WEBVTT - Talking Vision 772 Week Beginning 17th of March 2025 0:00:13.100 --> 0:00:18.890 From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's 0:00:18.890 --> 0:00:20.930 your host Sam Colley. 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:26.570 Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And 0:00:26.570 --> 0:00:29.540 for the next half hour we talk matters of blindness 0:00:29.540 --> 0:00:30.560 and low vision. 0:00:30.560 --> 0:00:33.380 Disability is a good topic of conversation because like it 0:00:33.379 --> 0:00:37.250 helps people relate to your material. It helps people get 0:00:37.250 --> 0:00:42.140 comfortable and understand about disability, which is great. And I 0:00:42.140 --> 0:00:45.050 really enjoy talking about the awkward stuff that happens to 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.050 me because a lot of awkward stuff does happen, you know, 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:51.050 and it's interesting to talk about it and break down 0:00:51.050 --> 0:00:54.440 those barriers. But yeah, I'm really enjoying shining a light 0:00:54.470 --> 0:00:55.430 on disability. 0:00:55.459 --> 0:01:00.980 Welcome to the program. It's Melbourne International Comedy Festival time, 0:01:00.980 --> 0:01:05.110 which means for the second year running I'm chatting with 0:01:05.110 --> 0:01:10.720 Jeremy Moses, legally blind slam poet and comedian who's back 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:18.220 in 2025 with his show 157 Years of Bad Slam Poetry. 0:01:18.340 --> 0:01:22.209 I'm catching up with Jeremy for a majority of the 0:01:22.209 --> 0:01:26.860 program this week, but you'll also hear a sneak peek 0:01:26.860 --> 0:01:31.450 of an upcoming podcast. The Career Path, which will be 0:01:31.450 --> 0:01:36.999 launching in May. This week, we're featuring professor Nick Titov 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:43.419 from Mindspot having a chat about self-care and mindfulness for 0:01:43.420 --> 0:01:48.310 job seekers and employees who are blind or have low vision. 0:01:48.580 --> 0:01:53.110 I hope you'll enjoy this week's episode of Talking Vision. 0:01:56.560 --> 0:02:00.730 Last year, we caught up with legally blind comedian and 0:02:00.730 --> 0:02:05.280 slam poet Jeremy Moses, who brought his talents to the 0:02:05.280 --> 0:02:11.820 Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2024. Well, he's back again 0:02:11.820 --> 0:02:19.830 in 2025, bringing 157 years of bad slam poetry. His 0:02:19.830 --> 0:02:24.150 successful show from last year back to the comedy festival 0:02:24.150 --> 0:02:28.140 with a bunch of new improvements. And it's my great 0:02:28.140 --> 0:02:32.400 pleasure to welcome Jeremy back 12 months later to see 0:02:32.400 --> 0:02:35.280 what he's been up to, and find out what's in 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:41.010 store for audience members in 2025. Jeremy, welcome back to 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.350 Talking Vision. Great to have you. 0:02:43.380 --> 0:02:46.050 Hello, Sam. Thank you so much for having me back. 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:50.490 Now, Jeremy, it's a very exciting time of year. You've 0:02:50.490 --> 0:02:54.870 brought a solo show to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival 0:02:54.870 --> 0:02:59.220 last year, and it's making a return this year. So 0:02:59.250 --> 0:03:01.610 tell us a little bit about the show and what's 0:03:01.610 --> 0:03:03.860 in store for people if they head along. 0:03:03.890 --> 0:03:07.370 Yeah, well, last year it was called 157 hours of 0:03:07.370 --> 0:03:10.710 bad slam poetry. The year before, it was called 157 0:03:10.710 --> 0:03:13.820 minutes of bad slam poetry. And that was my first 0:03:13.820 --> 0:03:16.760 show at the fringe Melbourne Fringe. But yeah, this year 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:21.470 it's called 157 years of Bad Slam Poetry. So adding 0:03:21.500 --> 0:03:24.050 to the confusion of how long the show will be, 0:03:24.290 --> 0:03:27.260 but I promise you it'll only be 50 minutes. Yeah, 0:03:27.260 --> 0:03:31.580 it's good fun. It's an improvement on the previous shows 0:03:31.580 --> 0:03:36.200 where I talk about my disability. I'm legally blind, visually impaired, 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:39.890 and I've got like mobility issues as well. And I 0:03:39.890 --> 0:03:44.000 talk about my family, my big weird family and the 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:46.640 poetry that I wrote in lockdown. But I promise you, 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:49.490 there won't be many poems and it'll only be a handful. 0:03:49.490 --> 0:03:52.760 It's just a jumping off point to talk about bigger issues. 