Boldly Challenging Ableism
Sundays 2-2:30 PM
Boldly Challenging Ableism exposes ableism and dismantles myths that marginalize people with disabilities. Host Katrina Simons uses her life-long disability and her experiences in advocacy at the University of Minnesota's Institute on Community Integration to boldly, irreverently go where everyone has gone before -- to issues like employment, housing, justice, education and culture -- but she brings along enough humor and an approachable style that you'll be thinking anew about what community inclusion really means.
This episode originally aired October 12, 2025: Michael Sack talks to us about his work with the city of Minneapolis in getting and keeping the community accessible. Then a conversation with disability advocate Ed Bartz.
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This episode originally aired October 5, 2026: On this episode of Boldly Challenging Ableism, host Katrina Simons speaks with artist and self-advocate Thomas Robinson. Thomas shares his journey as a leader in disability advocacy and how art plays a role in amplifying his voice. Their conversation highlights the power of self-advocacy and the importance of…
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This episode originally aired September 28, 2025: Renata Ticha is a research associate at the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota. Renata talks with Katrina about her research work around transitioning to adult services from the pediatric space.
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This episode originally aired September 21, 2025: Episode Description: BJ Stasio, Advocate for the New York Office for People with Developmental Disabilities. Activist BJ talks to us about his life of advocacy work- and about being a rebel.
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This episode originally aired September 14, 2025: Amy Hewitt joins us to discuss the direct support care crisis and why it’s an “everyone” problem.
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This episode originally aired August 24, 2025: Katrina is joined by Jen Sommerness, a research associate at the TIES Center at the Institute on Community Integration. She discusses ableism in schools and making education meaningful for every student.
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This episode originally aired August 17, 2025: Katherine McLaughlin joins us to talk about sex and disability. She also shares why involving people living with disabilities in Sex Education is important.
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This episode originally aired August 10, 2025: Jake Hamilton joins Katrina to talk about his family, growing up, what he does for work and what he does in his leisure time.
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This episode originally aired August 2, 2025: Nikki Villavicencio, Disability Culture and Leadership Specialist, Advocating Change Together. Activist and City Council member Nikki talks about what it’s like living with a disability as a parent and how she’s raising her child. Nick Wilke from MCIL joins us as guest co-host.
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This episode originally aired July 20, 2025: Kathy joins us to continue our discussion on Ableism in systems meant to help and protect people living with disabilities.
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