成人论坛

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I was making the kids鈥� packed lunch the other day.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 For school?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For school.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Go on.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And I got the bread out, got the butter out, took the lid of the butter off, put it down, buttered the bread, went to find the lid to put it back on the butter before making the rest of the sandwich, and I couldn鈥檛 find the lid anywhere.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Where was the lid?

EMMA- 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檒l tell you in a minute.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Hold you horses, Fox, hold your horses.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I felt around the whole worksurface that I was working at. I asked the boys, they were like, 鈥淒unno, can鈥檛 see it,鈥� and I even got my son to the look the in the bin.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 In case you didn鈥檛 know everyone, she doesn鈥檛 go on about it much but Emma is blind!

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And I was looking for it all day. Got the lunch box into the school bag, sent them off, but I was like, 鈥榃here could it possibly be?鈥� That evening I needed the butter for something else and I was looking for the lid again, so I put foil over the top of it to keep it fresh and stuff like that, I鈥檓 not an idiot, and then my youngest son who鈥檚 5 was like, 鈥淎h-ha mum, you put it in with my sandwiches. I told Eric and Alex and we had a great laugh about it.鈥� I put this on my Facebook and a lot of people got involved and some said, 鈥淥h, that鈥檚 not a blind thing,鈥� and then some blind people told me their other stories. One person was cooking pasta and she was serving out the pasta and there was something kind of heavy and blunt on the spoon, and it was batteries. The batteries had been in the bowl of her talking scales and she鈥檇 measured out the pasta, poured the whole lot in the pot and cooked it!

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 And you can鈥檛 eat that, can you, if you鈥檝e got batteries in it.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I don鈥檛 know, I never asked her if they ate it afterwards.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 I don鈥檛 think you can.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 lucky they didn鈥檛 explode!

MUSIC-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Theme tune

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Welcome to Access All, the 成人论坛鈥檚 disability and mental health podcast. You might not think you want to hear, but you do I promise you. 聽I鈥檓 Nikki Fox and I鈥檓 in London.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And I鈥檓 Emma Tracey and I鈥檓 in Edinburgh.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Right Em, here is a list for you. What comes to mind when I say geisha, bullet trains, noodles, Tamagotchi, Nintendo.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Japan.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Pok茅mon, Manga, anime, sushi.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Japan.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Hajimemashite. Watashi wa Nikki desu.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Japan!

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yes, all right. I just wanted to get to the end because I鈥檝e learnt a bit of Japanese. You鈥檙e right, Japan. We are going to be talking about Japan鈥檚 accessibility with the star of a well-known hair brand commercial, it鈥檚 the wonderful Lucy Edwards who has just got married as well, I can鈥檛 wait to hear all about that.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 We鈥檝e also got trains, science and world records, which basically makes us the blokeiest show we鈥檝e ever done, but we鈥檒l give it a go anyway.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Lads, lads, lads. 聽Stay tuned everyone.

MUSIC-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Music

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Disabled scientists are pretty much all over our screens, from Sheldon in The Big Bang Theory.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [CLIP]

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 Bazinga. [Laughter]

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 To the wonderful Clarissa Mullery in Silent Witness.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 I鈥檓 trying to find the lab.聽聽聽聽聽聽

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [END OF CLIP]

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 And we cannot forget this fella.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [CLIP]

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 Black hole.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [END OF CLIP]

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But in reality, new Office of National Statistics鈥� data, revealed through a Freedom of Information request by the Lightyear Foundation which supports disabled people getting onto science, shows that since 2020 the proportion of disabled people in STEM jobs has fallen dramatically, and in some careers almost by half.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 So, is enough being done to support disabled scientists to become the next Stephen Hawking, or indeed the next Paul Murdin who joins us now, he鈥檚 with us, Paul. Hello Doctor Murdin, how are you?

PAUL-听听听听听听听听听听听聽 Hello. How are you, how鈥檚 things?

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Not bad. Just to let everyone know, Paul you are a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University. You also use a walking stick, don鈥檛 you, after having polio as a child. So let鈥檚 just get it out there first of all, what drew you to astronomy, Paul?聽 What was it that made you want to go into it?

