look both ways

Renowned disability rights advocate and Associate Professor at Stony Brook University, Brooke Ellison, PhD., discusses her journey as an activist, the importance of inclusivity and accessibility, and her latest memoir “Look Both Ways”.

*Show Notes*
https://www.brookeellison.com/
https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/bioethics/people/ellison.php

Memoirs & Other Publications: 

• "Look Both Ways" (2021) : https://www.brookeellison.com/look-both-ways
• "Miracles Happen" (2002): https://www.amazon.com/Miracles-Happen-Daughter-Journey-Hardcover/dp/B011MEQ62S
• "The Brooke Ellison Story" (2004), Directed by Christopher Reeve: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407612/

Speeches:

• TEDx "The Pillars of Hope": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hA28_fd5e1A&t=1s
• American Society for Neuro-Rehabilitation Person of the Year keynote- "The Patient as the Professor": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3mE9kndUqo&t=1740s 
• Harvard- "A Shared Confidence": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alf_I1p7bds&t=143s

Follow Brooke on: 

• Facebook (@brooke.ellison1020): https://www.facebook.com/brooke.ellison1020
• Twitter (@brookemellison): https://twitter.com/brookemellison
• Instagram (brooke_ellison1020): https://www.instagram.com/brooke_ellison1020/

To view the video of this episode with closed captioning, ASL interpretation, and/or Spanish subtitles, visit our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0L4INYxuDLx8b8oFTpaXbe42NLmZBKDY.

(The views, information, or opinions expressed during the "Empire State of Rights" podcast are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Disability Rights New York.)

Brooke Ellison, PhD is an Associate Professor of health policy and medical ethics at Stony Brook University. Following a car accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on a ventilator at age eleven, Dr. Ellison graduated from Harvard University in 2000... and hasn't stopped since!

Her accomplishments, her background, her insights make her one of the most interesting and truly visionary people I've ever met. Visit Brooke's website - https://www.brookeellison.com/ - to learn all that Brooke can do to help us make the world a better place.

"In life, we are taught to look both ways, as if there were only two..."
Brooke Ellison

Please join us for a very enlightened and enlightening conversation. 

Artist and designer Debbie Millman has been fascinated by the power of branding for most of her life. And as the host of the Design Matters podcast (which was recently translated into a book, out next month) and chair of the School of Visual Arts’s Masters in Branding program, she constantly has branding on her mind. For Millman, part of the allure of logos, identities, and marketing stems from the exercise of clearly and confidently expressing a purpose and meaning—a challenge that she has concurrently grappled with on a personal level. The parallels between aims in her work and life are no coincidence: Millman’s professional projects are often her way of searching for answers to life’s deepest questions.

Millman has long considered how design can reveal people’s innermost desires. She has worked at several prominent New York City agencies, including Sterling Brands, for which she served as chief marketing officer and president of its design division for 20 years, and was part of teams that created identities for brands such as 7Up, Burger King, Tropicana, and Twizzlers. She even moonlighted as the first-ever creative director of the pioneering hip-hop radio station Hot 97. Over the years, her career has helped her recognize the importance of slowing down, and of trusting that she doesn’t have to approach everything—writing, teaching, special projects, love—as if it’s her last chance to experience it.

On this episode, Millman describes her quest to feel comfortable in her own skin, talking with Spencer about the benefits of being a good listener, branding and marketing as ways to manufacture meaning, and why she doesn’t want to peak until the very end of her life.

Show notes:

• Full transcript
• debbiemillman.com
• (03:50): Roxane Gay
• (06:34): Millman’s “Together Apart” poster for #CombatCovid
• (08:15): RAND Art + Data
• (11:58): Master’s in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts
• (13:19): Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People (HarperCollins)
• (13:19): Design Matters podcast
• (33:52): Look Both Ways (HOW Books)
• (50:09): Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits (SkyHorse Publishing)
• (54:35): Millman’s 2019 TED Talk, “How Symbols and Brands Shape Humanity”
• (01:17:16): How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer (Simon & Schuster)

There's a new bad guy in town and his name is COVID-19, AKA, the novel Coronavirus.  Although Coronavirus has already made many, many people around the world really sick, you don't have to feel helpless.  Information is power. On this special PSA for The Story Seeds Podcast, Jason Reynolds, National Book Award finalist and the 2020 National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, inspires us to be everyday superheroes in the fight to stop the spread of Coronavirus. He shares eight simple things kids (and their grownups) can do to fight germs everyday ... plus a recipe for home-made hand sanitizer. 

We recommend these additional resources for families & schools
The Coronavirus Outbreak: What Parents Should Know (UNICEF)
Just for Kids:  A Comic Exploring the New Coronavirus (NPR) Coronavirus Explained! (for kids) (Dr. Michelle Dickinson aka Nanogirl)
Illustrated free printables for handwashing to the tune of "Frere Jacques" (by cartoonist Lucy Kinsley)
How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus (PBS for Parents)
Answering Kids' Questions about Coronavirus (Tumble Science Podcast for Kids, also available in Spanish) 

Media mentioned in this episode: 

Books: Ghost, Look Both Ways, and Stamped by Jason Reynolds and the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling
TV & Film: Frozen, The Avengers: Infinity War

About The Story Seeds Podcast

Our podcast celebrates creativity and storytelling by putting kids and their imaginations at the same table with their favorite authors who grow their ideas into original stories. Subscribe to listen to Season One which runs from March 5-July 16, 2020 and features 10 author-kid collaborations and 10 behind the scenes author interviews with our host Betsy Bird.  Jason Reynolds will appear later this season along with the original story, Hoo and Wut, that he has grown from 12 year old Irthan's story seed. 

Calls to Action

Kids: Call The Story Seeds Hotline at 646-389-5153, email us at storyseeds@literarysafari.com, or visit our website to submit your story ideas. You can also join The Story Seeds Society, our kids listeners club!

Grownups: Visit www.storyseedspodcast.com for subscription links, to sign up for our newsletter, and to download our printable activity e-zines for your kids (or the  kid in you!). You can also follow us on Instagram @storyseedspod, on Twitter @litsafarimedia, and on Facebook @literarysafari. 

Get our Imagination Lab: Experiments in Creativity activity book! It pairs perfectly with the podcast and features tons of episode-inspired prompts and projects! Order your copy here!

This episode is also available on YouTube. Subscribe here.

Show credits

Produced and written by Sandhya Nankani and Anjali Sakhrani. Scoring, mixing, and sound design is by Ania Grzesik and Matt Boynton of Ultraviolet Audio. Narrated by Jason Reynolds. Music by Andrew VanWyngarden, Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/musician and co-founder of MGMT

The Story Seeds Podcast is a creation and production of Literary Safari www.literarysafari.com