Elite bodyguard and security expert Will Geddes talks about how his childhood prepared him for a 30-year career protecting some of the most high-profile clients in the world. 

Will shares surprising stories from the field, and reflections on what it's like when your one job is to make sure your client gets in and out - unharmed. Plus, get practical tips for staying safe!

Suggested episodes:

• Stolen cars and abandoned grocery carts: Taking matters into your own hands

GUEST: 

Will Geddes: A security specialist with over 30 years of experience, advising clients worldwide on various risk and threat-related matters. He leads the firm, International Corporate Securities. He is also a public speaker, media commentator on international security, and the author of the book, “Parent Alert: How to Keep Your Kids Safe Online“

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You know how sometimes you look outside, see a bird, and think, “Oh, hey! A cardinal! A blue jay! A robin!“

Happens all the time.

Now imagine what your life would be like if you traveled the world as part of a lifelong quest to become the first person to see 10,000 bird species.

Get to know Peter Kaestner. He shares the surprising story of how he came excruciatingly close to missing that once-in-a-lifetime shot. And find out why he believes there are a million ways to be a birder.

Resources:

• eBird online database of bird observations, a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

• IOC World Bird List, an open-access resource maintained by the International Ornithological Committee

• Merlin bird ID app by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a free global bird guide with photos, sounds, and maps

Suggested episodes:

• Wings, pouches, and snouts: The world of uncommon emotional support animals

• We, The Dog

GUEST: 

• Peter Kaestner: First person to catalog 10,000 bird species, discoverer of the Cundinamarca antpitta, is an ambassador for the American Bird Conservancy, and leads tours with Rockjumper Birding Adventures

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Missing the Olympics?

Well, listen to our show about weird sports!

Including extreme ironing, where people press their clothes at the top of volcanoes, in caves, even while hanging upside down in trees!

And there's cheese rolling, where people chase a cheese wheel which is barrelling down a steep hill.

And then there's the oh, so British sport of shin kicking! This is a centuries-old wrestling sport where opponents grab each other by the shoulders and kick the shin out of each other.

This episode originally aired on September 27, 2023.

GUESTS: 

• Florence Early: Four-time women’s cheese rolling champion, and star of the Netflix Documentary, "We Are The Champions: Episode 1"
• Pete "Buzzsaw" Holland: Shin Kicking referee or “stickler”. Shin kicking is a 400 year-old British wrestling sport in which players try to get each other to fall down by kicking each other in the shin
• Matthew Battley: New Zealand astrophysicist and extreme ironer. He has ironed on places such as mountains, active volcanoes and in lakes and caves

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that food can trigger a trauma response? Somatic educators like Luis Mojica help people feel more connected to their bodies through food, music, and slowing down to feel it all.

Hear how he helps people unlock their pain, and how his life as an intersex person informs his understanding of all the ways a body can communicate.

GUESTS: 

• Luis Mojica: Musician, somatic educator, and life coach based in New York State. He is the founder of Holistic Life Navigation where he teaches people to relate to themselves in new ways through whole food nutrition, somatic experiences, and self-connecting

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most of us have faked being sick at some point, whether to escape a commitment or gain a little sympathy. But for some, this behavior becomes a compulsion, driven by underlying mental health or personality disorders.

Meet a woman who has written a book about her journey to overcome Munchausen Syndrome, also known as Factitious Disorder. And a doctor specializing in this condition sheds light on its complexities, misconceptions, and pathways to recovery.

Suggested episodes:

• Body Integrity Dysphoria: When being disabled is a desire
• Fighting for truth: The struggle to overcome pathological lying

GUESTS: 

• Dr. Marc Feldman: Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Adjunct Professor of Psychology at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. He is an international expert in factitious disorder, Munchausen syndrome, Munchausen by proxy, and malingering, and the author of many books, including Dying to Be Ill: True Stories of Medical Deception
• Cindy Buckshon: Author of Liar, Liar, Gown on Fire, a memoir of a lifelong struggle with mental illnesses, specifically bipolar disorder and factitious disorder, more commonly known as Munchausen syndrome. She is also a graphic designer, illustrator, and painter

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chicago Cubs superfan, Ronnie “Woo Woo“ Wickers says, “It’s not a ballgame if they don’t see me or hear me!”

That sentiment applies to all of our guests on this show! Including Ronnie, 49ers fan, Banjo Man, and Bob Labonne, who is a massive fan of the UConn Huskies women's basketball team!

