Kelly Corrigan Wonders

A scientist and entrepreneur built an AI to intercept every interruption in family life—the basketball emails, the field trip forms, the play rehearsal schedule buried at the bottom of a message. Then, an investor suggested the product could do more: text the sitter automatically, send birthday wishes to friends, suck up every teacher email so parents never see another one, and Avni Patel Thompson...

A text arrives: want to help build a movement around Jonathan Haidt's new book? Within a week, Alexa Arnold is sitting in his NYU office discussing how to change the world—and then she's in a hot tub with friends having a panic attack because she can't figure out how to do this massive job and raise an 18-month-old at the same time. In this final episode of The Tryhards—a three-part series for amb...

In 1974, a suburban housewife named Pat Tiehel (aka PT), submitted an essay to a women's magazine about being angry at a system that gave her education and aspirations, then kept her pinned up at home. The magazine rejected it. One year later, everything changed. This is the essay PT's daughters found tucked away in their mom's papers after she died—a document of wanting more...and what happened n...

Andy Laats thought parenting was a complete alphabet—he did A through M, his wife Liz handled N through Z. After she died of ovarian cancer, he learned he'd underestimated the N through Z work, and then discovered there was a whole world beyond language he never even knew existed. In this Go To episode featuring Andy's TED talk from Kelly's curated session on AI and family life, a CEO learns what...

What's underneath mom rage and why does it keep happening? In this second episode of The Tryhards—a 3-part series for ambitious parents trying to be the best version of themselves day by day—Kelly talks with Alexa Arnold and Kate Cockrill about the impossible expectations we set, the tasks we hoard, and what our rage is really trying to tell us. This is a conversation about suppression, resentment...

A mother stands to speak about her son Pierce—the boy who had style, a memorable laugh, and a way of making ordinary moments feel like love. Lesley Hu delivered this eulogy after Pierce was shot and killed by his father during a custody dispute, one of roughly 52 children murdered each year by a parent or stepparent amid legal negotiations over divorce, separation, or custody. This is Lesley's tri...

A Maasai girl grows up milking cows at dawn, walking ten kilometers for water, sleeping eight to a bed, surrounded by 38 siblings and five mothers who all knew her name and sang her song. Then she leaves for the city—chosen husband, three children, a laptop, shoes with zippers. Kelly shares Ndinini Kimesera Sikar's TED talk about living in two worlds and the question that haunts her: what do we pr...

In this first episode of "The Tryhards"—a three-part series for ambitious parents trying to be the best version of themselves day by day—Kelly talks with social impact entrepreneur Alexa Arnold and leadership coach Kate Cockrill about why we track our kids, what we're really searching for when we check our phones at midnight and the hard truth that all this data doesn't actually keep anyone safer....

A woman named Karen Burke listened to an episode of Thanks For Being Here and felt an overwhelming sense of certainty about something she'd never considered before. Kelly shares a remarkable full circle story that began with listener Jennifer Cramer-Miller's letter thanking her anonymous kidney donor and ends somewhere none of us could have predicted. This is about what happens when someone else's...

Babies attach to whoever responds to them—mother, father, grandmother, or machine. Kelly shares anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy's TED talk about what makes humans fundamentally different from other apes: we're "other-regarding," wired to care about what others think and feel. Through 6 million years of evolution, Sarah reveals why shared care isn't just helpful—it's how our species survived. But...

As a 19 year old, Letitia Hanke took a job as a receptionist at the local roofing company. Within 10 years, she bought the business she has now been running (and growing) for 2 decades. If you want to remember that anything is possible, this conversation will wake you up to the possibilities. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-polic...

A kitchen clock keeps perfect time for 55 years, witnessing countless conversations and quiet moments above a kitchen table. Kelly reads Jerry Kinkead's tribute to her brother-in-law Huck, a story about enduring presence and the people who stay steady when everything else shifts. Through memories of a reliable GE clock and the man who gifted it, Jerry remembers someone who was steady, curious, fun...

