Episode 226: 2024 year-end episode

The episode transcript is below.

Carolyn Kiel: Welcome to Beyond 6 Seconds, the podcast that goes beyond the six second first impression to share the extraordinary stories of neurodivergent people. I’m your host, Carolyn Kiel.

I can’t believe it’s already time for my year end episode for 2024. Today’s episode is a little different. Unlike most of my episodes where I interviewed neurodivergent guests, on this one, you’ll get to hear directly from me. I like to do these solo episodes sometimes to reflect back on the year, talk about some of the things that happened with me and the podcast and share some of my thoughts on the year ahead.

If you’re a new listener, welcome! And if you’re a returning listener, welcome back. I’m so glad you found this episode. While you’re listening, I’d love it if you click that Follow button in your podcast app or click the Subscribe button if you’re watching on YouTube. That way you’ll get notified about my new episodes and it helps support the show. Or if you want to get my latest episode sent directly to your email inbox, you can sign up for my free newsletter at beyond6seconds.net. All of these are great ways to help support the show. So thank you for doing that.

Next month in January 2025, this podcast will be seven years old, with the past three years focused on neurodiversity and disability. Considering that most podcasts don’t make it past seven episodes, seven years is a big accomplishment that I’m proud of. This podcast also achieved a major milestone earlier this year when it exceeded 100,000 episode downloads. I’m really grateful to know that my listeners are still enjoying Beyond 6 Seconds after all these years, and that more and more people are still discovering this show.

Let’s talk about what happened on Beyond 6 Seconds this year. In 2024, I released 25 episodes. 23 of those were guest interviews. I spoke with guests living in six countries: the US, UK, India, and for the first time on my podcast, I interviewed guests from South Africa, Japan and Denmark. Next year, I’m hoping to get guests from even more countries on the podcast, because your country of residence can often have an impact on your experience as a neurodivergent person.

My guests talked about their lived experiences with autism, including one non-speaking guest, twelve-year-old Swarit Gopalan, who is also my youngest guest ever, ADHD, traumatic brain injury, Tourette syndrome, dyslexia, cerebral palsy, and dissociative identity disorder. Additionally, I talked with guests in detail for the first time about epilepsy, schizophrenia and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. I also interviewed three guests who have Down syndrome. A lot of times when people talk about neurodivergence, they mainly focus on autism and ADHD, but neurodivergence is so much more broad than that. And there’s no such thing as a single neurodivergent experience. So I’m always trying to consciously expand my views and understanding of neurodivergence and share it on my show.

My guests and I covered a lot of different topics. We discussed my guests’ experiences at school, with family, at work, as entrepreneurs and creatives, and as advocates who are finding and using their voices. We looked at the impacts of racism, gender bias, cultural expectations, ableism and disability discrimination, getting or not getting accommodations at work or school, and how to make things better for neurodivergent people and for society in general. We talked about how my guests were inspired to start talking about their experiences as neurodivergent and disabled people, which sometimes required overcoming their feelings of doubt, shame, and denial, and how they use their determination and talent to follow their dreams, build their careers and lead change in their communities.

I was also honored at the beginning of the year when Beyond 6 Seconds was nominated for an Ambie Award for Best DIY Podcast. I didn’t win, but my podcast name and nomination were mentioned in articles in Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, and that was pretty cool! The nomination also introduced me to The Podcast Academy, the award’s sponsoring organization, and a few months later, I got to co-lead a workshop for The Podcast Academy about “diversifying your guest list for thoughtful and inclusive conversations” with my podcaster friends Charlie and Kristen.

I was interviewed on a few other podcasts as well: Raising Kellan, Chatsunami, my WRFG Radio Free Georgia interview with Sam Marion, and the Blaisin’ Access podcast with Blaise Bryant, plus two other podcasts that haven’t been released yet. My podcast and I were also featured on the Art Heals All Wounds podcast and on the Podcast Radio Network. I really enjoyed being interviewed on podcasts and would love to do more of it next year. If you have a podcast and you’re looking for a guest to talk about neurodiversity or podcasting, please let me know. I’d love to be on.

