Newsletter Archive

The entire backcatalogue of Debrief newsletters.

“This should not be happening”

Lessons on how backsliding democracy curtails disability rights
29 Oct 2025
A digital illustration of three figures on the Széchenyi Chain Bridge near Buda Castle, with rain washing away all the colours.

The United Nations isn't doing enough on disability

A five-year reform made important steps but progress is “extremely slow”
23 Oct 2025
A photograph of delegates in a large meeting room. In focus in the foreground, a Black man with locs is looking directly at the camera with a look of scepticism.

“You have to do something”

Reflecting on leadership after leaving the advocacy frontlines
15 Oct 2025
A color pencil illustration of two women with albinism, one inside a bus and the other outside, each holding their palm to the bus window.

Working like a dog

Barriers for assistance dogs, and curated disability news from 41 countries
08 Oct 2025
A photo, in profile, of a golden retriever guide dog sitting obediently on a lawn and looking straight ahead, while her trainer, a Black man, stands behind her holding her lead.

A chainsaw to disability rights

How Argentina’s far-right government is attacking disability benefits and the disability movement is fighting back
01 Oct 2025
A photo of a walker being held in the air in front of the Argentine National Congress.

Ability to reimagine ourselves

An open call for science fiction, breathing together, and more from the mailbag
24 Sep 2025
A digital illustration depicting a futuristic city, with cars and wheelchairs flying in front of tall buildings.

Get set for independence

Why I left the rehab hospital more disabled than when I arrived
17 Sep 2025
Illustration of a young white woman (Rachel), standing precariously between a set of parallel bars, supported by a therapist with hands on her waist.

Asking for forgiveness

Hamburg signs “sorry”, and a tour of the latest news from 40+ countries
10 Sep 2025
An old black-and-white-photo shows an instructor with a long white coat leaning over a boy, as they both mouth a word.

Greatest opportunity to learn

Navigating power, relationships, hostile doorknobs, and ordinary human failings
03 Sep 2025
Digital illustration of a globe, with arms and legs, holding a sketchbook and surrounded by flying papers.

“They burned my heart”

Apocalyptic conditions in Gaza, and curated news from 37 countries.
30 Jul 2025
A photo of the legs of two children, one of them an above-knee amputee, as they stand behind a rusty-coloured drape.

We’re the ones that save ourselves

Solidarity after the floods in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
23 Jul 2025
Digital illustration of boat rescue in a flooded urban area, with debris and assistive devices floating in the water.

Breathing in

My changing body, new assistive technology and internalised ableism
16 Jul 2025
A close-up illustration of Peter, a 40 year old white man, wearing a breathing mask.

“Without us, you won't move forward”

Luciana Viegas on opening the disability movement to black people with disabilities and other marginalized communities
09 Jul 2025
A photo of Luciana, a young Black woman wearing a black t-shirt, oversized dark-rimmed glasses and her hair in long braids.

But no money to live?

Care, relationships and campaigning against cuts. Plus curated news from 35 countries.
03 Jul 2025
A photo of a young white person who wears a facemask holding a sign above their head that reads "Money to kill but no money to live".

Busy fixing yesterday

Friendship, parenting and the tightrope of disability community
25 Jun 2025
Photograph of a group of protestors holding yellow signs on a sidewalk.

Sahabat Baik Saya

Cerita tentang bagaimana saya terpikat pada alat bantu mobilitas di Indonesia
25 Jun 2025
Sebuah ilustrasi digital seperti pada tampilan video game, menunjukkan seorang perempuan dengan postur pendek memilih sebuah kursi roda pink dari menu alat bantu.

Lots of proteins

Questions of activism, priests using wheelchairs, and more from the mailbag
18 Jun 2025
Illustration of a globe with arms and legs, wearing big headphones, and scrolling a tablet.

We Wanted to Change the World

The risks professionalisation poses to an authentic disability movement
11 Jun 2025
A digital illustration showing a hiker caught between a road across a dangerous river and a beautiful car.

Going off script

Moving through shame to find pride in disabled and queer identity
04 Jun 2025
Colourful disco illustration of a white woman dancing with friends on a patterned floor.

