20260915 Tuesday Topics on diabetes and ACB Diabetics in Action (ACBDA)

This episode of Tuesday Topics focuses on diabetes and the work of ACB Diabetics in Action (ACBDA), a Special Interest Affiliate of the American Council of the Blind.

Over the past three years, ACBDA has made significant progress on issues that many once considered extremely difficult to address. Insulin pumps, the cost of insulin, and accessible ways to monitor blood sugar are just some of the many areas in which ACBDA has worked to bring about greater access and change.

Larry Gassman, president of ACBDA and a member of the Tuesday Topics team, has assembled a panel to discuss where things stand today for people living with diabetes, particularly those who are blind or have low vision.

Diabetes remains one of the leading causes of vision loss among working-age adults and also affects many blind and low-vision young people living with Type 1 diabetes. Our guests discuss the progress that has been made, the challenges that remain, and the work ACBDA continues to do on behalf of people with diabetes.

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

20260908 Tuesday Topics revisits Employment of people who are blind or have low vision

It was the day after Labor Day in the US and so it's appropriate to talk about the employment of people who are blind or folks with low vision. We explore some history, some recent information and some of our own notions of where things may be heading. Team members have had long careers, including teaching accessibility technology and operating a vending business. The team offers our perspectives on the state of the employment game. We hear from some of you who are seeking employment and what job-seekers are experiencing lately. Is it harder to get interviews? Is it harder to complete applications? Have things changed since companies have been encouraged not to consider diversity as much? Do you use artificial intelligence to create your cover letters and resumes? Should you?

What do we know about the current employment prospects for people with vision loss? We know the unemployment rate is slightly higher than it has been in the past. We know that a lot of Federal employees have been released onto the labor market. We know that vocational rehabilitation departments have lacked some direction from a seriously depleted staff at the Federal agency. What we don't know is what the impact of all these things actually is! Nevertheless we explore together what we do know and, Paul shares one piece of wonderful information!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Occasionally Topics likes to ask questions with no right answers and our first September show does that! All of us are story tellers whether we know it or not! Most, if not all of the folks who listen to this program have visual impairments! We ask the team and you to think back over your life and tell us two stories. We want to know about a particular event where being blind was just plain awful! We won't listen if you tell us you can't drive or can't see your mom's face! We want a story! We want you to tell us about a particular moment in your life that made blindness terrible!

Our show is not all gloom, though, because we also want you to think of a moment when blindness was really cool! Tell us about a time when it really felt good to be blind because of something that you did or that happened to you! Again we want a story: not just I can read braille really well! Topics will tell tales of the awesome and the awful about blindness if you will help us!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

20260825 - Tuesday Topics - All things Internet Radio

For the last two episodes of Tuesday Topics, we explored podcasts in great detail. Internet radio is sort of a companion to them. Everybody knows about the ten ACB Media stations but there is a huge number of stations folks can listen to if they choose. Virtually every hybrid device has internet radio access. Some are better than others and we will talk about the various options that are out there. There is a brand new app for internet radio that has been created by blind folks for blind folks and Jeff Bishop explores that program with us!

Listeners of the live broadcast also tell us what stations they listen to and why!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

20260818 - Tuesday topics, Podcasts Part 2

Topics once more considers podcasts. Last week we described what they are and how they work and explored many of the accessible devices where they can be retrieved. This week we spend some time talking about ACB podcasts: how many people have found them and how we can make them more widely known. Most of our show, however, is devoted to exploring a hit parade of podcasts provided by our team and our audience. What podcasts are we subscribed to and what makes them attractive? What are the characteristics of podcasts that makes us like them? I

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Within a day or two our podcast will be available which you can access on ACB Link or on any other podcast provider. Many devices make Tuesday Topics available including the Amazon Alexa devices. They take a while, I think, to put our podcasts up but you can say to your device "play Tuesday Topics" and it will. All the Braille Sense devices, the Orbit Speak and player, the Victor Reader Stream and a host of others can all play our podcast. I make this point because I am pretty certain that most folks do not know as much about podcasts as they should.

I thought this might be a good time to remedy that since ACB is working hard to make all the convention sessions available as podcasts. I am not sure whether this will be a single show or will end up taking up two programs. On the first one, I want to talk a little about the history of podcasts, why they are so cool and how various devices access them. Given the widespread number of Streams I will concentrate on just how they function in particular.

Eventually, I will be inviting those who are already podcast gurus to tell us which ones they love. I currently subscribe to twenty-four and will tell you about those eventually. I want Larry to tell you how ACB organizes its podcasts and what you can find where. We will talk quite a bit about ACB link which is still not nearly as well known as it deserves and we will at least explore the whole range of podcast apps available for your IOS phones or Android devices. We have a lot to do which is why I suspect we won't get it all done in a single show!

Paul Edwards

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

There is a tradition that all the leaders and members of ACB remember! We once more review the convention. We explore what was good, what was bad and we will, of course, make some suggestions about how everything can be improved next year.

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

20260707 Tuesday Topics - 2026 ACB Convention - Voting, bylaws, resolutions

Explore elements of the upcoming convention. We look at how elections will be handled and explore the bylaw amendments that are proposed. Board members are up for election this year as are Board of Publications members. We will actually be doing elections during the virtual week that precedes our actual St. Louis time. Just how all of this will work is important. What changes are we making in our Constitution? When do we do resolutions and how does that work? What do the convention rules we will adopt on our first virtual day look like? How will the nominating committee function and when will it happen? These are just some of the questions we explore!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

On June 30 Tuesday Topics will once more take to the internet waves with what has become a commonplace now. We will have one last scholarship winner and will then turn things over to the team and those present to talk with us about what they are reading during the Summer and what plans are being made as well. We decided that we didn't want to choose a weighty topic as June ended or as our penultimate show before our break for convention season. Instead we decided to explore a couple of Summer characteristics. First of all we know that folks who come to Tuesday Topics read during the Summer. Do you choose a special kind of book for Summer reading? Do you read more or less during the Summer? Can you tell us about a book you are reading now that you think others should read?

We also want to get a sense of what your Summer is looking like! Are you going on vacation? Are there games or concerts that are on your schedule? Is the ACB convention at the center of your Summer planning? Our team will tell you about our Summer and then we will ask those of you who are present to tell us about yours. We don't want to know what you aren't doing so be prepared to share your plans and books!

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co

Tuesday Topics welcomes more scholarship winners and Amanda Selm, Chair of the scholarship committee. Then Tuesday Topics explores new plans for one of the most valuable activities of ACB! Kenneth Simien Senior brings some folks who are part of the committee that oversees mentoring for ACB. We hear about those who have participated this year and about some changes that are planned for the 26-27 edition. The program recruits mentors called guides and mentees called explorers to work together for almost a year! In addition to meeting with each other, a range of joint activities are hosted by the committee. Three members of our team have participated in this program in the past as mentors so we look forward to hearing about this year and changes that lie beyond. 

Find out more at https://acb-tuesday-topics.pinecast.co