Disability Dialogues

European Disability Forum

Disability Dialogues is a podcast series of conversations with leaders and activists from around the world who are advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. Host and UN special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Gerard Quinn, interviews people who are playing a significant role in advancing the disability rights agenda in the global system, in their regions, and at home in their own countries, exploring success stories as well as challenges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

  1. 12/07/2023

    Disability in movies, entertainment and across popular culture: A conversation with Keely-Cat Wells about culture as an engine of change

    Popular culture, movies and entertainment are powerful vehicles for popularising new ideas and bringing communities with a history of stigma and marginalization into the mainstream and on their terms. Culture can reflect inequality or be a powerful engine for change. But it is always a vibrant space that helps us frame our realities and imagine the future. It is a space for collective imagination – a vital ingredient for change.  In this episode, Keely Cat-Wells, a young entrepreneur in media based in California, gives us insights into what's going on in the media and its potential to re-frame disability. At a very young age, she started C-Talent, an agency dedicated to the placement of disabled talent in movies, entertainment and social media. She wanted to promote not only more presence of people with disabilities on screen, but also to expand their roles - beyond simply representing disability. For her work, she’s been invited to discuss disability inclusion policies at the White House by US President Joe Biden and at the UN’s Youth Activist Summit in Geneva. She’s become an advisor of Lady Gaga’s Born This Way foundation, and has received numerous awards for her work, including the Diana Award, the Forbes 30 under 30 award, the Great British Entrepreneur of the Year award, the LinkedIn Top Voice. To read the full transcript of this episode and find out more about Keely Cat-Wells and her work, click here.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    29 min

About

Disability Dialogues is a podcast series of conversations with leaders and activists from around the world who are advancing the rights of persons with disabilities. Host and UN special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, Gerard Quinn, interviews people who are playing a significant role in advancing the disability rights agenda in the global system, in their regions, and at home in their own countries, exploring success stories as well as challenges. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.