PAUL-听听听听听听听听听听听聽 Well I read quite widely when I was in bed with polio, I took books from the hospital library pretty much at random, and the ones about astronomy and science really grabbed my attention, even though I was only 7 or 8 years old, and so I got really interested in science. When I went to school there was a telescope in the school playing fields that belonged to a local astronomical society, and so I went along to that and looked at the moon and looked at Saturn and so on. It was kind of like going on a Star Trek voyage somewhere, even though I wasn鈥檛 physically going there but my mind went there, and I thought that was just mind-blowing to be able to do that.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 The thing you鈥檙e most well-known for, Paul, is identifying the first black hole. How do you discover something like a black hole?

PAUL-听听听听听听听听听听听聽 One of the problems in astronomy is that there are so many things to study, the galaxy has billions of stars and there are billions of galaxies. My approach to picking out something that was distinctive, something that had something going on that was different from all the other stars and therefore indicated something interesting was happening, was to look at stars that x-rays were coming from. The tracking down a star that had x-rays coming from it was the way to identify that there was a black hole in the star system. The star that I studied had an invisible companion that turned out to be the black hole.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Wowzers. Is a black hole when you go through it like in Star Trek 聽and then you zoom out the other side and you鈥檙e in another-?

PAUL-听听听听听听听听听听听聽 Yes. There鈥檚 a whole load of crap that people talk about black holes in that sort of way! [Laughter] But to me, black holes are simply massive stars that have a very small size. The star that I discovered has a mass which is about the same as the sun, but it鈥檚 all squashed into only a kilometre or two in size. Whereas our sun, which has the same mass, that鈥檚 within a volume that鈥檚 measured in millions of kilometres.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Oh I love that. Thinking of other disabled people that might want to go into science and go into your field, do you feel like a role model to others that might be interested in having a career in astronomy?

PAUL-听听听听听听听听听听听聽 Do you know, it鈥檚 only in the last few years that I鈥檝e been conscious of the fact that I must be a role model of some sort, because really I haven鈥檛 paid any attention to my disability since I was at school. Except of course that it is a limitation, it鈥檚 physical limitation. I never regarded myself as a role model, but I never set out to do that, and I didn鈥檛 really think of myself as being a role model until really quite recently when I鈥檝e been invited to be on programmes like this.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Oh fab.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Ahh.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Speaking of role models, the Lightyear Foundation has lots of disabled mentors working with young disabled people who want to get into science, and one of those mentors is Doctor Hamied Haroon. Hi, Hamied, how are you?

HAMIED-聽聽聽聽聽聽 Good thanks. 聽How are you?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檓 really well, thank you.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Hi, Hamied.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 You鈥檙e a research scientist in magnetic resonance imaging. Is that something to do with scans? Tell us a little bit about what you do?

HAMIED-聽聽聽聽聽聽 It is indeed. But first, I want to say how in awe I am first of all to be on this programme, I love this programme, I love this podcast. I watch it, I follow you on Twitter, and to be in the company of Professor Murdin as well is just incredible to hear your story as well. I鈥檓 absolutely in awe. So, there you go. Role models, right?聽 We鈥檙e all role models for each other.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Yeah, absolutely.

HAMIED-聽聽聽聽聽聽 Inspire each other all the time, it鈥檚 just incredible.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 your turn for the limelight now, Hamied. 聽What do you do?

HAMIED-聽聽聽聽聽聽 You are very right, Emma, I am a research scientist, a Research Fellow actually, recently promoted which is nice, at the University of Manchester. I work on MRI, as you said, magnetic resonance imaging, and yeah it鈥檚 those really noisy doughnut scanners in the hospitals that take scans of the brain, of the body, of anything basically, and we鈥檙e analysing the images, so we鈥檙e trying to measure how the brain and the body are structured, how it functions.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That sounds very cool and very important.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah, very much so.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What is your role as a mentor with the Lightyear Foundation?聽 Because when people meet you and they find out what you do, they must just be inspired really?

HAMIED-聽聽聽聽聽聽 We鈥檙e trying to encourage young disabled people to think about science. Me myself, I went to a special school in fact for my primary school years, and there were no science labs, there was no encouragement to go towards science or anything like that.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 One of the students who has benefitted from mentoring in the past is Isi Smee from Bristol. We鈥檝e created a little science themed fact file with her.

MALE-听听听听听听听听听听听 What is your name?

FEMALE-聽聽聽聽聽聽 My name is Isi Smee.

