A Better Table on the Sprudge Podcast Network is hosted by Sprudgie Award-winning journalist, author and community organizer Umeko Motoyoshi. This show is a journalistic deep dive into the topics that matter in today’s coffee world, from disability access to coffee producer rights at origin to labor organizing in the modern coffee workforce, and much, much more. Motoyoshi’s fearless journalism isn’t afraid to ask big questions: who is coffee for, what ways can we challenge existing systems, and how do we come together to create a better table for all.

In the first episode of A Better Table, Umeko Motoyoshi interviews disability rights activist and author Alice Wong (Disability Visibility). Alice Wong is an award-winning disability awareness activist, consultant, and media producer based in San Francisco, and was appointed to the National Council on Disability by President Obama. In 2015, Wong made history as the first person to visit The White House via a telepresence robot. The Disability Visibility Project has collected over one hundred and forty oral histories in collaboration with the nonprofit organization StoryCorps. 

While this interview was recorded before the COVID-19 crisis disrupted cafes across the country, the topic of accessibility remains as relevant as ever; cafes are slowly starting to reopen under new restrictions, and it's important to consider the access barriers of new protocols. Our pursuit of a "new normal" for cafe operations in the coming months and years must hold space for every person, a notion for which Alice Wong is a powerful advocate.

Full transcript available here.

This episode of A Better Table is sponsored by Baratza, Oatly, and Urnex Brands.