Wild Precious Life
Join author, educator, and learner, Annmarie Kelly as she laughs, cries, and kvetches with the writers, musicians, entrepreneurs, and wanderers who inspire all of us to reach beyond our divisions and discover what it means to be wild, precious, and brave.
Episodes
September 9, 2025 • 56 mins
Karen Walrond is an award-winning author, speaker, and leadership coach. And she’s on a mission to create a kindness revolution. She’s the author of The Lightmaker’s Manifesto and Radiant Rebellion, and she’s out now with a new book, In Defense of Dabbling, in which she urges all of us to stress less and play more. In this episode, Karen and Annmarie talk about cultivating curiosity, self-compassion, and even failure in order to do...
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August 26, 2025 • 65 mins
Maureen O’Leary and Naomi J. Williams are California authors who join us to discuss their inclusion in Sacramento Noir, an anthology showcasing the gilded splendor and, as editor John Freeman puts it, the “not-at-all-buried contradictions” of that historic state capital. In today’s episode, Naomi, Maureen, and Annmarie talk about the erasure of a Japanese-American neighborhood, the powerful sway of mean girls, and what we can learn...
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August 12, 2025 • 64 mins
Cleyvis Natera is a novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic, whose debut novel, Neruda on the Park, was a New York Times Editor’s Choice and awarded a Silver Medal by the International Latino Book Awards. Her second book, The Grand Paloma Resort, is out now. In today’s episode, Cleyvis and Annmarie discuss the often long and winding road to literary publication, marathons versus triathlons, and the high cost of luxury tr...
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July 29, 2025 • 44 mins
Janet Clare is a former apparel designer-turned-writer whose first novel, Time Is the Longest Distance, was published in 2018, and now, nearly seven years later, her second, True Home is making its debut. Janet worked on True Home during the difficult days of her husband’s illness. And in her words, his “humor and supreme focus on living every moment” taught her how to press on and do the same. In today’s episode, Annmarie and Jane...
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July 15, 2025 • 65 mins
Michelle Young is an award-winning writer and journalist, and the author of the narrative non-fiction book The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland, which is longlisted for the 2025 American Library in Paris Book Award. In today’s episode, Annmarie and Michelle talk about Rose Valland, an unsung hero of the French war effort, and how an unlikely heroine infiltrated the Nazi leadership to save ...
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July 1, 2025 • 60 mins
Holly Gramazio is a writer, game designer and curator. She founded the experimental games festival Now Play This, wrote the script for the award-winning indie videogame Dicey Dungeons, and her debut novel, The Husbands, is out now in paperback. In today’s episode, Annmarie and Holly talk about attics, games, husbands, online dating apps, and how art can help people to interact with their surroundings in new ways.
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June 17, 2025 • 55 mins
Uzma Jalaluddin is a critically acclaimed and bestselling novelist, playwright, public speaker and teacher. She writes authentic, nuanced and entertaining stories about Muslims, South Asians, and Canadians and is the author of DETECTIVE AUNTY, MUCH ADO ABOUT NADA, THREE HOLIDAYS AND A WEDDING, HANA KHAN CARRIES ON, and AYESHA AT LAST, as well as her first play, THE RISHTA. Her novels have been optioned for film and television by Am...
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June 3, 2025 • 66 mins
Melissa Febos is the author of five books, including the national bestselling essay collection, GIRLHOOD, which has been translated into eight languages and was a LAMBDA Literary Award finalist, and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism. Her craft book, BODY WORK, was also a national bestseller, an LA Times Bestseller, and an Indie Next Pick. Her latest, The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without...
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May 20, 2025 • 48 mins
Sarah Manguso is the author of nine books, most recently the novels Liars and Very Cold People, and a recent work of crowd-sourced philosophy, Questions Without Answers. Her writing has been recognized by an American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Rome Prize. On today’s show, Annmarie and Sarah discuss the wisdom of children, parenting as an act of translation, and the innate satisfac...
