Audacious with Chion Wolf

Connecticut Public

Audacious with Chion Wolf spotlights the stories of people whose experiences, professions, or conditions defy convention or are often misunderstood. Guided by deep curiosity and genuine compassion, the team behind Audacious creates space for the kinds of stories that rarely get told - and the kinds of questions we're often afraid to ask. From those speaking publicly for the very first time to voices already known around the world, every guest is met with care, and every story is honored as both deeply personal and profoundly human. For more: ctpublic.org/audacious

  1. The minds, hearts (and stomachs) of competitive eaters

    2 days ago

    The minds, hearts (and stomachs) of competitive eaters

    Some people savor every bite. Others eat 30 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Welcome to the world of competitive eating! Visit Lake Compounce for a Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier, where everyone is trying to prove they’re top dog. Then Crazy Legs Conti and Katina DeJarnett - aka Katina Eats Kilos - talk about what it takes to train, compete, recover, and keep chewing when your body is begging you to meat it halfway. It’s a lot to digest.   Suggested episodes: The Guts & Glory Of Getting Into The Guinness Book Of World Records Edible oracles: Fortune-telling with cheese, onions, and tea leaves Welcome to the Punderdome! We're entering NYC's punniest pun competition   GUESTS:  Sam Barclay: Emcee and host with Major League Eating, where he helps turn competitive eating contests into full-on sporting spectacles Crazy Legs Conti: Longtime Major League Eating competitor, writer, filmmaker, and the subject of the documentary, “Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating“ Semora Kludy: Known through her food-challenge page, Semora’s Competitive Bites, she is a Michigan-based competitive eater and food challenger Max Stanford: aka Max vs Food, is a London-based competitive eater, food-content creator, and one of Major League Eating’s top-ranked competitors Katina DeJarnett: aka Katina Eats Kilos, is a professional eater, YouTuber, and former bodybuilder. She has millions of followers across social media watching her tackle giant meals around the world Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    49 min
  2. Joe Stone, wheelchair rugby, and the full-contact art of resilience

    26 Jun

    Joe Stone, wheelchair rugby, and the full-contact art of resilience

    Joe Stone grew up playing volleyball, skateboarding, and breakdancing. Then, in 2012, a car crash left him paralyzed.  Doctors told him he would likely never move anything below his chest again. But five weeks after leaving the hospital, Joe found wheelchair rugby. This violent, fast, full-contact sport helped him rebuild strength, process anger, and feel alive in a changed body.  In this conversation recorded at a live tournament in New Haven, Joe talks about the crash, falling in love after paralysis, being a father, faith, adaptive sports, and what people misunderstand when they assume athletes with disabilities are fragile. Suggested episodes: Multiple sclerosis tried to bench her. Karen Smith won gold instead  Stunt performers David Holmes and Jonathan Goodwin on life after paralysis  A marathon swimmer and ultrarunner: surviving cancer, breaking records  New ways to see, new ways to move: The tech that’s changing disability    GUEST:  Joe Stone: Wheelchair rugby player and adaptive athlete who became paralyzed after a 2012 car crash fractured his C6 and C7 vertebrae. He plays with the Gaylord Warriors Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    49 min
  3. A baby’s hot car death, a mother’s grief, and the brain science behind these tragedies

    19 Jun

    A baby’s hot car death, a mother’s grief, and the brain science behind these tragedies

