Always Looking Up

In this week’s episode I sat down with Sophie Morgan. Sophie is an award-winning TV presenter, one of the first female TV presenters in the world with a physical disability, producer, writer, disability rights advocate and artist. At present, she is currently spearheading the global disability rights campaign Rights On Flights and embarking on a ride across America which we’ll discuss later on in the episode. We compare and contrast what accessibility and inclusion looks like in the US vs. the UK, the Rights On Flights Campaign, the power in having a platform and using it to speak up and speak out and much, much more.

Follow Sophie: Instagram: @sophlmorg TikTok: @sophlmorg Facebook: Sophie Morgan Twitter:@sophmorgTV Website: https://www.sophiemorgan.com

Follow and Support Rights On Flights: Instagram: @rightsonflights Website: https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/rights-flights

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

In this week’s episode I sat down with George Kashap. George is a little person and someone I have been friends with for nearly a decade if not longer. We examine the requirement, as little people, to constantly adapt, what it meant to say we were a little person in our childhood and teenage years vs. now as adults, the help and harm labels can cause and much, much more.

Follow George: Instagram: @littlegeorgey

Follow Me: Instagram:@jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

In this week’s episode I sat down with George Kashap. George is a little person and someone I have been friends with for nearly a decade if not longer. We examine the requirement, as little people, to constantly adapt, what it meant to say we were a little person in our childhood and teenage years vs. now as adults, the help and harm labels can cause and much, much more.

Follow George: Instagram: @littlegeorgey

Follow Me: Instagram:@jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

In this episode I sat down with Emily Hanks. Emily is a content creator and host of the podcasts She Speaks Bravo, where she talks about all things Bravo from Housewives to Vanderpump Rules and everything in between, and She Speaks It All, where she talks about great television from other networks. This conversation was a fun one centered around one of our favorite shows Project Runway, now in its All Star Season. We discuss the evolution of the show from Season one to now, our thoughts on Season 20 so far, how the show has progressed in regards to diversity of models and clientele, and the fact that it still has quite a ways to go in regards to disability representation and advocate for change. And we tried our best, but there will be spoilers.

Follow Emily: Instagram: @shespeaksbravo, @shespeaksitallpod

Support Emily on Patreon HERE

Listen to She Speaks Bravo

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Listen to She Speaks It All

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Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

In this week's episode I sat down with V Spehar. V is a TikToker, podcast host, and political advocate. On their TikTok channel, Under The Desk News, V gives a brief, in-depth recap of each day’s most notable headlines. On their podcast V Interesting with V Spehar they highlight the most interesting part of stories that often get lost in the news cycle and explore the complex Big Issues that matter most. We discuss how they started their account and their approach to reporting the news, why it is so necessary to amplify voices and stories that are not often heard in the mainstream news media, the importance in understanding the lesser known ways in which current events such as the recent Supreme Court decisions and newly passed legislation are impacting marginalized communities, and much, much more.

Follow V: Tiktok: @underthedesknews Instagram: @underthedesknews Website: https://underthedesk.news

Support V on Patreon HERE

Listen to V Interesting with V Spehar:

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Follow Me: Instagram:@jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

In this week's episode I sat down with Dacey Triplett. Dacey is a little person, blogger, and one of my new best friends that I made at LPA’s National Conference in Austin. We discuss finding and creating our circle of friends (and why these friendships are so special), the highlights of conference from DAAA, pool days, dances at night and every moment in between, what it means when we say that being at conference is a week of normalcy and much, much, much more.

Follow Dacey: Instagram: @dace.trip TikTok: @dace.trip Website: https://beyoudace.wordpress.com

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

In this week's episode it is just me and the microphone as I sit in my thoughts and feelings and reflect on the Little People of America national conference that just took place in Austin. She explains what national conference is, what it is like to be there, in the moment, and what it feels like to leave. Of course there is laughter and tears.

Follow Me: Instagram:@jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

In this week’s episode I sat down with Miriam Haart. Miriam is one of the stars of the Netflix reality TV show My Unorthodox Life and is a founder, speaker, content creator, engineer, and host of the podcast Faking It. We discuss the difference between women’s empowerment and women’s equality, what it is like to live in a world that was not designed for us (and not just in the physical sense), the power and responsibility of showing your true self and sharing your story on such large platforms, and much, much more.

Trigger Warning: In this conversation we discuss body image and eating disorders. If these are triggers for you please feel free to skip this episode.

Listen to Faking It @thisisfakingit:

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Follow Miriam: Instagram: @miriamhaart Tiktok: @miriamhaart Website: https://www.miriamhaart.com

Follow Me: Instagram:@jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

In this week’s episode I sat down with Lillie Heigl. Lillie is an education policy analyst, focusing on disability, at New America, a new kind of think and action tank: a civic platform that connects a research institute, technology lab, solutions network, media hub and public forum. We discuss what it means to her to be disability adjacent, her work in disability advocacy, what it means for her to be a non-disabled person, that has grown up in the disability space, to be working in the disability space, the evolution of learning and listening to disabled voices, and much more.

Follow Lillie: Instagram: @lheigl LinkedIn: Lillie Heigl

Follow New America: Twitter: @NewAmerica LinkedIn:New America Website: https://www.newamerica.org

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.

To start I would like to issue a trigger warning. In this episode we talk about bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault. If these are triggers for you please feel free to skip this episode. For context, this conversation was recorded on Thursday, June 15, 2023.

I sat down with Aubrey Smalls. Aubrey is an actor and filmmaker with dwarfism. This episode was recorded a day after Little People of America, LPA, on social media and in an official press release, raised awareness on recent online and in-person bullying events directed towards the little person community. We provide greater context as to what was happening, discuss what those in the little person community, the disabled community at large, and allies can do to protect little people when this behavior occurs, and emphasize that no one and no platform has the right to tell a little person that they do not have the right to feel safe, to exist.

Follow Aubrey: Instagram: @theaubreysmalls TikTok: @aubreysmalls Website: https://www.dearaverageheightpeople.com

Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast Website: https://www.jillianilana.comEmail: [email protected]

This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.