Audacious with Chion Wolf

Do pathological liars always believe the stories they tell?

What does it take for them to see the patterns behind their lies?

And what does honesty sound like from someone who has spent most of their lives making things up?

Two people talk about what it’s like to learn to tell the truth, and a researcher on deception shares how you can most effectively spot a lie.

Special thanks to Ellen Barry for her New York Times article, Can This Man Stop Lying?, which inspired this episode.

GUESTS: 

• Dr. Christian L. Hart: Teaches courses in deception and forensic psychology and conducts research primarily on lying and deception at Texas Women’s University. He’s the co-author of Pathological Lying: Theory, Research, and Practice, and of the forthcoming book, Big Liars: What Psychological Science Tells Us About Lying, and How You Can Avoid Being Duped
• Chris Massimine: Began compulsively lying in the second grade. After lies on his resume were made public, he came out about his struggles with pathological lying in Newsweek
• Vironika Wilde: Poet, spoken word artist, and author of Love and Gaslight, has learned to control her compulsive lying, which began in middle school

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Almost 1000 people have won Nobel Prizes. But only 300 have won IG Nobel Prizes! That’s the award honoring achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think.In this episode, meet the creator of the prize, and three people who’ve won it!GUESTS: 

• Marc Abrahams: Founder of the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony in 1991, celebrating achievements that “make you laugh and then think”. He is also the co-founder and editor of the magazine, Annals of Improbable Research
• Kees Moeliker: Dutch biologist, ornithologist, and director of the Natural History Museum Rotterdam. He won an Ig Nobel Prize in Biology for his study of homosexual necrophilia in male mallards in 2003. He is also the founder of Dead Duck Day, which is held annually on June 5th
• Pavlo Blavatskyy: Professor of economics at Montpellier Business School. He won an Ig Nobel Prize for Economics in 2021 for his study correlating the perceived corruption of politicians and their body weight
• Patricia Yang: A two-time Ig Nobel Prize winner in Physics. The first was in 2015 for testing the biological principle that nearly all mammals empty their bladders in about 21 seconds (plus or minus 13 seconds). She won again in 2019 for studying how wombats make cubed poo

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What makes a man who grew up in the American south suddenly sound like he has a British accent?

Hear from Kenley Byrd, who’s had this accent since he had a mini-stroke thirteen years ago. He is one of fewer than 100 known people in history to have Foreign Accent Syndrome.

And find out what we know - and what we don’t know - about this extremely rare condition.

GUESTS: 

• Professor Jack Ryalls: Professor Emeritus at the University of Central Florida in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and co-author of Foreign Accent Syndromes: The stories people have to tell
• Kenley Byrd: Developed Foreign Accent Syndrome after having a mini-stroke in 2010. He runs a Facebook support group for people who have this condition

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine if everything you heard - a door clicking shut, a passing car, dishes being put away, even your own voice - was excruciatingly loud.

Hear how one man copes with hyperacusis.

And a flute player talks about how she managed her hyperhidrosis - or extreme sweating - when she was playing Carnegie Hall and in everyday life.

Listen to the extended conversation with David Vance with closed captions.

GUESTS: 

• David Vance: A resident of Ontario, Canada who has had hyperacusis - extreme sensitivity to sound - since 2017
• Caryn Toriaga: A flutist based in New York City who has been experiencing hyperhidrosis - excessive sweating - her whole life

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you imagine an emotional support animal, what comes to mind? A dog?

Well how about a pigeon? A sugar glider? Or an emotional support pig?

Meet people who’ve paired up with these animals to make their lives - and mental health conditions - better.

GUESTS: 

• Cynthia Zhou: Miu was her emotional support pigeon from 2016 to 2021. She is an advocate for Palomacy Pigeon and Dove Adoptions based out of San Francisco
• Arianna Preuss: Zaboo is her emotional support sugar glider, who also helps Arianna’s brother, who has Autism
• Megan Peabody: Hamlet is her 70 pound emotional support pig

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nietzsche once said, “It is what one takes into solitude that grows there, the beast within included.”

This episode features three people who experienced solitude: by choice and not.

There’s a winter caretaker at Yellowstone, a runner-up from the History Channel show, Alone, and you'll hear from a Connecticut man who spent almost 30 years in solitary confinement.