MALE-听听听听听听听听听听听 Why do you like science?

FEMALE-聽聽聽聽聽聽 Because there鈥檚 so many things to learn about it.

MALE-听听听听听听听听听听听 Would you like to be a scientist one day?

FEMALE-聽聽聽聽聽聽 Maybe I would like to become a scientist one day because I get to answer big questions.

MALE-听听听听听听听听听听听 What was it like to meet Lightyear role model Doctor Camilla Pang?

FEMALE-聽聽聽聽聽聽 Meeting Camilla was pretty cool. 聽Plus, we both have autism.

MALE-听听听听听听听听听听听 Do you have any role models in science or people you look up to?

FEMALE-聽聽聽聽聽聽 Chao from the Sonic franchise because he鈥檚 a genius and he鈥檚 smart and has an IQ of 300.

MALE-听听听听听听听听听听听 Do you enjoy your science lessons at school?

FEMALE-聽聽聽聽聽聽 Science in school is a lot of fun because we do a lot of experiments and test out stuff.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 How did you go then from special school where there wasn鈥檛 science, it wasn鈥檛 particularly academic, to getting a PhD and becoming a scientist?

HAMIED-聽聽聽聽聽聽 In fact, I was really lucky actually, I was at the right place at the right time, if you like. Manchester just brought in integration of disabled children into mainstream schools. It was one of the roughest schools in Manchester but it was such an experience, and that鈥檚 where it opened my eyes to science going into the science labs and learning what all the other kids were learning.

PAUL-听听听听听听听听听听听聽 I was asked to be a governor at a special school, and what astounded me and appalled me actually was the lack of encouragement that went into the children that were there. There was one boy that in particular who I thought was particularly bright, he was passionate about learning French, and there was absolutely no chance of him learning French at all, and other governors and the other staff even similarly didn鈥檛 encourage it, it wasn鈥檛 even something they could contemplate.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Hamied, why is it important that we get more disabled people in this field?am

HAMIED-聽聽聽聽聽聽 I think it鈥檚 really important because science needs to be diverse, to have diverse people working in science. If you have the usual people that are able to access science, then that kind of imaginative spirit, or us to push the frontiers if you like, in Star Trek lingo, and go where no-one鈥檚 gone before.

PAUL-听听听听听听听听听听听聽 It鈥檚 important for the development of the individuals themselves as well, it鈥檚 they who are the important thing, they have a contribution to make of some sort, and they should make the best and biggest contribution that they are capable of.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Thank you so much, it鈥檚 been a right treat. Like I said, I was a bit nervous thinking I don鈥檛 know much about science, but I鈥檓 really, really chuffed.

HAMIED-聽聽聽聽聽聽 You鈥檙e a scientist too, Nikki. 聽And you as well, Emma.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A scientist of words.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Guys, I am so inspired by this.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah, 100%. You can go to the Lightyear Foundation online, for more on the work that they do. And Paul Murdin, as we mentioned, was the subject of this week鈥檚 The Life Scientific, which is available to listen to on 成人论坛 Sounds.

MUSIC-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Access All

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 We鈥檝e already overed plans by train companies to close most rail station ticket offices in England, and it鈥檚 not gone down well with unions and disability groups, we know that, we鈥檝e overed it on the show, haven鈥檛 we, Em?聽 This week a petition has reached the 100,000 signatures needed for the proposals to be debated in Parliament. The petition says, 鈥淲e want the government to require train operators to keep ticket offices and platform staff at train stations to help maintain health and safety standards and customer information.鈥�

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And the recent consultation that we reported on was extended but is now closed. 聽That has had 700,000 responses.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Wow, that鈥檚 a lot!

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That is a lot of responses. And the findings are due to be published on 31st October. Let鈥檚 hope they鈥檙e not too scary, that being Halloween and all.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [CLIP]

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 This idea that staff currently being behind the glass is a problem that needs to be fixed is not the case at all, it鈥檚 actually one of the most important accessibility features of a ticket office. It鈥檚 a designated place where disabled people can go and be assured that they will find assistance.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [CLIP ENDS]

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 That was Katie Pennick that you just heard there. She was giving evidence to the Transport Select Committee this Wednesday. The government and industry maintains that closing ticket offices simply reflects the fact that 80% of people now buy tickets online and the world has changed.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 always busy on the train front, isn鈥檛 it?

