The Be My Eyes Podcast

Morten Bonde is a motivational speaker, author and senior art director at the LEGO Group – but he wasn't always that way. When he started losing the majority of his vision in his early 40's, Morten thought his world was falling apart. But rather than quit his job and give up, he started researching, a lot. Over the years, Morten has cobbled together his own blend of philosophy, psychology and spirituality that has helped him write ...

Each week, the Broadeye Podcast explores knowledge gap for eye care professionals – and what greater knowledge gap than the one between ophthalmologists and the blindness community? For years, people have struggled to get referred for quality services from eye doctors when their vision changes or they become legally blind. In 2021, it's imperative that we start having meaningful conversations about how the medical and social practi...

Ray came out in 2004 to accolades and, eventually, after the passing of the real Ray Charles that same year, took home Oscars for best film, best director, best actor and more. But what does Ray get right, and wrong, about what it's like to be blind? As one of the most famous portrayals of blindness, this is a pressing question, and so we invited back our blind film club – Sheri Wells-Jensen, Andrew Leland and Byron Harden – to hel...

This week is a collaboration with the 13 Letters Podcast: From having his story written in Crashing Through to founding Accessible GPS company Sendero, Mike May has been a household name in the world of access and inclusion for decades. Mike joins us this week to talk about what it was like to have his eyesight restored after decades as a blind person, the evolution of accessible navigation, and what he's up to now as Chief Evange...

Kristin Smedley, author of Thriving Blind and founder of the new Assistive Tech Tank accelerator program, has a simple message: It's not blind peoples' responsibility to make the world more accessible, it's the responsibility of everyone to be inclusive. Kristin raised her two boys, Mitchell and Michael, to play sports, perform at a high level and never take "you can't because you're blind" as an answer. Today, Michael is in colleg...

For centuries, people have been laughing at caricatures of blindness in TV, film and entertainment – but how often are they laughing with us? Amir Rahimi has begun exploring the art of standup comedy as a fledgling comic in the Washington, DC comedy scene. Rahimi became blind as a teenager, and after fighting his vision impairment for years, he finally found peace in the ability to make people laugh. In his first few ...

What’s it like to hide your blindness from the world? Or not even know you’re blind in the first place? Caroline Casey was in denial for the first 28 years of her life. Her parents never told her she was legally blind, and by the time she got into the working world, she didn’t know how to be open about it. Holding back such an integral part of who you are can mess you up, and finally Caroline broke, ...

Growing up in the rolling hills of Northern California, Hoby Wedler always had a passion for exploration. Blind since birth and profoundly curious, Hoby explored phenomena small and large. He hiked mountains and rode bikes through rural landscapes. He learned about the plumbing and electrical wiring of his suburban home. But when he found his love for science he also found himself suddenly blocked by teachers and so-called mentors ...

This week: a very special interview from the 13 Letters Podcast.

'Fearless' is a word many would use to describe Haben Girma, the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School. A disability rights lawyer, memoir author, and public speaker, Haben has certainly pushed the boundaries of how society regards deafblind citizens. Even with her many achievements, Haben...

In the last two weeks, the whole world has changed. The global economy has all but slammed to a halt, people are locked in their houses and not allowed to leave except for essential tasks, and the self-isolation has presented humans with a whole new set of challenges they probably never imagined having. Today we take an overview look at how the blind community is reacting, share some resources as starting points for blind and low v...

What would you do with $25,000? That's what the Holman Prize is all about. Any blind or visually impaired adult in the world can apply – and every year, the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired in San Francisco grants the Holman Prize to three lucky individuals. Initial submissions for this year’s prize are about to close, and so in honor of its fourth year, we’re sharing exclusive intervie...

Podcasters Robin Christopherson (Dot to Dot) and Steven Scott (Double Tap Canada) join forces every week on RNIB Connect radio to talk tech. Both longtime tech early adopters and well-known voices of the UK’s visually impaired community, the two are opinionated, adamant and any other adjective you could conjure up about their devices, tools, gizmos and any other tool you could imagine for making sigh...