GUESTS: 

• Callie Russell: Contestant on Season 7 (aired in 2020) of Alone on the History Channel. She lasted 89 days in the Northwest Territories of Canada before being medically evacuated due to frostbite of the toes
• Steve Fuller: One of the last winter caretakers at Yellowstone National Park, a job he’s done for 50 years
• Ray Boyd: After serving 29.5 years incarcerated for a murder he committed at the age of 17, he became a spokesperson for Stop Solitary CT, which successfully rallied for changes in Connecticut's solitary confinement protocol. He is the author of Mind Over Matter: How I Became the Model Inmate

Jessica Severin de Martinez and Catie Talarski contributed to this show, which originally aired on September 22, 2022.

For more about Audacious with Chion Wolf, visit ctpublic.org/audacious.

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When people imagine becoming parents, they don’t often envision their child being born with a condition that requires lifetime care.

Hear reflections and wisdom from “forever parents” whose children have autism with anxiety and OCD; a disorder that caused 100 seizures a day; and Down Syndrome.

GUESTS: 

• Carrie Carriello: Mother of five children, including 18 year-old Jack, who has Autism, OCD, and anxiety. She’s the author of two books, and writes regularly for the Huffington Post
• Adriana Piltz: Mother of three, including 24 year-old Nicky, who was born with tuberous sclerosis. He is non-verbal, has violent outbursts, and needs 24/7 care. She is the founder of Nicky’s Gardens of Hope, which raises money to create a more supported living situation for people with disabilities
• Cathy Carmode Lim, Marcelino Lim, and Marissa Lim: Cathay and Marcelino are parents to four daughters, including Marissa, a 24 year-old woman with Down Syndrome. Cathy writes about her experiences in parenting and more at lifeandlims.com

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, kids! Did you know there are grown ups who are just as obsessed with Disney as you?

There's an adult out there who has full-sleeve tattoos of Disney characters, another who’s spent tens of thousands of dollars on merch, and one guy even set a world record for visiting Disneyland for almost 3,000 days in a row!

Those are just some of the Disney adults you’ll meet on today’s show.

GUESTS: 

• Eric Aasen: Executive editor at Connecticut Public
• Abby Brone: Statewide housing reporter for Connecticut Public
• Jeff Reitz: Set a Guinness World Record for "Most Consecutive Visits To Disneyland", which was between January 1, 2012 to March 13, 2020, totaling 2,995 days
• Erin Dugan & Zach Bakken: Erin Dugan is the President of the Opera House Players in Enfield, where she and Zach met during an audition for Beauty and the Beast. Zach is a voice over actor who voiced characters for Disney World attractions
• Rozy Ambler: A collector of all things Disney, including ears, mugs, and bags. She is followed by 1.2 million people on TikTok where she shares her love of Disney, and advocates for better mental health
• AJ Wolfe: Operates the Disney Food Blog, followed by over three million people on social media
• Katie Charter: Social worker in Leicester, UK, who has a sleeve of Disney characters on her left arm. Her tattoo artist is Clairy Floofs Tattoo

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ah, Craigslist’s Missed Connections.

Where else can you find that attractive guy you saw at that concert? Or the lady in the laundromat who held your gaze? Or reconnect with your long lost hairstylist? 

Hear those stories, plus what a researcher learned from studying over 10,000 posts.

And what does it sound like when two Tony-nominated songwriters take Missed Connection posts and turn them into songs?

GUESTS: 

• Ilia Blinderman is a Sr. Journalist-Engineer at The Pudding. In 2015, he studied data from over 10,000 Craigslist Missed Connections ads
• Anthony King is a Tony- and Emmy-nominated writer, producer and performer
• Scott Brown is a WGA-award-winning, Emmy-, Tony- and Drama Desk-nominated writer of theater, television and criticism
• Vinz Clortho (a pseudonym) is a Colchester resident who posted on Missed Connections after an encounter at a laundromat 
• Allison Holst-Grubbe is a Manchester resident who found a long-lost beloved hairstylist via Missed Connections
• Alex Ferrante (a pseudonym) lives in the Washington, DC metro area, and posted to Missed Connections after an encounter in an Aldi grocery store
• Erin and Dan Kottke from MN, re-met through missed connections. They are celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary in March, and have two children

This episode originally premiered on February 4, 2022. 

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Olusanya Bey is many things, but he's best known as a “love poet."

But that title comes after much deep, philosophical pondering: What does writing about love do for - and to - him? Must he have a tangible muse? And how does a love of self affect love for others?

Hear Olusanya Bey in Chion’s backyard for this third installment of a series of conversations with poets around a fire.

Listen to the first installment with Zulynette.

Listen to the second installment with Andrew Dean Wright.

GUEST: 

• Olysanya Bey: Poet, community organizer, a mindfulness instructor, and a teaching artist in Hartford

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.