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Let鈥檚 see what happens when the results of the consultation come out on Halloween.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah. We will definitely be marking that and following that on Access All, so tune in. 聽I got an exciting email this week, Ems.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Did you?

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah. I filmed with a brilliant fella called Tom a good couple of years back actually, and it was when we were covering the Down Syndrome Bill which is now obviously an Act, for 成人论坛 News.聽 He was great, I spent the day with him, we went to his local gym, he was a fitness fanatic. His amazing mum, Nicola, who I also met, she emailed me saying that apparently over the past year Tom has worked hard to achieve 25 Guinness World Records.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 What?!

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 I know! Across a range of physical exercises in an adaptive class. He鈥檚 done the most burpees in three minutes. Don鈥檛 even know what a burpees is, well done Tom. You probably showed me actually Tom, to be fair, but must have forgotten. Number of times lifting his own bodyweight in a minute. All sorts of stuff Well done. Tom. I just wanted to make sure that we got you in the podcast to say well done because that is no mean feat, is it Ems?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Absolutely not. And excitingly, the Guinness World Records鈥� book is out today and Tom is in it. I can鈥檛 even think of a world record that I could achieve, I can鈥檛 even come up with one.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Do you know, a young Foxy did go on Record Breakers. Do you remember Record Breakers with Roy Castle?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Yes. Great show. I鈥檓 really hoping Dave鈥檚 going to put the music in underneath this.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Oh yeah!

MUSIC-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Music in background

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 I was in the audience and we were going for a world record, so Roy Castle came up to me in the audience, I was like, 鈥楴o, please don鈥檛 pick me, I鈥檓 disabled,鈥� but I was sitting on a chair so he wouldn鈥檛 have known. I had to bend my arm 鈥� it鈥檚 really hard 鈥� bend my arm back so my hand would be where my shoulder is, okay? And I had to put loads of coins, the most amount of coins I could put on the back of my forearm, hold them there, and then we had to then fling our arm down, the coins would fall, and we had to catch as many as we could in our hands.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That does not sound like something you would find easy to do.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 No. This was not Nikki friendly even back in the day when Nikki could walk, this was like a Nikki no-no.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A Nikki no-no!

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Roy Castle came up to me and it was all recorded and we were on TV, I was going, 鈥淩oy, no, I鈥檓 disabled. Roy, I can鈥檛 do it, I鈥檓 disabled.鈥澛� But no, obviously he couldn鈥檛 hear, no-one could hear. I just went along with it as I do, and I managed to bend my arm back just enough to get the coins on, literally as soon as they were on two seconds later 鈥榥eeon鈥� they all slid off and fell on the floor. And that was my embarrassing Roy Castle Record Breaker moment.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I just tried to do it, that鈥檚 not that easy for anybody.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 You鈥檙e doing it right. You鈥檙e doing it right, that was it. I was very young, I was like secondary school first year, I think. I was just chuffed to have been on a show with Roy Castle. But it was an awkward age, it was that age when I was like wobbling around the school and figuring out who I was, and trying very hard to become a standup comedian in about three months just to get by. But yeah, flipping hell they all fell. It was quite funny though.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I can see all the coins now.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah. 聽Loved it.

MUSIC-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Music

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Speaking of records, a British man has become the first amputee to swim the North Channel from Northern Ireland to Scotland, and he鈥檚 done it solo. Jonty, I hope I鈥檝e pronounced this right, Warneken. 聽Is that right do you think, Ems?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檓 going to say yes. 聽It鈥檚 phonetically right anyway.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Good. Jonty Warneken 鈥� apologies if it鈥檚 not Jonty 鈥� from North Yorkshire, who lost his left leg after a car crash in 1994, he completed the feat in 15 hours and 24 minutes. The distance that he swam was 21.4 miles, Ems, but with currents pushing him slightly off course he ended up travelling 33.5 miles.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 That鈥檚 a lot more miles!