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.460 But it's a lot of fun, you know, seeing the 0:03:55.460 --> 0:03:59.510 funny side of things that are sometimes a bit awkward, 0:03:59.540 --> 0:04:02.710 a bit stressful, but you can look back on it 0:04:02.710 --> 0:04:04.990 and laugh a bit. And that does help a lot, 0:04:05.020 --> 0:04:05.650 doesn't it? 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:09.310 It does. Yeah, it's quite therapeutic actually. And not a 0:04:09.340 --> 0:04:12.850 lot of comedians are able to talk about visual impairment. 0:04:12.850 --> 0:04:16.630 We're a minority, which is good for me for material. 0:04:16.630 --> 0:04:19.750 But disability is a good topic of conversation because like, 0:04:19.779 --> 0:04:23.500 it helps people relate to your material. It helps people 0:04:23.500 --> 0:04:28.420 get comfortable and understand about disability, which is great. And 0:04:28.420 --> 0:04:31.450 I really enjoy talking about the awkward stuff that happens 0:04:31.450 --> 0:04:33.940 to me because a lot of awkward stuff does happen, 0:04:33.940 --> 0:04:36.610 like in public. Like, I'll get into the wrong car 0:04:36.610 --> 0:04:40.570 by accident or I'll like, be mistaken for drunk on 0:04:40.570 --> 0:04:44.410 the train, you know, and it's it's interesting to talk 0:04:44.410 --> 0:04:47.650 about it and break down those barriers. Um, but yeah, 0:04:47.650 --> 0:04:50.830 I'm really enjoying shining a light on disability. 0:04:50.860 --> 0:04:56.470 And speaking of breaking down those barriers and making things accessible, 0:04:56.470 --> 0:04:59.870 it's very exciting to note that your show will be 0:04:59.870 --> 0:05:04.400 in an accessible venue again. This time it's DoubleTree by 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:09.050 Hilton on Flinders Street, so that's fantastic to hear that 0:05:09.050 --> 0:05:12.770 you're in an accessible venue. So that's fantastic for you 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:16.700 to cater for your low vision and your mobility. So 0:05:16.700 --> 0:05:20.510 that's fantastic that they've taken that on board, but also 0:05:20.510 --> 0:05:23.990 for the audience to get around and be able to 0:05:24.020 --> 0:05:26.660 see your show accessibly. That's a huge win. 0:05:26.690 --> 0:05:28.790 Yeah, a big part of it is having as many 0:05:28.790 --> 0:05:32.719 people involved as possible to be inclusive and accessible, and 0:05:32.750 --> 0:05:35.240 our venue has a lift, which is great. And yeah, 0:05:35.270 --> 0:05:41.150 anyone's welcome. It's fully accessible and it's a great little venue. Actually, 0:05:41.150 --> 0:05:45.830 it's 120 seats per session, which is a lot, but 0:05:45.830 --> 0:05:48.080 to get an accessible venue, you kind of do need 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:52.190 to get a bigger space. Otherwise, the festival snaps up 0:05:52.190 --> 0:05:56.570 those venues that are accessible and independent. Comedians often get 0:05:56.620 --> 0:06:00.070 gigs with stairs, and it's kind of difficult, but I'm 0:06:00.070 --> 0:06:02.320 glad that we're in an accessible venue. 0:06:02.350 --> 0:06:07.840 Yeah, certainly. And we'll get back into further details about 0:06:07.840 --> 0:06:12.400 the show later on. But in the meantime, I'm keen 0:06:12.430 --> 0:06:16.210 to pick your brain about a few other things, like 0:06:16.210 --> 0:06:21.490 you've recently been at the Sydney Fringe and had some 0:06:21.490 --> 0:06:24.250 experiences there. Tell us a bit about that. 0:06:24.280 --> 0:06:27.040 Yeah, the last time we spoke, actually, we left the 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.260 audience on a bit of a cliffhanger because I was 0:06:29.260 --> 0:06:31.690 going to the airport to get a flight to Sydney 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:34.480 on my own for the first time, and I remember 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:37.510 talking to you and we were discussing how hard it 0:06:37.510 --> 0:06:40.630 is as someone with a visual impairment to get around 0:06:40.630 --> 0:06:44.560 an airport and how difficult it was to try and 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:46.930 book someone to meet me at the airport to help me, 0:06:46.930 --> 0:06:49.570 because the box that I ticked on the website didn't 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.120 translate to someone. Yeah. To help. 0:06:52.150 --> 0:06:52.990 I remember that. 0:06:53.020 --> 0:06:54.790 Yeah, I did make it, actually. 0:06:54.940 --> 0:06:55.770 Oh that's fantastic. 