Kelly Corrigan Wonders

For almost 90 years, Harvard has been tracking the same group of men to answer one question: what actually leads to a long, happy life? Kelly digs into the findings, which point again and again to the same surprising answer — not money, not IQ — but the quality of our closest relationships. She connects it to research on chronic pain, a study on personality change well into old age, and a simple trick for staying connected that takes less time than a coffee run. It's a conversation about what actually protects us as we age, and why the smallest gestures of conn...

Why do we still treat music like a luxury, given everything we now know about what it actually does for the human brain? Kelly talks with music educator and composer Cava Menzies and hearing surgeon and neuroscientist Dr. Charles Limb about the strange, powerful territory where sound meets the mind—the growing evidence that hearing loss may be tied to cognitive decline, and the case that music itself may be one of the most underused tools we have for mental health. It's a conversation about creativity, flow, and the case for treating music less like entertainment and more like me...

Kelly reads a birthday letter from her lifelong friend Mary Hope McQuiston to her father Bob, who is turning 90. Instead of throwing a surprise party, Mary Hope decided to honor her dad by collecting the lessons he's taught her—one for each decade he's lived. What unfolds is a portrait of a life well-lived, told through stories about elaborate pranks, deep friendships, showing up when it matters, and never missing an opportunity for dessert or— pyrotechnics. It's about the quiet ways we shape the people we love, and how the best parts of who we become are often learned by w...

Kelly follows up on her conversation with Susan Cain (author of Quiet and Bittersweet) with a song that captures the same ache of longing they talked about. It's a small tribute to the things we're all still waiting for, featuring a haunting, original song, Someday, by her friend — musician and NYU professor Mike Errico.

Mike's book that Kelly mentioned is: Music, Lyrics, and Life: A Field Guide for the Advancing Songwriter

Author Susan Cain, who first reframed introversion for millions of readers in Quiet, turns her attention to something even more universal: the strange, aching beauty of knowing that everyone we love, we will someday lose. Kelly talks with Susan about why sorrow might be one of the most uniting forces we have — and what changes in us once we stop running from that truth. They also discuss Susan's bestseller Bittersweet, on sorrow and longing, and her new children's book, Lucky and Norman: Saying Goodbye Is Bittersweet, written by three generations of the Cain family. It's a conversation about the pa...

Kristina Phipps wrote this exquisite, poetic eulogy to honor her mom Ann Emanuels. Ann's love for beauty and her affinity for the natural world shone through in her garden, where she loved to spend time. She saw a world to be seized and not squandered and would pack more into a day than seemed humanly possible. Perhaps more than anything though, Ann viewed the world as a place that should be savored - like a plump peach warm off the tree - and she made sure to impart that valuable lesson to her three daughters. (Previously aired)

Kelly shares a piece by her friend Arianna Huffington ("Self-Discovery Is Our Strongest Drive" - New York Times, June 17, 2026) about the drive underneath all our other drives—the pull toward meaning that shows up in our hardest losses and our most exhausting successes. It's a reflection on what psychologist Abraham Maslow called transcendence, and what it means to keep growing toward the truest version of yourself, even when the world tells you success should be enough.

Kelly sits down with Jim Collins—the bestselling author behind business classics Good to Great and Built to Last—for a live conversation recorded on stage at Sixth & I in Washington, D.C., about his new book, What to Make of a Life. For over a decade, Collins studied 34 exceptional people, from astronauts to Supreme Court justices to rock stars, matching them into pairs who faced the same defining turning point in life and tracing how each person navigated what came after. They talk about the "cliff" moments that split a life in two, the disorienting fog that always foll...

Amy Zuckerman shares a remembrance of her late father Harry “Wes” Westlund. Wes was a special man whose dream of becoming an Air Force fighter pilot was taken away just days before he was to receive his wings, due to a heart murmur. Amy says that although her dad lived his entire life under the threat of a heart defect, he had no issues at all with his capital “H” heart. He was a loving, caring and kind man who made all around him feel comfortable and welcome. (Previously aired - created for Father's Day in 2023)

Kelly reads an essay she wrote several years ago about dropping her daughter off at college—the last box unpacked, the last goodbye said, and the strange quiet that follows. It's a reflection on the myth of ownership in parenting, and what it actually means to raise someone only to watch them walk away — unstoppable.