I’m still on social media. These days I’m most active on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, but last month I joined BlueSky. You can follow me there and on all of these social media platforms that I mentioned under the username Beyond 6 Seconds.

If you’ve heard some of my previous solo episodes of Beyond 6 Seconds, you may remember that I’ve been focusing on finding community for the past year or so. I met a lot of great podcasters this year at the PodFest conference I went to back in January. I met them online through social media. And I met them when they reached out to me directly after listening to one of my episodes. I’m especially grateful to my friends Diane from Autistic and Kathy from Women Who Podcast Magazine, who welcomed me this year into their online communities that they manage and grow. This coming year, I’m also planning to attend On Air Fest, a sound and storytelling festival in New York City. Let me know if you’re going to be there too.

I’d love to keep meeting other podcasters. You don’t have to be neurodivergent. You don’t even have to talk about neurodiversity on your show at all. If you’re a podcaster or other content creator, please reach out. Let’s connect, whether it’s to just admire and support each other’s work, do a partnership or just have a chat sometime. Also, if you run any podcasting communities and you’re open to new members, let me know. I’d love to hear about those too.

I also recall from my year end episode last year that I was talking about wanting to focus on having an impact. My impact to this year has mainly been from sharing and amplifying people’s stories, and supporting social causes that are important to me, including other podcasting communities. I’m still really passionate about that. And I enjoy creating this podcast. I’m always happy when listeners tell me that they like listening to the show or that a specific episode really resonated with them or that they learned a lot from a conversation I had with a guest.

Since I’m based in the United States though, I’ve been thinking more intently about impact since the US Presidential election , back in November, and looking to the future after that. Even though Beyond 6 Seconds is not a show about politics or social justice specifically, most of the things I talk about here are topics that have been politicized. Things like disability justice, LGBTQ+ advocacy, including the rights of transgender people, diversity equity and inclusion, rights to an education, access to healthcare, including reproductive rights, and more. These are all issues that are currently under attack, facing major challenges and hostility by many politicians in our current and incoming government. I’ll share a few examples of what I’m talking about here and tell you a little bit about how they tie back to disability rights, which is something that we do talk about quite a bit on this show.

I’ll start off with talking about rights of transgender people. There’s an increase of legislation being proposed and passed to limit and dictate trans people’s access to bathrooms in public and even private spaces. There’s also legislation that restricts the rights of trans people in other ways, but I’ll just focus on the bathroom bills right now. These bathroom restrictions are generally done under the guise of quote unquote “keeping women safe” despite there being no evidence that trans people pose a danger to others in bathrooms or anywhere else for that matter, and despite the fact that we already have laws that would punish any person who commits a crime in a bathroom. These restrictions do not make anyone safer. What the restrictions do however, is endanger trans people by putting them at risk of harassment, assault, and detainment, and also these restrictions endanger people who are perceived as being trans or gender nonconforming in some way. In other words, people who don’t fit the narrow and arbitrary physical model of what a man or woman should look like. So let’s say if you’re a woman who’s tall or muscular or has short hair, or a disability with physical features that don’t match society’s definition of feminine, these laws harm you, even if you’re not trans. This also makes life more difficult for caregivers of disabled people of a different gender who need assistance in the bathroom. And think about how this would be enforced. This assumes that people can always tell a person’s gender just by looking at them. But people can’t reliably tell. They’re just making assumptions based on appearances. These bathroom bills don’t keep anyone safe. And in fact, they make things less safe for many people, and start pushing them out of public life and public spaces, not just the bathroom. This is just one of many ways that trans people’s civil rights are being attacked right now. And as an ally to trans people, it’s something that I feel very strongly that I need to speak out about.