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 That a lot, isn鈥檛 it?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It was a lot more than he was expecting.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 I know!聽 Well done, Jonty.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Well done, Jonty. The North Channel is considered the toughest of the Oceans Seven swim challenges around the world. It鈥檚 slightly longer than the English Channel, the water tends to be colder, and there are strong currents and lion鈥檚 mane jellyfish.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Blimey.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 They鈥檙e very big and very stingy.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Do they kill you?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 No, I don鈥檛 believe so, but they would really hurt. Apparently when you swim into the area of a lion鈥檚 mane, the water鈥檚 effervescent and you鈥檒l feel quite a lot of pain. That鈥檚 what Wikipedia told me anyway.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Oh, okay. You know if you get stung by jellyfish, is that when someone has to-?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Has to wee on you.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah, that鈥檚 the one.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檇 say you鈥檇 need a lot of wee to cope with a lion鈥檚 mane jellyfish sting.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Really?聽 Okay.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But anyway, Mr Warneken said at the end, 鈥淚 was actually concerned because I finished in the dark against the cliffs and the sea was bashing around on the rocks, so I was more focused on self-preservation than thinking about what I had achieved.鈥澛� I鈥檓 not surprised.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah. 聽Scary.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Don鈥檛 they rub you with goose fat before you do those swims?

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 I don鈥檛 know, but if they do count me in!

MUSIC-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Access All

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 You may have heard of the presenter, activist, content creator and journalist, Lucy Edwards. She fully lost her sight 10 years ago, and since then she鈥檚 made it her mission to share her experiences with all of us. She has a huge following on social media with nearly two million followers on TikTok. Two million, Emma, two million! But most importantly, she鈥檚 worked on a previous incarnation of this podcast. There we go! Her latest project is with the 成人论坛鈥檚 Travel Show where she visited Japan. Let鈥檚 take a listen.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [CLIP]

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 I鈥檝e come a long way learning to live with sight loss, but I鈥檝e never been this far away from home. It鈥檚 just hit me like a tonne of bricks that it鈥檚 actually really hard being in a new place when you can鈥檛 see it.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 In this first episode:

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 The ferry鈥檚 about to depart. [Gong]

I鈥檓 travelling from the mainland to one of the most remotest parts of Japan.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [Drums] What are these for?

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 But will I be able to make sense of a country so famous for its visual beauty? [Music] This is Japan, the way I see it.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [CLIP ENDS]

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Hello, Lucy. 聽Welcome back to Access All.

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Hello. Thank you so much for having me, guys, I鈥檓 so excited to be on.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 We love it when Lucy Edwards come on, don鈥檛 we Ems?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Oh, we do. So much lovely energy coming out of our Lucy Edwards.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Let鈥檚 talk about Japan, eh? Let鈥檚 go straight in there because we鈥檝e seen the episodes, Lucy. What did you get out of that trip personally?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Personally, oh my gosh! I landed in Japan and the airport just smells like someone鈥檚 house, it smells so clean. That was my first waft of loveliness. Then I jumped in a taxi which unbeknown to me they have automatic doors, so I鈥檝e shut it and the guy went, 鈥淣o!鈥� I didn鈥檛 break it so that鈥檚 all good, but apparently it automatically shuts. 聽So that was very delightful and unexpected. Then just the whole city, it鈥檚 so quiet, other than if you鈥檙e on Shibuya Crossing which is the big crossing that everyone talks about. The rest of it is just very accessible, tactile lines everywhere. 聽If I could speak Japanese I鈥檇 be there.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Lucy, hajimemashite. Watashi wa Nikki desu.

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Ooh!聽 Does that mean my name鈥檚 Nikki?

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah!

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 She already knew that though.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Arigato gozaimasu.

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Arigato gozaimasu. Thank you very much. I said that a lot after meals, I was like, 鈥淭hank you very much鈥� and then I bowed.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 I can鈥檛 remember it now but I had to learn what sorry meant in Japanese because I was often running over people鈥檚 feet

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Nik, how did you find it, because I鈥檝e heard that it鈥檚 not that wheelchair accessible? I鈥檓 here raving about it with all the braille on the walls, the tactile maps in the loos, on the bullet trains, but what about you?

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 We were chatting about this before. I don鈥檛 want to dampen your amazing experience, but I think for me as someone who鈥檚 physically disabled it was a totally different experience.

