For decades, journalist Scott Wallace has traveled the world documenting conflict, culture, and extraordinary lives. But nothing compared to a ten-week expedition through one of the most remote regions of the Brazilian Amazon.

His assignment: accompany an effort to help protect one of the last uncontacted tribes on Earth, the Flecheiros, or “People of the Arrow,” while avoiding contact with them at all costs.

He talks about the eerie realization that the tribe was silently tracking his every move, the ethical tensions of documenting such a story, and why the experience forever changed how he thinks about humanity, wonder, and our responsibility to one another.

Suggested episodes:

• What it's like at the bottom of the world with Dr. “Deepsea Dawn” Wright
• Hot Shots: Photography, music, and pizza from inside a volcano
• A conversation with Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton

GUEST:

• Scott Wallace: Award-winning journalist, photographer, and associate professor in UConn's Department of Journalism. He's the author of The Unconquered, a firsthand account of an expedition into the Brazilian Amazon to help protect one of the world's last uncontacted tribes

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

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Most days fade into the next. You make the coffee, answer the emails, run the errands, fold the laundry, try to keep up.

But every once in a while, life gives you a moment that blows your freakin' mind.

For more than a year, at the end of Audacious interviews, we've asked guests one final question: Will you tell me about a pinch me moment in your life?

Here are their answers: stories of love, second chances, belonging, transformation, and awe, including a few from 250 miles above Earth.

Suggested episodes:

• Life advice, one Audacious guest at a time
• Forgiveness: How we define it and how it defines us
• I saw it coming! When premonitions come true
• What smells remind you of childhood?
• Kitchen objects with a story. Listen at your own whisk
• Awe yeah! Exploring the magic of mind-blowing moments
• How regret teaches us to live
• Stories of everyday courage, from getting a needle in the eye to tackling a purse thief
• The surprising ways we ritual

GUESTS (in order of appearance):

• First segment: Andy Corren, Bruce Campbell, Steve Feltham, Leroy McSmith, Jeffrey Marsh, Dr. Cori Breslauer, Logan Goodspeed, Casper ter Kuile, Jody Jahn, Harriet Newman Cohen, Andrew Luber, Patrick O'Connor, Glynn Washington, and Bill Edgar
• Second segment: James Tillman, Cassandra Madison, Julia Tinetti, Rebekah Spicuglia, Danielle Meinert, Candace Jordan, Drew John Ladd, Mikaela Higgins, Ari Cobb, Meredith Dietz, Sarah Thomas, Dr. Lisa Kenton, and Karen Smith
• Third segment: Audley Stephenson, Tamia Potter, Jay Bragg, Dr. John Elefteriades, Landon Proctor, Marci Pelzer, Karen Nyberg, Nicole Stott, and Chris Hadfield

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

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When someone tells you they’ve survived sexual abuse, the conversation can feel tender for everyone involved: the person choosing what to share, and the person trying to respond with care. How can we make those moments feel safer, more honest, and less lonely?

Beth Hamilton, executive director of the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, offers guidance on how to respond with steadiness, care, and humility.

Then Drew John Ladd shares his story as a male survivor of childhood sexual abuse. He reflects on silence, family response, masculinity, justice, shame, survival, and joy.

This episode is about how to integrate trauma, what disclosure asks of a survivor, and how the rest of us can learn to listen better

Resources:

• RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline
• 1in6 offers support, information, and community specifically for male survivors
  

Suggested episodes:

• Forgiveness: How we define it and how it defines us
• What two suicide attempt survivors want you to know about staying alive
  

GUESTS:

• Beth Hamilton: Executive director of the Connecticut Alliance to End Sexual Violence, where she works on advocacy, prevention, survivor support, and public policy. She is also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, which informs the care and clarity she brings to conversations about disclosure and healing
• Drew John Ladd: Writer, musician, and teacher. He shares his experience as a male survivor of childhood sexual abuse, and reflects on silence, family response, masculinity, justice, and what better conversations can make possible

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a Brooklyn woman who identifies as queer, liberal, vegan, and an atheist donates her kidney to a conservative Christian man from Virginia?

Kerry Kennedy and Joey Shervey tell the story of what it looks like when compassion outvotes everything else. Their transplant crossed party lines and personal beliefs to create an unexpected friendship.

Then, Lindsay Vigue describes how a small flyer on the wall of a diner led her to become a living kidney donor, and then to becoming the executive director of Donate Life Connecticut.

Resources:

• Donate Life Connecticut
• National Kidney Foundation
• National Kidney Registry
• OrganDonor.gov
• Former Middletown mayor Dan Drew's TED Talk about why he donated his kidney

Suggested episode:

• The Story Of The First African American Face Transplant

GUESTS:

• Joey Shervey: Kidney transplant recipient from Moneta, Virginia
• Kerry Kennedy: Living kidney donor from Brooklyn, New York
• Lindsay Vigue: Living kidney donor and the executive director of Donate Life Connecticut

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you play the violin without a right hand? How do you drum after losing a leg? How do you rap and create beats when you can only move your head and shoulders?

