Host Lana Hoffman, 23, became disabled after a diving accident at age 16, becoming quadriplegic. She has ongoing interests in art, photography and the natural world and wants to promote access to all of these for people with disabilities of any kind. Lana lives in a home on her own, but does need 24-hour care; she navigates the world from her wheelchair and phone. She enjoys going on rolls with her two dogs, Obie and Anekin, and host flocks of birds to her feeders in her garden which overlooks green space.

When Lana was in High School I earned an internship with KXRW and that was after she was injured. She learned about the power of radio and how it touches so many lives in the community. For Lana to do the internship, she had to overcome access barriers, such as how to get into buildings, finding back ways, and elevators and even carry her own ramps to get into some of them. She also noted that there aren’t really radio shows that talk about the challenges of day-to-day living with a disability or how the disabled can achieve their own hopes and dreams, like traveling or getting and holding down a job or even shopping or enjoying concerts. 

Lana wanted to start a show to raise awareness about these issues and remind listeners that in so many ways people with disabilities are just like everyone else. She found a lot of support from her friends and the people at KXRW. For her, it is a real job to structure and organize her life in order to share her experiences and observations and that has given her new perspectives on her own situation. Lana looks forward to each new topic, what she can learn about it, and apply those lessons to her own life. When she shares these impressions, she can help others understand and accept their own challenges and find their own success.