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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

Joe Stone grew up playing volleyball, skateboarding, and breakdancing. Then, in 2012, a car crash left him paralyzed.&nbsp;
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.&nbsp;
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:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2026-03-06/multiple-sclerosis-tried-to-bench-her-karen-smith-won-gold-instead">Multiple sclerosis tried to bench her. Karen Smith won gold instead&nbsp;</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2024-05-02/stunt-performers-david-holmes-and-jonathan-goodwin-on-life-after-paralysis">Stunt performers David Holmes and Jonathan Goodwin on life after paralysis&nbsp;</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2026-01-23/a-marathon-swimmer-and-ultrarunner-surviving-cancer-breaking-records">A marathon swimmer and ultrarunner: surviving cancer, breaking records</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2025-03-21/new-ways-to-see-new-ways-to-move-the-tech-thats-changing-disability">New ways to see, new ways to move: The tech that&rsquo;s changing disability</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
GUEST:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">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 <a href="https://sportsassociation.gaylord.org/wheelchair-rugby-team">Gaylord Warriors</a></li>
</ul>

Audacious with Chion Wolf spotlights the stories of people whose experiences, professions, or conditions defy convention or are often misunderstood. Guided by deep curiosity and genuine compassion, the team behind Audacious creates space for the kinds of stories that rarely get told - and the kinds of questions we're often afraid to ask. From those speaking publicly for the very first time to voices already known around the world, every guest is met with care, and every story is honored as both deeply personal and profoundly human.

For more: ctpublic.org/audacious

Audacious with Chion Wolf spotlights the stories of people whose experiences, professions, or conditions defy convention or are often misunderstood. Guided by deep curiosity and genuine compassion, the team behind Audacious creates space for the kinds of stories that rarely get told - and the kinds of questions we're often afraid to ask. From those speaking publicly for the very first time to voices already known around the world, every guest is met with care, and every story is honored as both deeply personal and profoundly human.
For more: <a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf">ctpublic.org/audacious</a>

Audacious with Chion Wolf spotlights the stories of people whose experiences, professions, or conditions defy convention or are often misunderstood. 

Audacious with Chion Wolf

Audacious with Chion Wolf spotlights the stories of people whose experiences, professions, or conditions defy convention or are often misunderstood.

Guided by deep curiosity and genuine compassion, the team behind Audacious creates space for the kinds of stories that rarely get told - and the kinds of questions we’re often afraid to ask. From those speaking publicly for the very first time to voices already known around the world, every guest is met with care, and every story is honored as both deeply personal and profoundly human.

Listen at ctpublic.org/audacious

Support is provided by a generous contribution from Suzanne Hopgood, in Memory of Frank Lord.

Audacious with Chion Wolf spotlights the stories of people whose experiences, professions, or conditions defy convention or are often misunderstood.
Guided by deep curiosity and genuine compassion, the team behind Audacious creates space for the kinds of stories that rarely get told - and the kinds of questions we&rsquo;re often afraid to ask. From those speaking publicly for the very first time to voices already known around the world, every guest is met with care, and every story is honored as both deeply personal and profoundly human.
Listen at <a href="http://ctpublic.org/audacious">ctpublic.org/audacious</a>
Support is provided by a generous contribution from Suzanne Hopgood, in Memory of Frank Lord.

Joe Stone, wheelchair rugby, and the full-contact art of resilience

The Playboy Bunny is one of America’s most recognizable symbols, but it never represented a single experience. 

Candace Jordan was both a Bunny and a Playmate in the ‘70s, and remembers Playboy as a source of sisterhood, ambition, opportunity and lifelong belonging. 

Victoria Valentino was Miss September 1963, and for her, becoming a Playmate became tied to family rejection and an identity she never wanted. 

Decades later, both women look back on the same famous institution, and reveal two profoundly different truths about power, choice, survival and what lived on beyond the photographs. 

 

Suggested episodes:
Going Flat, or Building New Breasts: Two Women’s Post-Mastectomy Stories
Models On Beauty 
Behind The Screens: Hollywood Hairstyling, Coordinating Intimacy, And Illustrating The Great British Bake Off

 

GUESTS: 
Candace Jordan: Former Playboy Bunny, Chicago’s 1976 Bunny of the Year and Playmate who appeared on nine Playboy covers. She later became a prominent Chicago writer, social chronicler and nonprofit supporter through her long-running Candid Candace brand 
Victoria Valentino: Was Playboy’s Miss September 1963. A former hospice nurse and author of Dirty Diamonds, she became a prominent Bill Cosby accuser and has spent decades advocating for sexual assault survivors and legal reform