    Stephanie Salvilla so deeply loved - still loves - her baby boy, Gannon. In July 2009, after a week of disrupted routines and sleepless nights, her brain went on autopilot. She dropped off her older child, drove to work, and unknowingly left 5-month-old Gannon in the car. He died. In this deeply difficult and important conversation, Stephanie talks about grief, shame, public judgment, forgiveness, and why she now shares her story. We also hear from Amber Rollins, executive director of Kids and Car Safety, about why these tragedies happen and the simple habits every caregiver can use to help keep children safe.   Resources: Kids and Car Safety Fatal Distraction: Forgetting a Child in the Backseat of a Car Is a Horrifying Mistake. Is It a Crime? by Gene Weingarten   Suggested episode: Finding purpose in life after accidentally killing someone   GUESTS:  Amber Rollins: Executive director of Kids and Car Safety, a national nonprofit focused on preventing child injuries and deaths in and around vehicles. She has worked with the organization for 21 years and helps lead its data, family support, and safety advocacy work  Stephanie Salvilla: A mother whose 5-month-old son, Gannon, died in a hot car in 2009 after a change in the family’s daycare drop-off routine. She now shares her story to help prevent other families from living through the same tragedy  Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    59 min
  4. It all adds up: The joy of micro-philanthropy

    12 Jun

    It all adds up: The joy of micro-philanthropy

    When you hear “philanthropy,” you might think of millionaires, black-tie galas, or buildings named after donors. But what if you could be a philanthropist without being wealthy? In this episode, you’ll meet people who donate small amounts to hundreds of places, hand out cash on city streets, and send money directly to people in poverty, no strings attached.  Explore the power of small, consistent giving, and how even modest acts of generosity can spark massive ripple effects. This episode originally aired on May 24, 2025.   Suggested episodes: GOOD NEWS! That’s how we celebrate 100 episodes of Audacious Social media, the algorithm, and the state of our hearts "Negativity be gone!": Artists igniting joy on social media   GUESTS:  Rabbi Jeff & Mindy Glickman: creators of the “Giving Locally Everywhere” (GLeE) initiative, through which they donated to every NPR station and United Way branch in the country, as well as other organizations they value. Jeff serves as rabbi at Temple Beth Hillel in South Windsor, CT, and Mindy is a community leader and Hebrew instructor Peter Bond: a social media creator best known for his TikTok and Instagram accounts, @bondgives, where he documents acts of kindness and helps people in need across New York City. Since 2021, he has been using his platforms to inspire others to give back and make a positive impact in their communities Caroline Teti: a Vice President at GiveDirectly with decades of experience in almost all areas of the development sector, including the world’s largest and longest study on universal basic income. Her belief in direct cash as the most effective tool to end extreme poverty is also rooted in her upbringing in rural Kenya Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    49 min
  5. Innocent, convicted, exonerated: James Tillman, 20 years after getting free

    5 Jun

    Innocent, convicted, exonerated: James Tillman, 20 years after getting free

    James Tillman remembers the smell of steak and onions cooking at his mother’s house on the day police came for him. He thought he’d be back soon. Instead, he spent a total of 18½ years incarcerated for a crime he did not commit. In 2006, with the help of the Connecticut Innocence Project, DNA evidence proved his innocence, making him the first person in Connecticut exonerated through post-conviction DNA testing. Later, DNA pointed to another man, who eventually confessed in court. James talks about refusing to plead guilty, surviving prison, holding onto faith, and learning how to live freely again.  And we meet Katie Farrell, the social worker who helped him prepare for freedom before freedom was guaranteed.   Suggested episodes: Nothing goes as planned: A first-time offender’s prison story from arrest to release Love without the possibility of parole How to find purpose in life after accidentally killing someone    GUESTS:  James Tillman: Was wrongfully convicted of rape and kidnapping in Hartford in 1989 and sentenced to 45 years in prison. After 18½ years incarcerated, DNA evidence proved his innocence, making him Connecticut’s first post-conviction DNA exoneree. Katie Farrell: Chief Social Worker for Connecticut’s Division of Public Defender Services. She worked with James Tillman during the final stage of his innocence case and helped him prepare for possible freedom Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    49 min
  6. Astronaut artists: Painting, quilting, and playing Bowie aboard the ISS

