🎙️In this episode of the Special Chronicles Podcast Recorded LIVE at Theater on the Lake in Chicago, Join host Daniel Smrokowski (with a cameo from his love, Georgia) as The Improvaneers bring their Midwest Tour to the stage. Hear from Director Liz, mom of Improvaneer named Emily, plus real audience reactions — all in this inspiring, behind-the-scenes look at inclusion, performance, and personal growth.

• Tour & Film Here: Burn The Script DocuSeries
• Learn more about The Improvaneers: TheImprovaneerMethod.com

• Listen and Follow at SpecialChronicles.com/Pod
• 🎧 Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts
• 📺Like watching your podcasts? Click here to Watch This Full Episode or See Full Episodes on YouTube
• Support This Podcast: Click Here to Donate Now and support the mission of Special Chronicles
• ➕Join SpecialChronicles+ PLUS! Go to SpecialChronicles.com/PLUS for our Premium Pre Show with behind the scenes podcast chats, exclusive bonus content, and to help support the show.
• 🛒Shop Our Merch: Shop Our Disabled Voices Matter Collection
• 📱Follow us on Socials: @SpecialChronicles
• 📧Email: Send us a message here
• 📧Newsletter: Subscribe to our Mailing List HERE
• 🎤Speaking Engagements with Daniel: Learn more and Book Daniel to speak HERE
• 💡Partner: ComEd EnergyForce
• ✈️Partner: United Airlines Bridge BRG
• 📻Podcast Hosting: Podbean
• 📡Recording Studio: StreamYard
• 🥇PSA: Sign the Inclusion Pledge Now!
• Podcast Theme Music: “It Starts With A Voice” written by Amy Wright and performed by Ben Wright, co-founders of Bitty and Beau’s Coffee. Used with permission.

Daniel Smrokowski is a columnist and the founder and host of the award-winning podcast, Special Chronicles, which has released over 750 episodes in over 15 years. In recognition of these accomplishments, Daniel is a recipient of the Matthew Freeman Award for Social Justice for his efforts through media to give people with disabilities a voice. Read more about Daniel HERE

In this powerful episode of the Special Chronicles Podcast, host Daniel Smrokowski sits down with Rob Snow, comedian, speaker, and creator of The Improvaneers, the world’s first all-Down syndrome improv troupe, and with Nick Doyle, Assistant Director/National Sales Executive, from The Improvaneer Method.

Rob and Nick share how a casual conversation turned into a life-changing movement, the impact of the Improvaneer Method, and how improv is helping individuals with developmental disabilities gain confidence, communication skills, and new opportunities. We also get a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming film documenting this powerful journey.

• Click HERE to purchase tickets to The Improvaneers Midwest Tour Theatre On The Lake August 7th
• TheImprovaneerMethod.com
• Burn The Script DocuSeries

• Listen and Follow at SpecialChronicles.com/Pod
• 🎧 Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts
• 📺Like watching your podcasts? Click here to Watch This Full Episode OR See Full Episodes on YouTube
• Support This Podcast: Click Here to Donate Now and support the mission of Special Chronicles
• ➕Join SpecialChronicles+ PLUS! Go to SpecialChronicles.com/PLUS for our Premium Pre Show with behind the scenes podcast chats, exclusive bonus content, and to help support the show.
• 🛒Shop Our Merch: Shop Our Disabled Voices Matter Collection
• 📱Follow us on Socials: @SpecialChronicles
• 📧Email: Send us a message here
• 📧Newsletter: Subscribe to our Mailing List HERE
• 🎤Speaking Engagements with Daniel: Learn more and Book Daniel to speak HERE
• 💡Partner: ComEd EnergyForce
• ✈️Partner: United Airlines Bridge BRG
• 📻Podcast Hosting: Podbean
• 📡Recording Studio: StreamYard
• 🥇PSA: Sign the Inclusion Pledge Now!
• Podcast Theme Music: “It Starts With A Voice” written by Amy Wright and performed by Ben Wright, co-founders of Bitty and Beau’s Coffee. Used with permission.

