The Iowa Idea: Hannah Soyer

“Listen to those living the experience.”

On this episode of The Iowa Idea Podcast, I’m joined by Hannah Soyer. Hannah is a queer disabled writer born and living in the Midwest. Her work explores the representation of “Othered” bodies, and how the arts–in particular storytelling–can be beautiful acts of survival, resistance, and community building. She is the founder of This Body is Worthy, a project aimed at celebrating bodies outside of mainstream societal ideals, and Words of Reclamation, a space for disabled writers. Links to Hannah’s website and This Body is Worthy can be found in the show description.

Hannah and I discuss her journey and early interests in writing and advocacy. We explore topics of genre, genre-bending, and the importance of inclusivity and human-centered design.

Hannah was generous and patient with me as we dug into her approach to creativity and writing. I appreciated Hannah’s advice on creativity and how honor one’s creative needs. I loved her insight into the importance of “listening to those living the experience.” Too often our mental models and assumptions get in the way of recognizing the human and humanity in others. Famed systems dynamics researcher Jay Forrester said we all have mental models; and as George Box said, “all models are wrong, some are useful.” Our models are wrong in that they’re imperfect, but they can become better and more useful if we’re open to continuous learning.

It was an honor having Hannah join me on the show. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Hannah Soyer (she/her) is a queer disabled writer born and living in the Midwest. Her work explores the representation of “Othered” bodies, and how the arts–in particular storytelling–can be beautiful acts of survival, resistance, and community building. She is the founder of This Body is Worthy, a project aimed at celebrating bodies outside of mainstream societal ideals, and Words of Reclamation, a space for disabled writers. She also happens to be a cat and chocolate enthusiast.

Links

hannahsoyer.com

thisbodyisworthy.com

Episode produced by Spark Consulting Group (www.inspiredbyspark.com) in Iowa City, with support from Executive Podcast Solutions (https://www.executivepodcastsolutions.com/).

The Iowa Idea Podcast theme music written and performed by Paisley Bible (https://paisleybible.bandcamp.com/).