration in the U.S. context, you can check out my interview with Katherine Perez and Roxana Moussavian from Season 2. And don’t miss my interview with Áine, coming up in just a few weeks, to learn more about these issues and more from an international perspective.
As always, thanks for reading. We’ll be back next month with more updates from the podcast and the disability community!
In solidarity,
Qudsiya