Audacious with Chion Wolf

What do barf bags, tiny chairs, and bricks all have in common? They’re all uncommon collections belonging to extraordinary collectors. And they’re all on this episode of Audacious! GUESTS: Steve Silberberg of Hull, Massachusetts has collected over 3,000 barf bags over the course of 40 years Barbara Hartsfield is a psychiatric nurse and the owner of The Museum Of Miniature Chairs in Stone Mountain,...

Hear about the 5000 year history of billboards, and meet the man behind the “I LOVE YOU JESUS” billboards on I-84 and I-91 here in Connecticut.  And hear about a technology that focuses the audio of a billboard directly to you and only you.  Plus, why one Baltimore resident chose to propose to his girlfriend with a billboard (and how it went). GUESTS: Gino Sesto  is the founder of  Dash Two , a Di...

The most common name in the United States is Smith, and if that's your surname, you'll have around 4.5 million others in the world to share it with. But just because you have a popular name like, say, Pat Smith, that doesn’t mean that you’re common! The four Pat Smiths you’ll meet are unique: an environmental activist, an adventurous videographer, an African-American kindergarten...

Have you ever seen Reborn Babies? They’re these hyper-realistic-looking dolls that are collected for their extraordinary artistic accuracy… And they’re also used therapeutically for people who suffer from anxiety and depression. Hear from a woman who uses them for just that reason. Plus, meet a painter who makes them look so real, a researcher on the Reborn community and culture, and a photographe...

What’s it like to go viral for wearing a wedding dress at the age of 94? How about going up in a WW2 biplane at 97? Or maybe lobstering at a 101? And what’s it like to be 105 years old, and setting a record for running? Today, meet Audacious Elders! GUESTS: Martha Tucker (94) of Birmingham, Alabama, went viral after trying on the wedding dress she'd always wanted. She is joined by her granddaughte...

In this teaser to the show, I wanna list all the reasons why you should listen to my conversation with Jeffrey Marsh. Like, they’re an author and expert on nonbinary identities, and they’re the author of How to Be You: Stop Trying to Be Someone Else and Start Living Your Life. But really? What it all boils down to is that Jeffrey Marsh loves you. And you’re gonna love them too. S...

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So, would you consider yourself beautiful? How do you define beauty, anyway? Hear from a fashion model with decades in the industry, a model who uses a wheelchair, and two non-binary models about what beauty means to them. GUESTS: Jennifer Gimenez is a model, entrepreneur, actress, and advocate for those in recovery Bri Scalesse is a model and disability advoc...

What’s it like to get in the Guinness Book of World Records? What if it’s for the size of your mouth ? Or the amount of toothpicks you can fit in your beard ? Or for achieving the Longest Melody Played By A Model Train? On this episode, hear about the guts and glory of Guinness! GUESTS: Samantha Ramsdell from Stamford, CT, holds the Guinness World Record for biggest female mouth Joel Strasser of O...

This program originally aired on January 15, 2021. I love Reddit. This mostly-anonymous giant internet bulletin board has a plethora of communities called subreddits, which bring all sorts of interests together. One of my favorite subreddits is Act Like You Belong, where you’ll see a lot of stories about how, if you put on a hard hat, carry a clipboard, and walk with urgency, you can get through a...

Today’s episode of Audacious is not appropriate for children or for those who are particularly sensitive to the topic of sexual assault. Right now, 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18. And more than 90% of those victims know their perpetrator in some way. You’ve maybe heard the saying, “Hurt people hurt people”. But what makes a person want to hurt - to sexually...

How do auctioneers do what they do? Meet some of the best in the business, including a 102 year-old auctioneer - America’s oldest. Plus, hear what it was like for the guy who auctioned off that $28 million seat on the rocket ship, Blue Shepherd. And find out what happens when a lead charity auctioneer for Christie’s teams up with Bruce Springsteen. Finally, find out how I did when I tried my hand...

Being an identical twin is pretty cool! You’ll hear from a pair of 5 year-old twins about how they help people tell them apart. Plus, what if you didn’t know you had an identical twin until you were 25 years old? And how would you be different if, when you were a teenager many decades ago, your identical twin died? GUESTS: Lucy & Layla Castonguay are 7.5 year-old identical twins who live in Br...

