Podcast
Audacious with Chion Wolf
Hosted by Connecticut Public Radio · EN
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
20episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Great World Race and the Barkley Marathons: What extreme races reveal about us
6d ago00:49:08Tap to summarizeSome people sign up for a 5K. Some people sign up for a race with a secret start time, no marked course, and books hidden in the woods. Or seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. We have questions. Meet Jared Campbell, the only person ever to finish the Barkley Marathons four times - a secretive, nearly mythic race through the Tennessee woods with an unmarked course, brutal climbs, and pages torn from hidden books as proof you were there. And Dr. Lisa Kenton is an ER doctor who pushed through ice, heat, and near-total exhaustion in the Great World Race, fueled by a cause close to her heart. Suggested episodes: Extreme ironing, cheese rolling, and shin kicking: The world of weird sports From wingsuit BASE jumping to record-breaking South Pole expeditions with Ellen Brennan Frat and Liv Arnesen A marathon swimmer and ultrarunner: surviving cancer, breaking records Banjo Man, 'Woo Woo' Wickers and UConn Huskies superfans share their love of the game Roller skating as community, competition, and transformation Multiple sclerosis tried to bench her. Karen Smith won gold instead GUESTS: Jared Campbell: the only four-time finisher of the Barkley Marathons - one of the world’s most punishing, quirky, and mysterious races Dr. Lisa Kenton: emergency room doctor at The Hospital of Central Connecticut who completed the Great World Race - seven marathons on seven continents in seven days - in November 2025. She dedicated the journey to raising awareness and funds for Malan syndrome, a rare genetic condition that affects her niece and nephew. Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Paper trails: A viral book list and a wife’s secret thoughts revealed
2w ago00:49:08Tap to summarizeWhat 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 that made him question how well he really knew her. Together, these stories are about grief, memory, mystery, and the strange power of paper to preserve not just facts, but personality, silence, love, and what still can’t be explained. Suggested episodes: What's in that note? Stories about messages in bottles The weight of family secrets: Finding freedom in the truth GUESTS: Marci Pelzer: The daughter of Dan Pelzer, who left behind a 109-page handwritten list of every book he read from 1962 to 2023. After his death at 92, she helped bring the list to a wider audience Dan Fogel: Wrote a Huffington Post essay about finding his late wife Sue’s journals after her death and realizing how much of her inner life had remained unknown to him during their 45-year marriage Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Inside the Mascot: The Phillie Phanatic, a Yard Goat, and a mascot maker
3w ago00:50:05Tap to summarizeMascots: 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 of Conor Geary, whose turn as a mascot led to a dream sports gig he never saw coming. This episode originally aired on August 29, 2025. Suggested episode: Banjo Man, 'Woo Woo' Wickers and UConn Huskies superfans share their love of the game GUESTS: Tom Burgoyne: “Best friend” of the Phillie Phanatic, who has been bringing the Phanatic to life for 37 years. He’s also the author of Pheel The Love! How the Most Powerful Force in the Universe Builds Great Companies - Phillie Phanatic Style! Mikaela Higgins: Manager of Mascot Sales at Olympus Mascots in Milwaukee, WI Conor Geary: Known as “GameDay Conor“, he's been the high-energy host at every major venue in Connecticut, starting out with the Hartford Yard Goats in 2018. This season, he became the stadium host for the New England Patriots Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Audacious Live! Show & Tell in Winsted: From movie props to prophylactics
4w ago00:49:09Tap to summarizeTaxidermied 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 impossible to predict. Even for us. Suggested episodes: Audacious Live! Show & Tell in Stamford Audacious Live! Show & Tell birthday bash in Hartford Audacious Live! Show & Tell in Willimantic: From rare computers to hand grenades GUESTS: Jon Barbagallo: Director of Sales at Little Red Barn Brewers, who brought a styrofoam curling rock that was used as a movie prop Jill Bowen: New Haven resident, who brought Doggie, her stuffed animal Lauren Pierson-Gallagher: New Milford resident, who brought a bottle of Shalimar perfume, her late mother’s signature scent Gerri Griswold: Director of Administration & Development at the White Memorial Conservation Center in Litchfield, who brought a taxidermied dog in a display case Nils Johnson: Co-founder & President of Little Red Barn Brewers, who brought an 1861 one-dollar note issued by The Winsted Bank Theresa Taylor: Canton resident, who brought her late father’s British bowler hat Nora Pasco: New Britain resident, who brought her Persephone rosary beads Caroline Christensen: Winsted resident, who brought a conch shell Alex Harper: Winsted resident, who brought her service dog’s harness Terry Wolfisch Cole: Simsbury resident, who brought a tin of 100-year-old Ramses condoms from her late uncle’s collection of antique pharmaceutical containers Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Female truckers: Meet the women behind the wheels
Apr 1000:49:08Tap to summarizeFewer 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 Meagan’s Towing & Recovery out of Danbury, Connecticut. She lives in Sandy Hook Michele Howard: Owner of Affordable CDL Training School in Colchester, Connecticut Hope Alexander: Host of the podcast, Simply Live with Hope, where she talks about being a trans woman and her 12 years in the trucking industry. She lives in Georgia Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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How delusional infestation makes you feel bugs that aren’t there
