Audacious with Chion Wolf

When you hear the words, “cuddle party”, what do you picture? Something playful? Something salacious? Something… else?

When your culture equates affection with attraction, how does it feel to challenge that connection? And to what degree can affection be healing when it isn't necessarily connected with sex?

Join Chion as she ponders all this during her experience one-on-one with a professional cuddlist, and then as she attends a 25-person-strong cuddle party.

GUESTS: 

• Amanda Ananda: Professional cuddlist and cuddle party facilitator
• Isaac Paulman: Cuddle party facilitator-in-training 

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Doing stand-up comedy isn’t easy for most human beings… So what’s it like for comedians who have a disability like cerebral palsy, amputations, or Tourette's?

GUESTS: 

• Maysoon Zayid: Palestinian-American comedian, actress, and disability activist with cerebral palsy. She is the co-founder and co-executive producer of the New York Arab American Comedy Festival and The Muslim Funny Fest. She’s also the author of Find Another Dream and the graphic novel, Shiny Misfits
• Danielle Perez: Comedian, writer, and actor. You can see her on the latest seasons of Russian Doll (Netflix) and Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO). She wrote on “Pitch Perfect: Bumper In Berlin” streaming now on Peacock, and just wrapped on A24’s first musical, “Fucking Identical Twins”. In 2021, Danielle was named a New Face at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and a Comedian You Should And Will Know by Vulture. Danielle’s stand-up is also featured on the latest season of Comedy Central Featuring
• Benny Feldman: Comedian based in New York City, recently named one of the New Faces at the 2022 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. Feldman is known for his one-liners and for performing with Tourette’s syndrome

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Hoarding disorder, as defined by the Mayo Clinic, is “a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.”

On this episode of Audacious, an expert on hoarding disorder explains the nuances of the condition. Then, a woman walks Chion through her home as she explores new ways to declutter her house. Plus, another woman talks about how she began making a lot of progress managing hoarding disorder by talking about it on YouTube.

For more information, visit NAMI - the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Their helpline is is 800-950-6264.

Special thanks to hoarding disorder remediation expert, Melissa Hladek, for help with this episode.

GUESTS: 

• Dr. David Tolin: Founder and Director of the Anxiety Disorders Center and the Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at The Institute of Living. He was also the original psychologist on the A&E series, “Hoarders”
• Rachel (pseudonym): Connecticut resident who has been working with hoarding disorder remediation expert, Melissa Hladek, to declutter her home
• Melanie Renee: Documented her journey as a recovered hoarder on the YouTube Channel, “A Hoarder’s Heart”. She lives in New Jersey

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This is an extended conversation about hoarding disorder with Dr. David Tolin.

Listen to the original podcast for a conversation with one woman who uses her YouTube channel to make progress coping with her hoarding disorder. Another woman gives Chion a her a tour of her home, and describes her relationship with clutter.

For more information, visit NAMI - the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Their helpline is is 800-950-6264.

GUEST: 

Dr. David Tolin: Founder and Director of the Anxiety Disorders Center and the Center for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at The Institute of Living. He was also the original psychologist on the A&E series, “Hoarders”

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A lot can happen in a year, you know? And if you’re anything like these folks, you’ve read over 365 books, you’ve become fluent in English by watching American t.v. shows, and you’ve gotten over a hundred rejections.

GUESTS: 

• Kelsey Weekman: Culture reporter for Buzzfeed who read 390 books in a year
• Mathias Barra: French writer who became fluent in English in a year by watching 3 hours of American and British television every day
• Emily Winter: Comedy writer who strived to get 100 rejections in one year. She ended up getting 101 rejections and 39 acceptances

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Fewer 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.

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

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Our social media news feeds curate us as much as we curate our newsfeeds.

So what if, instead of subscribing to the same old fear-mongering, belittling, judgmental soundbites… We subscribe to accounts that peddle in love?

Today, meet three people who use social media to lift all tides.

GUESTS: 

• Joel Cross: Grammy-nominated musician, poet, meditator, and traveler who asks his half-a-million followers to pause and ask, "How's your heart?", on the handle, @asoulcalledjoel
• Scott Tatum: A hiker and "self-care savage", he's best known by his one million followers for his "Friendly Reminders" on the handle, @ucanoutdoors
• Daníel Colón: Their social media handle, @ColorMeCrazy, combines meditations, encouraging pep talks, and lip-synching motivational messages from Abraham Hicks

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In the last episode, "Social media, the algorithm, and the state of our hearts", we met social media uplifters, Joel Cross, Scott Tatum, Daníel Colón, and via, Daníel, Abraham Hicks!

To prepare for that episode, we gathered a ton of clips from their newsfeeds! Since we couldn't fit them all into the show, treat yourself to this macrodose of love.

GUESTS: 

• Joel Cross: Grammy-nominated musician, poet, meditator, and traveler who asks his half-a-million followers to pause and ask, "How's your heart?", on the handle, @asoulcalledjoel
• Scott Tatum: A hiker and "self-care savage", he's best known by his one million followers for his "Friendly Reminders" on the handle, @ucanoutdoors
• Daníel Colón: Their social media handle, @ColorMeCrazy, combines meditations, encouraging pep talks, and lip-synching motivational messages from Abraham Hicks

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Sure, you love The Price Is Right, Wheel Of Fortune, and Jeopardy!

But what does it take to go through the audition process and get on those shows?

On this show, meet three people who did just that and get some life advice from those iconic soundstages.

GUESTS: 

• Bob Knych of Pawtuket, RI, was on The Price Is Right in 2006 and 2019
• Ash Colwell of Charlotte, NC, appeared on Wheel Of Fortune, which was broadcasted on August 3, 2020
• Terry Wolfisch Cole of West Simsbury, CT, was on JEOPARDY. Her appearance aired on January 6th, 2022

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Meet a man who has a compelling story as to why he believes he is the reincarnation of civil war General John P. Gordon.

Then, a researcher who studies past lives on why reports from children are so compelling.

Finally, sit in with Chion during her past life regression in Old Saybrook.

If you like this episode, you may also enjoy this one we did in October, 2021: What near-death and shared-death experiences tell us about living

GUESTS: 

• Jeffrey Keene: Retired Assistant Fire Chief from Westport, Connecticut who claims to be the reincarnation of civil war General John B. Gordon. He is the author of Someone Else's Yesterday: The Confederate General and Connecticut Yankee and Fire in the Soul: Reincarnation from Antietam to Ground Zero. His story was researched in the Sci-Fi series, "Proof Positive".
• James Matlock: Research Fellow at the Parapsychology Foundation, and the author of Signs of Reincarnation: Exploring Beliefs, Cases, and Theory, and the co-author along with Erlendur Haraldsson of I Saw a Light and Came Here: Children’s Experiences of Reincarnation
• Patty Hall: Hypnotherapist specializing in Past Life Regression therapy and Deep Memory Processing

 

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