Never go back

Reversal in the United States, the link between disability and trans struggles, and the latest news from 29 countries
29 May 2025
A photo of wheelchair-users protesting in a US government committee room, while two members of the USCP police intervene beside them.

Go give them their flowers

Grief and memorial in disability community
21 May 2025
A digital illustration of a bouquet of flowers on a windowsill, with a cemetery and a purple-blue starry night in the background.

All hands together

Help Disability Debrief meet the moment
15 May 2025
Abstract illustration of a tree like a mangrove, with roots made of hands with raised fists.

A scrambled breakfast

AI opens up visual access but closes down social change
07 May 2025
An abstract illustration of a scene on the clouds. A woman sends photos from her phone into a dark grey box, which explodes and scatters photos on the other side.

The Chair of Saint Peter

The most famous wheelchair user in the world, and curated news on disability from 29 countries
30 Apr 2025
A photograph of Pope Francis being lifted out of his wheelchair by a tall man wearing a dark suit.

Coming together as we fall apart

Was the Global Disability Summit a Goodbye?
23 Apr 2025
A digital illustration showing an event space with a panel and a venue filled with guests. There are protestors outside and the image is cracked as if in glass.

Pressing pause

The Debrief takes a week off
16 Apr 2025
An abstract watercolour illustration of two small figures outlined in a space of light blue brush strokes, framed by strokes in darker greens, purples and blues.

A good friend of mine

Falling in love with assistive technology in Indonesia
09 Apr 2025
A digital illustration imitating a video game interface: a short-statured woman selects a pink wheelchair from a menu of assistive technology, against a background of mountains and a sunset.

Recovering our dreams

A dispatch from the Global Disability Summit
02 Apr 2025
A digital illustration of a treasure chest at the bottom of a sea. It contains golden coins, paper with justice symbols and braille.

The choices are not equal

Raúl Krauthausen challenges segregation of disabled people in Germany
26 Mar 2025
A digitally illustrated portrait of Raúl, a white man with a brown hair, beard, glasses and trademark flat cap, with a divided red and yellow background.

A familiar place

Five years of Covid, forced back to work, and curated news from 39 countries
19 Mar 2025
Photograph of a young Philippine girl using a braille slate and stylus to write on paper. She looks down, concentrated, her face covered by long dark hair.

Hands once joined

Impacts of aid freeze, education insights, and more from the mailbag
12 Mar 2025
Illustration of the world, with arms and legs, putting mail into a mailbox with the Debrief logo.

This is war

Fighting back against the violence faced by people with albinism
05 Mar 2025
Illustration of a girl with albinism in a car as children and adults outside point and laugh.

We have a right to be angry

Protests in France, seismic shifts in the US and curated news from 45+ countries
26 Feb 2025
A photograph of two protestors, a man in a wheelchair and a woman standing, holding signs in French.

Good trouble for a good cause

ADD International support to Disability Debrief
24 Feb 2025

Forgotten

Finding my own worth in a frightening shadow world
19 Feb 2025
A watercolor illustration of a glass jar holding sticks, a red flower, and leaves. By its side, candles and paper cranes.

A one-sided deal

When inclusive education means getting rid of our differences
12 Feb 2025
Illustration of a window onto a classroom with children rigidly studying, and kids on the outside noisy and restless.

Stop work

The US aid freeze's devastating impact on disabled people
05 Feb 2025
An illustration showing objects and people being sucked up off the planet by a giant vacuum cleaner with Trump-like hair.

Struck out

Physical education's lessons of exclusion and ableism
29 Jan 2025
Digital illustration close-up of a nervous face with a scene of baseball played out in the eyes.

A thrilling new era

America ablaze, harmful charities and curated news from 64 countries
22 Jan 2025

Magic corners

Supporting creators making disability media
15 Jan 2025

A long breakup

Mobility, AI, and adapting: disabled reflections on 2024
11 Dec 2024
A digital illustration of showing Peter, in an electric wheelchair, going through chaotic scenes of 2024.

Help me open the door

Making media for a more open disability movement
04 Dec 2024
Photo of Peter, a white man nearly 40, sitting in wheelchair working on a laptop. He's wearing a festive hoody.

