Audacious with Chion Wolf

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 therapist Steve MacHattie shares what it means to live with chronic suicidal urges, after his first attempt at six years old, and how reaching for connection can change the outcome. Resources: 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Crisis Text LineConnecticut Suicide Advisory Board Suggested episodes: 911, What's Your Emergency? Tales From DispatchFinding purpose in life after accidentally killing someoneWhat it's like surviving a plane crash GUESTS: Kevin Hines:Cracked, Not BrokenThe Art of Being BrokenThe Art of WellnessHINESIGHTSDeath BridgeSteve MacHattie:Connecticut Suicide Advisory BoardSupport the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, and NASA astronaut Nicole Stott, who worked on the Amazon film Space Cadet. They reveal what Hollywood gets right, what it often misses, and the surprising responsibility that comes with shaping what millions of people believe. Suggested episodes: Behind The Screens: Hollywood Hairstyling, Coordinating Intimacy, And Illustrating The Great British Bake Off Becoming fluent in English by watching 3 hours of American and British television every dayBehind The Screens: Dressing Schitt’s Creek, Special Effects Make-Up, and Casting Queer Eye Stunt performers David Holmes and Jonathan Goodwin on life after paralysis When actors teach: Embodying the lives of an enslaved woman and a medical patient Who decides? Ethicists help doctors and patients answer big, nuanced questions GUESTS: Jim Clemente: Criminal MindsDr. Sylvia Owusu-Ansah: The PittNicole Stott:Space CadetSupport the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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’s Love on the Spectrum, shares his path from being nonverbal to becoming a public voice for autism, and why accurate representation can change lives. Suggested episode: A conversation with 12 year-old Sophie Rupolo, who has Williams Syndrome, and her mom GUESTS: Dr. Temple Grandin:Temple GrandinThinking in PicturesDr. Kerry Magro:Love on the SpectrumSupport the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 journaling and bedtime affirmations to pre-show sign-slapping. Whether you've already got your rituals down pat, or are still developing your own special routine, this episode shows you how to honor the sacred in the everyday. This episode originally aired on May 17, 2025. Suggested episodes: Forgiveness: How we define it and how it defines us Life advice, one Audacious guest at a timeKitchen objects with a story. Listen at your own whiskWhy you so salty? The anger episodeChange Of Art: Stories About Tattoo CoverupsAwe yeah! Exploring the magic of mind-blowing moments GUESTS: Casper ter KuileThe Power of Ritual: Turning Everyday Activities into Soulful Practices. Sacred Design LabHarry Potter and the Sacred TextAudacious guests who shared their personal rituals (in order of appearance)Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 her grief after his murder into research on gun violence and family separation. And from Cameroon, Marie Abanga shares why escaping abuse meant leaving her three young sons behind. Suggested episodes: Life after Parkland: A victim's dad turns to art and activismThe weight of family secrets: Finding freedom in the truthThe reality of 'Forever Parenting' when your child needs lifetime care GUESTS: Rebekah Spicuglia:Marie Abanga:Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, heartbreaking story about the PEZ tattoo she got to honor her mother. And the hosts of PEZamania, the world’s largest PEZ convention, talk about how nostalgia and candy become community. Suggested episodes: Discovering delight - and despair - in dumpster diving We have to talk about cuddle parties Take a tour of the John Zaffis Museum of the Paranormal Pawn queens: Tales and treasures from women pawn shop owners Audacious at sea: Wisdom from strangers on a cruise ship GUESTS: Shawn Peterson: Company archivist and historian at PEZ Candy, Inc. in Orange, CT. He manages the PEZ Visitor Center, where much of the collection on display comes from his own personal archive. He is also the author of PEZ: From Austrian Invention to American Icon and Collector’s Guide to PEZ: Identification and Price Guide Brian Trauman: Owns the world's largest Pez collection and holds the Guinness World Record for “largest candy dispenser collection.” He has been collecting since 1999 and owns more than 6,400 dispensers Morgan Rhinehart and Landon Proctor: hosts of PEZamania in Ohio – the longest running collector convention in the world, established in 1991 Emily Tracy: Manchester resident who memorialized her PEZ-collecting mom with a tattoo of her head on top of a PEZ dispenser Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 ocean listens. And in this hour, so do you. Listen to a BONUS track featuring more voices from the ship: Latisha from the Bronx; Vincent Ferrito and Lauren Englemann from Brooklyn, NY; Brittney and Jeana Lockhart from New Bedford, MA; Henry Armbrister, Barbara Williams, Dellie Maycock, and Giovanni Ferguson from Nassau, Bahamas. Suggested episodes: The Big E: What it takes to create 17 days of magicLife advice, one Audacious guest at a timeIt's A Brand Nude