Cara Reedy And Rebecca Cokley On Disability Through A Policy And Media Lens
Tue Feb 03 2026
In this week’s episode I sat down with Cara Reedy and Rebecca Cokley. Cara is a journalist, filmmaker and a sometimes actor/comedian. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Disabled Journalists Association where we are working to make a more equitable industry for Disabled Journalists. Rebecca Cokley is a second generation civil rights activist raising a third. She is a political consultant, philanthropist, writer, and producer and is working on her first book. We discuss the current state of disability from both a policy and media perspective, what disability issues and stories we should all be paying attention to and much, much more. For context, this conversation was recorded on January 30, 2026.
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 Texas v Kennedy Case: https://dredf.org/texas-and-eight-other-states-renew-attack-on-section-504-and-the-right-of-disabled-people-to-live-in-their-communities/
Follow Disabled Journalists Association: Instagram: @disabledjournalists Website: https://discojourno.com
Follow Rebecca Cokley: LinkedIn: Rebecca Cokley
Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: alwayslookingup227@gmail.com
Read With Me:
Goodreads
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
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In this week’s episode I sat down with Cara Reedy and Rebecca Cokley. Cara is a journalist, filmmaker and a sometimes actor/comedian. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Disabled Journalists Association where we are working to make a more equitable industry for Disabled Journalists. Rebecca Cokley is a second generation civil rights activist raising a third. She is a political consultant, philanthropist, writer, and producer and is working on her first book. We discuss the current state of disability from both a policy and media perspective, what disability issues and stories we should all be paying attention to and much, much more. For context, this conversation was recorded on January 30, 2026. 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 Texas v Kennedy Case: https://dredf.org/texas-and-eight-other-states-renew-attack-on-section-504-and-the-right-of-disabled-people-to-live-in-their-communities/ Follow Disabled Journalists Association: Instagram: @disabledjournalists Website: https://discojourno.com Follow Rebecca Cokley: LinkedIn: Rebecca Cokley Follow Me: Instagram: @jill_ilana , @alwayslookingup.podcast TikTok: @jillian_ilana Website: https://www.jillianilana.com Email: alwayslookingup227@gmail.com Read With Me: Goodreads 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