Traipsin Global On Wheels Podcast and Platform
Author: Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 18 Sep 2020 - Updated: 11 Oct 2023
Publication Type: Informative
Contents: Synopsis - Introduction - Main - Related Publications
Synopsis: Traipsin Global On Wheels (TGOW) provides a platform and podcast to inform and advance disability rights and advocacy work in the area of climate change, travel, and fitness.
The reason Ming Canaday started this company and, more specifically, this podcast series is to show the impact climate change is having on individuals with disabilities.
Introduction
Ming Canaday, a graduate of the London School of Economics and wheelchair user, is the founder of a start-up called Traipsin' Global On Wheels (TGOW). The platform seeks to advocate for individuals with mobilities, as well as advocating for people with disabilities in the area of climate change, travel, and fitness.
Main Content
Ming Canaday contracted polio as a toddler, affecting her legs and causing severe scoliosis. Her own disabilities, her parents and her solo travels around the world have inspired the creation of TGOW. Ming started the podcast to provide a platform to inform and advance disability rights/advocacy work.
Disability Advocacy
On the disability advocacy side, they've had:
- Senator Tom Harkin (the chief co-sponsor of the American's With Disabilities Act of 1990)
- Judy Woodruff (Anchor and Managing Editor of PBS NewsHour)
- Dr. Cheri Blauwet (the first Stanford medical school graduate who uses a wheelchair and Paralympian in wheelchair racing)
- Judy Heumann (a world-renowned disability rights activist)
- Dana Bolles (NASA engineer for over two decades)
As well as many more leaders on the show.
Climate Change and Disability
Climate change is quickly becoming one of the most urgent issue of the 21st century. And people with disabilities all around the world, who make up 15% of the earth's population (around one (1) billion people) are being disproportionately affected. Worse yet, they are not being included in the decision-making process nor the disaster planning proceedings. The reason Ming Canaday started this company and, more specifically, this podcast series is to show the impact climate change is having on individuals with disabilities.
On their intersectional series between climate change and disability, they've hosted a number of environmentalist such as:
- Bill McKibben
- Erik Solheim (Executive Director for UNEP)
- Juliet Davenport (CEO of Good Energy in the UK)
- Gene Baur (co-founder and President of Farm Sanctuary)
- Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (the leading Senator in the U.S. on climate change)
- Congressman Jim Langevin (of Rhode Island)
And many others.
Ming's podcast helps show the world how one of the most marginalized groups on the globe, people with disabilities, are also key players who care about human rights, our environment and will act in protecting human rights and saving our planet in whatever way we can.
Author Credentials: Ian is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, a leading resource for news and information on disability issues. With a global perspective shaped by years of travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed proponent of the Social Model of Disability-a transformative framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that emphasizes dismantling societal barriers rather than focusing solely on individual impairments. His work reflects a deep commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.