Audacious with Chion Wolf

A lot can happen in a year, you know? And if you’re anything like these folks, you’ve read over 365 books, you’ve become fluent in English by watching American t.v. shows, and you’ve gotten over a hundred rejections. GUESTS:  Kelsey Weekman :  Culture reporter for Buzzfeed who read 390 books in a year Mathias Barra :  French writer who became fluent in English in a year by watching 3 hours of Amer...

Our social media news feeds curate us as much as we curate our newsfeeds. So what if, instead of subscribing to the same old fear-mongering, belittling, judgmental soundbites… We subscribe to accounts that peddle in love? Today, meet three people who use social media to lift all tides. GUESTS:  Joel Cross :  Grammy-nominated musician, poet, meditator, and traveler who asks his half-a-million follo...

We all know someone who loves Costco, or someone who loves Trader Joe’s. But what compels someone to devote their time and travel to visiting as many stores as possible, to wrap so much of their identity around these massive shopping chains? Meet three people whose lives brighten the moment they put their hands on a Trader Joe’s or Costco grocery cart. For a transcription of this episode,  click h...

Audacious kids run the world. Or at least, they ought to, because they have a lot to teach us! Meet a young woman whose unique voice made her stand out to bullies - until she flipped the script and turned it into her superpower. A young man talks about why he's cleaned up over a quarter million pounds of trash in our waterways, and finally, an 8 year-old friend of animals talks about why he held a...

Everybody knows the "Can you hear me now?" guy. And everyone knows Flo from Progressive. But what are the stories behind Paul Marcarelli and Stephanie Courtney, the actors who play these characters? What's it like being internationally known as the face of a brand? What's awesome about a gig like this, and what are some of the challenges that come with it? GUESTS:  Paul Marcarelli:  Actor known as...

When you think of the word, "Psychopath", what do you picture? A serial killer? A dictator? A cut-throat CEO? Your ex? Sure, a few of those folks may be psychopaths. But many people with this mental health condition would argue that the usual stereotypes are way off. They are incapable of feeling empathy or developing any attachments, but that doesn't mean they are compelled to cause harm. Today,...

When you think about the history of things that have gone viral, poetry is not usually what comes to mind. But as the latest surges in violence rage across the world, it turns out that poetry is something folks unite around. Meet three people whose poems about war have gone viral, and find out how it both fed their purpose and GUESTS: Lena Khalaf Tuffaha :  Palestinian American poet, essayist, and...

Look at the people in the background of any rich person's dinner party - real or fictional - and you'll see them: The butlers. How did they get there? How did they learn? And what do they get out of it - beyond the money, of course? To answer those questions the founder and CEO of The  International Butler Academy  joins us alongside his executive head butler. And hear from a palace manager in the...

Until 2003, very few people knew her name, and that was exactly as she liked it. She was an undercover CIA operative working to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction - specifically, nuclear weapons. But then, when members of the Bush administration leaked her identity to a journalist, all hell broke loose. Hear about why she became an undercover agent, what exactly happened when...

Some people collect stamps. Coins. Trading cards. And as you've heard on our show before,  some people collect barf bags. Tiny chairs. Bricks. And some people's collections are a bit… darker. Today, come with me as I tour the John Zaffis Museum of the Paranormal in Stratford, CT, containing hundreds of objects that are suspected of being haunted. And find out what William Harder has learned about...

Oh my gourd do we want you to meet a man who set a world record for riding his giant pumpkin down the Missouri river! And hold your breath as you hear from two women who won an underwater pumpkin carving contest! And since it’s officially decorative gourd season, meet the author of that McSweeney's essay whose enthusiastic profanity somehow brings us all together every single autumn. GUESTS:  Duan...

Back in the day — with your Walter Cronkites and David Brinkleys — it felt kind of   inappropriate for an interviewer to bring their full selves to the conversation. It was all about the guest, after all, so why bother bringing their own distinctive flairs? But now, people tune in as much for the interviewer as the one being interviewed. And because of that, the experience feels much more authenti...

