Travels with Corbett Here's Episode 2 of Gray Area podcast's new season, ELDERS

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

Current legal threat to Section 504

Corbett links

Corbett in the media

Stacey Park Milbern

Kitty Cone

LINKS FOR SUPPORTING |

FEATURED MUSIC | (in sequence)

Sign up for our very occasional newsletter: We’ll share exclusive content and links.

Follow us on social media:
@GrayAreaPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and BlueSky

Oh and hey — if you like Gray Area and ELDERS, please be sure to rate or review it on Apple Podcasts. It helps us reach more people.


Art by Mara J. Reynolds

Have something to say about this story? Send us a letter.

SUPPORT NONPROFIT JOURNALISM

GET OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

About Julie Reynolds

Julie Reynolds is a freelance journalist who has reported for the Center for Investigative Reporting, The Nation, NPR, PBS, The Imprint, The NewsGuild and other outlets. She is a co-founder of Voices of Monterey Bay and associate editor at The Imprint.