Apr 300:49:09Tap to summarizeImagine 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 evidence to the contrary. In this episode, Paula shares her harrowing experience, and experts - a leading entomologist and a psychiatrist-dermatologist - explain what’s really happening in the brain and how healing is possible. Suggested episodes: Body Integrity Dysphoria: When being disabled is a desire When every face you see is distorted: Living with PMO GUESTS: Dr. Gale Ridge: an entomologist and Associate Scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. She oversees the daily activities of the insect inquiry office. She’s also the editor of The Physician's Guide to Delusional Infestation Paula Cox: a woman in Australia who experienced delusional infestation. She started a Facebook support group called “Delusional parasitosis help” Dr. John Koo: a Professor of Dermatology at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center and Director of the UCSF Psoriasis Skin and Treatment Center. He is board-certified in both dermatology and psychiatry and co-author of Morgellons Disease: High Yield Principles for Clinical Practice Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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You live where?! When home is a plane or a cruise ship
Mar 2700:49:08Tap to summarizeWhat 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 love of travel into an everyday existence at sea. They share wisdom about home, routine, freedom, minimalism, and staying put. Suggested episodes: Audacious at sea: Wisdom from strangers on a cruise ship GUESTS: Bruce Campbell: 76-year-old engineer who has lived in a retired Boeing 727 in the woods of Hillsboro, Oregon, since 1999. He welcomes visitors from around the world into the airplane home he built after deciding a conventional house no longer made sense for him Angelyn and Richard Burk: Married couple from the Seattle area who have been living as cruise nomads since 2021. After losing all their belongings in a moving-truck fire in 2013, they embraced minimalism and now spend much of the year making cruise ships their home Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Unconventional obituaries: for a mother, for strangers, and for one very good dog
Mar 2000:49:08Tap to summarizeObituaries 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 Jamie Passaro about what makes an obit memorable, honest and worth reading. Suggested episodes: Rethinking funerals with the Coffin Confessor, living eulogies, and designer caskets What death investigators can tell you about life GUESTS: Andy Corren: Writer and author of Dirtbag Queen, a memoir that grew out of the viral obituary he wrote for his mother, Renay Sallie Hammett: South Carolina writer whose heartfelt obituary for her dog, Charlie, went viral after she shared it online Jamie Passaro: Professional obituary writer and founder of Dear Person Obits; she also co-founded Elegy.us, an online obituary platform Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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“I could do that!” Stories of improbable confidence
Mar 1300:49:08Tap to summarizeWhat’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,” and your spouse takes that seriously. And Mandle Cheung, a tech CEO and devoted music lover, writes a huge check to fund a Mahler concert, so he can conduct the Toronto Symphony Orchestra himself. Suggested episodes: What Happens When You Act Like You Belong GOOD GOURD! A show about pumpkins! TOPS: A woman summits Everest, a man considers a body transplant, and world-record hat-wearing GUESTS: Christopher Lamar: CEO of Lunar Embassy, a company that sells deeds to plots on the Moon and other celestial bodies. The business was founded by his father, Dennis Hope, in 1980 Logan Goodspeed: A 32-year-old software engineer from California who ran the Rock ’n’ Roll San Diego Marathon with about 24 hours’ notice and no formal training Mandle Cheung: A 78-year-old technology CEO and amateur conductor who founded Mandle Philharmonic in 2018. In June 2025, he personally funded a one-night performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) and conducted the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Jessica Severin de Martinez, Meg Fitzgerald, and Robyn Doyon-Aitken contributed to this show, with help from Coco Cooley. Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Multiple sclerosis tried to bench her. Karen Smith won gold instead
Mar 600:49:09Tap to summarizeAt 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 Association, she helped expand a program now offering 17 adaptive sports, and she became a gold medal-winning goalie on Team USA’s women’s sled hockey team. At Choate Ice Rink, she and veteran player Anthony Kuntz introduce Chion to sled hockey, and to Karen’s fierce belief in inclusion and the “dignity of risk.” Suggested episodes: A marathon swimmer and ultrarunner: surviving cancer, breaking records Revealing Our Blind Spots About Blindness GUESTS: Karen Smith: Team manager of the Gaylord Wolfpack sled hockey team and a longtime leader in Connecticut’s adaptive sports community. In her early 60s, she earned the starting goalie position on Team USA’s Women’s Sled Hockey squad at the first IPC Ice Sledge Hockey Women's International Cup in 2014, winning gold alongside teammates decades younger Anthony Kuntz: Gaylord Wolfpack sled hockey player from Colchester, Connecticut, who has spina bifida. He has 22 years of experience in the sport, including four on the U.S. Junior National Team, competing internationally in Vancouver during the 2010 Paralympic Games Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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