Andrew Leland
@quailty.bsky.social
Signal: andrewleland.99 Email: aleland@fastmail.com Writing about disability, language, technology, art, culture, ladybugs in sweatpants, etc Low vision, long covid, bad faith, good times https://www.andrewleland.org
I wrote about “disability dissensus” and blind architecture for David Byrne’s “solutions journalism” website
Reasons to be Cheerful@reasonstobecheerful.world · last mo.Acoustic cues don’t just make spaces more accessible — they also create opportunities for exploration and delight. https://reasonstobecheerful.world/how-the-architecture-of-sound-is-transforming-cities/
#DidYouKnow: Playboy Magazine has been a surprising ally in the fight for American readers' access to #braille. 🐰 #BlindNewWorld (Story by @quailty.bsky.social for Playboy ⬇️)
The Fight to Keep Playboy in Braille
For more than a decade, the federal government published Playboy in braille. Congress defunded it. Blind readers sued—and won.
playboy.com
Sandy is the GOAT. Last chance to take what is surely an amazing class
Sandy Ernest Allen@sandyernestallen.bsky.social · last mo.Re-sharing (and shares welcomed!!!), my upcoming class for @shipmanagency.bsky.social … Starting this Saturday, on pitching, open to nonfiction writers of all kinds … Enroll today, if you are considering doing so, it’s last call … www.theshipmanagency.com/classes/craf...
Hey, that’s a photo of Andy Slater working with some Young Sound Seekers! Check out this article for @transom.bsky.social by Andrew Leland.
Transom@transom.bsky.social · 7mo agoWhen an NPR station got its first blind reporter they called Andrew Leland for guidance. That moment led Andrew to write a manifesto on how blind audio journalists and their colleagues can work together, covering field recording, DAWs, editing, and belonging. transom.org/2026/why-and...
When an NPR station got its first blind reporter they called Andrew Leland for guidance. That moment led Andrew to write a manifesto on how blind audio journalists and their colleagues can work together, covering field recording, DAWs, editing, and belonging. transom.org/2026/why-and...
Why (and How) to Hire a Blind Producer
Why (and How) to Hire a Blind Producer - Transom
transom.org
This weekend is your last chance to apply to this year's Investigative Reporting Internship and Fellowship! These highly selective programs train students and professional journalists to be investigative journalists. Apply by 11:59 p.m. ET on January 11: idabwellssociety.org/training/
In Baffler no. 81, @quailty.bsky.social examines three works by deaf artists: a memoir from Rachel Kolb, Sara Novic’s novel of deaf-anarchist insurrection, and the film “Deaf President Now!”
Manual Labor | Andrew Leland
How deaf artists and writers are grappling with a second Trump administration keen on dismantling the Americans with Disabilities Act.
thebaffler.com
This made me cry a little. Everything is terrible but I'm so glad to be in this moment with these contemporaries.
The Baffler@thebaffler.com · last yr.In our new issue, @quailty.bsky.social considers contemporary deaf art and writing, which navigates the contradictions of deaf life in America as the second Trump administration threatens to dismantle the ADA. thebaffler.com/salvos/manual-labor-leland
Baffler no. 81, “After Words,” is online now, with work from Brace Belden, Bruce Robbins, Noah McCormack, @quailty.bsky.social, Sophie Pinkham, @chrislehmann.bsky.social, Mina Tavakoli, Gabriel Winslow-Yost, and more. Click below to start reading. thebaffler.com/issues/no-81
no. 81—After Words
The history of literacy is a list of complaints. Critics reliably decry each new technological development as an attention-stealing toy. Before recent grousing about ChatGPT…
thebaffler.com
In our new issue, @quailty.bsky.social considers contemporary deaf art and writing, which navigates the contradictions of deaf life in America as the second Trump administration threatens to dismantle the ADA. thebaffler.com/salvos/manual-labor-leland
Manual Labor | Andrew Leland
How deaf artists and writers are grappling with a second Trump administration keen on dismantling the Americans with Disabilities Act.
thebaffler.com
“This is absolutely a violation of federal law.” For @motherjones.com, I reported about how reduction-in-forces in the Office of Special Education Programs will lead to disabled kids' needs not being met, as funding may not be distributed. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Trump's new layoffs hurt disabled kids
"This is absolutely a violation of federal law."
motherjones.com
Template/script for contacting your Reps with respect to the DoEd cuts. I feel as disheartened about it as you, but the least we can do is take a moment to absolutely melt their servers exceptionalchildren.org/lac?vvsrc=/C...
