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Wild Card with Rachel Martin Part-interview, part-existential game show – this is Wild Card from NPR. Host Rachel Martin rips up the typical interview script and invites guests to play a game about life's biggest questions. Rachel takes actors, artists and thinkers on a choose-your-own-adventure conversation that lets them open up about their fears, their joys and how they've built meaning from experience – all with the help of a very special deck of cards.

Want more Wild Card? Support NPR by subscribing to Wild Card+. You'll get access to bonus episodes and you'll get to listen sponsor-free. Learn more at plus.npr.org/wildcard.
Wild Card with Rachel Martin

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Wild Card with Rachel Martin

From NPR

Part-interview, part-existential game show – this is Wild Card from NPR. Host Rachel Martin rips up the typical interview script and invites guests to play a game about life's biggest questions. Rachel takes actors, artists and thinkers on a choose-your-own-adventure conversation that lets them open up about their fears, their joys and how they've built meaning from experience – all with the help of a very special deck of cards.

Want more Wild Card? Support NPR by subscribing to Wild Card+. You'll get access to bonus episodes and you'll get to listen sponsor-free. Learn more at plus.npr.org/wildcard.

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Sterlin Harjo didn't see himself in the TV shows he watched – so he made one

Sterlin Harjo on Wild Card Frazer Harrison/Getty Images hide caption

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Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Sterlin Harjo didn't see himself in the TV shows he watched – so he made one

When Sterlin Harjo was growing up, he didn't see many Native Americans in mainstream media. But Sterlin's TV show, Reservation Dogs, changed that, depicting the lives of four Native teenagers growing up in Oklahoma. Sterlin talks to Rachel about how he thinks fate has guided his life, why people should go to more funerals and how hunting feels like praying.

Sterlin Harjo didn't see himself in the TV shows he watched – so he made one

Listen · 30:21
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Hanif Abdurraqib is a 'genius.' His friends aren't impressed

Hanif Abdurraqib on Wild Card with Rachel Martin Megan Barnard/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Megan Barnard/Courtesy of the artist

Hanif Abdurraqib is a 'genius.' His friends aren't impressed

Hanif Abdurraqib's writing has earned him a MacArthur "genius" grant. His most recent book, There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, landed a spot on Barack Obama's summer reading list. But those accolades don't matter to him as much as being a good friend and neighbor. Abdurraqib talks to Rachel about a youth spent unhoused and incarcerated, and the zen of making mixtapes.

Hanif Abdurraqib is a 'genius.' His friends aren't impressed

Listen · 42:51
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Kacey Musgraves says a past boyfriend helped her become more accepting

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Kacey Musgraves says a past boyfriend helped her become more accepting

From the beginning of her career, Grammy-winning musician Kacey Musgraves has been doing what feels authentic to herself. She sings about familiar country themes like falling in love and heartbreak. But she also sings about smoking pot and queer relationships. Musgraves talks to Rachel about not being defined by anyone but herself, becoming more open-minded and living with the ghost of her grandma.

Kacey Musgraves says a past boyfriend helped her become more accepting

Listen · 28:50
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Jeff Goldblum was bullied growing up. It made him crave something 'finer'

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Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Jeff Goldblum was bullied growing up. It made him crave something 'finer'

Jeff Goldblum has a special brand of charisma — the kind that seeps its way into all of his roles. Whether it's in The Fly or Independence Day or Jurassic Park — or his newest show KAOS — every character feels like a version of Jeff Goldblum himself. He also brings that Goldblumian charisma to Wild Card, breaking into song as he reflects with Rachel about his life.

Jeff Goldblum was bullied growing up. It made him crave something 'finer'

Listen · 35:18
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Why Rob Delaney loves failure: 'I smash it up into a powder and I snort it'

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Justin Tallis/Getty Images

Why Rob Delaney loves failure: 'I smash it up into a powder and I snort it'

Rob Delaney has experienced great success as a comedian and actor. He created and starred in the acclaimed TV series Catastrophe and he's been featured in blockbuster movies like this summer's Deadpool & Wolverine. But he's also experienced tragedy, including the death of his son. He talks to Rachel about loss, failure and why he kind of wants a meteor to hit his house.

Why Rob Delaney loves failure: 'I smash it up into a powder and I snort it'

Listen · 30:02
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Jenny Slate turns fear inside out (encore)

Jenny Slate on Wild Card Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images hide caption

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Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Jenny Slate turns fear inside out (encore)

Jenny Slate is known for her roles in Obvious Child, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On and Parks and Recreation. Jenny opens up to Rachel about whether fate brought her to her husband, what she's sacrificed for motherhood and what's so special about margarine and white bread sandwiches.

Jenny Slate turns fear inside out (encore)

Listen · 28:46
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Taffy Brodesser-Akner was kicked out of multiple schools. This is what she learned

Taffy Brodesser-Akner on Wild Card Emil Cohen hide caption

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Emil Cohen

Taffy Brodesser-Akner was kicked out of multiple schools. This is what she learned

Taffy Brodesser-Akner built her journalism career with her incisive celebrity profiles and then found additional success with two novels that examine wealth and class, including this year's Long Island Compromise. She and Rachel talk about what makes fame and fortune so compelling, whether some people are just innately restless, and longing for a conversation with a burning bush.

Taffy Brodesser-Akner was kicked out of multiple schools. This is what she learned

Listen · 33:52
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Abby Wambach has won 2 gold medals. She says real success came later

Abby Wambach on Wild Card Alexandra Hedison/Courtesy of Abby Wambach hide caption

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Alexandra Hedison/Courtesy of Abby Wambach

Abby Wambach has won 2 gold medals. She says real success came later

As the U.S. women's national soccer team's all time top goal scorer, Abby Wambach knows what it feels like to win. She's brought home a World Cup and multiple Olympic gold medals, but she says true success comes after the podium. She and Rachel talk about forgiving yourself, how a little narcissism isn't a bad thing, and why she wants to be forgotten.

Abby Wambach has won 2 gold medals. She says real success came later

Listen · 32:52
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Ani DiFranco wants you to know she's more than a '90s feminist cult icon

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Danny Clinch/Righteous Babe Records

Ani DiFranco wants you to know she's more than a '90s feminist cult icon

Musician Ani DiFranco has never stopped growing as an artist. In the last year alone, she starred in the Broadway production of Hadestown, was featured in a documentary about her life and career, and released her 23rd album. She and Rachel talk about reinventing yourself in middle age, finding power in scaring people, and the magic of a late-night hamburger.

Ani DiFranco wants you to know she's more than a '90s feminist cult icon

Listen · 28:30
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LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars"

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Etienne Laurent/Getty Images

LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars"

LeVar Burton has three roles he'll forever be known for: Kunta Kinte on the TV series Roots, Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation and host of Reading Rainbow. Those roles have had profound impacts on people and he now understands, as he puts it, "my job is to be LeVar Burton." He talks to Rachel about the tension of that job, his changing definitions of success and learning to embrace the chaos.

LeVar Burton has portrayed the Black experience "from our enslavement to the stars"

Listen · 27:05
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Wild Card with Rachel Martin

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