Ed Roberts is often called the father of the independent living movement, but many people have never heard his story. This week, I’m joined by Professor Scot Danforth, author of An Independent Man, to explore Ed’s life, from contracting polio at fourteen and living in an iron lung, to becoming a key figure in disability rights.

We talk about the moments that shaped his activism, the power of the Rolling Quads, the curb cut revolution, and why Ed’s ideas on independence and attitudes still matter today.

If you want to understand where disability pride and modern disability culture began, this conversation is a meaningful place to start.

Connect with Scot
University website: https://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/scot-danforth.aspx

Buy the book: www.booktopia.com.au/an-independent-man-scot-edward-danforth

Connect with Peta Hooke
Instagram: @petahooke
Website: www.icantstandpodcast.com
Email: icantstandpodcast@gmail.com

Episode Transcript:
www.icantstandpodcast.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grace Spence Green was a medical student when a man jumped from a height in a shopping centre and landed on her, causing a spinal cord injury that left her paralysed from the chest down.

In this conversation, Grace speaks openly about the moment her life changed, the long road through hospital and rehabilitation, and what it was like to suddenly become the patient after training to care for others.

We talk about the ideas behind her book To Exist As I Am, including radical acceptance, the difference between the medical and social models of disability, and how she rebuilt a sense of identity after injury. Grace shares how her lived experience now shapes her work as a doctor, what helped her feel at home in her wheelchair, and why she challenges the tired cultural narratives of tragedy or inspiration.

Connect with Grace

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracesg/?hl=en

Buy her book: https://www.waterstones.com/book/to-exist-as-i-am/grace-spence-green/

Connect with Peta Hooke
Instagram: @petahooke
Website: www.icantstandpodcast.com
Email: icantstandpodcast@gmail.com

Episode Transcript:
www.icantstandpodcast.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Clare Reilly was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2017, she thought her days of outdoor adventure might be behind her. But the lifelong outdoors lover, podcaster, and mum is preparing to take on something extraordinary; a 1,072-kilometre ride along Western Australia’s Munda Biddi Trail using her off-road wheelchair.

In this episode, Clare joins Peta to talk about the quiet courage it takes to attempt something you’re not sure you can do. She shares how Wheelchair Meets Wilderness began as an idea on a vision board, the logistics of tackling the world’s longest off-road cycling route, and the emotional side of living with MS; from daily grief and fatigue to moments of pride and possibility.

This conversation isn’t about proving what’s possible. It’s about trying anyway.

Connect with Clare Reilly
TikTok: @clarereilly
Instagram: @clare.reilly
Wheelchair Meets Wilderness: @wheelchairmeetswilderness
Learn more: wheelchairmeetswilderness.org/the-munda-biddi-trail

Connect with Peta Hooke
Instagram: @petahooke
Website: www.icantstandpodcast.com
Email: icantstandpodcast@gmail.com

Episode Transcript:
www.icantstandpodcast.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.