Legislative Action Center
Take action with CEC's Legislative Action Center.
exceptionalchildren.org
The agency plays a critical role in supporting students with disabilities, guiding families, funding key programs, and ensuring that states meet their obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Amid shutdown, Trump administration guts department overseeing special education
Multiple sources tell NPR that, as part of the Trump administration's latest reduction-in-force, the U.S. Department of Education has gutted the office that handles special education.
npr.org
From ProPublica: “Programs for Students With Hearing and Vision Loss Harmed by Trump’s Anti-Diversity Push.” Read more at https://f.mtr.cool/ohhwjocfjy
I wrote a post that opens a tiny window onto the terminally nerdy shit I've been distracting myself with lately vilejelly.substack.com/p/onoff
On/Off
Getting deeper into plain text
vilejelly.substack.com
Josh has shaped my thinking on blind identity, accessibility, technology, whiskey variety, and on and on: tremendously honored and just straight-up chuffed to be asking him questions about his brilliant new book in NYC next week. It's hybrid virtual and in-person so you better be there:
Josh Miele@berkeleyblink.bsky.social · last yr.Please join me online or in person for the final stop of the 2025 Connecting Dots book tour!
You might enjoy The Country of the Blind by @quailty.bsky.social if you're looking for "good nonfiction to kick off the summer: multcolib.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S1... #AskALibrarian
The Country of the Blind — Multnomah County Library
The Country of the Blind — Leland, Andrew, — A witty, winning, and revelatory personal narrative of the author's transition from sightedness to blindness - and his quest to learn all he can about blin...
multcolib.bibliocommons.com
If your organization has been affected by DOGE cuts or RFK Jr.’s cuts to the Administration for Community living, message my Signal at emgarcia.85
Stumbled across this ~30-year-old TNY piece about online discourse and it's at once shockingly quaint and entirely prescient www.newyorker.com/magazine/199...
Insults on the Early Internet
“In any other medium, these words would be, literally, unspeakable.”
newyorker.com
After serving more than 130 million total meals and 26 million loaves of bread over the past 18 months, World Central Kitchen no longer has the supplies to cook meals or bake bread in Gaza. #ChefsForGaza (1/5)
We are devastated to say that our comrade, teacher and friend Joshua Clover passed away last night. He is irreplaceable; We will miss him forever.
“Another recalled taking a planeload of children and their escorts on a domestic transfer from the southern border to an airport in New York. He tried to slip snacks to the kids. “Even the chaperones were like, ‘Don’t give them any food,’” he said. “And I’m like, ‘Where is your humanity?’”
ProPublica@propublica.org · 2y agoNEW: GlobalX flight attendants were told they would fly rock bands, sports teams and sun-seekers. Then the company started expanding into deportation flights. “They didn’t tell us these people were going to be shackled, wrists to fucking ankles.”
This world tour of disability news includes work from @thesicktimes.bsky.social @quailty.bsky.social @francesryan.bsky.social @disrightsuk.bsky.social @womenenabled.bsky.social @validityfoundation.bsky.social @ianhamiltonbbc.bsky.social and many more. www.disabilitydebrief.org/debrief/fami...
A familiar place
Five years of Covid, forced back to work, and curated news from 39 countries
disabilitydebrief.org
I have two new stories up: first is on disability politics under Trump 2.0, second is me feeling bad about a new feel-good documentary about blindness . Both linked on my "Substack" here! open.substack.com/pub/vilejell...
How MAGA Scrambled Disability Politics
And: a feel-bad take on a feel-good blindness doc; reading and listening recommendations; (not much) more!
open.substack.com
Debra Ruh shares an example of weaponizing performative accessibility against other communities. In this case a bench clearly meant to block homeless people versus help anyone (including wheelchair users). www.linkedin.com/posts/debrar... #a11y #accessibility
In a brutal time, what a gift to see intrepid people start something new:
Signal Hill@signalhillfm.bsky.social · 2y agoSignal Hill is a new audio magazine. Trailer out now. signalhill.fm
It’s an active crime scene! (everything’s gone bonkers, sometimes you need to laugh or you’ll cry)
