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What the World Missed About Helen Keller
S3 #111

What the World Missed About Helen Keller

1) Episode Summary 

Penn and Moses open with a lively recap of their recent trip to Colorado Springs for the 2026 Access and Functional Needs Annual Conference, a stop at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and Penn’s visit with her prosthetic ocular specialist. That conversation turns into a fun listener prompt about prosthetic eyes before the episode shifts into a new recurring segment: pulling listener-style questions from a deck of cards. 

From there, the episode settles into a thoughtful and personal conversation about the first blind person each of them remembers meeting, old stereotypes around blind people “making brooms,” and why those assumptions still matter. Penn and Moses use that thread to move into a larger reflection on blind history, with Helen Keller as the centerpiece of the conversation. They talk about Keller’s life, advocacy, education, legacy, and their own visit to her home in Alabama, while also naming the frustration of seeing a place tied to disability history remain inaccessible in key ways. 

The heart of the episode is not just biography. It is a challenge to the sympathy-based prejudice that still surrounds blindness. Penn and Moses argue that blind and low-vision people are often underestimated, overlooked, or spoken for, even though they are fully capable, deeply skilled, and often extraordinary. The episode ends with a clear invitation: listeners can send in questions, suggest historical figures to feature, or reach out if they want to be on The Blind Chick

2) Contact Info 

Guest/Topic: No guest this week — host-led conversation focused on Helen Keller, blind history, and public assumptions around blindness. 
Listener Contact: feedback@aftersight.org
Organization: Aftersight 
Producer: Jonathan Price 

3) Show Credits 
Show: The Blind Chick
Hosts: Penn Street and Moses Street
Producer: Jonathan Price
Presented by: Aftersight