Delusions and draft-dodging

Conflicts, corruption and curated news from 46 countries
27 Nov 2024

Their mission? To mould us.

The persistence of segregation and a love-hate relationship with education
20 Nov 2024
A digital illustration of a classroom. Students line up and at the front a teacher cuts the hair of a boy with long hair.

Finding my fairy-tale

Tales of travel with a wheelchair and a green passport
13 Nov 2024
Digital illustration of Tanzila on her powerchair, riding a magic carpet and framed by film negatives.

Unequal partnership

Funders should support the disability movement more directly
06 Nov 2024
An illustration of 3 levels of land, at the top an artificial lake and the bottom dry earth. A river dries as it goes down.

Protection against the sun

Climate change, backsliding democracy and news from 55+ countries
30 Oct 2024

Discuss, curse and flirt

Fluidity in signing, better disability advocacy and the right not to explain
23 Oct 2024

What type of country we become

Disabled people between Georgia’s Soviet legacy and European future
16 Oct 2024
A digital illustration of tug-of-war with the Georgian flag, with Soviet-style flats in the background.

Maintain grassroots authenticity

Challenges of leadership renewal and other insights from the mailbag
09 Oct 2024

Working to work

Disabled people fighting for accessible livelihoods in India
02 Oct 2024
Illustration of two people in front of a broken rollercoaster titled the Road to Work.

Why sport must be reimagined

The Paralympics 2024 and disability news from 55+ countries
25 Sep 2024

We need new leadership

The international disability movement needs transparency and accountability
18 Sep 2024
Illustration of of disabled people in the back of a pick-up truck with "nothing about, us without us" on its side.

What went wrong?

Uncovering the crisis at the International Disability Alliance
11 Sep 2024
Illustration of people surrounding a broken down car, with a wheelchair haphazardly strapped on top of it.

Paralympic Paradoxes

The tensions between Para sport and disability advocacy
04 Sep 2024
Digital illustration of a Para swimmer diving out of a wave, over a woman sitting at an office desk, papers in commotion.

Gold medal in discrimination

The Olympics and recent disability news from 47 countries
31 Jul 2024

Fall with me

My childhood, told through its falls
24 Jul 2024
A headshot of Peter, a white man in his late 30s with glasses, a short beard and dark hair.

No way to run a country

Ageism and ableism are playing a central role in the US election
17 Jul 2024

The other side of a glass wall

The loneliness of life in the community
10 Jul 2024

A thousand welcomes

Protests from Kenya, accessing God, and much more from the mailbag
03 Jul 2024

What kind of world do we live in

Guide to recent disability news from 50 countries
26 Jun 2024

What silence says

Insights from recent academic and policy research
19 Jun 2024

Disability over-confident

Commitments to inclusion not being put into practice
12 Jun 2024
Illustration of a window with framed certificates and awards celebrating inclusion. A background of other office buildings.

Testimonies from the past

How disabled people’s life stories challenge official histories
05 Jun 2024
Digital illustration of paperwork. A tear in it shows an office with a man shouting at a woman in a manual wheelchair.

A duty to shed light

Guide to recent disability news from 50 countries
22 May 2024

Bigger than the machine

Ida Putri's journey into activism and creating opportunities for others
15 May 2024
Digital illustration of large brown hands holding a sewing machine. The hands are scratched and surrounded by thorny roots.

No ifs, no buts, no maybes

Remembering Sir Robert Martin, the language of disability, and more
08 May 2024

A new wave of disability media

Navigating tensions between art, activism and access
01 May 2024
Illustration of Celestine, a white woman wind-swept hair, riding her three-wheeled mobility scooter through an ocean wave.

Challenge and conformity

K-pop, carnival, therapy, and critiques of inclusion
24 Apr 2024

Getting to know each other

A reader survey and updates from behind-the-scenes
17 Apr 2024
Watercolour illustration of a turquoise-topped cake with an @ sign and a large red 100 placed on top like a candle.

Assume that I can hit harder

Guide to recent disability news from 50+ countries
10 Apr 2024

Schisms in the Church

The disconnect faced by deaf worshippers in Nigeria
03 Apr 2024
Line outline drawing of a large church building with an imposing facade. Signed Tan Kuan Aw 2024.