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May 6, 2025 • 64 mins
Brad Peacock is a veteran, an organic farmer, and a former candidate for the United States Senate. He's also an author who has been featured in 7 days, VT Digger, The Washington Blade, and The New York Times. He lives with his husband on land that he is rehabilitating with native plants and flowers. James Crews is the author of numerous prize-winning collections of poetry. He runs an online writing community called The Monthly Paus...
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April 22, 2025 • 58 mins
Jennifer Cramer-Miller is a writer, speaker, and joy seeker. She’s the Minnesota Board Chair for the National Kidney Foundation, and a Donate Life Ambassador for LifeSource. She’s also the author of the award-winning memoir, Incurable Optimist: Living with Illness and Chronic Hope, which is available now. On today’s show, Annmarie and Jennifer discuss kidney failure, unconditional love, and how the stories of our lives seldom unfol...
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April 8, 2025 • 59 mins
A native of Chicago’s South Side, Nancy Johnson worked for more than a decade as an Emmy-nominated, award-winning television journalist at CBS and ABC. More recently, she’s the author of The Kindest Lie and her latest novel, People of Means. On today’s show, Annmarie and Nancy discuss the call to activism, and what makes some people enter the fight for racial justice while others step away. This show also covers family history and ...
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March 25, 2025 • 58 mins
Kristen Arnett, aka “America’s Favorite Dad,” is the queer Floridian author of With Teeth, and the New York Times bestselling novel Mostly Dead Things, both of which were finalists for the Lambda Literary Award in fiction. She runs the substack “Dad Lessons,” and her latest novel, STOP ME IF YOU’VE HEARD THIS ONE, is out now. On today’s show, Annmarie and Kristen discuss clowning, lesbians, Orlando, Dad culture, and the joy of show...
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March 11, 2025 • 54 mins
Helena Echlin has written for numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic, including The Guardian and The Times. She taught for years at Stanford University and has recently returned to the United Kingdom, where she now teaches fiction writing for Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education. Clever Little Thing is her first psychological thriller. On today’s show, Helena and Annmarie discuss the judgmentalness of...
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February 25, 2025 • 41 mins
Rebe Huntman is a memoirist, essayist, dancer, teacher and poet whose debut memoir, My Mother in Havana, is out now. On today’s show, Annmarie and Rebe discuss the magic of dance, communicating with deceased loved ones, and how a search for our mothers can bring us closer to understanding ourselves.
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February 11, 2025 • 53 mins
Joseph Earl Thomas is the author of Sink, a memoir, and his debut novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer, longlisted for the Carnegie Medal for Literary Excellence, and winner of the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize. On today’s show, Annmarie and Joseph talk about working-class upbringings, how to write complicated families with sensitivity and grace, and whether or not to raise an alligator in the backyard.
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January 28, 2025 • 56 mins
Malaka Gharib is the author of I Was Their American Dream, a graphic memoir about being first-generation Filipino Egyptian American, and It Won't Always Be Like This, a graphic memoir about her summers in the Middle East. On today’s show, Annmarie and Malaka talk about the American immigrant experience, how to be a working writer, and what it means to be the realization of our parents’ greatest dreams.
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January 14, 2025 • 55 mins
In her 60s, after decades as a psychotherapist, marital counselor, and work and family consultant, Leah Fisher embarked upon solo trips to multiple countries to see whether she could connect across cultures, participate in community projects, and try to be “of use.” On today’s show, Leah joins us to speak about her new memoir, My Marriage Sabbatical, and to discuss what is lost and gained when couples pursue separate dreams.
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December 24, 2024 • 61 mins
Regina Brett is a two-time Pulitzer finalist and the New York Times bestselling author of God Never Blinks. Her latest book is Little Detours and Spiritual Adventures. On today’s show, Annmarie and Regina talk about their Catholic upbringings, cancer survival, best and worst Christmases, and what it means to be a slice of God for other people.
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December 10, 2024 • 58 mins
John Roedel is a poet, writer, comic, storyteller, and terrible dancer who gained unexpected notability as a writer and poet through Facebook conversations. His latest book is WonderAche. On today’s show, Annmarie and John talk about their Catholic upbringings, the places where faith meets doubt, and how to show up for others with more vulnerability and truth.
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