Finding a job is hard. Finding a job when you’re disabled can be even harder. 

Beth Finke knows this first hand. She lost her job when she lost her sight in the 1980s, and relied on her husband to read the classifieds to her aloud every Sunday night.

She’d later become a well regarded writer and commentator, and the only blind woman in America to be honored for sports broadcasting, for a story on the White Sox she produced for WBEZ. But on her way to success she found a job she never expected to land - as a nude model for a college art class. She told the story to a live audience during the 2010 Access Living event Blood on the Tracks: A Disability Culture Cabaret. In the audio excerpt posted above, Finke describes how she landed the gig, and the unique pros and cons that come with doing the job blind.

Dynamic Range showcases hidden gems unearthed from Chicago Amplified’s vast archive of public events and appears on weekends. Beth Finke spoke to an audience assembled by Access Living in September of 2010. Click here to hear her talk in its entirety, and click here to subscribe to the Dynamic Range podcast.