Illness moved in waves

Exploring chronic illness, deafness and facial difference
27 Mar 2024

Finding our future

The crisis at IDA, hierarchies, poetry, and more
20 Mar 2024

Don’t shut the door behind you

Gatekeeping undermines the disability movement
13 Mar 2024
Watercolour illustration of a wooden gate, closed. The gate doors have the shape of an x on them, and green grass in front.

I really wanted to further my education

Guide to recent disability news from nearly 50 countries
06 Mar 2024

What I've learned in conversation

Weaving together disability and climate justice
28 Feb 2024
Abstract illustration of colourful blooming flowers. Their stems are wiggly, almost like dancing figures.

We need to talk

Does the disability movement need a strategic reset?
21 Feb 2024

Here be dragons

Will AI helped disabled people into work, or should we stop working?
14 Feb 2024
A line illustration of a dragon lying calmly with a smiling monk sipping tea from a tea-pot. Signed Tan Kuan Aw, 7 Jan 2024.

I'd fight like hell for you

Julia Watts Belser on not giving up on each other in the climate crisis
07 Feb 2024
A watercolour portrait of Julia, a white woman with black hair, glasses, and a broad smile that reaches her eyes.

Castles in the air

Guide to recent disability news from 60+ countries
31 Jan 2024

Successes and Setbacks

Life stories of women with disabilities in Yemen
24 Jan 2024
Watercolour silhouette of Sana'a, with domes flanked by minarets and buildings, coloured in earthy yellow-brown.

A disabled farewell to 2023

Reflections on my year and how Judy's passing changes our movement
13 Dec 2023
A simple watercolour illustration of Santa on wheels, and carrying a big bag of gifts.

Stories you won't read elsewhere

Making media for the disability movement in 2023
06 Dec 2023
Picture of Peter at his desk, smiling with a Santa hat and Judy Heumann hoodie.

How can I allow you to go to church?

Shackling in Ghana, Israel-Palestine, and much more
29 Nov 2023

Lifeboat in the ocean

Australian disability benefits, US Civil war, and a shift on mental health
22 Nov 2023

Taking the side of humanity

Reactions to Israel-Gaza coverage, disability advocacy and more
15 Nov 2023

A song for freedom

An activist reveals the situation of disabled people in Myanmar's civil war
08 Nov 2023
Illustration of a crutch-user's silhouette in Myanmar's landscape. A yellow ray of musical notes comes over splashes of red.

Wary of being too dependent

Latest disability news: care, sunscreen, smuggling and much more.
01 Nov 2023

A disability lens on conflict

Israel-Gaza war and news from 50+ countries
25 Oct 2023

Stories move the world

Disability Rights Fund support Disability Debrief
23 Oct 2023

The weight of the issue

Showing up disabled in the climate movement
18 Oct 2023
Watercolour of stick figures of different colours, each interlinked with its neighbours.

Call me in the morning

Disability culture highlights: Judy Heumann, Protactile and more
11 Oct 2023
Sketch outlining a figure lying down under a tree, a teapot on a fire at their feet. Signed Tan Kuan Aw, 4th October 2023.

Turning the tide

Fighting for equality when rights are eroded
04 Oct 2023
Photograph of waves crashing on the shore. The sea is dark grey blue and the waves froth white.

Heroes and victims

Mailbag edition on changing culture, belonging, love and much more
27 Sep 2023

Bullfighting, Barbie and Borges

Latest international disability news from nearly 60 countries
20 Sep 2023

The fastest-growing library of disability resources

Disability news from 145+ countries and resource guide on climate change
13 Sep 2023
Photograph of vertical piles of used books of different shapes, sizes, and colours.

It's a cultural fight

Christian Tasso on challenging perceptions of difference
06 Sep 2023
Black and white photo of a young girl wide-mouthed in laughter and joy, hands to her face, wearing a dress.

Sailing away

Global mental health, mad justice, and disability culture
26 Jul 2023
Watercolour of a small motorboat moored in a bay, pointed toward a bright horizon.

Considered a backup

The overlooked power of disabled care
19 Jul 2023
Painting of amorphous purple bodies intertwined, holding each other. Background of urban buildings, dark green.

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