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:56.490 Yeah, but I did. 0:06:56.490 --> 0:06:57.150 Have excellent news. 0:06:57.180 --> 0:06:59.430 I did have to ask someone. Yes. When I was 0:06:59.430 --> 0:07:01.920 running through the terminal, like, is it that way or 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:04.650 that way? And a lot of people had noise cancelling 0:07:04.650 --> 0:07:08.940 headphones and or pretended not to hear me, and I 0:07:08.970 --> 0:07:11.640 finally figured it out. Like, someone was nice enough to 0:07:11.670 --> 0:07:14.430 stop and and say, hey, it's that way. And then 0:07:14.430 --> 0:07:16.800 I made it with like five minutes to spare or something. 0:07:16.830 --> 0:07:17.130 Oh my. 0:07:17.130 --> 0:07:19.920 God. But it was it was harrowing. Yeah. And I 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.920 made it to Sydney, and I got to spend some 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.710 time with my family because I grew up there, and 0:07:25.710 --> 0:07:28.440 it was a really good experience, like my family I 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:31.320 hadn't seen in a long time. And that's not just 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.800 because of the eyesight. But yeah, I hadn't I hadn't 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.260 seen them in a while and and they all came 0:07:37.260 --> 0:07:39.780 and filled up the room and, you know, they laughed 0:07:39.780 --> 0:07:41.910 and they cried and it was, it was really lovely. 0:07:41.940 --> 0:07:44.760 It was, it was great to see them and, and 0:07:44.850 --> 0:07:48.360 and I flew back in one piece, no issues there 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:52.500 and then jumped back into the Fringe Festival in Melbourne and. Yeah. 0:07:52.530 --> 0:07:55.460 And now I'm here doing the show that I did 0:07:55.460 --> 0:08:00.290 in Sydney only, like more like, um, improved and updated. 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.540 That's great to hear. It went well. I know there 0:08:02.540 --> 0:08:06.230 was a lot of trepidation. It is quite difficult for 0:08:06.260 --> 0:08:09.740 quite a few of us with, um, blindness or low vision. 0:08:09.740 --> 0:08:13.040 I know I've spoken to, um, a friend of mine 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:16.970 who's an influencer on, um, Instagram in the blindness and 0:08:16.970 --> 0:08:20.330 low vision space. He was up and hosting the Blind 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:24.140 Australian of the year awards in Brisbane late last year 0:08:24.140 --> 0:08:26.660 and on my birthday in fact. So it was great 0:08:26.660 --> 0:08:30.050 to celebrate my birthday by, um, carrying a live stream 0:08:30.050 --> 0:08:32.990 of that. But yeah, he's an experienced traveler and he 0:08:32.990 --> 0:08:36.590 still finds it quite difficult. So yeah, no, I totally 0:08:36.590 --> 0:08:38.540 get where you're coming from there. 0:08:38.569 --> 0:08:40.699 How do how do I get nominated for the Blind 0:08:40.729 --> 0:08:42.380 Australian of the year award? 0:08:42.410 --> 0:08:46.969 I don't know, actually. You just somebody out there is like, wow, 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:50.420 this is really funny. This is amazing. This is the 0:08:50.420 --> 0:08:53.800 best show ever. I'm nominating you for that, and I'm 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.699 sure that'll happen one day, so fingers crossed. Yeah, fingers 0:08:57.699 --> 0:09:01.809 crossed for sure. Now let's get back to your growing 0:09:01.809 --> 0:09:06.160 comfort discussing your disability on stage. I know it's not 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:10.089 always been a super easy topic for you to talk about, 0:09:10.089 --> 0:09:12.879 and you know there's a lot to work through. I 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:18.339 know myself I didn't really consider myself disabled fully in 0:09:18.339 --> 0:09:21.640 the sort of advocacy and thing like that until I 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.550 was in my mid 20s. And, you know, it does 0:09:24.550 --> 0:09:26.860 take a while to sort of say, you know what? 0:09:26.859 --> 0:09:30.099 This is part of me. This is who I am. 0:09:30.130 --> 0:09:34.240 I've got a little bit of a responsibility to embrace 0:09:34.240 --> 0:09:39.249 that and help others in my situation who can benefit 0:09:39.250 --> 0:09:44.319 from advocacy or benefit from hearing somebody on stage saying, hey, 0:09:44.319 --> 0:09:48.189 this is me, and you have that representation that hasn't 0:09:48.189 --> 0:09:49.239 always been there. 0:09:49.270 --> 0:09:52.140 Yeah, for me, I actually came to it a bit later, 0:09:52.170 --> 0:09:54.990 even like in my in my mid 30s was when 0:09:54.990 --> 0:09:57.839 I got comfortable talking about it. And yeah, I used 0:09:57.839 --> 0:10:02.070 to make short films and and music videos and things. Um, 0:10:02.099 --> 0:10:05.279 corporate videos. And I used to kind of dislike it 0:10:05.309 --> 0:10:08.520 when people would go, oh, you're blind. And you edit videos, like, 0:10:08.550 --> 0:10:11.610 how does that work? But, um, as I got like 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:13.380 a bit older and a bit more comfortable in my 0:10:13.410 --> 0:10:16.890 own skin, it's definitely a good thing to talk about. 