Mehdi Hasan is the host of The Mehdi Hasan Show on MSNBC and Peacock. His latest book is called Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking . Listen to our extended conversations with interviewers Ziwe and Gayle King . Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ziwe is a comedian, writer, actor, executive producer and star of ZIWE on Showtime. She is also known for her web series, Baited. Her book is called Black Friend: Essays. Listen to our extended conversations with interviewers Mehdi Hasan and Gayle King . Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Gayle King is the co-host of CBS This Morning, and editor-at-large of O, the Oprah Magazine. Curator of the book, Note to Self: Inspiring Words From Inspiring People . Listen to our extended conversations with interviewers Mehdi Hasan and Ziwe . Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The poet, Atticus, wrote, “Have you ever smelled a smell and it instantly brings you back to a happy moment from your childhood? I always loved that. I hope that's what death is. Just sitting on a cloud, smelling old smells.” That’s the inspiration for today’s episode, featuring 18 people talking about the smells that bring them back to childhood. In addition to the guests below, you’ll hear the v...

Tired of the same old sports? Well, listen to our show about weird sports! Including extreme ironing, where people press their clothes at the top of volcanoes, in caves, even while hanging upside down in trees! And there's cheese rolling, where people chase a cheese wheel which is barrelling down a steep hill. And then there's the oh, so British sport of shin kicking! This is a centuries-old wrest...

Puns: some hate ‘em, some like 'em, and some are so passionate about being punny, so committed to quips, so delighted by double entendre, that they compete in events like the Punderdome. The Punderdome is a monthly wordplay competition in New York where newbies go round after round, coming up with puns on a surprise theme, alongside some of the best punsters in the world. Join Chion and Deputy dir...

In the movies, cyborgs often don't have a soul or a conscience. But in real life, some people become cyborgs in order to enhance the human experience and to be more connected with nature. Like Neil Harbisson. He was born colorblind, but now, thanks to an antenna implanted into the base of his skull, he can hear colors! And choreographer, Moon Ribas, had implants embedded in her feet that vibrated...

When Jenn Carson was nine years old, her mother sat her down and told her that her father had been arrested for hurting people. The world would later find out that Michael Bear Carson and his second wife, Suzan Carson, were serial killers. Hear how Jenn went from a traumatized little girl to a mental health advocate and crisis counselor, advocating against her father’s parole. GUEST:  Dr. Jenn Car...

In 2006, dog trainer Toby Dorr, , made international headlines when she snuck John Manard, who was incarcerated for life, out of prison in a dog crate. They were on the run for 12 days, until it all came to a crashing halt. In this second installment of our "Why'd You Do It?" series, find out what went into all the choices Toby made, before, during, and long after the great escape. Listen to the f...

Many of us would think that feelings of arousal would always be welcome! And maybe we would even want more of it. But for our guests on this episode, persistent genital arousal disorder has made life very difficult. One woman copes with more than 100 orgasms a day, another searches for peace as her body is stimulated by emotions of all kinds, and another has undergone surgeries and treatments to f...

If you told comedian Zarna Garg five years ago that she would have her own Amazon comedy special, she might look at you funny. So to speak. She immigrated to the United States at 16 years old to leave a difficult family situation. Then, she became a lawyer and a stay-at-home mom. But in her mid-40s, she began exploring the comedy world, which has been rewarding her greatly ever since. On this epis...

"Never again." That was the vow the international community took after the Holocaust, pledging to never repeat the kind of actions that led to the death of over 6 million Jewish people. Unfortunately, the horrors of genocide have been seen again - in Armenia, in Rwanda, and now, in China. On this episode of Audacious, meet a woman who was assaulted and forcibly sterilized while in a concentration...

As part of NautiWeek, you’ll meet two people who broke world records while underwater on this episode of Audacious. Budimir Šobat won a world record for holding his breath underwater for almost 25 minutes! What advice on breathing does he have for the rest of us? Then, we connect with Dr. Joe Dituri, first as he was living in a hotel 30 feet below sea level for 100 days… And then after he resurfac...