The Playboy Bunny is one of America&rsquo;s most recognizable symbols, but it never represented a single experience.&nbsp;
Candace Jordan was both a Bunny and a Playmate in the &lsquo;70s, and remembers Playboy as a source of sisterhood, ambition, opportunity and lifelong belonging.&nbsp;
Victoria Valentino was Miss September 1963, and for her, becoming a Playmate became tied to family rejection and an identity she never wanted.&nbsp;
Decades later, both women look back on the same famous institution, and reveal two profoundly different truths about power, choice, survival and what lived on beyond the photographs.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Suggested episodes:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/health/2021-06-11/rebroadcast-going-flat-or-building-new-breasts-two-womens-post-mastectomy-stories">Going Flat, or Building New Breasts: Two Women&rsquo;s Post-Mastectomy Stories</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2021-08-27/models-on-beauty">Models On Beauty</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/arts-culture/2020-11-13/behind-the-screens-hollywood-hairstyling-coordinating-intimacy-and-illustrating-the-great-british-bake-off">Behind The Screens: Hollywood Hairstyling, Coordinating Intimacy, And Illustrating The Great British Bake Off</a></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
GUESTS:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://candidcandace.com/">Candace Jordan</a>: Former Playboy Bunny, Chicago&rsquo;s 1976 Bunny of the Year and Playmate who appeared on nine Playboy covers. She later became a prominent Chicago writer, social chronicler and nonprofit supporter through her long-running Candid Candace brand&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1">Victoria Valentino: Was Playboy&rsquo;s Miss September 1963. A former hospice nurse and author of <a href="https://a.co/d/00pTzLQu">Dirty Diamonds</a>, she became a prominent Bill Cosby accuser and has spent decades advocating for sexual assault survivors and legal reform</li>
</ul>

Playboy: Two women revisit the very different lives behind their centerfolds 

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

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.&nbsp;
His assignment: accompany an effort to help protect one of the last uncontacted tribes on Earth, the Flecheiros, or &ldquo;People of the Arrow,&rdquo; while avoiding contact with them at all costs.&nbsp;
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.&nbsp;
Suggested episodes:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2024-04-26/what-its-like-at-the-bottom-of-the-world-with-dr-deepsea-dawn-wright">What it's like at the bottom of the world with Dr. &ldquo;Deepsea Dawn&rdquo;</a> Wright</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2024-01-10/hot-shots-photography-music-and-pizza-from-inside-a-volcano">Hot Shots: Photography, music, and pizza from inside a volcano</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2022-10-07/a-conversation-with-humans-of-new-york-creator-brandon-stanton">A conversation with Humans of New York creator Brandon Stanton</a></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
GUEST:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://journalism.uconn.edu/scott-wallace/">Scott Wallace</a>: Award-winning journalist, photographer, and associate professor in UConn's Department of Journalism. He's the author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unconquered-Search-Amazons-Uncontacted-Tribes/dp/0307462978">The Unconquered</a>, a firsthand account of an expedition into the Brazilian Amazon to help protect one of the world's last uncontacted tribes</li>
</ul>

Journalist Scott Wallace on protecting the Amazon's last uncontacted tribes 

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  

Most days fade into the next. You make the coffee, answer the emails, run the errands, fold the laundry, try to keep up.&nbsp;
But every once in a while, life gives you a moment that blows your freakin' mind.&nbsp;
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.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Suggested episodes:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2025-01-10/life-advice-one-audacious-guest-at-a-time">Life advice, one Audacious guest at a time</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2024-03-14/forgiveness-how-we-define-it-and-how-it-defines-us">Forgiveness: How we define it and how it defines us</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2026-05-15/i-saw-it-coming-when-premonitions-come-true">I saw it coming! When premonitions come true</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2022-10-13/what-smells-like-childhood-hear-eighteen-answers">What smells remind you of childhood?</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2022-03-03/kitchen-objects-with-a-story-listen-at-your-own-whisk">Kitchen objects with a story. Listen at your own whisk</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2025-03-14/awe-yeah-exploring-the-magic-of-mind-blowing-moments">Awe yeah! Exploring the magic of mind-blowing moments</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2025-04-11/how-regret-teaches-us-to-live">How regret teaches us to live&nbsp;</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2025-07-11/stories-of-everyday-courage-from-getting-a-needle-in-the-eye-to-tackling-a-purse-thief">Stories of everyday courage, from getting a needle in the eye to tackling a purse thief&nbsp;</a></li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/audacious-with-chion-wolf/2025-05-16/the-surprising-ways-we-ritual">The surprising ways we ritual&nbsp;</a></li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
GUESTS (in order of appearance):&nbsp;
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">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</li>
<li aria-level="1">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</li>
<li aria-level="1">Third segment: Audley Stephenson, Tamia Potter, Jay Bragg, Dr. John Elefteriades, Landon Proctor, Marci Pelzer, Karen Nyberg, Nicole Stott, and Chris Hadfield&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Joe Stone, wheelchair rugby, and the full-contact art of resilience

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