Know Your Disability Rights with Zoe Brennan-Krohn and Nicole Jorwic

At Liberty

News

4.8 • 585 Ratings

🗓️ 13 March 2025

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Seventeen. That’s the number of states suing the US government to end federal protections for disabled individuals. 880 billion. That’s the amount of money that Congress is primed to cut from Medicaid funding. One in four. That’s the number of adults in the US who report having a disability. The math, well—it isn’t adding up. This week, W. Kamau Bell is joined by advocates Zoe Brennan-Krohn and Nicole Jorwic to discuss the current state of disability rights in the US, how we got here, and what a just, equitable system could look like—both for individuals needing care and their caregivers. Zoe Brennan-Krohn is Director of the ACLU’s Disability Rights Program and Nicole Jorwic is a disability rights activist and the Chief of Advocacy and Campaigns at Caring Across. At Liberty is a production of the ACLU, and hosted by W. Kamau Bell. This episode was executive produced by Jessica Herman Weitz and Gwen Schroeder for the ACLU, and W. Kamau Bell, Kelly Rafferty, PhD, and Melissa Hudson Bell, PhD for Who Knows Best Productions. It was recorded at Skyline Studios in Oakland, CA. At Liberty is edited and produced by Erica Getto and Myrriah Gossett for Good Get.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, it's me, W. Kamal Bell, America's favorite W. Kamau Bell. Welcome back to the
0:08.6	ACLU's podcast at Liberty, where I'm the official host. Every episode, I'm asking the big questions
0:15.1	on the big issues affecting our big country. And we're especially focusing on the hardest
0:20.5	hit and most vulnerable communities.
0:23.7	And of course, as always, I'm calling on the experts, experts from the ACLU and experts from
0:29.7	beyond. And they're here to give us guidance. Last episode, we covered immigration rights,
0:35.0	and I'm still thinking about a line from our guest, Marybelle Hernandez Mary Bell Hernandez Rivera. Our love, she said, is never going to end. My family, whether he or elsewhere, we're going to still be a family. Damn. As we all know, it's a tough time right now, but we have the power to love and care for each other. I really believe that. I got a wife, I got a mom, I got three kids.
0:56.2	It is important to love and care for each other and give each other some grace.
1:00.2	And today's episode is all about care.
1:03.3	We're talking about disability rights.
1:07.4	We're here on Monday, March 10th, and as of today, here's the latest.
1:11.6	Congress is primed to cut more than $880 billion in funding for Medicaid.
1:16.6	So that's not like a big number? It's a big number.
1:19.6	17 states are suing the U.S. government to end federal protections for disabled individuals.
1:24.6	Meanwhile, more than one in four adults in the US
1:27.7	report having a disability.
1:30.1	Are we really trying to leave behind a quarter of our country
1:33.1	and their caregivers?
1:34.5	Is that we're trying to do?
1:35.5	All right, let's take a breath.
1:38.4	You've got this, and the ACLU's got you,
1:42.5	and they've got a little bit of me,
	...

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