    29 May

    Astronaut artists: Painting, quilting, and playing Bowie aboard the ISS

    The International Space Station was designed for science, research, and survival. But astronauts turned it into a music studio, an art studio, and a sewing room.  Former ISS commander and musician, Chris Hadfield, astronaut-painter Nicole Stott, and astronaut-quilter Karen Nyberg take us inside the strange, beautiful reality of making music, paintings, and handmade objects while orbiting Earth at 17,500 miles an hour.  Suggested episodes: Nicole Stott on being a NASA entertainment consultant What it's like at the bottom of the world with Dr. “Deepsea Dawn” Wright    GUESTS:  Chris Hadfield: Musician, fighter pilot, retired Canadian astronaut, and bestselling author, whose performance of Space Oddity became the first music video ever filmed in space  Nicole Stott: Retired NASA astronaut, watercolor artist, and the first person to paint with watercolors in space. She co-founded the Space for Art Foundation to connect children around the world through art and space exploration Karen Nyberg: Engineer, retired NASA astronaut, and textile artist who hand-sewed a stuffed dinosaur, a Texas flag, and a quilt block aboard the International Space Station. It was later placed at the center of a massive community-made “astronomical quilt”  Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    49 min
  7. Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster: The hunt for wonder

    22 May

    Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster: The hunt for wonder

    What if the real mystery isn’t Bigfoot or Nessie, but the people who devote their lives to searching for them?  Chion talks with Mike Wanders, who spent a year traveling through legendary Bigfoot country, and Steve Feltham, who has spent decades on the shore of Loch Ness.  What keeps a person returning, again and again, to a mystery that refuses to resolve itself? And what if not knowing can be its own kind of joy?  Suggested episodes: Meet a man who is committed to having coffee at every corporate-owned Starbucks on the planet GUESTS:  Mike Wanders: Bigfoot researcher, adventurer, and documentarian. He traveled to alleged Bigfoot hotspots across North America for a year and documented the journey Steve Feltham: Known as the “Nessie Hunter,” he moved to the shores of Loch Ness in 1991 and holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous vigil seeking the Loch Ness Monster   Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    49 min
  8. I saw it coming! When premonitions come true

    15 May

    I saw it coming! When premonitions come true

    For the past two years, at the end of interviews for Audacious, host Chion Wolf has been asking guests one question: have you ever had a dream or premonition that came true? Twenty-three guests describe vivid dreams, sudden urges, eerie intuitions, and moments of certainty that later proved accurate in ways they can’t explain. Some sensed love before it arrived. Some saw danger coming. Some felt loss before they knew what they were losing. Take a personal look at intuition, mystery, and the possibility that the world may be stranger and much more connected than we realize. Suggested episodes: Life advice, one Audacious guest at a time  Forgiveness: How we define it and how it defines us   Why you so salty?  What smells remind you of childhood? Kitchen objects with a story. Listen at your own whisk   Awe yeah! Exploring the magic of mind-blowing moments  How regret teaches us to live  Stories of everyday courage, from getting a needle in the eye to tackling a purse thief  The surprising ways we ritual  Are you superstitious or just a little 'stitious'?    GUESTS (in order of appearance):  First segment: Caroline Mandaro, Casper ter Kuile, Timothy Schultz, Christine Ha, Achivai Sofer, Tom Burgoyne, Kerry Kennedy, and Joe Stone Second segment: Dr. Gale Ridge, Katina DeJarnett, Rachel Lithgow, Andy Corren, Bill Edgar, Lindsay Childress-Beatty, RoseMarie Wallace, and Dr. Kruti Parekh Third segment: Bettina Hunt, Joy Brooker, Paperboy Love Prince, Rebekah Spicuglia, Leslie Wharton, Sarah Napoli, and Harriet Newman Cohen  Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    49 min
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Audacious with Chion Wolf spotlights the stories of people whose experiences, professions, or conditions defy convention or are often misunderstood. Guided by deep curiosity and genuine compassion, the team behind Audacious creates space for the kinds of stories that rarely get told - and the kinds of questions we're often afraid to ask. From those speaking publicly for the very first time to voices already known around the world, every guest is met with care, and every story is honored as both deeply personal and profoundly human. For more: ctpublic.org/audacious

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