
Art by Mara J. Reynolds
Corbett O’Toole is 72 and lives in a van in the desert. Her life story embodies the strength of empowered disabled people who are agents of change, people who, like Corbett, have made history and continue to do so. “Travels With Corbett” was co-produced and co-reported by Julie Reynolds and Mara J. Reynolds, with guest reporting by Brenda Zorn.
This season, Voices’ resident audio documentarians at Gray Area Podcast are introducing readers and listeners to some of our era’s most important but perhaps lesser-known elders. They’re people who’ve survived systemic injustice and historical trauma, yet are showing new generations what they’ve learned about how to address and prevent those kinds of harm. Our first episode, Uncle John, took you through a journey of Indigenous healing from the Bay Area to the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Made in collaboration with The Imprint, Travels With Corbett was produced as a project for the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism’s California Health Equity Fellowship.
Pro tip: Scroll through the transcript while you listen to the podcast.
READ ALONG WITH THE FULL TRANSCRIPT |
LEARN MORE |
Disability history + resources for this podcast
- Documentary: The Power of 504
- Documentary: Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution | Watch on Netflix
- Virtual exhibit: Patient No More | San Francisco State University
- CBS News Report on the 504 Sit-In
- Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
- Disability Visibility Project
- Sins Invalid: 10 Principles of Disability Justice
- The Bancroft Library Archives of the Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Oral History Collection
- The 7 Principles of Universal Design
Current legal threat to Section 504
Corbett links
Corbett in the media
- Corbett Joan O’Toole still fighting for self-determination, respect for disabled people By Kathi Wolfe
Stacey Park Milbern
- Stacey on the American Women US Quarter!
- #StaceyTaughtUs Syllabus
- Stacey Park Milbern on WomensHistory.org
- Stacey Park Milbern Remembered
- Talila A. Lewis
- Stacey Park Milbern and Patti Bern on the Social Model of Disability
Kitty Cone
LINKS FOR SUPPORTING |
- Corbett’s autobiography: Fading Scars: My Queer Disability History
FEATURED MUSIC | (in sequence)
- Ketsa, “Bed 1”
- Ketsa, “Watching the Stars”
- Ketsa, “Bed 1” (reprised)
- Ketsa, “Long Walk”
- Ketsa, “Bed 4”
- Circus Marcus, “Phoenix”
- Ketsa, “Bed 2”
- Ketsa “Spirit Walk With Me”
- Ketsa, “Righteous”
- Ketsa, “New Launch”
- Ketsa “Hot Sand”
- Crowander, “Peaceful”
- Ketsa, “Slow Vibing”
- Circus Marcus “Intro Outro”
- Circus Marcus “La Brise”
- Circus Marcus “Rumbo de Grises”
- Circus Marcus, “L’épisode Cévenol”
- Ketsa “Vintage Beat”
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Art by Mara J. Reynolds
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