Day!Discovering delight - and despair - in dumpster divingWelcome to the Punderdome! We're entering NYC's punniest pun competitionSOLD! Audacious Auctioneers Plus, Advice on Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, a project Chion did interviewing passengers on a 48-hour train ride GUESTS: A segment:B segment:C segment:Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 and stories. Somewhere in between sunrise coffees and late-night pizza buffets, Chion asks passengers - and a few locals in Nassau, Bahamas - to share their favorite piece of life advice. That opens the door to conversations that go way beyond advice, and into the values that people have carried with them much of their lives. GUESTS: Latisha from the Bronx Vincent Ferrito and Lauren Englemann from Brooklyn, NY Brittney and Jeana Lockhart from New Bedford, MA Henry Armbrister, Barbara Williams, Dellie Maycock, and Giovanni Ferguson from Nassau, Bahamas Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 an updated conversation with Chris Crowe, including his experience getting his first tattoo - a giant portrait of Walnut. Suggested episodes: Wings, pouches, and snouts: The world of uncommon emotional support animalsBirdwatching legend Peter Kaestner's journey to 10,000 birdsAudacious kids: Stories of courage, conservation, and compassion GUESTS: Christina and Michael Reyes: ThumbelinaChris Crowe:Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology InstituteSupport the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 life expectancy as a bird living in captivity was 15 years. But she died at the age of 42 on January 2, 2024. In that original episode, just five months after her death, I spoke with Chris about their life together. And from the responses we got, their life together deeply resonated with you. Which is why we decided to rebroadcast it! But then something remarkable happened. A few hours after we decided to publish that rerun, I saw a post from Chris on Facebook: He just got his first tattoo - a giant portrait of Walnut. When the universe lines things up that precisely, I pay attention. So I reached out to him. I wanted to ask what moved him to get this tattoo now, how it feels to carry her on his arm, and how he’s doing as the two-year anniversary of her death approaches. Photo and tattoo by Maggie Cho. Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some people “age gracefully.” These three women age audaciously! 91 year-old comedian, D’yan Forest, commands the stage with her ukulele and sharp wit, spinning the stories of her long life into laughter. Family law attorney Harriet Newman Cohen, 92, is the kind of lawyer who changed history for LGBTQ+ families and plans on never stopping. And Charlotte Guttenberg, the 77-year-old Guinness World Record holder for most-tattooed female senior citizen, started inking her body in her fifties and turned herself into a living, breathing work of art. Suggested episodes: Audacious EldersChange of art: Stories about tattoo coverups GUESTS: D’yan Forest:A Gefilte Fish Out Of WaterHarriet Newman Cohen:Passion and Power: A Life in Three WorldsCharlotte Guttenberg:Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Who rejoices in making a bad episode of public radio? We do! But only the best kind of bad. On this episode of Audacious, meet Jon from Jon Breaks Bad News, who delivers other people’s worst messages for a living. Then, the co-founders of the Golden Raspberry Awards - also known as the Razzies - celebrate Hollywood’s most spectacular cinematic failures. And finally, a few listeners share their stories of terrible dates, followed by a conversation with Rachel Lithgow. She shares her memoir, My Year of Really Bad Dates. Suggested episodes: I snuck my incarcerated boyfriend out of prison in a dog crateNothing goes as planned: A first-time offender’s prison story from arrest to releaseHow regret teaches us to live GUESTS: Jon Breaks Bad News:Jon Breaks Bad News Show, John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy:Razzie AwardsMichelle Horsley, Maria Grove, Lindsay Ewing:Rachel Lithgow:My Year of Really Bad DatesSupport the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a Brooklyn woman who identifies as queer, liberal, vegan, and an atheist donates her kidney to a conservative Christian man from Virginia? Kerry Kennedy and Joey Shervey tell the story of what it looks like when compassion outvotes everything else. Their transplant crossed party lines and personal beliefs to create an unexpected friendship. Then, Lindsay Vigue describes how a small flyer on the wall of a diner led her to become a living kidney donor, and then to becoming the executive director of Donate Life Connecticut. Resources: Donate Life ConnecticutNational Kidney FoundationNational Kidney RegistryOrganDonor.govFormer Middletown mayor Dan Drew's TED Talk about why he donated his kidney Suggested episode: The Story Of The First African American Face Transplant GUESTS: Joey Shervey:Kerry Kennedy:Lindsay Vigue:Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When does creation become prayer? And when does prayer become protest? Artist and poet Zulynette talks about her new book, Becoming a Soft Woman with a Machete. It's equal parts gospel, therapy session, and