0:10:16.890 --> 0:10:21.089 And it makes people understand more about disability. And the 0:10:21.089 --> 0:10:23.069 guy who stopped me at the train station and asked 0:10:23.069 --> 0:10:25.229 me if I was drunk or if I was disabled. 0:10:25.260 --> 0:10:27.569 Like the fact that I can invite him to my 0:10:27.569 --> 0:10:31.380 show and he can understand what the story is, is great. 0:10:31.410 --> 0:10:34.679 Like you can say a lot more on stage than 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.130 you can just in person. It's very hard to explain 0:10:38.130 --> 0:10:40.679 to people, and nor should you have to really like. 0:10:40.740 --> 0:10:41.280 Exactly. 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:44.969 But the stage is great. And other comedians talk about 0:10:44.969 --> 0:10:48.899 disability these days, like it's becoming more common that a 0:10:48.900 --> 0:10:52.429 comedian will talk about autism or being hearing impaired or 0:10:52.429 --> 0:10:56.390 visually impaired. And it's great. We're breaking down barriers gradually. 0:10:56.390 --> 0:11:00.020 And I think it's it's changing for the better. Yeah. 0:11:00.050 --> 0:11:04.699 This is also a really apt time for the resumption 0:11:04.699 --> 0:11:08.749 of bad slam poetry as we're heading into an election year. 0:11:08.750 --> 0:11:11.900 And there's a lot of spicy topics to cover and 0:11:11.900 --> 0:11:15.229 a lot of different bits and pieces that are going on, 0:11:15.229 --> 0:11:19.340 like touching back on that advocacy topic where we can 0:11:19.339 --> 0:11:23.209 go to governments and say, hey, this, this and this. 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:27.110 We need these to improve. This is what we want 0:11:27.109 --> 0:11:30.979 to see from like an incoming government. Things like that. 0:11:30.979 --> 0:11:34.280 And I guess that's where this all ties in and 0:11:34.309 --> 0:11:37.489 is really sort of super relevant in 2025. 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:41.510 Yeah, the arts are important in times of political change, 0:11:41.510 --> 0:11:45.920 and the poetry I do is quite political and quite snarky. 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:49.629 The politicians of the day. and it's exciting coming into 0:11:49.630 --> 0:11:53.170 the election. I've got two alter egos. One of them, 0:11:53.170 --> 0:11:56.709 I wear a pink beret and stripy pants and a 0:11:56.709 --> 0:12:00.760 knit jumper and I blow. A harmonica and I tell 0:12:00.790 --> 0:12:06.010 silly poems like word slams. And the other alter ego 0:12:06.010 --> 0:12:09.819 is framed. On. Do you remember Linda Hurley? She was 0:12:09.819 --> 0:12:13.659 like the governor general of Australia. She used to do 0:12:13.660 --> 0:12:16.870 these songs at like different events where she'd play the piano, 0:12:16.870 --> 0:12:21.370 and I used. Way too many words in a certain phrase, 0:12:21.370 --> 0:12:24.100 and it was fun. So I kind of modelled it 0:12:24.099 --> 0:12:27.760 on that. Where, like, I wear like a, um, like 0:12:27.790 --> 0:12:31.329 a hat for, like, the racing carnival days. 0:12:31.359 --> 0:12:32.439 Yeah. The fascinator. 0:12:32.469 --> 0:12:35.290 Pink hat. Yeah. Fascinator. And and I play a little 0:12:35.290 --> 0:12:36.609 pink piano. 0:12:36.640 --> 0:12:37.270 Oh, my God. 0:12:37.300 --> 0:12:37.540 That's. 0:12:38.020 --> 0:12:38.950 Amazing. I love that. 0:12:38.979 --> 0:12:42.189 Sing a little song. And I actually I used I. 0:12:42.219 --> 0:12:46.869 To get the song. Like I found a recording of 0:12:46.870 --> 0:12:49.929 her playing the song, and I used the software that 0:12:49.929 --> 0:12:51.520 Peter Jackson used to separate. 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:52.150 Oh, okay. 0:12:52.179 --> 0:12:55.839 To separate the Beatles like voice from the background noise. 0:12:55.839 --> 0:12:58.990 And I used that to separate her piano from her vocal, 0:12:58.990 --> 0:13:01.179 and then I. So now when I sing, I sing 0:13:01.179 --> 0:13:03.849 over her piano playing, which is kind of fun. 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:04.660 That's fantastic. 0:13:04.689 --> 0:13:04.929 Yeah. 0:13:04.929 --> 0:13:06.340 So that's great, I think. 