Audacious with Chion Wolf

We just aired an episode about blindness featuring the poet Edward Hirsch, and chef, Christine Ha.

If you're a fan of Gordon Ramsay's cooking competition show, MasterChef, then you know exactly who Christine Ha is. 

But if you don't, she's the first - and only - person with blindness to win it!

Now you'll hear so much more of our conversation in our podcast feed, but there was this one little bonus section that we wanted to share with you. It features one-of-a-kind questions from Chion's friend, Ashley Cook.

Check out our entire Audacious interview - plus a conversation with poet Edward Hirsch, who got a LOT of responses to his New York Times opinion piece, entitled, “I am Going Blind, and I Now Find It Strangely Exhilarating.

You can hear it right next to this post your podcast app!

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It all began with a single Reddit post: A Connecticut man, overwhelmed and uncertain, sought advice about what to expect as a first-time, non-violent offender facing prison.

He invited us to chronicle his life before, during, and after incarceration, pulling back the curtain on a world most of us only glimpse in movies or headlines.

Discover how his expectations clashed with reality in ways he never anticipated, and how his experience offers an unflinching look into the unexpected truths of life.

Suggested episodes:

• Why'd You Do It: I snuck my incarcerated boyfriend out of prison in a dog crate
• Why’d You Do It?: I Committed Nine Armed Robberies
• Love without the possibility of parole

GUEST: 

• Mike West: An Uncasville, CT resident who was incarcerated from June 2023 until June 2024 for a gun-related felony

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Delve into the extraordinary lives of two men whose worlds are centered on venomous snakes.

Jackie Bibby, a record-setting daredevil, set multiple world records, including the astonishing feat of holding 13 live rattlesnakes in his mouth.

And Tim Friede has spent nearly two decades intentionally subjecting himself to hundreds of bites from some of the planet's most lethal snakes, all in the pursuit of creating a universal antivenom.

Suggested episodes:

• Scars To Prove It: Living Through Animal Attacks
• (Almost) Everybody Hurts: An Exploration of Pain
• Animal psychics reveal what our pets really think

GUESTS: 

• Jackie Bibby: Also known as the Texas Snake Man. His memoir is called, “The Texas Snake Man: A Very Nice and Kind... Gentleman“
• Tim Friede: A self-taught herpetologist and venom expert from Wisconsin. His goal is to develop the world’s first universal antivenom

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For the past two years, at the end of every interview, I asked every guest to tell me their favorite piece of life advice.

We took dozens of our favorite clips and brought them together in this very special episode. And we also hear from Connecticut Public employees!

Email your favorite piece of advice: [email protected]

For a full transcript of this episode, click here.

Suggested episode:

• Views from the end: David Meyers

GUESTS (in order of appearance): 

• First segment: Paul Gladis, AJ Wolfe, Christine Hazel Decker, Cynthia Zhou, Danielle Weisberg, Jonathan Goodwin, Kitao Sakurai, Mary Elizabeth Kelly, Stephanie Courtney aka Flo from Progressive, The Lim Family, William Harder, Lior Ofir, Martha Underwood, David Vance, Greg Viloria, Kristen Geez, Jessica Jin
• Second segment: Bianca L McGraw, Dean Edwards, Adriana Piltz, Dani Rabaiotti, Danielle Perez, Dr. Richard Gibson, Eve Wiley, Jayson Greene, Dr. Marc Feldman, Florence Early, LaNia Roberts, Luis Mojica, Robbie Romu, Anna Holland, Arianna Preuss, Carrie Cariello, Dawn Shaw, Katie Charter, Natasha Fischer, Rozy, Zarna Garg, Arwen, Aidan, and Willow Gladis Perez-Sauquillo, Cash Daniels, Gus Mcafoos, Samirah Horton, aka DJ Annie Red
• Third segment: Caryn Toriaga, Chris Massimine, Dr. Mary Ann Cooper, Guy and Yaruh First, Julie Millsap, Megan Peabody, Mehdi Hasan, Azie Dungey, Colin Nissan, Paul Marcarelli, Stacy Samuels aka Banjo Man, Tabitha Farrar, Neil Harbisson, Jada Star, Athena Walker, Timothy Schultz, Tony Cicoria, Kenley Byrd, John Graham, Jenn Carson, David Meyers, Blyss, Bruce W Brackett, Moon Ribas, Paperboy Love Prince, Jessica Severin de Martinez, Meg Fitzgerald, Robyn Doyon-Aitken, Meg Dalton, Vanessa de la Torre, Mark Contreras

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On past episodes of our Audacious Love series, we’ve talked with people who’ve been married for over 50 years, people who’ve fallen in love with synthetic companions, people who’ve fallen in love with objects, and today, you’ll meet four people who are married to spirits, ancestors, or gods.

Listen to our past Audacious Love episodes:

• Married Over 50 Years: “Love Each Other Even When You Don’t”
• It’s not just a sex doll! What it’s like to be in a relationship with a synthetic partner
• Falling in love with objects: The experience of being an Objectum Sexual

GUESTS: 

• Dr. Megan Rose: An initiated ceremonial magician, a Shakta Tantric practitioner, and the author of Spirit Marriage: Intimate Relationships with Otherworldly Beings. She serves as an ordained interfaith minister and psycho-spiritual counselor and is the executive director of the Entheosis Institute
• Caroline Kenner: A professional Witch and Tarotiste, a teacher of visionary healing methods, and a spiritual healer also known as the Washington Witchdoctor. Caroline is a founder of The Fool's Dog, a Tarot app publishing company.  She is married to multiple spirits
• Dr. Monica Mody: A transdisciplinary poet, writer, educator and spiritual practitioner whose border-crossing praxis lives at the intersections of earth-based wisdom, whole person philosophy, and embodied regenerative consciousness
• Orion Foxwood: A traditional witch, conjure-man, "Eco-Magical Activist", faery seer; author of The Faery Teachings, The Tree of Enchantment, Mountain Conjure and Southern Rootwork and The Flame in the Cauldron. He is the founder of the House of Brigh Faery Seership Institute, a co-founder of Conjure-Craft, and Witches in the Woods gatherings in California

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We hear a lot about the harm of social media. But what about the good?