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 It was a lot of step up and step down now you say it. But also I don鈥檛 know, I came back and reflected on this and socially I think they鈥檙e not there yet. I felt taken care of, I didn鈥檛 necessarily feel equal.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Lucy, how did you find getting around?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Oh, I loved it. From point A to point B usually there was a tactile line, so in museums, and then it even carried on into a museum, which is amazing because usually you鈥檙e in a train station or a museum and it鈥檚 a vast abyss of nothing and it鈥檚 quite echoey and your guide dog is finding it hard to shoreline.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 To shoreline, I love it. Finding it hard to stay by the edge of the path or whatever.

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah, exactly. Finding it hard to kind of stay to the edge of any building line. If you鈥檙e a guide dog user, I did speak to a contributor out there and he was telling me it鈥檚 quite hard to get a guide dog from his perspective. They tend to like rent them out more and you have them for a year or two years and then not again. But there鈥檚 no guide dogs really anywhere and I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃here are the blind people using the lines?聽 I鈥檓 the only one.鈥�

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In terms of the guide dogs, are they just going to go straight to robot guide dogs?

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Oh, here we go.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Because I have to tell you, I鈥檓 massively, massively jealous of you on that programme because you got to try out a robot guide dog, didn鈥檛 you?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 It was so cool. It was like an AI suitcase, the first of its kind. Absolutely loved it. It was a bit scary initially, you basically just squeeze the handle and then it鈥檚 like 鈥榳hoosh鈥� and you鈥檙e away, and you can set your speed with like an up and down thingamajig [Doorbell rings] Sorry, my doorbell鈥檚 going off. God, I鈥檝e got the weirdest doorbell.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 What鈥檚 the tune playing, Luce?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 My cleaner knocks it, and I think it鈥檚 a regal tune. It made me laugh so much that it鈥檚 just stayed!

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 That is a door knocker tune, I鈥檓 telling you. Do you think they鈥檙e then future then, these robotic guide dog suitcase thingamajigs?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 I do. I need to close my Smollie鈥檚 fluffy ears, but it did go round people, and it got me in the lift to a point where I was standing there pressing all the buttons. There was braille buttons which was really, really cool, and it got me there, and then I was like, 鈥淩ight, I want you to go forward now,鈥� but it kind of didn鈥檛 have the gusto to go when I kept going to the floor that I wanted. My producer was like, 鈥淢eet me at the bottom on Floor 0鈥� about three times, and I was like, 鈥淗i, I鈥檓 here again!鈥� It was so funny, it was like a comedy show. Anyway, I got there eventually. [Laughs] 聽

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 funny, because we鈥檙e hearing from manufacturers about these incredible products, guide dog like things that don鈥檛 poo or puke. They鈥檙e the big things for me that they don鈥檛 do, or shed hair. 聽But hearing it from another blind person and that it actually works, that鈥檚 even more exciting actually.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Awwh.

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah, deffo. It really excited me, guys. It kind of gave me shivers because it just took you up to different exhibits. Also, the museum that I was at, I鈥檝e obviously just got married, thinking about babies, there was like a tactile exhibit of how a foetus grows in your belly.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Wow!

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 So they鈥檙e making it all more accessible, it鈥檚 really cool.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 We鈥檙e going to touch on this wedding of yours in a bit actually, Lucy Edwards. One of the things I loved about the documentaries that you made, those two episodes, they鈥檙e brilliant, but one of the moments that was really lovely was the vending machine moment. We鈥檝e got a clip.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [CLIP]聽聽聽聽聽

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 Yay, I鈥檝e got something and it鈥檚 dinging at me. Oh okay, this doesn鈥檛 feel like Coca Cola!聽 What鈥檚 this drink, question mark?

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 It鈥檚 a latte.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 Ooh, it鈥檚 a latte. Why not?聽 I don鈥檛 care, I got a drink! I would have went with that to be fair.

听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听聽 [CLIP ENDS]

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 You鈥檝e got your phone speaking faster than I do.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah, I was going to say that as well, how on earth do you understand what on earth that phone is saying?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Everyone says, 鈥淥h my gosh.鈥澛� I was just really chuffed to bits that those tactile buttons which me and Em were talking about before the pod started, we were talking about our washing machines, just bring back the old tactile buttons. That鈥檚 basically what it was, and I just pushed one and I was like, 鈥淚t works! I actually got a drink that I can drink.鈥�

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Honestly Lucy, whenever I see the commercial for a very well known brand of shampoo, I鈥檓 like, 鈥淚 know Lucy.鈥澛� Obviously I make it out like we鈥檙e kind of BFFs.