0:13:06.370 --> 0:13:09.280 So I put them up online like one minute poems 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:13.569 and it seems to be doing well, like they're really fun. 0:13:13.569 --> 0:13:16.149 And now like, yeah, doing it on stage. But I 0:13:16.150 --> 0:13:19.390 don't do the, the little piano one on stage. And 0:13:19.390 --> 0:13:21.490 for the harmonica ones I only do a few of 0:13:21.490 --> 0:13:24.069 them on stage, but it's a fun way to kind 0:13:24.069 --> 0:13:26.650 of talk about the issues of the day. I haven't 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.530 actually done one about disability, but maybe that's the next 0:13:29.920 --> 0:13:30.760 stage of it. 0:13:30.790 --> 0:13:33.969 Yeah, well, certainly. Yeah, we'll keep our eye on that 0:13:33.969 --> 0:13:37.030 and see what happens in that space would be very interesting. 0:13:37.059 --> 0:13:41.559 I find there's like a conflict between comedians and poets. Yeah. 0:13:41.589 --> 0:13:44.709 Like I went to, like, a poetry recital last night 0:13:44.709 --> 0:13:48.010 and everyone is kind of uptight. Like, you take it 0:13:48.010 --> 0:13:50.229 very seriously. And then I get up and I blow 0:13:50.260 --> 0:13:53.410 a harmonica and they're like, who's this joker? What's he doing? 0:13:53.439 --> 0:13:56.410 But actually, people are starting to warm to it. In 0:13:56.410 --> 0:13:58.569 the poetry circles, which is nice. 0:13:58.599 --> 0:13:59.559 Oh that's fantastic. 0:13:59.589 --> 0:14:00.309 It's good fun. 0:14:00.339 --> 0:14:09.129 Yeah, it is good fun. I'm Sam Coley and you're 0:14:09.130 --> 0:14:15.100 listening to Talking Vision on Vision Australia Radio. Associated stations 0:14:15.099 --> 0:14:20.379 of Reading Radio and the Community Radio Network. I hope 0:14:20.380 --> 0:14:24.790 you enjoyed part one of my conversation this week with 0:14:24.790 --> 0:14:31.720 Jeremy Moses, host of his one man comedy show. 157 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:36.340 Years of Bad Slam Poetry. If you missed any part 0:14:36.370 --> 0:14:40.960 of this conversation today with Jeremy, or you'd love to 0:14:40.990 --> 0:14:45.540 hear it again. Talking vision is available on the Vision 0:14:45.540 --> 0:14:52.889 Australia Radio website. Simply head to VA radio.org that's VA 0:14:52.920 --> 0:14:58.080 radio all one word.org or you can find the program 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:01.620 on the podcast app of your choice or through the 0:15:01.620 --> 0:15:07.109 Vision Australia library. And now please enjoy part two of 0:15:07.109 --> 0:15:11.340 my conversation with Jeremy. That's great that you're sort of 0:15:11.370 --> 0:15:14.790 getting up and breaking the ice a little bit and 0:15:14.790 --> 0:15:19.320 getting people to take themselves a little bit less seriously, 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:22.920 and I think that's great for everyone. When people can 0:15:22.950 --> 0:15:25.230 sort of let their hair down a bit, have a 0:15:25.229 --> 0:15:28.979 bit of a laugh, but it's still like, obviously there's 0:15:28.979 --> 0:15:31.649 super like there's a lot of substance to it. And 0:15:31.650 --> 0:15:34.890 I think that's what is really important about this sort 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:39.210 of thing. People might think, oh, comedy, poetry, that's, oh, 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:44.240 that's not as serious. It's not as substantial. And obviously 0:15:44.240 --> 0:15:46.550 as you know, nothing can be further from the truth. 0:15:46.550 --> 0:15:48.830 There's a lot to be said while you know you're 0:15:48.830 --> 0:15:52.369 still having a laugh and letting people have a fun time. 0:15:52.370 --> 0:15:56.060 So I think that's a fantastic thing you're doing there. 0:15:56.060 --> 0:15:58.940 And also there's power in comedy as well, like stand 0:15:58.970 --> 0:16:00.800 up comedy. I do a lot of jokes about my 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:04.460 disability and the different ways that things get awkward in public, 0:16:04.460 --> 0:16:08.930 and getting on and off the stage is often difficult. Um, like, 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:10.909 the emcee has to shake my hand a little bit 0:16:10.910 --> 0:16:13.640 to help me up onto the stage, and I have 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:17.090 fallen off a stage once in a while, but it's fine. Like, 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:19.790 it's great to be able to get up on stage, 0:16:19.790 --> 0:16:21.920 and the more I do it, the more people seem 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:25.070 to gravitate towards it and be nice about it. And 0:16:25.070 --> 0:16:27.560 also like because I've been doing gigs like every day, 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:30.380 I was in the city in Flinders Street station like 0:16:30.380 --> 0:16:33.800 two nights ago and there was trackwork, but I didn't 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:36.050 realise there