Hannah Henriksen joins Brian Nichols to reveal who actually gets to fix your wheelchair, why right to repair stops at the one device some people can't live without, and how a new Respect America film is pushing open-source power chairs into the mainstream.
You own your car. Take it to any mechanic in town. You own your phone... and more and more, you can fix it yourself.
But a power wheelchair? Too often only one company is allowed to touch it. So you wait. Weeks. Months. Sometimes longer.
Hannah is the President of Respect America, the group behind the Jonny McCoy film seen by over 2 million people. Their new film follows friend of the show Thomas Quiter, who has osteogenesis imperfecta and more than 1,000 broken bones, and who is now building open-source power wheelchairs with high school and college shop classes through the Mobility Independence Foundation.
Chairs that cost $80,000 to $100,000. Chairs you can't modify. Chairs only one company can repair. So if it's your property and your body... why isn't the repair your decision?
Then we get into the philosophy of human respect, the rules we all learned on the playground, "trust the experts," and why the liberty movement keeps writing white papers when people want stories.
Watch it, then tell me in the comments: who should get to fix your wheelchair?
CHAPTERS
0:00 You Own Your Car. Not Your Wheelchair.
2:12 Who Is Hannah Henriksen?
3:52 A Twist of Fate Into the Liberty Movement
6:17 The Rules We Learned on the Playground
8:37 "Trust the Experts"
11:51 Why Stories Move People When Stats Don't
13:28 It Could Happen to You
14:30 Thomas Quiter's 1,000 Broken Bones
16:00 The $100,000 Wheelchair Only One Company Can Fix
17:34 Open-Source Chairs Built in Shop Class
19:52 "He Runs Better Than the Government"
20:28 Lobbyists vs. Right to Repair
22:07 A Message That Lands With Everyone
23:47 People Want Stories, Not White Papers
24:42 Fear and Love
25:25 The Beach Boys Professor Story
28:32 How to Keep People in the Long Game
31:00 Finding What Unites Us
32:35 The Michael Scott Win-Win-Win
33:06 Where to Find Respect America
35:01 Hannah's Final Word
HANNAH HENRIKSEN & RESPECT AMERICA
Respect America: https://respectamerica.org
Share your story: https://respectamerica.org/share-your-story
Mobility Independence Foundation (Thomas Quiter): https://themif.org
BRIAN NICHOLS
Website: https://www.briannicholsshow.com
X: https://x.com/BNicholsLiberty
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BNicholsLiberty
Email: brian@briannicholsshow.com
New episodes every Thursday. Educated. Enlightened. Informed.