Do you know what would actually help keep women safe? Access to reproductive healthcare! Reproductive rights have already been gutted in the US with the overturn of Roe vs. Wade. Regardless of people’s personal views and opinions about abortion, it is necessary healthcare for people who can get pregnant. Now in the US, the lives of girls, women, and anyone who can get pregnant are in danger, as medical staff delay or refuse health care for fear of legal punishment and healthcare becomes less available in states with anti-abortion laws. This includes care for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, which are non-viable and where abortion is the treatment for saving the life of the person who’s pregnant. Women have already died and suffered incredible pain and damage to their health, sometimes losing their ability to reproduce entirely, for completely preventable reasons because medical care was denied or delayed. They’ve even been charged with crimes for having a miscarriage in some cases. While the president elect has gone back and forth on whether he would support a federal abortion ban, it’s likely that anti-abortion members of Congress will continue to advocate and push for more restrictions on abortion nationwide, with laws that would impact states regardless of state-level abortion laws. These bans also have ripple effects on healthcare in general, beyond abortion, making it harder to get reproductive healthcare and basic wellness procedures in certain parts of the US as doctors stop practicing or avoid those specialties and clinics close down, trapping pregnant people in abusive relationships and even limiting access to birth control. It’s terrifying to witness the destructive impact of the overturning of Roe vs. Wade on the health and lives of millions of people, especially people of color, people living in rural areas and people living in poverty, who are impacted the most.

Speaking of healthcare, the president elect has talked about making cuts to Medicaid and weakening the Affordable Care Act, which many disabled people in the US rely on. This could potentially lead to insurers refusals to cover people who have pre-existing conditions, like disabilities. Also as of this recording, the nominee to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services is a vocal anti-vaxxer who has perpetuated the dangerous lie that autism is linked to vaccines, based on fraudulent studies that have since been retracted and refuted that were conducted by a former doctor who’s now banned from practicing medicine as a result. This nominee has also said that he would stop infectious disease research at the National Institute of Health. And he’s even recommended sending people who use psychiatric medication, including antidepressants and ADHD medication, to forced labor camps that he calls wellness farms. All of these would be disastrous for public health. Infectious diseases often worsen disabilities, including chronic illnesses, cause short-term and long-term disabilities, and of course result in deaths, many of which are preventable through vaccines and vaccine research. And fear-mongering around medications that help people while promoting treatments that have no scientific proof of working at all will only hurt the people who are helped by those medications. Sending people with disabilities to labor camps sounds like something out of the 1940s. I can’t even believe I am talking about these things, that these are things that, that powerful politicians are saying and seriously looking into. These actions are creating a prime opportunity for even more people to get sick and die on a widespread basis. The disabled community and non-disabled community will suffer under this political agenda.

The incoming administration has also talked about getting rid of programs that have helped ensure that disabled people get fair representation and equitable services. For example, abolishing diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education and at employers will make it harder to ensure fair and equitable representation, safety and belonging for people who are systemically marginalized due to racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia, ableism, meaning bias against disabled people, and more. I realize that certain politicians and billionaires have made DEI into a dirty word. I don’t have enough time here to go into what DEI really is and what the goals of DEI programs actually are. If you’d like me to do that in a future episode, let me know. But suffice it to say: DEI has nothing to do with giving opportunities to unqualified people because of their demographics, or enforcing quotas. It’s about reducing and removing systemic barriers and bias that keep marginalized people from accessing educational and employment opportunities.

Another example of this is the incoming administration’s interest in abolishing the Department of Education, or even decreasing its scope and budget or moving its functions to other parts of the government. This will potentially make it harder for students to get special education services and to administer the funding and protections for all children to have access to equitable essential education.

These are just a few examples, and how they impact the lives of disabled people, especially those who hold other marginalized identities, and the lives of plenty of non-disabled people too. These are also issues that I care about. If you listen to my podcasts, then you probably care about one or more of these issues too.

So, what do we do? Even though the U. S. presidential election is over, there are still so many things we can do. Here are some suggestions. I don’t mention these to lecture anyone or tell you what you have to do, but since I’ve been hearing a lot of people feel helpless and powerless, it’s more of a reminder that you still have power and influence. We need people to speak up and keep speaking up about what’s important to them. Now is not the time to get quiet. Here are some suggestions about a few things you can do if you’re concerned about disability rights.