was trackwork and I had to go down 0:16:36.050 --> 0:16:38.840 to the platform and take a photo of the screen 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.710 to see what time my train came and it turns 0:16:41.710 --> 0:16:44.710 out it was done for the night. So I had 0:16:44.710 --> 0:16:47.320 two options. Like I could either run around the taxi 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.080 rank at Flinders Street station to have a lot of 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.379 cab drivers turn me down, like saying they won't take 0:16:53.380 --> 0:16:57.550 my cab, charge or get a tram and try and 0:16:57.550 --> 0:17:00.850 get the right one. Ask someone what number the tram is, 0:17:00.850 --> 0:17:03.609 or press the little button and have it read back 0:17:03.609 --> 0:17:07.330 to me in sequential order when the next tram is, 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.000 in which case I miss the one that is actually 0:17:10.030 --> 0:17:13.359 at the station because I'm waiting to tell me which one. Yeah, 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:16.240 it happens a lot like it does. Yeah, I'm learning 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:18.820 how difficult it is to navigate with a disability when 0:17:18.820 --> 0:17:22.330 you're on your own. And also like here, like out 0:17:22.330 --> 0:17:25.899 the front, like there's no low floor trams at Vision Australia, 0:17:25.899 --> 0:17:28.270 which I think is like surprising. 0:17:28.300 --> 0:17:28.869 It is. 0:17:28.869 --> 0:17:31.209 But the train station's here and that's convenient. 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:31.870 Yeah. 0:17:31.930 --> 0:17:35.800 Um, yeah, I'm noticing a lot more limits to accessibility 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:38.889 in the world, and hopefully by talking about it, people 0:17:38.889 --> 0:17:41.609 will change and the government will look at it and go, hey, 0:17:41.609 --> 0:17:44.070 we should put a low floor tram. We should put 0:17:44.070 --> 0:17:46.469 more signage to tell people not to go down that 0:17:46.470 --> 0:17:49.590 escalator for no reason in the middle of the night. Like. 0:17:49.619 --> 0:17:50.790 Yeah, exactly. 0:17:50.820 --> 0:17:52.259 Hopefully it's getting better. 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:57.449 Hopefully. And yeah, it is quite inconsistent with regards to 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:01.560 the trams on the line that goes down Glenferrie Road. 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:04.830 Sometimes you do get the low floor trams and then 0:18:04.830 --> 0:18:08.700 all of a sudden it's um, an old 80s tram. Yeah, 0:18:08.700 --> 0:18:10.530 that is really difficult for people. 0:18:10.530 --> 0:18:13.050 I was like on Glenferrie Road, I was on one 0:18:13.050 --> 0:18:16.290 low floor tram that said, from now on there'll be 0:18:16.290 --> 0:18:20.340 no more accessible stops. And like I was like, what 0:18:20.340 --> 0:18:23.100 do I do now then? Like I'm fine. But for 0:18:23.100 --> 0:18:25.620 people who are, you know, more disabled than I like, 0:18:25.649 --> 0:18:25.980 it must. 0:18:25.980 --> 0:18:26.100 Be. 0:18:26.609 --> 0:18:29.939 Challenging. And the other tram that I got on Glenferrie Road, yeah. 0:18:29.970 --> 0:18:32.429 Didn't have any announcements whatsoever. And so I had to 0:18:32.460 --> 0:18:34.350 kind of use my phone app to tell me where 0:18:34.350 --> 0:18:38.450 to get off. It's very inconsistent. And the tram stops 0:18:38.450 --> 0:18:41.300 aren't built the way they should be, and the trams 0:18:41.300 --> 0:18:44.629 themselves aren't upgraded to help people. Yeah, it's a little 0:18:44.659 --> 0:18:47.419 bit ridiculous and hopefully they fix it. 0:18:47.450 --> 0:18:51.080 Yeah, cos I know there's a few tram lines where, 0:18:51.109 --> 0:18:55.039 you know, they're all like, oh, we're making this really accessible. 0:18:55.040 --> 0:19:00.770 Every stop you can have a audio described layout of 0:19:00.770 --> 0:19:03.859 where your stop is and what time and blah blah blah. 0:19:03.859 --> 0:19:07.609 But that's only one line. And they haven't at this 0:19:07.609 --> 0:19:10.850 point haven't extended that out to other lines. But we'll 0:19:10.850 --> 0:19:12.800 see what happens in the future. Yeah. 0:19:12.830 --> 0:19:15.080 That's you have to get off one bus to get 0:19:15.109 --> 0:19:17.449 one tram and you have to cross a road. 0:19:17.450 --> 0:19:18.259 And yeah. 0:19:18.290 --> 0:19:21.560 The lines don't intersect with each other. Yeah, it's very complicated. 0:19:21.590 --> 0:19:25.730 It is very complicated. But what's not complicated are the 0:19:25.730 --> 0:19:32.540 details around your show. 157 years of bad slam poetry. 