Do you ever look back on something you did and wonder, “Why did I do that?”  

Meet people who’ve robbed gas stations, abused lab animals, and sent death threats via Twitter, and find out why they did it.

GUESTS:

• Issy Sorley of Newcastle, England, made headlines in 2013 for being imprisoned after making threats to two women on Twitter
• Rama Ganesan is a writer, an anti-caste activist, and an animal-rights activist who worked in animal research labs for 10 years
• Kevin McShane of Huntington, Long Island, was imprisoned for committing 9 armed robberies when he was 22 years old

Photo: Ann H from Pexels.com

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The latest episode of our show featured my conversations with kids who are doing amazing things in this world. Give it a listen!

Here are two more conversations with kids who have big ideas. You’ll hear about an 8-year-old’s invention - well, it’s still technically in the development stage - "The Everything Maker", and two kids tell us about cool solutions for dipping OREO cookies in milk, and using take-out containers as plates!

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Kids see things differently.

Solutions to problems are one big idea away. “What if” is an enthusiastic refrain! And expressing yourself means making art, and asking ALL of the questions!

If you’re an older kid who’s forgotten what that drive, that passion, that confidence feels like, all you have to do is keep listening!

Today, you’re gonna meet eight young people who think and act BIG in this swirling, chaotic, beautiful, beastly world.

GUESTS:

• Chelsea Phaire of Danbury, CT, is an 11-year-old philanthropist and founder of Chelsea’s Charity where she creates art kits for children in foster care, shelters, hospitals and overall in need
• Alex Doyle 8.5, Lillian Anderson 8, Rory Rundquist 8, from Lockwood Elementary in Bothell, WA, won first place in the National Exploravision Science Project for their design of the Toothbrush of the Future
• Mark Leschinsky, a 15-year-old from Mahwah, NJ, developed a  Self-Disinfecting Hazmat Suit when he was 8 years old, to help medical workers during the Ebola crisis of 2014. He’s also the Founder and Global Chair of The Lighthouse Initiative
• Josey Gorman is an 8-year-old from Farmington, CT, whose Lemonade 4 Change project provides books about racial diversity to schools and libraries. She is joined by her mother, Amanda Gorman
• Tyler Gordon is a 14-year-old painter based in San Jose, CA, whose work has graced the cover of TIME magazine. His book, “We Can: Portraits of Power” comes out on September 28th
• Arwen Gladis Perez-Sauquillo is a 9-year-old student living in Madrid, Spain. She is also Chion's niece

Photo: Rawpixel.com via freepik.com

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It’s one thing to have a hard time with parenthood. But what if you wholeheartedly regret it? 

Hear from two parents who feel this way, and find out how they balance feeling full of regret while wanting to make sure their kids are well taken care of. And is it really possible to love someone whom they regret bringing into existence?

You’ll also meet a woman who knew she was regretted, and find out why she thinks we should be more open about it.

GUESTS:

• Jenna Abetz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the College of Charleston. She and her colleague, Professor Julia Moore, investigated how parents communicate regrets about having children
• "Anna" from Iowa is the mother to a 1-year-old and a 4-year old
• "Tracy" from Maryland is the mother of a 9-year-old
• Sarah K. Brandis is the author of The Musings of an Elective Orphan. She also writes for Medium and The Virago

Image: Albert Neuhuys, "Nordic Madonna", edited.

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There is a very special reason why you’re hearing a rebroadcast of this show: This episode of Audacious just won a Gracie Award! The Gracie Awards are a part of the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation, and they recognize "exemplary programming created by women, for women and about women in all facets of media and entertainment." Thank you so much!

Imagine you’ve got breasts. It shouldn’t be too hard to imagine, because most every human being has’ em! And that means that most of us are candidates for breast cancer.

This hour, we hear very intimate conversations with two women who go through the process of getting a double mastectomy - the removal of all the breast tissue. One decides to get reconstruction, and one does not.

I talked to them before the surgery, right after, and then almost a year later. I wanted to find out what it was like dealing with the prospect of a cancer diagnosis - or an actual one - and what it was like losing a part of their body.

GUESTS:

• Sarah Eyre is a Willimantic-based textile artist
• Jennifer LaRue is the director of public programs at The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, and a long-time freelance writer

Photo: Décolleté Dekoltee, Pixabay.com

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Hey! If you’re listening to this bonus feature, you’ve probably listened to the show we just did featuring executive producer Catie Talarski’s documentary of a year in the life of two people with end-stage Cystic Fibrosis.

I was so moved by the documentary and so intrigued by how it sounded that I wanted to interview Catie about how she made it.

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When you have Cystic Fibrosis - a genetic disease that causes persistent lung infections - a lung transplant can be a life-saving surgery. But what if you’re not sure you want it? And if you do get it, what new challenges will they present to your newly-extended life? 

Hear an audio documentary by Audacious Executive Producer Catie Talarski that follows two CF patients for one year as they grapple with the choice to pursue lung transplants. Then, she catches up with one of the subjects 10 years later.

GUESTS:

• Brian Sercus was, among many things, an artist, movie critic, and a fan of Dungeons and Dragons. He died of Cystic Fibrosis complications in 2011 at 30 years old
• Mary ElizaBeth Peters is an author, a patient advocate, and a theater arts educator. She has Cystic Fibrosis and received a double lung transplant in July of 2010
• Dr. Ahmet Uluer is the Director of the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Program & Director of the Weitzman Family Bridges Adult Transition Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School

Photo: Freepik.com

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What happens when you do a DNA test from a company like Ancestry.com or 23andme, and you get some life-shattering information, like your sibling is really your half-sibling, or that you may have a life-altering medical condition, or that you thought you were half Black, but the test says you’re barely Black at all.

Before you spit in that tube, hear from people who’ve been stunned and spun around by DNA tests.

GUESTS:

• Randye & Rick Kaye are siblings who found out that their biological dads were two different sperm donors
• Sigrid Johnson had a DNA test tell her that she wasn’t nearly as Black as she thought she was. Plus, instead of being a single child, she now has 20 half-siblings
• Dorothy Pomerantz found out that she is BRCA-positive via a test from 23andme.com

Photo: Pereru, Wikipedia

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When you call 911, it most likely means you’re having a stressful, unpredictable, scary experience. It could be the worst day of your life, or someone else’s.  But what’s it like on the other side of that call? 

Hear about life as an emergency dispatcher here in Connecticut, throughout the country, and even during the massive temporary city in the desert that is Burning Man.

GUESTS:

• Clayton Northgraves is the Director of Emergency Telecommunications for the State of Connecticut
• Wanda Brown worked as an emergency dispatch operator in Lynchburg, VA for 27 years. She retired in May of 2018
• Nanci Tatum of Westminster, CO, worked in emergency dispatch for 33 years. She retired in 2017
• Tanto Goldstein of Los Angeles, CA, is an emergency dispatch volunteer for Burning Man

Photo: Negative Space - Pexels.com

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If you listen to public radio, you recognize Chris Thile’s name. He was the host of Live From Here! 

And if you’re like me, you knew him from at least one of his gazillion other music projects, like his band Punch Brothers.

I’ve been following his work for over 10 years, simultaneously singin’ my heart out to his recordings, while being totally mind-boggled at his mandolin playing. So you can imagine how freakin’ thrilled I was to interview him live on-stage at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts at UConn Storrs last month, and then again via Zoom from my dining room table. 

So today? It’s just me and Chris Thile and a whole lot of things I've always wanted to ask him.

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