Kelly Corrigan Wonders

Thanks to a brilliant TED talk by Baratunde Thurston, I’m thinking about how people tell the story of what’s happened. I also reached out to my neuroscientist friend Lisa Feldman Barrett to ask her about how the brain processes language. It all sounds very heady and it is, a little, but it’s also something worth thinking about since we live in language. (Replay of Ep 52 which originally aired on J...

With the demand for excellent mental health care at its all-time peak, it’s a good thing people like Tracy Defina dared to go back to school — for many years — to get a PhD in counseling. This is the story of how she pulled off this enormous achievement in the middle of life already teeming with to-dos. My conversation with Tracy is the first of a 4-part series called How’d You Do That? With women...

High school junior Clare Murphy wrote this touching, personal and evocative essay for a school assignment. It conveys incredible warmth and deep affection for a very special lake house and also the large, loving family that inhabits it each summer. (Replay of Ep 25 which originally aired on 7/31/22). To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/priva...

With our hearts in Ukraine, here’s a story to love about a group of caring people in San Francisco in a time of uncertainty who showed the world how to lean in. (Replay of Ep 38 which originally aired on 4/8/22). To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let’s say this: the number one driver of happiness across time and culture is meaningful connection to others. So how do you get it and how do you keep it? Dr. Helen Fisher has been studying love for 5 decades. 5. That’s a lot of information. Share this conversation with the people you love. Tons of takeaways that you can integrate immediately. (Replay of Ep 124 which originally aired in January 2...

A touching eulogy for Walter Barry, written by his son Stewart (“Bear Bear"). This is a beautiful tale of family bonds, of three sons who loved to play sports (even inside the family home to a refrain of “Boys take it outside!”) and of a father who led with his heart and intuition. Walter Barry stuck to his guns even when his values and standards weren’t popular, brought joy with his humor, modele...

Sometimes, the only way to figure out what truly makes a life worthwhile is to get out there and “do it”. Yale student Cooper Newsom wrote an essay,“The Great Human Road Race; Or, the Lost Virtue of Corniness” as his final paper in Yale’s Life Worth Living class and it’s a comedic look at how corny but ultimately fun, running a road race can be. Dancing to blaring music first thing in the morning,...

In this final episode of our Life Worth Living series, Kelly reflects on some of her favorite book club moments with Claire Danes and Kate Bowler and offers takeaways and a list of practices to help us stay on track. Based on Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most from authors Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz. Visit lifeworthliving.com/kelly to access a study guide...

Today’s Thanks For Being Here was submitted by Heather Hoskeer. It’s a poignant, beautifully-written essay called, “My Mom and Three Writers I Love” and it honors Heather’s mother, who she lost to Alzheimer’s disease. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoic...

Today’s For the Good of the Order is a speech that Kelly gave at Camp Kesem, a very special place that welcomes loss, friendship, sorrow and new beginnings equally. A place that shows us that we can be damaged and heavy-hearted, but still buoyant and insightful and very useful to one another. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-polic...

Sadly, this is the last conversation with Claire Danes and Kate Bowler about what makes life worth all the trouble, worry and suffering. In this freewheeling ride, we dig into just how inevitable personal ethical failure is and therefore, what does repair require. Like, how good are you at apologizing? Have you really accepted the people you love — as they are — or are you still trying to change t...

Amy Zuckerman shares a remembrance of her late father Harry “Wes” Westlund. Wes was a special man whose dream of becoming an Air Force fighter pilot was taken away just days before he was to receive his wings, due to a heart murmur. Amy says that although her dad lived his entire life under the threat of a heart defect, he had no issues at all with his capital “H” heart. He was a loving, caring an...

In this tender essay, Kelly traces her understanding of death from the day her goldfish died to the moment her father died. For everyone who will be missing someone on Father’s Day, this is for you. Please share. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Claire Danes, Kate Bowler and I try to figure out how the hell to live lives of real meaning and discovery, how to depersonalize the slings and arrows of any season, how to remember our agency and mobility. Based on Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most from authors Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz. Visit lifeworthliving.com/kelly to access a study guide to help yo...

Writer Courtney Martin wrote this loving, humorous tribute to her mother for her 75th birthday. Along with detailing some of her mom’s quirks that used to drive her crazy (but which at age 43 she now appreciates), Courtney also lovingly describes her many incredible qualities. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more abo...

I find the Axios Finish Line newsletter hugely useful. I read it every day without fail. With 2023 graduates in mind, and all the conversations we had on college campuses across the country this spring, let me share and riff on this Finish Line piece that talked about the core skills this class of kids will need going forward. Axios: Sign up for newsletter here Book I mentioned: The Alignment Prob...

How do the values we inherited clash or complement the cultures we come of age in? How can we stay the right size in the world and in our own minds? What do you worship and nurture - art, the church, politics, food? Claire Danes and Kate Bowler join Kelly to talk about all the things that came up as they read Life Worth Living, our first Kelly Corrigan Wonders bookclub pick. Based on Life Worth Li...

This is the story of an oncologist named Amy who diagnosed herself with leukemia in her own lab and a stem cell donor named Brandon who stepped up to save her life. The chances of finding a perfect donor match are extremely small. The chances that the perfect donor would end up living only an hour away are astronomically small - and yet, these two very special people beat the odds in many ways. An...

In a recent high school graduation speech, Kelly shared her take on the things only we know about ourselves and how keeping our internal dialog honest sets the table for a good and happy life. Please share with all the 2023 graduates in your life. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit http...

Welcome to the Kelly Corrigan Wonders “Life Worth Living” Book Club. This is the opening episode, where Kelly and the authors dig into the key questions driving this series: what’s worth doing, who are we responsible to, how should life feel, how should we deal with failures, and what can keep our values and our behavior aligned? Share this with the readers and thinkers in your life. The more peop...

Keith Romano wrote and delivered this eulogy for his father Patrick Romano, a lover of sports who believed that teamwork was always more important than talent. Keith honors his father’s uncompromising values and beliefs, his sense of humor and the example he set for his family…illustrated by the “no look pass” something Patrick always felt was the perfect intersection of teamwork, skill and grace....

Very specific ideas for participating in great conversation wherever you go. This one is meant to help us all live as learners and connectors, not teachers, performers, takers. Because charity counts for more than cleverness. Everything you need to know to join the book club is here. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn m...

How do understanding and approval factor into kindness? Are we only nice to the people we "get"? How can we change the way we think about who is deserving of love, respect and kindness? (hint: it's everyone). Carvell Wallace has thoughts on all of this and more. He's a writer, a thinker and a creative who has written powerful profiles of artists, actors, activists and is also the curious mind behi...

Alex Mallonee wrote this meaningful essay: “Things I Learned From My Mother Through the Art We Made Together”. It’s a look at Alex’s beautiful relationship with his incredible mom Joyce, her 25-year cancer journey and the art project they created together called “Deconstruction”. Joyce’s creativity, desire to collaborate, love and sense of humor fueled the project but more importantly, showed Alex...

Could a single comment from a teacher or a classmate in our youth redefine how we see ourselves and the world forever? Master storyteller Michael Lewis, in a funny excerpt from his conversation with Kelly for PBS’ Tell Me More, makes the case that indeed it could. (Bonus content not included in the previously aired Michael Lewis podcast interview.) Thank you to PBS. This interview can be viewed in...