What kind of person works in Antarctica? Meet a chef, a supply technician, a physician, and a man who has worked on the continent for over 25 years, including at the world’s most southerly post office and convenience store. GUESTS: Toni Traub is a Supply Technician & “Wastie” at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station Lisa Minelli is a sous chef at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station Ted Lee i...

There have been fewer than 50 full face transplant recipients in the world. And up until 2019, there had been zero done for African-Americans.  By the time Robert Chelsea changed all that, he’d already rejected a face offered to him over a year earlier. The skin shade was too light.  Today, meet Robert and his godson, Everick Brown, and hear the story of what happened. You’ll also hear about the p...

Do you ever look back on something you did and wonder, “Why did I do that?”   Meet people who’ve robbed gas stations, abused lab animals, and sent death threats via Twitter, and find out why they did it. GUESTS: Issy Sorley of Newcastle, England, made headlines in 2013 for being imprisoned after making threats to two women on Twitter Rama Ganesan is a writer, an anti-caste activist, and an animal-...

The latest episode of our show featured my conversations with kids who are doing amazing things in this world. Give it a listen! Here are two more conversations with kids who have big ideas. You’ll hear about an 8-year-old’s invention - well, it’s still technically in the development stage - "The Everything Maker", and two kids tell us about cool solutions for dipping OREO cookie...

Kids see things differently. Solutions to problems are one big idea away. “What if” is an enthusiastic refrain! And expressing yourself means making art, and asking ALL of the questions! If you’re an older kid who’s forgotten what that drive, that passion, that confidence feels like, all you have to do is keep listening! Today, you’re gonna meet eight young people who think and act BIG in this swi...

It’s one thing to have a hard time with parenthood. But what if you wholeheartedly regret it?  Hear from two parents who feel this way, and find out how they balance feeling full of regret while wanting to make sure their kids are well taken care of. And is it really possible to love someone whom they regret bringing into existence? You’ll also meet a woman who knew she was regretted, and find out...

There is a very special reason why you’re hearing a rebroadcast of this show: This episode of Audacious just won a Gracie Award! The Gracie Awards are a part of the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation, and they recognize "exemplary programming created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment." Thank you so much! Imagine you’ve got breasts. It shouldn’t be too...

Hey! If you’re listening to this bonus feature, you’ve probably listened to the show we just did featuring executive producer Catie Talarski’s documentary of a year in the life of two people with end-stage Cystic Fibrosis. I was so moved by the documentary and so intrigued by how it sounded that I wanted to interview Catie about how she made it. Support the show: https://www.wnpr...

When you have Cystic Fibrosis - a genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections - a lung transplant can be a life-saving surgery. But what if you’re not sure you want it? And if you do get it, what new challenges will they present to your newly-extended life?  Hear an audio documentary by Audacious Executive Producer Catie Talarski that follows two CF patients for one year as they grapple...

What happens when you do a DNA test from a company like Ancestry.com or 23andme, and you get some life-shattering information, like your sibling is really your half-sibling, or that you may have a life-altering medical condition, or that you thought you were half Black, but the test says you’re barely Black at all. Before you spit in that tube, hear from people who’ve been stunned and spun around...

When you call 911, it most likely means you’re having a stressful, unpredictable, scary experience. It could be the worst day of your life, or someone else’s.  But what’s it like on the other side of that call?  Hear about life as an emergency dispatcher here in Connecticut, throughout the country, and even during the massive temporary city in the desert that is Burning Man. GUESTS: Clayton Northg...

If you listen to public radio, you recognize Chris Thile’s name. He was the host of Live From Here !  And if you’re like me, you knew him from at least one of his gazillion other music projects, like his band Punch Brothers. I’ve been following his work for over 10 years, simultaneously singin’ my heart out to his recordings, while being totally mind-boggled at his man...

This is the first installment of Audacious Little Things! Meet an anthropologist who explains why she thinks the human animal delights in making miniatures of things, and then meet a sculpturist dubbed “The 8th Wonder of the World” whose art requires a microscope to see. Find out how one kind of protozoan earned itself the title of “The Immortal Jellyfish”. Plus, what researchers think is going on...