When someone admits they're struggling at 2 AM, should they have to wait until morning to talk to another human? Kelly shares her TED stage conversation with Dr. Allison Darcy, creator of Woebot, an AI therapy tool used by over 1.5 million people. From questions about who profits when we share our deepest fears to whether perfect AI responsiveness might make us reject messy human relationships, th...

Most people run from danger. Raymond Ansotegui spent a decade running toward it. In the final episode of our Great Coaches series, Kelly talks with a retired rodeo bullfighter about what happens when your job is to step between a thrown rider and an animal the size of a car. Through stories about learning to read personality in a bucking bull, finding connection in the most chaotic moments and und...

Sometimes the people we think we're teaching end up being our greatest mentors. Kelly shares a letter from Rachel Hicks—longtime collaborator on Kelly Corrigan Wonders—written to her younger self who spent seven years coaching high school volleyball. Through reflections on tough losses, difficult conversations with parents, and players who taught her more than she ever taught them, Rachel reveals...

Can a machine love a child the way a parent does? Kelly introduces a special GOTO series exploring one of the most unsettling questions of our time: as AI becomes more capable, what is a parent actually for? After curating a session at TED 2025 on parenting and technology, Kelly shares an episode she hosted of TED Talks Daily featuring her own TED Talk about the unglamorous, unmeasurable bravery r...

How do you lead when every decision affects someone's dream? Kelly talks with Yael Averbuch West, general manager of New Jersey/New York Gotham FC, about the tricky business of managing professional athletes whose careers are both precious and finite. This conversation explores the difference between coaches who see your strengths versus those who fixate on your weaknesses, why high EQ matters mor...

A very special coach can change your life in a single practice. Kelly shares listener Tiffany Hogue's letter to her high school track coach—a letter written decades after one small act of kindness set everything else in motion. This is about a coach who understood that last place can still be the starting line for something remarkable and the decision to include someone can have positive repercuss...

What makes a leader stay grounded? Kelly sat down with Maryland Governor Wes Moore at the Aspen Ideas Festival to talk about power and humility, loss and faith, and the forces that shape who we become. Moore shares stories from his childhood—losing his father at three, finding himself caught between worlds as a teenager, getting sent to military school—and reflects on how those early experiences i...

Kelly introduces The Lazy Genius podcast. October through December sometimes feels like a really fun roller coaster but you don’t always feel like you have time to buckle your seatbelt. This episode is going to help you not just survive a busy season but really enjoy it. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about you...

In Episode 4 of our Great Coaches series, Kelly talks with Ali Truwit, who went from Yale Division I swimmer to shark attack survivor to Paralympic silver medalist in just over a year. Two days after her college graduation, a snorkeling trip in Turks and Caicos ended with Ali losing her left foot and part of her leg as a result of a shark attack. What followed wasn't just a physical recovery but a...

What makes a coach unforgettable? Kelly reads listener Kathleen Ricketts' tribute to her high school basketball coach, Dave Greenberg—known simply as "DG". This isn't a story about championships or statistics. It's about a man who knew his players as individuals, who loved freely and built confidence that shaped the trajectory of their lives. Through Kathleen's words, we meet a coach who became a...

Kelly's daughter Claire takes the mic to share her experience with Camp Kesem, an amazing organization that runs free summer camps for kids whose parents have faced cancer. As both a cancer survivor's daughter and the current director of UVA's Kesem chapter, Claire opens up about her personal story and shows how this incredible community creates pure magic for children going through tough times. (...

In the third episode of our Great Coaches series, Kelly sits down with Eric Ripert, chef and co-owner of Le Bernardin, whose three Michelin stars pale in comparison to his journey from surviving brutal kitchen culture to creating something entirely different. Through stories about the legendary cruelty of mentor Joel Robuchon and the moment Eric realized he was becoming someone he didn't recognize...

Kelly shares the legendary farewell memo that GQ Editor-in-Chief Jim Nelson sent to his staff when Andy Ward left for Random House in 2009. This is workplace appreciation turned up to eleven—a memo so effusive, so unabashedly emotional and so beautifully over-the-top that it became the stuff of publishing legend. Through Nelson's tribute to Andy's "Olympian generosity of spirit" and "Andy Ward-nes...