GUESTS: 

• Stacy Samuels aka Banjo Man: a 73-year-old fan of the San Francisco 49ers and the Oakland A’s. He attends games with his signature propeller hat and banjo, and he has not missed a 49ers home game since 1983

• Ronnie “Woo Woo” Wickers: an 82-year-old fan of the Chicago Cubs since 1949, known and celebrated for his chants in the stadium. His grandma brought him to his first game at Wrigley Field when he was eight years old

• Bob LaBonne Sr: an 88-year-old fan of the UCONN women’s basketball team. He lost his UCONN hat with pins he had collected over decades while cheering on the team in Texas. He is joined by his son, Bob LaBonne Jr.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With everything being stored in our phone, there seems to be fewer and fewer reasons to store anything in our brain.

But what if your imagination was much more powerful and vast than you think? And with a few simple techniques, you could remember an astonishing amount of information?

Two people who have won international memory competitions and set world records for memorizing will tell you exactly how they do it so you can, too.

Suggested episodes:

• Total Recall: What It's Like To Remember Every Day Like It Was Yesterday
• What it’s like winning a little or a lot on The Price Is Right, Wheel Of Fortune, and Jeopardy!

GUESTS: 

• John Graham: Three-time USA memory champion, author and personal memory coach
• Katie Kermode: One of the top memory champions in the world, holding four world records in different memory events. She also developed software now used in memory competitions around the world

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are many ways to teach, but few are as impactful as embodying a character as an actor. How does taking on such roles shape a person's life? In this episode, we delve into the experiences of two unique educators.

Discover what it was like for Azie Dungey, a Black actress, to portray an enslaved woman at George and Martha Washington's estate in Mount Vernon. How did this deeply emotional role influence her understanding of history and her own identity?

Then, explore the world of Cory Scott, a standardized patient who simulates medical conditions for training medical students. What toll does this role take on his mind and body?

Provided/Cory ScottCory Scott (left) performs with Kate Jurdi.

Join us as we uncover the profound effects of educational acting on those who live it.

Suggested episodes:

• Actors Mary Elizabeth Kelly and Dean Edwards on the art of impressions
• Behind The Screens: Dressing Schitt’s Creek, Special Effects Make-Up, and Casting Queer Eye
• Behind The Screens: Hollywood Hairstyling, Coordinating Intimacy, And Illustrating The Great British Bake Off

GUESTS: 

• Azie Dungey: Comedy writer and former character interpreter, playing Caroline Branham, an enslaved woman at George Washington's Mount Vernon residence. She also wrote the popular web series “Ask A Slave”
• Cory Scott: Standardized patient at UMass Chan Medical School for over 25 years. He has guest-starred in ABC’s Body of Proof and worked as a stand-in on the movies, TED and TED 2

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You know the Chicago-based music festival, Lollapalooza?

Well, this episode of Audacious features NO ONE from Lollapalooza!

But it does feature people who love something so much that they made a palooza out of it! Hear about the communal beauty and allure of pogo sticks, origami, lighters, and John Philip Sousa marches.

GUESTS: 

• Nick McClintock: Creative director and co-founder of Pogopalooza
• Kuang-Hao Huang: Pianist, former driving force behind Make Music Chicago, and creator of Sousapalooza
• Linda Mihara: Owner of Paper Tree - the Origami Store, and the brain behind Origami-Palooza in San Francisco
• Chuck Riley: The founder of Lighterpalooza, and owner of Riley’s 66 where he sells vintage and collectible Zippo lighters along with his own retro designs

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing up, Pidgeon Pagonis was told a lot about their medical history: They were born with cancerous ovaries, so the doctors removed them to save their life.

Except that wasn't true. In reality, they were born intersex. And those were not cancerous ovaries, they were undescended testes. And that was just the beginning of many truths coming out.

Hear their story of discovery, and how they played a massive role in getting the hospital where they were born to reverse their policies on how they treat intersex children.

Resources:

• interACT Advocates for Intersex Youth
• Intersex resource list by Pidgeon Pagonis
• Statements on Intersex Care at Lurie Children’s Hospital

Recommended episodes:

• Conception deception: The fight for transparency in the fertility industry
• Jeffrey Marsh Loves You
• Being a trans woman in the trucking industry

GUEST: 

• Pidgeon Pagonis: Intersex speaker, filmmaker, and consultant; Author of the memoir, Nobody Needs to Know

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.