Daniel Smrokowski is a columnist and the founder and host of the award-winning podcast, Special Chronicles, which has released over 750 episodes in over 15 years. In recognition of these accomplishments, Daniel is a recipient of the Matthew Freeman Award for Social Justice for his efforts through media to give people with disabilities a voice. Read more about Daniel HERE

To conclude Disability Pride Month, we’re rebroadcasting one of our most powerful conversations. Host Daniel Smrokowski sits down with his college friend Maria DiSabato in this encore episode of the Special Chronicles Podcast, recorded on location at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Maria shares her lived experience with disability—exploring questions like:

• What does disability mean to you?

• What do you wish peers, professors, and classmates understood?

• Is disability a part of how you describe yourself?

• Do you feel there’s a stigma, and how can we break it?

• And why disability is truly another face of diversity.

This thoughtful and empowering dialogue offers fresh insights—and is the perfect conclusion to Disability Pride Month.

• Listen and Follow at SpecialChronicles.com/Pod
• 🎧 Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts
• 📺Listen to this Full Episode on YouTube
• 📺Like watching your podcasts? See Full Episodes on YouTube
• Support This Podcast: Click Here to Donate Now and support the mission of Special Chronicles
• ➕Join SpecialChronicles+ PLUS! Go to SpecialChronicles.com/PLUS for our Premium Pre Show with behind the scenes podcast chats, exclusive bonus content, and to help support the show.
• 🛒Shop Our Merch: Shop Our Disabled Voices Matter Collection
• 📱Follow us on Socials: @SpecialChronicles
• 📧Email: Send us a message here
• 📧Newsletter: Subscribe to our Mailing List HERE
• 🎤Speaking Engagements with Daniel: Learn more and Book Daniel to speak HERE
• 💡Partner: ComEd EnergyForce
• ✈️Partner: United Airlines Bridge BRG
• 📻Podcast Hosting: Podbean
• 📡Recording Studio: StreamYard
• 🥇PSA: Sign the Inclusion Pledge Now!
• Podcast Theme Music: “It Starts With A Voice” written by Amy Wright and performed by Ben Wright, co-founders of Bitty and Beau’s Coffee. Used with permission.

Daniel Smrokowski is a columnist and the founder and host of the award-winning podcast, Special Chronicles, which has released over 750 episodes in over 15 years. In recognition of these accomplishments, Daniel is a recipient of the Matthew Freeman Award for Social Justice for his efforts through media to give people with disabilities a voice. Read more about Daniel HERE

In this powerful episode of the Special Chronicles Podcast's EnergyForce Series S8:Pt5, we sit down with Jessica Rojas from ComEd to explore how the Powering Lives Community Center and other ComEd education programs are lighting the way for students, families, and future energy professionals. From interactive K-12 field trips to immersive college experiences and STEM scholarships, ComEd is building a brighter, more inclusive energy future. Jessica shares stories, insights, and opportunities that empower lives and communities across the region.

🗣️ Topics Covered:

• Powering Lives Community Center and its mission
• Hands-on STEM field trips for K–12
• The “Our Energy, Our Future” interactive exhibit
• Internship, scholarship, and college prep programs
• How inclusion and equity are central to ComEd’s vision