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 We are, babe.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Well can we be? That would be amazing! But I just think amazing, it鈥檚 just so good seeing you on these commercials. And it all came, didn鈥檛 it, from your social media, from the fact that you鈥檙e so popular on social media and you鈥檙e an influencer, and you鈥檙e 鈥� it says here 鈥� part of the new breed. [Laughter] You鈥檙e part of the new breed, baby! Did you have a plan mapped out, Lucy, from the beginning?聽 When you first started all of this did you think, 鈥楻ight, this is where I鈥檓 going to be鈥�?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 To be honest, hun, it was in lockdown and I didn鈥檛 have as much freelance work and I thought, 鈥業鈥檓聽 just going to put all my ideas online on TikTok and just see. I鈥檓 going to post three times a day,鈥� and everyone thought I was a bit cray-cray but it鈥檚 fine. The more I posted, the more I feeded it, because it鈥檚 such a new platform and the algorithm was so kind of all of over the place really, and there was a learn on TikTok hashtag trending, I kind of found my home there. But I think I didn鈥檛 really realise how big it would go so quickly. From August to I think the end of the November I was on a million followers, so it kind of hit you all at once. It鈥檚 something I鈥檝e always wanted to do, I鈥檝e always wanted to be a presenter from day dot really, even starting at the Beeb. But I knew that I was kind of channelling it in a way, because some things can be commissioned on my own socials and some things can be commissioned on the telly, and that鈥檚 what I love.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 nice just to see a disabled person, a blind person out doing their thing with joy in their heart, but a range of emotions. You did lose your sight 10 years ago now and that was part of what you were saying on the documentary as well. How has life changed for you since then, and what you have learned in the last decade?聽 It鈥檚 been so interesting watching you grow and change and build confidence etc.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Because I didn鈥檛 realise you had a breakdown, didn鈥檛 you? You say that in the documentary. I didn鈥檛 know that about you, Lucy.

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah. Gosh, how have I grown and changed? I think that is a really important question. Always thinking back to day dot when you first lose your sight, it鈥檚 so for me quite... it鈥檚 my why. I always say why I do what I do every day, why I get up, is I think back to those moments. I think there鈥檚 people today going through what I did and I don鈥檛 want them to feel as alone, because there wasn鈥檛 loads of stuff on the interweb and stuff about sight loss. I think for me, oh gosh, having a breakdown I remember being 17 in the middle of my A-Level study years, and I didn鈥檛 know braille yet because I was a rebellious teenager, 鈥業 don鈥檛 need to know that, I鈥檓 not going blind ever,鈥� and then suddenly I was. Then I was dictating all the commas and the full stops and everything to my teaching assistant, so my exams took hours. I remember getting into law school and I think it was finally getting through the exams, 鈥淚鈥檝e just got to do this, I鈥檝e just got to do this. Even though I鈥檝e lost my sight, I鈥檝e just got to get through my A-Levels.鈥� That was the kind of goal in my head. Then when I did the first term of law school I did pass it, but then I had a breakdown and I thought, 鈥業鈥檝e got to stop. I鈥檝e got to actually take in what鈥檚 just happened to me rather that ignoring it,鈥� I think.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Is that what you originally wanted to be, a lawyer then, Luce?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah. I would say that was my sighted dream. I鈥檓 not afraid to tell people that I did kind of dip out of law school because it wasn鈥檛 for me. Then I had a year at home and I was like, 鈥榃ho am I?聽 Who do I actually want to be?聽 Who is blind Lucy, not just sighted Lucy?鈥� I think I was just pretending I was someone that I wasn鈥檛 for a while, and it was making me hurt more because I鈥檇 be like trying to bargain with myself, the stages of grief. My boyfriend, husband now, was doing a lot for me, and I鈥檇 be like, 鈥淐an you just do this? Can you just do that?鈥� and he was like, 鈥淎re you sure you don鈥檛 want to do it yourself?鈥� and I鈥檓 like, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have the mental energy.鈥澛� I would have to dig up my brain more if I wanted to do things. I mean it鈥檚 completely different now.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Wow! I mean look at you now, Lucy Edwards. And we have to say before we go, recently married!

