Diversity and inclusion: Podcast breaks with the definition of "normal"

REHACARE.com sat down for an interview with Jonas Karpa and asked why it is so important to acknowledge different perspectives in society today and found out why this is not a podcast that’s is exclusively made by and for people with disabilities.

Mr. Karpa, your project aims to change the mindset on disability and shift it from a "charity mentality" into a mainstream notion. How do you plan to achieve this – also as it relates to thematic concepts?

Jonas Karpa: There are two types of narratives when it comes to people with disabilities or disabilities in general: Either the person suffers from the disability, is poor, weak, filled with bitterness or even depressed about the situation. The other option is that he or she lives well with the disability and bravely or even happily copes with everyday life, which is not something anybody expected in this grave situation. Our online magazine Die Neue Norm aims to ask questions and challenge many sociopolitical mechanisms and stereotypes. We want to bring about a disability paradigm shift and carve out a new context: People with disabilities are members of society, they are citizens with rights and interests – which is why they should also be represented as such in social consciousness and in public awareness. Our magazine focuses on disability mainstreaming and highlights aspects in political, cultural, professional, society, media and innovation contexts. The magazine challenges social norms and broadens the notion of inclusion. We are not a magazine created by journalists with disabilities that caters to people with disabilities. In fact, we aim to reach and include all the different members of our diverse society.

Your first podcast episodes centered on disabilities and the way society deals with them. How do you choose your topics?

Karpa: Our ideas and topics for the podcast tend to be spontaneous. We look at what is currently on our minds. Of course, we also think of podcast ideas that might be exciting at some point and ask our podcast listeners on our social media channels what they would like to hear us talk about in an upcoming podcast episode. As I mentioned earlier, it is important to us that these topics don’t just address people with disabilities, but that it’s an issue that affects society as a whole. Our next episode will talk about issues of partnership, for example. We are also planning an episode on parenthood and disability, which includes being a parent of a child with a disability or people with disabilities becoming parents. In the summer, talking about vacation and mobility would be an obvious choice. Right now, we will also discuss how the coronavirus impacts people with disabilities and how the virus affects social solidarity.

What type of feedback did you get from your podcast listeners so far?

Karpa: Feedback has been very positive. Our listeners are really into the topics we review in our podcasts. Some topics trigger lively debate – and sometimes even controversy. But that is great and exactly what we aim to achieve: offering topics a platform to highlight the different perspectives. Not only is this our duty as journalists, but it also allows us to share our own opinion and personal perspective. Our website has additional reading materials related to our episodes, reference sources and a transcript of the podcast. You can also find us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

What does inclusion mean to you?

Karpa: Inclusion is not a concept that is exclusively tied to disabilities. Inclusion should reflect society in all its diversity. It should no longer foster thinking in categories like "normal" and "not normal". Inclusion should mean embracing diversity and everyone’s uniqueness and viewing it as a benefit. The majority of society should not be entitled to make a normative statement that expresses a value judgment about what is or isn’t normal. Our magazine Die Neue Norm aims to break this mindset and create new norms.