• Listen and Follow at SpecialChronicles.com/Pod
• 🎧 Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts [powerpress]
• 📺Like watching your podcasts? Watch Full Episode on YouTube
• ComEd Education Programs: ComEd.com/Education
• Powering Lives Community Center - Schedule your FREE Field trip today at ComEd.com/EducationCenters
• Special Chronicles EnergyForce Series: SpecialChronicles.com/EnergyForce
• Support This Podcast: Click Here to Donate Now and support the mission of Special Chronicles
• ➕Join SpecialChronicles+ PLUS! Go to SpecialChronicles.com/PLUS for our Premium Pre Show with behind the scenes podcast chats, exclusive bonus content, and to help support the show.
• 🛒Shop Our Merch: Shop Our Disabled Voices Matter Collection
• 📱Follow us on Socials: @SpecialChronicles
• 📧Email: Send us a message here
• 📧Newsletter: Subscribe to our Mailing List HERE
• 🎤Speaking Engagements with Daniel: Learn more and Book Daniel to speak HERE
• 💡Partner: ComEd EnergyForce
• ✈️Partner: United Airlines Bridge BRG
• 📻Podcast Hosting: Podbean
• 📡Recording Studio: StreamYard
• 🥇PSA: Sign the Inclusion Pledge Now!
• Podcast Theme Music: “It Starts With A Voice” written by Amy Wright and performed by Ben Wright, co-founders of Bitty and Beau’s Coffee. Used with permission.

Daniel Smrokowski is a columnist and the founder and host of the award-winning podcast, Special Chronicles, which has released over 750 episodes in over 15 years. In recognition of these accomplishments, Daniel is a recipient of the Matthew Freeman Award for Social Justice for his efforts through media to give people with disabilities a voice. Read more about Daniel HERE

In this episode of the Special Chronicles Podcast, host Daniel Smrokowski sits down with Matthew Brough, an Athlete Leader from Special Olympics Great Britain, based in York, England.

Matthew’s journey began on the tennis court and led him all the way to the 2023 Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, where he proudly won gold and bronze medals. Since then, he’s completed his Athlete Leadership training, become an advocate in his local community, and shared his story through public speaking and media appearances.

Now working at The Grand Hotel in York and serving as a Level One tennis coach, Matthew continues to inspire others by breaking barriers and promoting inclusion wherever he goes.

💬 In this episode, Matthew discusses:

• His athletic journey from local to global competitions
• Lessons from the Berlin 2023 World Games
• The power of Athlete Leadership training
• Speaking to schools and the Youth Sport Trust
• Career opportunities through Unified Leadership and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners
• His goals for future speaking, media, and athletic opportunities

Whether you’re an athlete, coach, advocate, or ally, Matthew’s story is a reminder that with courage and opportunity, anything is possible.

• Listen and Follow at SpecialChronicles.com/Pod
• 🎧 Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts
• 📺Like watching your podcasts? Watch Full Episode on YouTube
• Get involved in Special Olympics Great Britain or Find Special Olympics Near You
• Support This Podcast: Click Here to Donate Now and support the mission of Special Chronicles
• ➕Join SpecialChronicles+ PLUS! Go to SpecialChronicles.com/PLUS for our Premium Pre Show with behind the scenes podcast chats, exclusive bonus content, and to help support the show.
• 🛒Shop Our Merch: Shop Our Disabled Voices Matter Collection
• 📱Follow us on Socials: @SpecialChronicles
• 📧Email: Send us a message here
• 📧Newsletter: Subscribe to our Mailing List HERE
• 🎤Speaking Engagements with Daniel: Learn more and Book Daniel to speak HERE
• 💡Partner: ComEd EnergyForce
• ✈️Partner: United Airlines Bridge BRG
• 📻Podcast Hosting: Podbean
• 📡Recording Studio: StreamYard
• 🥇PSA: Sign the Inclusion Pledge Now!
• Podcast Theme Music: “It Starts With A Voice” written by Amy Wright and performed by Ben Wright, co-founders of Bitty and Beau’s Coffee. Used with permission.

Daniel Smrokowski is a columnist and the founder and host of the award-winning podcast, Special Chronicles, which has released over 750 episodes in over 15 years. In recognition of these accomplishments, Daniel is a recipient of the Matthew Freeman Award for Social Justice for his efforts through media to give people with disabilities a voice. Read more about Daniel HERE