Audacious with Chion Wolf

What can a handwritten record reveal after someone is gone? In this episode, we follow two very different paper trails.  Marci Pelzer shares the 109-page list her father kept of more than 3,500 books he read over six decades. After going viral, his private habit became a public window into his life.  Dan Fogel lost his wife of 45 years to cancer, and then found diaries including writing...

Mascots: They’re furry, funny, and just a little funky. But what's actually going on in there? Tom Burgoyne shares what it’s been like to embody the Phillie Phanatic for over three decades. Mikaela Higgins reveals how her company became a giant in the world of mascot-makers, designing icons from Ronald McDonald to the Energizer Bunny. And hear how one “yes“ changed the life...

Taxidermied dogs. A CIA agent's hat. A perfume that made strangers on elevators lose their composure. This is what happens when you pull names from a vase at a brewery and say: show us something you love, and tell us why. Our fourth live Show and Tell at Little Red Barn Brewers in Winsted, Connecticut delivered exactly what this format always delivers: stories that are intimate, hilarious, and imp...

Fewer than 10% of truck drivers are women, and in this episode, you’re going to meet three of them. Spend the day with Chion and a tow truck driver, get to know a woman who runs a CDL training school, and hear about life on the road from a truck driver who happens to be a trans woman. This episode originally aired on January 13, 2023.  GUESTS:  Chantel Comerford:  A driver for...

Imagine feeling an unbearable itch, convinced that tiny insects are crawling under your skin. But no doctor believes you. You try to prove it, collecting samples, documenting everything. But under a microscope? Nothing is there. That was Paula Cox’s experience with delusional infestation, a rare disorder where people are absolutely certain they’re infested with bugs, despite all eviden...

What kind of person looks at a Boeing 727 and thinks, yes, I should live there? Or boards a cruise ship and decides never to go back to a traditional home?  Bruce Campbell is a 76-year-old engineer and pilot who has spent more than 25 years living in a retired jetliner in the Oregon woods.  Angelyn and Richard Burk are a married couple who turned loss, an enthusiasm for minimalism, and a...

Obituaries are meant to mark an end. But sometimes they start a whole new conversation. First, Andy Corren, whose funny, biting, tender obituary for his mother captured so much life that it went viral and became a memoir. Then, Sallie Hammett, whose loving obituary for her dog Charlie rippled across the internet and moved countless strangers. And finally, we talk with professional obituary writer...

What’s a sentence that invites the universe to call your bluff? “I could do that!” Meet three people who said it, and then had to live it. Christopher Lamar runs Lunar Embassy, a company that sells deeds to plots on the Moon and other celestial bodies. Logan Goodspeed learns what happens when you casually claim you could run a marathon “with 24 hours’ notice,” a...

At 74, Karen Smith is still chasing the feeling she fell in love with as a kid: the freedom and aliveness of playing sports. After years of sudden pain and uncertainty, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis - news that could have ended her life in athletics. Instead, adaptive equipment helped her keep skiing, and it reshaped how she carried the diagnosis.  Through the Gaylord Sports Assoc...

Two Scotlands, one episode.  Scotland One: kilts, haggis, bagpipes, and that irresistible fairground mix of music and muscle at Connecticut’s Scottish Highland Festival & Games! Plus swordplay and the oddly soothing chaos and grunts of Weight Over Bar.  Scotland Two: centuries of witch trials, powered by rumor, rubber-stamped by law. Meet Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi of W...

An unexpected death leaves survivors with a single relentless question: what happened?  Three forensic experts share how they investigate the dead to bring clarity to the living. Dr. Cori Breslauer, an associate medical examiner in Connecticut, describes the realities of autopsies, trauma, and truth-telling. Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, who pioneered forensic genetic genealogy, explains how inves...

Forget the typical meet-cute; this episode features individuals whose paths crossed in extraordinarily unique circumstances. Alex and Sue Tatham met each other on the globally televised dating show "Blind Date" in the UK, leading to a wedding watched by millions. Heather and Tony are Disney enthusiasts who found love across continents thanks to a dating site for fellow fans, MouseMingle.com And af...

