Kelly Corrigan Wonders

Sometimes kids just know things. Molly Merrihew's almost-three-year-old daughter Cecelia asks out of nowhere, "Why did Caitlin die in February?" while standing on a kitchen chair, her aunt's senior photo mixed in with the daily clutter of mail and coffee mugs. Molly realizes her daughter has picked up on the rhythm of grief, the way February carries both celebration and loss—Cecilia's birthday falls just a week after the anniversary of her aunt's death. It's about how children watch us more closely than we think, how they call us back when we drift away, and how the people we've lost keep showing up in our lives, present and gone at the same time.


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Kelly and Tammy explore Pixar's WALL-E, a film that dares to say almost nothing for the first forty minutes—and somehow says everything about curiosity, connection, and what it means to be alive. They talk about how the filmmakers watched silent films for months to learn how emotions work without dialogue, why a frictionless life is enfeebling, and what a lonely robot can teach us about slowing down and looking closer. It's about the magic of noticing small things and why the films WALL-E and Her both arrive at the same moral: meaningful connection is what saves us.

This Go To is supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. To learn more, please visit: templeton.org.

Check out our previous episode with Pixar's Pete Docter:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deep-dive-with-pixars-pete-docter-on-making/id1532951390?i=1000698705898


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What if the antidote to our frenzied, overscheduled lives isn't found in distant places or grand revelations, but in the radical act of paying attention? Writer Pico Iyer—who famously traded a corner office in Manhattan for a single room in Japan with no bed, no phone, and no distractions —sits down with Kelly to explore the art of staying curious in an age of constant noise. They wander through ideas about beginner's mind, the tyranny of busyness, and why sometimes the most luxurious thing we can do is nothing at all. Along the way, they discover that wonder is something we awaken by noticing what's already here, hidden in plain sight, just waiting for us to look up from our phones and see.

This episode and our entire Super Traits series was made possible by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. To learn more, please visit: templeton.org.

Recorded at The Aspen Ideas Festival.

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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 watching someone live with generosity, courage, and joy.


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What happens when a filmmaker refuses to judge his characters and just keeps asking "and then what would happen?" Kelly and Tammy dive into Spike Jonze's Her, a film made in 2013 that somehow predicted our current moment of AI engagement with unsettling precision. They wander through questions about embodiment and consciousness, the dangerous beauty of unchecked curiosity, and why conviction kills creativity before it can bloom.

This Go To episode is supported by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation. To learn more, please visit: https://www.templeton.org/

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

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