The Audacious Hall of Fame: Our Top 10!

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

What makes a man who grew up in the American south suddenly sound like he has a British accent? Hear from Kenley Byrd, who’s had this accent since he had a mini-stroke thirteen years ago. He is one of fewer than 100 known people in history to have Foreign Accent Syndrome. And find out what we know - and what we don’t know - about this extremely rare condition. GUESTS:  Professor Jack Ryalls: Professor Emeritus at the University of Central Florida in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, and co-author of Foreign Accent Syndromes: The stories people have to tell Kenley Byrd: Developed Foreign Accent Syndrome after having a mini-stroke in 2010. He runs a Facebook support group for people who have this condition

When you know you’re months, maybe weeks away from your own death, what do you most want people to know? As the first in a series of conversations with people near the end of their lives, we get to know David Meyers. He’s a physician who was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2018. Hear his reflections on life, love, and what really matters. An extended version of this conversation is available in your podcast feed. GUEST:  Dr. David Meyers: A physician living in the Washington, DC area. He is currently in hospice after being diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2018

On past episodes of our Audacious Love series, we’ve talked with people who’ve been married for over 50 years, people who’ve fallen in love with synthetic companions, people who’ve fallen love with objects, and today, you’ll meet four people who are married to spirits, ancestors, or gods. GUESTS:  Dr. Megan Rose: An initiated ceremonial magician, a Shakta Tantric practitioner, and the author of Spirit Marriage: Intimate Relationships with Otherworldly Beings. She serves as an ordained interfaith minister and psycho-spiritual counselor and is the executive director of the Entheosis Institute Caroline Kenner: A professional Witch and Tarotiste, a teacher of visionary healing methods, and a spiritual healer also known as the Washington Witchdoctor. Caroline is a founder of The Fool's Dog, a Tarot app publishing company.  She is married to multiple spirits Dr. Monica Mody: A transdisciplinary poet, writer, educator and spiritual practitioner whose border-crossing praxis lives at the intersections of earth-based wisdom, whole person philosophy, and embodied regenerative consciousness Orion Foxwood: A traditional witch, conjure-man, "Eco-Magical Activist", faery seer; author of The Faery Teachings, The Tree of Enchantment, Mountain Conjure and Southern Rootwork and The Flame in the Cauldron. He is the founder of the House of Brigh Faery Seership Institute, a co-founder of Conjure-Craft, and Witches in the Woods gatherings in California

How do you define forgiveness? Turns out, the definition tends to be as different as every person. And that definition changes depending on where you are in the process, too! On this episode of Audacious, Chion talks about it with a best friend, a pastor, a philosopher, and a man who lost his face after getting hit by a drunk driver. You’ll also hear ponderings on forgiveness from some of our Audacious listeners! GUESTS:  Sarah Eyre: A Willimantic-based textile artist Rev. Dr. Shelley Best: CEO of the Greater Hartford Arts Council Robert Chelsea: The first African-American full-face transplant recipient Everick Brown: Robert Chelsea’s godson and the spokesperson for the Robert Chelsea Foundation David Whyte: Poet, philosopher, speaker, and author of Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment, and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words Photo: Oscar Wong / Getty Images

You know what kind of day today is? It’s a GREAT day to go dumpster diving! A seasoned pro takes me into the depths of a dumpster in West Springfield, Massachusetts, plus a TikTok star talks about how she got hooked on dumpster diving. You’ll also get some do’s and don’ts from a guy who wrote a book about it! GUESTS:  Robert Vadas is the author of A Beginner's Guide to Dumpster Diving and the creator of the Facebook group, Dumpster Diving Tips and Finds Tiffany Butler from Denton, Texas, is also known on Tiktok as “The Dumpster Diving Mama”. She has 2.4 million followers. Deirdre lives in Longmeadow, MA. She goes dumpster diving regularly Photo: Jessica Severin de Martinez

The most common name in the United States is Smith, and if that's your surname, you'll have around 4.5 million others in the world to share it with. But just because you have a popular name like, say, Pat Smith, that doesn’t mean that you’re common! The four Pat Smiths you’ll meet are unique: an environmental activist, an adventurous videographer, an African-American kindergarten teacher in Japan, and a beloved mentor who taught me in 3rd and 5th grade. Enjoy the Pat Smith Show!

Have you ever seen Reborn Babies? They’re these hyper-realistic-looking dolls that are collected for their extraordinary artistic accuracy… And they’re also used therapeutically for people who suffer from anxiety and depression. Hear from a woman who uses them for just that reason. Plus, meet a painter who makes them look so real, a researcher on the Reborn community and culture, and a photographer who made these dolls a major part of her work. GUESTS: Emilie St-Hilaire is a multidisciplinary artist and doctoral candidate in the Humanities PhD program at Concordia. She studies lifelike dolls and the motivations of their collectors, rethinking non-human companionship Irene Golden is a Reborn artist from Spain, and the owner of Latidos Reborn Jamie Diamond of New York City features Reborn Babies in her series of photographs, "I Promise To Be A Good Mother" and "Mother Love", and is a collector herself Patrizia Bartolomei of Perth, Australia, runs the Facebook group, "My Therapy Reborn Group". She's used Reborn Babies as therapy babies since 2016 Photo: Jamie Diamond

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.

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 credit: Décolleté Dekoltee / Pixabay