Adrian Anantawan was born without his right hand and most of his right forearm, and learned violin using a custom bow adaptation attached to his arm. Billy Brimblecom Jr., a drummer who lost his left leg to cancer, shares how he returned to music and now helps other amputees get prosthetic limbs. And Pheez, a rapper and producer who became paralyzed after a diving accident, explains how he records using breath control, memory, and accessible technology.

Suggested episodes:

• New ways to see, new ways to move: The tech that’s changing disability
• Stunt performers David Holmes and Jonathan Goodwin on life after paralysis
• Multiple sclerosis tried to bench her. Karen Smith won gold instead
• Joe Stone, wheelchair rugby, and the full-contact art of resilience

GUESTS:

• Billy Brimblecom Jr.: Drummer, nonprofit leader, and amputee who turned the support he received after cancer into help for others through Steps of Faith Foundation
• Corey Lee, AKA “Pheez“: Rapper, producer, and Navy veteran who became a quadriplegic after a diving accident. He's a disability advocate and the host of The Super Adaptables podcast
• Adrian Anantawan: Violinist born without his right hand and most of his right forearm. Using a custom bow adaptation, he has built a career as a performer, teacher, and advocate for musicians with disabilities

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When you go to a comedy club, you know what you’re there for. But what happens when comedy shows up somewhere else?

Meredith Dietz describes doing stand-up in a New York City office where employees were told not to laugh, and on a Staten Island Ferry where no one could escape the ride.

Years after his own incarceration, Ali Siddiq returns to jail to speak with people inside.

And Pauline Schantzer, aka Polly Wolly, brings suggestive parody songs, dance moves, and deeply silly comedy into nursing homes.

Suggested episodes:

• Why the world needs comedians with disabilities
• The meteoric rise of comedian Zarna Garg
• Actors Mary Elizabeth Kelly and Dean Edwards on the art of impressions
• Why the warm-up comic is the most underrated job in show biz
• D’yan Forest is a 91-year-old Guinness World Record holder for oldest female comedian

GUESTS:

• Pauline Schantzer, aka Polly Wolly: Comedian and performer who brings musical comedy into nursing homes and senior-care spaces
• Meredith Dietz: Writer and stand-up comedian who has performed in comedy clubs, offices, and on the Staten Island Ferry
• Ali Siddiq: Comedian, writer, and actor whose work often draws from his own experience of incarceration. He filmed It’s Bigger Than These Bars inside Bell County Jail in 2017, and his 2026 special From Inside is a serious conversation recorded inside a detention center

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some people savor every bite. Others eat 30 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Welcome to the world of competitive eating!

Visit Lake Compounce for a Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest qualifier, where everyone is trying to prove they’re top dog.

Then Crazy Legs Conti and Katina DeJarnett - aka Katina Eats Kilos - talk about what it takes to train, compete, recover, and keep chewing when your body is begging you to meat it halfway.

It’s a lot to digest.

Suggested episodes:

• The Guts & Glory Of Getting Into The Guinness Book Of World Records

• Edible oracles: Fortune-telling with cheese, onions, and tea leaves

• Welcome to the Punderdome! We're entering NYC's punniest pun competition

GUESTS:

• Sam Barclay: Emcee and host with Major League Eating, where he helps turn competitive eating contests into full-on sporting spectacles

• Crazy Legs Conti: Longtime Major League Eating competitor, writer, filmmaker, and the subject of the documentary, “Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating“

• Semora Kludy: Known through her food-challenge page, Semora’s Competitive Bites, she is a Michigan-based competitive eater and food challenger

• Max Stanford: aka Max vs Food, is a London-based competitive eater, food-content creator, and one of Major League Eating’s top-ranked competitors

• Katina DeJarnett: aka Katina Eats Kilos, is a professional eater, YouTuber, and former bodybuilder. She has millions of followers across social media watching her tackle giant meals around the world

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joe Stone grew up playing volleyball, skateboarding, and breakdancing. Then, in 2012, a car crash left him paralyzed.

Doctors told him he would likely never move anything below his chest again. But five weeks after leaving the hospital, Joe found wheelchair rugby. This violent, fast, full-contact sport helped him rebuild strength, process anger, and feel alive in a changed body.

In this conversation recorded at a live tournament in New Haven, Joe talks about the crash, falling in love after paralysis, being a father, faith, adaptive sports, and what people misunderstand when they assume athletes with disabilities are fragile.

Suggested episodes:

• Multiple sclerosis tried to bench her. Karen Smith won gold instead
• Stunt performers David Holmes and Jonathan Goodwin on life after paralysis
• A marathon swimmer and ultrarunner: surviving cancer, breaking records
• New ways to see, new ways to move: The tech that’s changing disability

GUEST:

• Joe Stone: Wheelchair rugby player and adaptive athlete who became paralyzed after a 2012 car crash fractured his C6 and C7 vertebrae. He plays with the Gaylord Warriors

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.