roast. From laughter to liberation, explore how art can be both sanctuary and sword. Suggested episodes: Poet Zulynette on “Seeing in the Dark” The playfulness of poetry with Andrew Dean WrightA fireside conversation with Hartford’s “Love Poet”, Olusanya BeyWords over weapons: When anti-war poems go viral An extended conversation about forgiveness with poet David Whyte GUEST: Zulynette:Becoming a Soft Woman with a MacheteA Little Bit of DeathSeeing in the DarkBuilding a PowerhouseSupport the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 photographer who made these dolls a major part of her work. This episode originally aired on September 24, 2021. GUESTS: Emilie St-HilaireIrene GoldenJamie DiamondPatrizia BartolomeiSupport the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s 2 a.m.; the phone rings. The caller ID says Stockholm, Sweden. The voice on the other end of the line says, “Congratulations! You’ve just been awarded a Nobel Prize!” What goes through your mind in a moment like that? Meet two people who received that life-altering call. Discover not only the incredible doors it opened for them, but the unexpected challenges that came with such a prestigious honor. This episode originally aired on October 18, 2024. Suggested episodes: Laugh and then think: What it's like to win the Ig Nobel PrizeWhat it’s like winning a little or a lot on The Price Is Right, Wheel Of Fortune, and Jeopardy! GUESTS: Andrea Ghez:Martin Chalfie:Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DING DONG! Crash headfirst into the world of singing telegrams: bizarre, moving, and absolutely unforgettable. You’ll meet Joy Brooker, whose TikTok serenades bring millions to tears and laughter; Jay Bragg, who blends hospice care and honky-tonk into acoustic telegrams; and Paul Mordoff, a children’s entertainer who joins us on a bench by a lake in a tutu-clad gorilla costume. At the end, Chion puts it all into practice with her boldest assignment yet: surprising Connecticut Public’s very own president and CEO, Mark Contreras, with a song (while wearing an inflatable axolotl costume). Suggested episodes: Meet Prince & Elvis tribute artists who are finding fame, fans, and their own voiceInside the Mascot: The Phillie Phanatic, a Yard Goat, and a mascot maker GUESTS: Joy Brooker: singing telegram performer from Missouri, known for her creative characters and wide social media followingJay Bragg:acoustic singing telegramsPaul Mordoff: Mark Contreras: President & CEO of Connecticut Public Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At The Big E, a fair becomes a mirror. Wander with the Audacious crew through 175 acres of wonder and delight to meet the people who bring it to life! From a Lost & Found sage, to a fairy from the Florence Griswold Museum, to a hot tub ace, to Amber, the bathroom attendant/joy DJ. President & CEO Gene Cassidy shares the soul of the Exposition, then we follow our heads, hearts, and (especially) stomachs through cream puffs, Pepe’s pizza, cookie dough-on-a-stick, and dangerously good oddities. Suggested episodes: Scenes from the Big E: A fair filled with food, animals, music – and heart GUESTS: Mary Naughton and Cyndy Penner:Cyndy’s BearsAndrea Anderson and Sabrina Gagnon:Hobby Knoll StableSusan Rotondo and Bill Motyl:Tammi Flynn:The Florence Griswold MuseumRita Rivera:Wee Faerie VillageAmber Stone:Ed Ame:James Tackett:Darryl Wilson:Melissa Russell:John Barrows:Eugene Cassidy:Greg:Kevin Gagliard:Frank Pepe Pizzeria NapoletanaLynn Lischke:Josh Virkler:Luann’s BakeryJackson Panek-Henderson:Joseph Haag:Kora and Mila’s Cookie DoughJosh, John, and Henry Pupa:Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when adults do “Show and Tell” at a brewery? In this third live installment, recorded at Willimantic Brewing Company, names are drawn from a vase and strangers step up with objects that carry big stories: a couch cushion, a WWII code talker radio, a NeXT computer by Steve Jobs, a ravioli cutter, a shofar, even a hand grenade. The results are hilarious, heartfelt, and unforgettable, proving once again that the things we carry tell the stories of who we are. Suggested episodes: Audacious Live! Show & Tell in StamfordAudacious Live! Show & Tell birthday bash in Hartford GUESTS: Candace Arey:Tim Dwyer:Debby Page:Charles L. Perkins:Sarah Eyre:Elizabeth Thomas:Sarah Santora:the Widow’s MiteLaura Rosas: Shofar Shoshanna: Coco Cooley:Gabrielle Zane:Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What makes your jaw drop? A celestial event? A powerful piece of music? In this episode, explore awe in its many forms, from a total solar eclipse to the psychology of wonder. Psychologist Dacher Keltner breaks down the science of awe, cellist Yumi Kendall shares how music transports us, and Audacious listeners share their most treasured moments of awe. This episode originally aired on March 14, 2025. GUESTS: Mara Suttmann-Lea, Joseph Dickerson, and Stefan Keller:Click here to watch a video of the experienceDacher Keltner: Greater Good Science CenterThe Science of HappinessAwe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life Yumi Kendall: Tacet No MoreAwestruck Audacious listeners who sent in voice memos (in order of appearance)Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.