0:19:32.570 --> 0:19:36.220 Let's get the details for people out there. If they'd 0:19:36.220 --> 0:19:37.780 love to head along. 0:19:37.810 --> 0:19:41.560 Yeah. March 26th to March 30th at the DoubleTree by Hilton. 0:19:41.560 --> 0:19:45.460 It's opposite Flinders Street station. So that's an accessible venue 0:19:45.460 --> 0:19:48.940 and it's near public transport, which is great. Yeah. 26th 0:19:48.940 --> 0:19:53.500 to the 30th of March. DoubleTree by Hilton. You're all 0:19:53.500 --> 0:19:56.260 more than welcome to come. It starts at 7:40 p.m.. 0:19:56.290 --> 0:19:59.080 My name is Jeremy Moses, and if you want to 0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:03.340 come along, go to comedy festival. Com.au and type in 0:20:03.340 --> 0:20:10.869 Jeremy Moses and it'll come up. Or you could call 92453788. 0:20:10.869 --> 0:20:13.989 And that's the phone box office. And you can get 0:20:13.990 --> 0:20:14.980 tickets through that. 0:20:15.010 --> 0:20:20.800 Perfect. Well, I've been speaking today with Jeremy Moses, host 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:28.840 of the comedy poetry slam extravaganza 157 Years of Bad 0:20:28.840 --> 0:20:34.859 Slam Poetry, playing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival this 0:20:34.859 --> 0:20:40.080 year from March 26th to March 30th, in Melbourne. Jeremy, 0:20:40.109 --> 0:20:42.750 thank you so much for your time today. Great to 0:20:42.780 --> 0:20:45.720 catch up with you again and hear about what you've 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:46.409 been up to. 0:20:46.440 --> 0:20:48.929 Oh thank you Sam. Thank you so much. And before 0:20:48.930 --> 0:20:50.580 I go, do you want to hear a poem? Do 0:20:50.580 --> 0:20:51.780 you want me to do a poem for you? 0:20:51.810 --> 0:20:52.439 Please do. 0:20:52.470 --> 0:20:53.219 I can. 0:20:53.369 --> 0:20:54.030 Yes. 0:20:54.060 --> 0:20:57.000 I brought my harmonica. Ah, so this is the first 0:20:57.000 --> 0:20:59.129 poem I ever did in lockdown. And feel free to 0:20:59.159 --> 0:21:00.480 cut this if it's no good. 0:21:00.510 --> 0:21:02.040 No, we'll love it. It'll be great. 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:13.380 Locked down, locked out. My city is bare. Blocked. Frowning. Stuck. 0:21:13.379 --> 0:21:17.970 SAT on my chair while Gladys aims a Glock at 0:21:17.970 --> 0:21:27.570 my fat derriere. Drowning in doubt, gasping for air. Stay strong, 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:34.970 stay safe, stay home. Take care. Take stock when we 0:21:34.970 --> 0:21:44.990 are free. There will be nothing there but shock. Huh? 0:21:45.139 --> 0:21:46.340 We're keeping that. 0:21:46.669 --> 0:21:47.960 Thank you so much. 0:21:53.750 --> 0:21:57.830 Today I'm excited to bring you a small clip of 0:21:57.830 --> 0:22:04.580 my interview with professor Nick Titov, Executive Director at Mindspot. 0:22:04.609 --> 0:22:10.220 As part of an upcoming podcast series, The Career Path, 0:22:10.250 --> 0:22:14.960 kicking off in May, this will be the second season 0:22:14.990 --> 0:22:19.910 of the Career Path podcast, enabling people who are blind 0:22:19.909 --> 0:22:24.409 or have low vision to feel confident, capable and ready 0:22:24.409 --> 0:22:29.030 to tackle anything that comes at them in their careers. 0:22:29.180 --> 0:22:34.300 This week we're talking about mindfulness and self-care with Nick. 0:22:34.300 --> 0:22:37.270 So with all of that in mind, let's chat with 0:22:37.270 --> 0:22:41.890 Nick right now. Emotional intelligence plays a vital role in 0:22:41.919 --> 0:22:46.300 navigating the job search process, and self-care is key to 0:22:46.300 --> 0:22:51.639 nurturing it. So how can understanding the Big Five behavior model, 0:22:51.639 --> 0:22:56.530 combined with self-care strategies, help people with vision loss to 0:22:56.560 --> 0:23:02.830 improve their emotional well-being and workplace relationships? But just before 0:23:02.830 --> 0:23:06.010 we do that, I also might get you to quickly 0:23:06.010 --> 0:23:09.610 give a bit of an overview of the Big Five 0:23:09.609 --> 0:23:12.100 model and what that entails. 0:23:12.730 --> 0:23:16.359 Okay. Thank you. So, so just very briefly, we have 0:23:16.359 --> 0:23:20.980 been for quite a number of years looking at trying 0:23:20.980 --> 0:23:23.379 to identify out of all the things people can do, 0:23:23.409 --> 0:23:26.739 what are the most important things for their mental health. 0:23:26.770 --> 0:23:29.800 And what we've done is run quite a number of 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:34.009 trials in recent years. Clinical trials and projects with a 0:23:34.010 --> 0:23:37.550 total of about 26,000 Australians so far. And that number 0:23:37.550 --> 0:23:40.310 is increasing pretty much every day. But what we found 0:23:40.340 --> 0:23:44.869 is that there are five key groups of activities which 0:23:44.869 --> 0:23:48.709 are really strongly linked to mental health. And basically the 0:23:48.710 --> 0:23:52.340 more people do these activities, the more likely they are 0:23:52.340 --> 0:23:55.219 to have good mental health. Now, they're not a panacea. 