Disability Rap

Recent Episodes

Aug. 15, 2025

FREED's Brian Snyder on Community Preparedness for Natural Disasters

As we head into fire season here in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Northern California, we decided to check back in with Brian Snyder, FREED’s own Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. Brian supports people with disabilities to...
July 9, 2025

35 Years On – Reflections on the Anniversary of the ADA

Highlights from our 2020 show on the fight that brought us the Americans with Disabilities Act and the fights that lie ahead.
June 11, 2025

Cuts Proposed to Medicare, Medicaid, and Disability Services

An update on the proposed cuts to healthcare and disability services at the State and Federal level
May 14, 2025

Trauma-Informed Disability Acceptance & Workplace Accessibility

Trauma researcher and author Dr. Xenia Barnes on loving herself through a disability diagnosis
April 9, 2025

Exploring Late-diagnosed Autism

A discussion with Kristen Hovet, the host of The Other Autism podcast, about autism in adulthood
March 12, 2025

Air Travel for People with Disabilities and Threats to Medicaid Funding

Emily Voorde on flying while disabled and the current proposed cuts to Medicaid funding in Congress

About the Hosts

Carl Sigmond Profile Photo

Carl Sigmond

Co-Host and Producer

Carl Sigmond is the Operations Manager at FREED and Co-host and Co-producer of the Disability Rap radio show and podcast. As Operations Manager, Carl ensures that FREED's digital infrastructure runs smoothly, assists with grant writing and reporting, and coordinates FREED's Advocacy Program. In addition to his role at FREED, Carl is a Research Engineer in the Speech Disorders and Technology Lab at The University of Texas at Austin, where he works to improve speech recognition algorithms for people with speech disabilities. Before becoming FREED's Operations Manager, Carl was FREED’s Disability Community Advocate in 2017 and then again from 2020 to 2021. Carl has a degree in Computer Science from Haverford College, where he also studied nonviolent direct action theory and documentary filmmaking.

Courtney Williams Profile Photo

Courtney Williams

Production Assistant

Bio coming soon

Carly Pacheco Profile Photo

Carly Pacheco

Co-Host and Executive Director of FREED

Bio coming soon