Contact your congresspeople about the issues you care about. Keep informed about bills, legislation, and court cases on issues that you care about. Call your congresspeople. Email them. If you’re not comfortable talking to someone on the phone, you can always call after business hours and leave a voicemail. There are websites, social media accounts, and newsletters that can help you keep informed about these issues. Some examples that I’ve looked at in the past are the ACLU, ResistBot, Indivisible.org, and probably a lot of your favorite non-profit organizations. And, of course, government websites themselves.

It may feel like you’re just one person or that your voice is not going to mean anything, but your elected officials in Congress track and tally the number of calls and emails they get from constituents on these topics. Whether you personally voted for them or not, these people represent you. Tell them what you need, what you care about.

Also, you can show your support to people who are out there trying to make a difference, or even just make a living. For example, you can support organizations, nonprofits, and businesses led by disabled people, and by people with other marginalized identities as well. Support small and local businesses. Support the arts. Support authors from different backgrounds and identities than yours. If you can’t support them with your dollars, then support them by sharing their social media posts, subscribing to their newsletters, or just spreading the word about them.

Support your local library by getting a free library card. You can get access to so many free resources and programs with a library card. So much more than just books. And local libraries need your support right now, too. All of these are important parts of the community. They provide valuable resources and they need your support, energy, and followership.

If you’re a podcast fan, and I assume you are since you’re listening to this episode, there’s a great email newsletter called Sounds Like Impact, that features podcasts and podcasters focused on social impact and making change in the world. I curated a list of podcasts that celebrate disability pride and history for the July 2023 issue of that newsletter. It’s a really great newsletter.

On that note, another thing you can do to help support disability rights is learn about disability pride and history, for example, the disability rights movement and its intersections with the civil rights movement in the United States. We don’t typically learn about disability history in school, so it’s important to realize that disabled people didn’t get their civil rights because they asked nicely, or because society suddenly felt generous or charitable and wanted to do a nice thing. There’s a whole history of activists who fought for years to get legal disability rights protections. I learned a lot about this by watching Crip Camp, a great movie that’s available on Netflix and YouTube.

And if you’re a podcaster, or you’re thinking about starting a podcast, now is a great time. There’s still room for you. It’s not saturated. While there are a lot of podcasts out in the world, only about 14 percent of them are still actively producing new episodes, according to PodPage’s Podcast Industry Report from November 2024. Meanwhile, the number of people listening to podcasts continues to grow. So, it’s still a good time to get into podcasting, in case you’re on the fence about whether or not you want to do that.

You may have noticed that podcasts are an important part of media now. They educate people, they entertain people, they influence people’s opinions, they help build and mobilize communities. Presidential candidates even appeared on them during the election cycle this year.

And you can podcast about whatever you want. You don’t have to start a serious podcast. If you want to start a fun podcast that brings you joy, do that. Finding joy and community will be important now more than ever, whether you’re a podcaster or not. Be sure to support the work of people who are doing things that you enjoy and value by listening, sharing their work, or even just sending them a short note saying how much you appreciate what they do.

Next year on Beyond 6 Seconds, I plan to keep sharing stories to change minds, break stigma, and start conversations about authentic experiences of disability and neurodivergence. I appreciate everyone who listens to my podcast, and I hope you’ll continue to join me as a listener. If you know someone who would enjoy this podcast, please share it with them. You can also subscribe to my free email newsletter to keep informed about all my latest episodes when they launch. You’ll even get to hear them before everybody else does. If you want to support this show with a small donation or by sponsoring an episode or two, you can do that too, on my Buy Me a Coffee page. I’ll put those links in the show notes.

I’m grateful to everyone who’s already making their voice heard and taking action, no matter how big or small, despite any fear or despair they might be feeling, to educate and advocate for the rights and representation of neurodivergent and disabled people. Please continue if you can, and find rest and joy and community where you can. Your voice matters and you can make a difference. I’ll see you next year.

Thanks for listening to Beyond 6 Seconds. Please help me spread the word about this podcast. Share it with a friend, give it a shout out on your social media, or write a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast player. You can find all of my episodes and sign up for my free newsletter at Beyond6seconds.net. Until next time.