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 I loved our wedding. I walked down the aisle and I鈥檇 blindfolded everybody because I was like, 鈥楻ight, it鈥檚 [inaudible] and I want everyone to be a bit like I do.鈥櫬� Yeah.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Did you?聽 So you blindfolded all of your guests?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah! [Laughs]

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 What about your hubby, was he blindfolded?

LUCY-听听听听听听听听听听听 Yeah, he was blindfolded. Then I made him feel my dress and audio describe it to everyone. They took off their blindfolds then he audio described my dress, which consisted of 鈥渂eautiful鈥�, 鈥渓ovely鈥�, 鈥渨ith petal patterns鈥�, 聽because he was crying, bless him. [Laughs] He鈥檚 just an amazing audio describer, but we鈥檝e been together like 10 years.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Honestly, it鈥檚 been such a pleasure. Congratulations on the wedding, Lucy. You can watch the first episode of the Travel Show鈥檚 two part special on Lucy鈥檚 visit to Japan, it鈥檚 called 鈥楯apan, the way I see it鈥�, and it鈥檚 on this weekend on the 成人论坛 news channel, and it鈥檚 also going to be available on the 成人论坛 iPlayer. 聽Thanks, Lucy.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Bye.

MUSIC-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Theme tune

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Oh Lucy Edwards, we just love her, don鈥檛 we Emma?

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 We do.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 We need to get her back on.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In the studio this time.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 In the studio, yes. She鈥檚 the 鈥榟ow to do social media guide鈥�, isn鈥檛 she, she鈥檚 just brilliant. We need a one day masterclass with Lucy Edwards to get our numbers up, Emma Tracey.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Absolutely. She鈥檚 absolutely nailed it, hasn鈥檛 she?

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 She has. And that is where we have to end the programme today.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 We鈥檝e got a lot of blokes on the production team this week, loads of them.聽 Honestly, it鈥檚 full of men,

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 Lad, lads, lads!

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Yeah. They鈥檝e asked me to do this a bit more blokey, so here we go. [Clears throat, and then in a male voice] We are 成人论坛 Access All on accessall@bbc.co.uk on email, and you can shout at the lady who lives in your speaker, she鈥檚 the one beginning with 鈥楢鈥� and sort of rhymes with dyslexia and sort of doesn鈥檛. If you say, 鈥淎sk the 成人论坛 for Access All,鈥� she will serve you up our latest episode, yes she will. Especially if I shout at her, she definitely will then.

NIKKI-听听听听听听听听听听听 I think that was the best thing I鈥檝e ever heard you do, Emma Tracey. And I love you anyway, but I will love you forever for that. On that note everyone, have a great day, and we鈥檙e going to go now because I can鈥檛 talk!聽 Bye.

EMMA-聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Bye-bye.

[Trailer for Ukrainecast]

CLIP-听听听听听听听听听听听聽聽 鈥淚 could feel our house shaking.鈥澛� 鈥淭hat was one of the scariest battles.鈥澛� 鈥淚鈥檓 traumatised, I鈥檓 completely destroyed.鈥�

VICTORIA-聽聽聽 Hello, I鈥檓 Victoria Derbyshire, one of the hosts of Ukrainecast. We actually put out the first episode of Ukrainecast on the very first day of the war when Russia invaded Ukraine.

CLIP-听听听听听听听听听听听聽聽 鈥淭his is a European country and it鈥檚 at war, it鈥檚 extraordinary.鈥�

VICTORIA-聽聽聽 So much has happened since then, and all the way through we鈥檝e been trying to tell people鈥檚 stories, what鈥檚 really happening on the ground in Ukraine.

CLIP-听听听听听听听听听听听聽聽 鈥淢y elder daughter was lying on the ground, she had been dead.鈥�

VICTORIA-聽聽聽 And we鈥檒l be here for you making sense of it all for as long as we need to be.

CLIP-听听听听听听听听听听听聽聽 鈥淧eople were being snatched and disappearing.鈥� 鈥淧eople took to the streets even after the Ukrainian forces had gone.鈥�

VICTORIA-聽聽聽 Ukrainecast is made by the same 成人论坛 news team that makes this podcast.

CLIP-听听听听听听听听听听听聽聽 鈥淭his is it, this is the war of the darkest evil against all humanity.鈥�

VICTORIA-聽聽聽 Do listen to Ukrainecast on Tuesdays and Fridays, just search for Ukrainecast on 成人论坛 Sounds.