Melanie Waldman On Disability As A Costume As Seen On TV
Always Looking Up
04/21/26
•82m
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In this week’s episode of Always Looking Up I welcomed back Melanie Waldman. An advocate for disability rights and overall inclusion, Melanie's history & career include sharing her professional connection(s) with a wide range of audiences. In 2025, she launched her platform "Disability Reality Media", which she’s taken to Sundance, Tribeca, and SXSW. Through her platform, she has been able to interview artists on red carpets across the country. As we are two self-professed Bravo girls, we sat down to discuss disability as a costume as seen in both reality and scripted television.
This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.
All proceeds from purchasing this episode on my Patreon will be split between City Harvest and Food Bank For NYC.
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Previous Episode
In this week’s episode I sat down with Isaac Zablocki. Isaac is the Co-Founder and CEO of the ReelAbilities Film Festival, a disability film festival that has developed into a leading independent nonprofit and the premiere global exhibitor of disability-focused cinema. We discuss the beginnings of ReelAbilities and its continued, evolving success, the importance of building community through the watching of films, what we can expect to see and experience at this year’s festival and much, much more.
This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.
All proceeds from purchasing this episode will be split between City Harvest and Food Bank For NYC.
Join Always Looking Up on Substack: https://jilliancurwin645746.substack.com
Join The Patreon: https://patreon.com/AlwaysLookingUp
Learn More About The 2026 ReelAbilities Film Festival: https://reelabilities.org/newyork
Follow ReelAbilities: Instagram: @reelabilitiesny TikTok: @reelabilitiesny YouTube: ReelAbilities International
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: alwayslookingup227@gmail.com
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The StoryGraph
Support Minneapolis:
Stand With Minnesota: https://www.standwithminnesota.com
MN NOICE: https://mnnoice.com
Community Aid Network MN: https://www.canmn.org
Support Those Impacted By The Cutting Of SNAP Benefits:
Feeding America: https://www.feedingamerica.org
World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org
No Kid Hungry: https://www.nokidhungry.org
List Of NYC Food Pantries: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dycd/services/food_pantries.page
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
Next Episode
Maegan Blau On Designing An Accessible Home
April 28
•60m
In this week’s episode I sat down with Maegan Blau. Maegan is the founder and principal designer of Blue Copper Design, an Arizona based studio recognized for its accessibility forward approach and for pushing the industry beyond minimum standards to create spaces that truly support how people live.
We discuss the differences between adaptive and accessible, the importance of blending access and design, and what can be created when accessibility is built into the foundation rather than as an afterthought and much, much more.
This episode was edited and produced by Ben Curwin.
All proceeds from purchasing this episode will be split between City Harvest and Food Bank For NYC.
Join Always Looking Up on Substack: https://jilliancurwin645746.substack.com
Join The Patreon: https://patreon.com/AlwaysLookingUp
Follow Blue Copper Design: Instagram: @bluecopperdesign TikTok: @bluecopperdesign Website: https://bluecopper.design
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: alwayslookingup227@gmail.com
Read With Me:
Support Minneapolis:
Stand With Minnesota: https://www.standwithminnesota.com
MN NOICE: https://mnnoice.com
Community Aid Network MN: https://www.canmn.org
Support Those Impacted By The Cutting Of SNAP Benefits:
Feeding America: https://www.feedingamerica.org
World Central Kitchen: https://wck.org
No Kid Hungry: https://www.nokidhungry.org
List Of NYC Food Pantries: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dycd/services/food_pantries.page
Support Immigrant Communities (all links came from @chnge):
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (@chirla_org): https://www.chirla.org/donatenow/
Immigrant Defenders Law Center (@immdef_lawcenter): https://www.immdef.org
Inland Coalition 4 Imm Justice (@ic4ij): https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros
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