Meet two artists who started off on social media by showing their artwork… But once they revealed the hope and kindness and positivity in their hearts? The views, shares and likes piled up in ways they never expected.

Hear how they both are grappling with the newfound pressure of inspiring hundreds of thousands of fans, and find out what Chion's favorite clips from their channels reveal about her.

Listen to the first installment of this series, featuring Joel Cross, Scott Tatum, and Daníel Colón.

GUESTS: 

• LaNia Roberts: Internationally renowned artist, speaker, and positive social media influencer
• Bruce W Brackett: Artist and the author of How to Breathe While Suffocating: A Story Of Overcoming Addiction, Recovering From Trauma, and Healing My Soul

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Family secrets are often kept to protect, but hiding the truth can sometimes cause more harm than good.

When Michael Hainey’s father died, the explanation he was given never quite added up. Decades later, uncovering the real story changed his life, and inspired him to write a memoir.

Melissa Daniels faced a different kind of revelation: the man she thought was her father wasn’t her biological dad. Her determination to uncover the truth became unstoppable.

Hear their powerful stories of discovery, and what unfolded after the secrets came to light.

Suggested episodes:

• Conception deception: The fight for transparency in the fertility industry
• Forgiveness: How we define it and how it defines us

GUESTS: 

• Michael Hainey: A journalist and author of the memoir, After Visiting Friends: A Son’s Story". It details how he uncovered the circumstances surrounding his father’s death decades later
• Melissa Daniels: Her father passed away when she was seven. As a teenager, she learned that she was conceived by a donor and set out to connect with her biological father

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Imagine waking up one morning and seeing every face around you as demonic - twisted, distorted, and unrecognizable. Are you hallucinating? Would you think people were possessed? Should you call 911? Now, what if it’s not demons you’re seeing, but constantly shifting facial features on everyone, including yourself? And what if this has been your reality since birth?

Meet two people living with this rare and perplexing condition, prosopometamorphopsia (PMO), and a researcher dedicated to understanding it. Hear their stories and learn about a simple, surprising treatment for this mysterious disorder.

Suggested episodes:

• Revealing Our Blind Spots About Blindness
• What it’s like to be able to smell illnesses
• What is foreign accent syndrome? After a stroke, one man’s southern drawl turned British

GUESTS: 

• Brad Duchaine: Researcher at Dartmouth who studies face blindness and is a leading researcher on PMO
• Victor Sharrah: Clarkesville, Tennessee resident who discovered in 2020 that he has prosopometamorphopsia (AKA demon face syndrome or PMO). He found help on the
• Veronica Smith: PMO patient who sees facial features moving. They have been experiencing this since they were four years old, and the distortions appear mostly on themself rather than on other people

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Imagine you’re 16 years old, living in Lahore, Pakistan, and preparing for the adventure of a lifetime: A high school exchange year in Rockville, Maryland.

Just as you’re getting ready to leave, a public radio show in Connecticut asks to document your journey!

This is the story of Salaar Muhammad - before, during, and after his transformative year in the United States. We explore how this experience changed his perspective, shaped his future, and touched the lives of those around him.

Suggested episodes:

• Francesca Abroad: Following an American high school student’s year in Sarajevo

GUESTS: 

• Salaar Muhammad: a student from Lahore, Pakistan, who spent the 2023/2024 academic year in Rockville, MD through the U.S. Department of State’s Kennedy Lugar YES program. He lived with a host family and went to a local high school
• Sarah Clapp: Sarah’s family hosted Salaar during his stay in the US

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Remember the joy of “Show and Tell” at school? Now why should only the kids have all the fun?

Listeners to Audacious (and staff members of Connecticut Public!) gathered at Third Place by Half Full Brewery on March 13th, 2024, for an opportunity to share their story!

Special thanks to PJ Kennedy of HeyStamford.com for sharing our event, and for keeping residents and visitors of Stamford in the loop!

For a full transcript of this show, click here.

This episode originally aired on March 22, 2024.

GUESTS: 

• Elaine Braithwaite: Electric violinist and City Librarian of Bridgeport
• Faisal Saleh: Founder of Palestine Museum US in Woodbridge, CT
• Paul Bluestein: Husband of Lynda Shannon Bluestein, advocate for LyndasPhones.org
• Chion Wolf: Host of Audacious
• Jessica Severin de Martinez: Producer of Audacious
• Khaleel Rahman: Producer of Audacious
• Lucy Nalpathanchil: Vice President of Community Engagement at Connecticut Public 
• Jennifer Reilly and Stephanie Convey: Wethersfield residents who brought a brass sculpture
• Cjet Raymond: West Haven resident who brought a jar of cat whiskers
• Cynthia Bowser: Stamford resident who brought her mother's hat
• Kristen Cusato: Director of Communications for the Alzheimer's Association of Connecticut, and host of the podcast, Speaking of Alzheimer's

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