Most people run from danger. Raymond Ansotegui spent a decade running toward it. In this episode of our Great Coaches series, Kelly talks with a retired rodeo bullfighter about what happens when your job is to step between a thrown rider and an animal the size of a car. Through stories about learning to read personality in a bucking bull, finding connection in the most chaotic moments and understanding when getting closer is actually safer than staying back, Raymond reveals lessons that reach far beyond the arena. This conversation explores commitment, presence and the strange grace that emerges when...

Kelly recently found an old letter (hidden away in a closet in Bozeman) that she had written to her mom, way back in 1991. It’s good to look back sometimes at old letters and half-finished journal entries and be reminded of who we were - and who we wanted to become. (Previously aired)

Every piano, every oil painting, every scrap of silk is proof of a 150,000-year collaboration between human hands and the raw materials of the earth. Kelly shares a speech she wrote for the OneGreenThing Forum in Bozeman, MT, making the case that art isn't separate from nature—it's the clearest evidence of our dependence on it.

As part of our Great Coaches series, Kelly talks with Ali Truwit, who went from Yale Division I swimmer to shark attack survivor to Paralympic silver medalist in just over a year. Two days after her college graduation, a snorkeling trip in Turks and Caicos ended with Ali losing her left foot and part of her leg as a result of a shark attack. What followed wasn't just a physical recovery but a complete reimagining of identity, guided by coaches who understood that rebuilding Ali meant helping her see what was still there, not what was lost. (Previously aired)<...

What makes a coach unforgettable? Kelly reads listener Kathleen Ricketts' tribute to her high school basketball coach, Dave Greenberg—known simply as "DG". This isn't a story about championships or statistics. It's about a man who knew his players as individuals, who loved freely and built confidence that shaped the trajectory of their lives. Through Kathleen's words, we meet a coach who became a second father to young women who needed one, and we're reminded that the greatest legacies live not in record books but in the people we help become who they're meant to be. (Previously aired)

There's a particular kind of courage in admitting you don't know something. In this final piece of their onstage conversation at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Kelly and Sharon McMahon trace what happens when trust in institutions erodes and people are left to find their own sources of truth (including AI).

Very special thanks to our friends at the Aspen Ideas Festival where this episode was recorded.

How do you help someone see their own work more clearly without breaking their spirit? In this episode of our "Great Coaches" series, Kelly talks with her editor Andy Ward about the delicate art of literary coaching—knowing when to push a writer toward uncomfortable truths and when to step back and let them find their own way. Through stories about working with David Sedaris, George Saunders and the posthumous publication of When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, Andy reveals how great editing is really about asking the right questions, building trust through close attention and helping writers di...

Kelly shares a beautiful eulogy from listener Jody Antypas which she wrote for her Greek immigrant father George—a man who came to America with one suitcase and built a life from scratch. From his wartime childhood to becoming "Pappou" the pancake-making, Monopoly-playing, sand castle-building grandfather, George's story will make you laugh and cry in equal measure. It's a reminder of why immigrants have always been such a gift to this country, and why the small moments with the people we love matter most. (Previously aired)

Somewhere between what we're taught and what we actually believe, there's a gap—and someone is always ready to fill it. Kelly sits down again with America's government teacher, Sharon McMahon, recorded live on stage at the Aspen Ideas Festival, to trace the invisible architecture of how a country teaches itself what's true. They talk about the seduction of confidence and the strange new authority of the comment section, circling a bigger question: whether the most dangerous thing in a democracy is ignorance, or charisma without accountability. It's a conversation about the discomfort required to actually think for yourself, an...

Joy isn't the reward you earn after all the work is done. Joy is the work. That's what a new series on For the Love with Jen Hatmaker is all about, the Sacred Yes. It's choosing delight, rest, and pleasure on purpose because saying yes to yourself, that's the thing that finally lets you fill your table with everybody else. 