0:23:55.250 --> 0:23:58.609 They won't cure all mental health ills. But what we 0:23:58.609 --> 0:24:00.890 do know is that if people do them regularly, they're 0:24:00.889 --> 0:24:03.590 really likely to be able to stay grounded. And they're 0:24:03.590 --> 0:24:05.990 quite simple. They're a nice way. If you like to 0:24:06.020 --> 0:24:10.910 practice self-care. The big five include doing meaningful activities, things 0:24:10.909 --> 0:24:14.449 we love and enjoy, regularly practicing healthy thinking, which is 0:24:14.450 --> 0:24:18.530 about staying grounded and calm and keeping perspective even in 0:24:18.530 --> 0:24:22.129 challenging situations. Having goals and plans. That is things to 0:24:22.159 --> 0:24:27.050 look forward to. Having healthy routines such as getting regular exercise, 0:24:27.050 --> 0:24:29.080 making sure you go to bed and get up at 0:24:29.080 --> 0:24:32.530 a reasonable time every day, and having social connections that 0:24:32.530 --> 0:24:36.369 is staying connected with people you love. Now you can see, Sam, 0:24:36.369 --> 0:24:40.929 that these five groups of actions, meaningful activities, healthy thinking, 0:24:40.930 --> 0:24:45.130 goals and plans, healthy routines and social connections are really 0:24:45.159 --> 0:24:48.940 a really simple self-care model. And we know that when 0:24:48.940 --> 0:24:51.790 people are going through difficult times, these are the kinds 0:24:51.790 --> 0:24:55.570 of actions which people do less of. When people are 0:24:55.570 --> 0:25:00.220 unwell or when they're under pressure, they often stop doing 0:25:00.220 --> 0:25:02.949 things such as the things they love to do, the 0:25:02.950 --> 0:25:07.150 meaningful activities, their healthy routines may fall over. They may 0:25:07.149 --> 0:25:11.109 not connect with others. So in the context of of 0:25:11.560 --> 0:25:15.850 searching for jobs or while you're in employment, the big five, 0:25:15.879 --> 0:25:19.390 we've found, is a really simple framework for people to 0:25:19.419 --> 0:25:22.840 just check in with themselves. Are they doing enough of 0:25:22.840 --> 0:25:26.410 these things every week to keep themselves going? You don't 0:25:26.409 --> 0:25:28.509 have to do these things every day, but if you 0:25:28.510 --> 0:25:30.700 can do them at least half the days of the week, 0:25:30.700 --> 0:25:34.149 then our data from a very large number of people 0:25:34.149 --> 0:25:36.850 shows that these are the things which can help you 0:25:36.879 --> 0:25:42.520 stay resilient, which has enormous implications for our ability to 0:25:42.550 --> 0:25:45.939 function at work, including our workplace relationships. 0:25:46.419 --> 0:25:51.550 And a lot of it does sound very sensible, very actionable. 0:25:51.550 --> 0:25:54.910 A lot of those things people no doubt nodding their heads, 0:25:54.909 --> 0:25:58.330 listening along, thinking, hey, I could do that. That sounds 0:25:58.330 --> 0:26:02.260 really fantastic, really easy. And, you know, there's so many 0:26:02.260 --> 0:26:06.280 great little things, little simple things every day that, you know, 0:26:06.310 --> 0:26:10.030 people can get involved with and, you know, improve their 0:26:10.030 --> 0:26:13.869 health and wellbeing. So it's a fantastic thing to jump 0:26:13.869 --> 0:26:17.109 into and have a go. Nick, thank you again for 0:26:17.109 --> 0:26:20.409 your time today. It's been an absolute pleasure to catch 0:26:20.409 --> 0:26:23.950 up with you and chat all about self-care on this 0:26:23.950 --> 0:26:25.909 episode of The Career path. 0:26:25.940 --> 0:26:27.230 Sam, thank you very much. 0:26:27.260 --> 0:26:30.410 And that's all the time we have for today. You've 0:26:30.440 --> 0:26:34.640 been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision 0:26:34.669 --> 0:26:38.840 Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the 0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:43.040 show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you. 0:26:43.040 --> 0:26:46.310 So please get in touch any time on our email 0:26:46.310 --> 0:26:51.619 at Talking Vision. At Vision australia.org. That's talking vision all 0:26:51.619 --> 0:26:56.419 one word at Vision australia.org. But until next week it's 0:26:56.419 --> 0:26:58.850 Sam Coley saying bye for now. 0:27:01.909 --> 0:27:06.080 You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during 0:27:06.080 --> 0:27:17.960 business hours on 1300 847 406. That's 1300 847 406 or by visiting Vision australia.org. 0:27:17.960 --> 0:27:20.480 That's Vision australia.org.