Destiny Is Debatable
June 20, 2023

Opening New Doors with Dylan Rafaty

Dylan Rafaty’s personal mission is to increase opportunities by opening new doors so that everyone can have an overall better quality of life. He stops by to share his unique personal journey, being born with both significant hearing loss and early s...

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June 13, 2023

Inner Peace in Outer Chaos with Morten Bonde

Morten Bonde returns to talk about life after publishing his book, Sentenced to Blindness, Now What, which chronicles his journey from hopelessness to possibility and liberation from sight loss due to Retinitis Pigmentosa. Since leaving his career at...

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May 29, 2023

Ali Ingersoll, Ms. Wheelchair America 2023

Current Ms. Wheelchair America, Ali Ingersoll, stops by to share her personal journey as a C6 Complete Quadriplegic that began with a shallow water diving accident. Ali’s captivating personality, relentless drive and belief in paying it forward, are ...

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May 23, 2023

Stephanie Jones and Menus 4 All

Vice President of Marketing, Stephanie Jones, stops by to talk about how the Menus4ALL app puts over 850,000 accessible restaurant menus in the palm of your hand. She then takes John for a test drive with the app to demonstrate the ease of use and em...

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May 9, 2023

Kitchen Confessions with Mary Mammoliti

Mary Mammoliti, host of the Kitchen Confession Podcast and the Dish with Mary TV Show, stops by to share her personal journey with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and how she confronted her imposter syndrome, stopped saying sorry and started finding abilit...

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April 18, 2023

Elevating Today’s Stories with Lis Malone

“Marketing publicist”, podcaster and advocate, Lis Malone stops by to share her personal journey with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and how she developed a #DontWait mindset to move forward through the uncertainty of her diagnosis and future. Lis and Joh...

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April 4, 2023

Ryan Fleury and AT Banter

Co-host of the AT Banter Podcast, Ryan Fleury, stops to share the story of how his sight was abruptly lost in an accident and the new found direction his life took thereafter. Ryan and John discuss assistive technology and how AI and Chat GPT,  will ...

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March 28, 2023

Meningitis Stories and Advocacy with Patti and Alicia

Patti Wukovits and Alicia Stillman, two mothers who each lost their young, healthy daughters too soon to a now vaccine-preventable disease, Meningitis B (known as MenB). High school senior Kimberly (Patti’s daughter), 17, died one week before her gra...

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March 21, 2023

Together Achieving Dreams with Kathryn Webster

Founder and President of the Together Achieving Dreams (TAD) Foundation, Kathryn Webster, stops by to share her unbelievably unique sight loss journey and the humbling moment she became comfortable with herself. Kathryn explains TAD Foundation’s thre...

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March 7, 2023

NSITE: A Vision For Talent

Director of Strategic Partnerships, Billy Parker, stops by to explain how NSITE is a one-stop-shop for blindness employment. A spinoff of the National Industries for the Blind (NIB), NSITE works with employers to identify potential candidates who are...

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Feb. 21, 2023

James Warnken and Online Accessibility

James Warnken stops by to share about his journey with progressive vision loss due to the rare eye disease, Genetic Retinal Dystrophy, which typically leads to blindness. He discusses some of the challenges he faced during his unconventional path thr...

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Feb. 14, 2023

Mark Erelli and Lay Your Darkness Down

During a performance in summer 2020, Mark Erelli looked down at his guitar neck and couldn’t believe what he saw. Or rather, what he couldn’t see: his fingers on the frets. Soon after, a diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) would bring some answers...

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Feb. 7, 2023

Meningitis Stories with Painter Sam

Fellow survivor, Samantha Bennett, stops by to share her meningitis experience that begins as a 10-month-old baby and how the fast action of her family and an ER doctor helped her beat the odds. She recalls the countless months spent in the hospital ...

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Jan. 31, 2023

Neva Fairchild and the Motorola Q

The great Neva Fairchild stops by to share her unique sight loss story with Cone Rod Degeneration (a form of Retinitis Pigmentosa) and how she was set on a path to success by her parents. Neva recalls her time at Esther’s Place during her early days with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) …

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Jan. 24, 2023

Lukas Simianer and Clusiv

Founder and CEO, Lukas Simianer, stops by to illuminate some staggering employment statistics of the blind and visually impaired community. He shares the origin story of Clusiv, the world’s first e-learning platform built for and by the blind and the...

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Dec. 20, 2022

Kirk Adams and Innovative Impact

Kirk Adams stops by to share his sight loss story and journey learning to advocate for himself and how his work with the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind lead him to the CEO position at The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Kirk talks about th...

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Dec. 13, 2022

Build Your Own Table with Jackie Summers

Entrepreneur and founder of Jack From Brooklyn, Jackie Summers shares how a health scare caused him to reevaluate his priorities, create a liqueur company, and build his own table. While creating Sorel, a modern twist on a 500-year-old Caribbean clas...

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Dec. 6, 2022

Join Me For An Eggnog

John and Erin welcome back long-time compadres, Chris and Heidi Elder all the way from Germany, for some season’s eatings and Alton Brown’s version of aged eggnog. As homemade eggnog experts, Chris and Heidi discuss the simple recipe and their tradit...

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Nov. 15, 2022

Chef Regina, Your Friend In The Kitchen

While on a family road trip, Regina Mitchell noticed a pain in her eye that changed from slight to excruciating within a few days. After a long medical journey she was diagnosed with Bilateral Panuveitis and began losing her sight rapidly. Regina sto...

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Nov. 8, 2022

Live Life Rich with Marissa Nehlsen

Professionally Marissa Nehlsen is a coach, speaker, and CEO of a 7-figure financial firm. Personally, she is a sister, mother, and grandmother with an extraordinary journey from a trailer court to financial freedom with plenty of challenges along the way...

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Nov. 1, 2022

Tasting in the Dark with Hoby Wedler

Born with the rare condition, Microphthalmia, Dr. Hoby Wedler has been totally blind since birth and is remarkably tuned into his surroundings and has frequently chosen to walk the unbeaten paths in life. Among many things Hoby is a chemist, food scienti...

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Oct. 25, 2022

Robyn Rachel the Silver Lining Explorer

As a photographer well into her professional career, Robyn Rachel sensed something was changing in her body. After a routine eye exam, she was referred to a specialist and diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and Usher’s Syndrome (Usher’s 2A). Robyn ...

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Oct. 18, 2022

Assistive Technology with Matt Philipenko

Matt Philipenko returns to expand on the assistive devices and software that makes his world go ‘round. As a Microsoft Office Ranger, Matt is passionate about Windows and Office accessibility. Matt takes John for a tour of new and improved Magnifier and ...

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Oct. 5, 2022

Meningitis Stories with Andy Marso

As a senior at the University of Kansas, Andy Marso was not aware of the signs and symptoms of meningitis. Because of the fast action of his friend and local doctors Andy miraculously survived to tell the tale in his book, Worth the Pain: How Meningitis ...

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