In this episode, Jen sits down with writer, poet, and community-builder Jess Janz to talk about the social experiment that grew into the phenomenon known as Dinner With Strangers. What began as a gathering around a table w...

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Geraldine Brooks set out to profile a government bureaucrat and found something closer to fiction: Jarod Koopman, a fit, tattooed IRS agent who teaches jiu-jitsu three mornings a week, built his own house (including a wine cellar because he also happens to be a certified sommelier), and has personally helped return billions of dollars to American taxpayers while freeing children from exploitation and dismantling criminal empires hiding behind cryptocurrency. Kelly and Geraldine talk about why Jarod turned down the kind of salary the private sector would gladly pay him, and what it costs a country when...

This week, a quiet goodbye. Kelly remembers Glen Hansard—musician, actor, and the beating heart of the lovely independent film Once—who died this week at 56. It's a short reflection on presence, authenticity and making art against the odds. Raise a glass.

This is the second clip from Kelly's conversation with Sharon McMahon — former public school teacher, America's unofficial government teacher, and someone who has spent years reminding the rest of us that we've been here before. This week she tells the story of a woman named Septima Clark, who was fired for her civil rights work, went on to teach some of the most consequential figures in American history, and arrived at the end of her long life with a belief that feels almost impossible to hold right now — and maybe more necessary than ever.

Check out Sharon's book...

The Consumer Price Index determines your grandmother's Social Security, your SNAP benefits, your divorce settlement, and — historically, at least — whether the president keeps his job. It is also, according to British journalist and novelist John Lanchester, intellectually thrilling. In the fourth episode of our Unsung series, Kelly talks with the writer The Economist called "a down-to-earth and witty guide to the most complicated ideas of our time" about what it means to live in a country that counts everything — and what happens when we start to lose faith in the numbers.

If you haven't yet, pick up Michae...

Nobody calls it therapy. That's why it works. Kelly's husband Edward rides bikes several times a week, and keeps coming home saying the conversations are deeper and richer than Kelly might expect. This week, a piece of writing started circulating among cyclists everywhere that explains exactly why - and we thought it was worth sharing. Written by Anthony Walsh (host of The Roadman Cycling Podcast), it's about what happens when a group of men show up in a parking lot at eight in the morning and head out together, shoulder to shoulder, for a three hour bike ride. This...

Sharon McMahon is a former public school teacher who now teaches civics to over a million people on the internet. Kelly caught up with her at the Aspen Ideas Festival, and this clip is about something that feels urgent right now: the difference between just knowing more and actually doing something — and why cynicism, left unchecked, might be the most dangerous force in a democracy.

Special thanks to the Aspen Ideas Festival where this episode was recorded - especiallyTricia Johnson, Kara Stein, Sophia Greiper, Katie Trenchard and Gabe Chenoweth.

Somewhere in the National Archives, there are 13 billion documents that belong to every American — and for most of our history, you had to get yourself to Washington, DC if you wanted to see them. In the third episode of our Unsung series, Kelly talks with historian and writer Sarah Vowell about Pamela Wright — a woman who grew up on a ranch in Conrad, Montana, became the Chief Innovation Officer of the National Archives, and spent her career making sure those records were available to everyone, not only those who could make the trek to DC. This conversation is a remi...

This week we're sharing listener Andra Cardow's reflection on twenty years of marriage. She shows us how love grows through everyday moments—dog walks, car rides, and cozy nights at home. It's a delightful reminder that our most treasured relationships aren't built on big, dramatic moments, but in all those small, seemingly ordinary times we spend together. Andra beautifully describes finding joy in the simple things and how those little shared experiences can add up to something pretty special over time. (Previously aired)

In this episode, Kelly shares a piece of writing she's kept in her drawer for years about the power of choosing "good enough." She reflects on her mom's wisdom about saying "no" to the endless invitations and expectations that pile up in our daily lives and how learning to be selective creates space for what truly matters (Previously aired)

There are people working inside the federal government right now solving problems so enormous and so unglamorous that most of us will never know their names — or what we owe them. In the first episode of our new series Unsung — inspired by Michael Lewis's book, Who Is Government? — Kelly talks with Max Stier, CEO of the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, about who these people are, what drives them, and what we stand to lose if we stop paying attention.