Imagine being afraid of a pickle. Or a banana. Or a nub of bread. That’s daily life for people with ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder). It's an eating disorder not driven by weight or body image, but by fear, sensory overwhelm, or low appetite. People with this condition experience real terror and powerful aversions to certain foods - far beyond picky eating.  Clinical ps...

How brave can a nine-year-old be? We follow Lola Fraisse from Kidderminster, England, as she leaves home for six months to live with a host family in Lüneburg, Germany. She learns a new language, new rules, and new ways to see herself. Along the way, Lola grows her confidence, builds friendships, and even picks up a slight German accent! We also hear from Lola’s mom, Jennie, who did a c...

After cancer, one woman swam farther than anyone ever had in a lake. Another ran 104 marathons in 104 days on a carbon-fiber running blade. Marathon swimmer Sarah Thomas returned to the water following aggressive breast cancer and went on to complete multiple record-setting open-water swims.  And Jacky Hunt-Broersma lost her leg to bone cancer, then redefined endurance one marathon at a time....

Meet two men who survived suicide attempts, and built lives around helping others imagine a future beyond despair.  Kevin Hines, one of the few to survive a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge, reflects on the instant regret, the long recovery, and the tools he uses when “brain pain” returns - recorded just days before the 25th anniversary of his attempt.  Then, Connecticut ther...

TV shows and movies set in places like field offices, courtrooms and hospitals entertain us, sure... But they also tell us something - about crime, medicine, danger, and heroism. So who makes sure they don’t get it wrong?  Meet three entertainment consultants whose real jobs exist far beyond the screen: a former FBI profiler behind Criminal Minds , an ER doctor, who advised on The Pitt...

Meet two influential voices in autism advocacy whose lives and work have reshaped how the world understands neurodiversity.  Dr. Temple Grandin - a scientist, author, and animal behavior expert - reflects on growing up autistic, thinking in pictures, and building a career by leaning into the way her mind works.  And Dr. Kerry Magro, an autism advocate, speaker, and consultant on Netflix&...

Some rituals are spiritual. Some are silly. Some are inherited, and some are self-made. Casper ter Kuile, author of  The Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices , walks us through how we create all sorts of meaningful, grounding rituals. And you'll hear clips from past two years of Audacious guests who have shared the rituals that matter most to them, from morning...

What happens when a mother can’t raise her children? Not out of neglect, but because systems, partners, and survival leave her no real choice? This episode challenges the assumptions we place on “non-custodial mothers.” Rebekah Spicuglia explains how immigration rules, economic pressure, and unequal power led to her relinquishing custody of her son, Oscar, and how she channels he...

Step into the technicolor world of PEZ! We tour the Connecticut factory where more than 12 million tiny candies are pressed each day, guided by archivist Shawn Peterson, whose personal collection helped shape the Visitor Center. Meet Brian Trauman, the Guinness World Record holder whose thousands of dispensers trace a lifetime of joyful obsession. Hear Emily Tracy’s tender, funny, heartbreak...

A wise woman once said, “You can tell the ocean anything, but it has to be the truth.“  Chion Wolf boards the MSC Meraviglia expecting a week of small talk and sunscreen. But the farther she gets from land, the more people become willing to hang out in the deep end to talk about love, loss, faith, sobriety and stories they’ve been holding onto for years. When they speak, the...

Ahoy! Here’s a little bonus treasure from our episode, Audacious at Sea: Wisdom from Strangers on a Cruise Ship .  Chion spends a blissful vacation week aboard the MSC Meraviglia with about 5,000 fellow humans, sailing from Brooklyn to the Bahamas and back. And because we couldn’t fit everyone she talks with into the on-air version, this bonus gives you even more of their voices a...

Would you leave your family, friends, home, and job to move over a thousand miles away to take care of a pet squirrel? Meet two people who did just that for 8 year-old Thumbelina. Then, meet a birdkeeper at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute who was chosen by an endangered crane to be her life partner for almost 20 years. This episode originally aired on September 13, 2024. Listen to a...

We recently rebroadcast our Audacious episode featuring Chris Crowe. He's a bird keeper at Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s campus in Front Royal, Virginia. He spent nearly twenty years as the chosen partner of an endangered white-naped crane named Walnut. She was one of only 5,000 in the world, but to Chris, she was one of a kind.  Walnut's lif...