To connect with Kelly and get a list of her weekly takeaways, join Kelly's free Substack.

Check o...

Michael Lewis went looking for the people holding this country together and found something he didn't expect — not just competence, but a kind of devotion so pure it made him want to keep writing about it. In the second episode of our Unsung series, Kelly sits down with one of the greatest storytellers alive to talk about what he's discovered inside the federal government, why the material keeps pulling him back, and what it means to dedicate your life to a problem nobody else thought was worth solving. Also: the story of how a one-man play about his daughter ca...

What is it that actually makes a home? Is it four walls? A neighborhood? A partner? Or is it something far less expected?

In this week's Thanks For Being Here, Kelly reads a beautiful essay from listener Elisa Haggarty, who reflects on leaving the tiny Brooklyn apartment that quietly reshaped her understanding of love, belonging, and community.

Who's actually holding this country together? Not the people you see on cable news. Kelly delivered this talk at Montana Festival (2026) as a love letter to the hard working folks most of us will never know — the ones doing the slow, unglamorous, essential work that makes everything else in America possible. This is what kicked off our Unsung series — a good reminder of what we have and what we owe.

Kelly shares a Marine Corps wife's essay (titled "Cincinnatus") honoring her husband's quiet retirement after 20 years of service. Instead of ceremonies, his legacy lives in small, meaningful actions like giving away his expensive uniform to help a young officer and driving a beat-up Corolla with a trunk full of first aid supplies - so he can help anyone, on a moment's notice. It's a moving reminder that true service isn't captured in plaques or uniforms but in "small private acts of dedication" and the humble wisdom to know that our real legacy is "to give it all away. (Previously...

An apology is not a transaction. Kelly learned this the hard way — and if you've ever said sorry and then immediately started asking if you're forgiven yet, this one is for you.

Sadly, this is the last conversation with Claire Danes and Kate Bowler about what makes life worth all the trouble, worry and suffering. In this freewheeling ride, we dig into just how inevitable personal ethical failure is and therefore, what does repair require. Like, how good are you at apologizing? Have you really accepted the people you love — as they are — or are you still trying to change them? How do you keep yourself and your choices aligned with your values? Enjoy the honesty. Share widely. We all need to stay in touch with these fundamental questions about how we l...

Some people meet old age and loss with bitterness. Dick Bolz met it with gratitude so genuine it left everyone around him a little changed. Lutheran pastor & author Nadia Bolz-Weber's eulogy for her father is short, funny, and moving — the kind of thing you'll want to listen to twice.

Kelly and Nadia will be doing another Substack Live together (this one will focus on grief) on Tuesday, July 7, 2026 at 7pm ET. You can find Kelly's Substack HERE.

https://kellycorriganwonders.substack.com/

Ten years ago, when Kelly's dad Greenie was nearing the end of his life, she stumbled onto a question that quietly reorganized the way she has moved through almost every interaction since. It's just a single question — which when asked early enough — and honestly enough — can change everything about how you show up for the people you love.

Claire Danes, Kate Bowler and I try to figure out how the hell to live lives of real meaning and discovery, how to depersonalize the slings and arrows of any season, how to remember our agency and mobility.

Based on Life Worth Living: A Guide to What Matters Most from authors Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz.

Special thanks to the Warren Smoot Carter III and Meagan Carter Charitable Fund. (Previously aired)

Every Sunday at 5:00 PM, the door was unlocked, the table somehow always had room for one more, and the sauce was already on the stove. Pat Minitti fed everyone who found their way to him — family, strangers from the Fry's checkout line, future in-laws — and in doing so, taught his grandson Cody about unconditional love. This is the eulogy Cody wrote and delivered at his grandfather's funeral. This episode will remind you of the incredible power of showing up for the people you love — even those you've just met.