On Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024, the Villanova University Writing Center sponsored a visit from bestselling author, host of the PBS Series Tell Me More and top 1% podcaster, Kelly Corrigan, in the Connelly Center Cinema. Corrigan grew up in Villanova, Pennsylvania, just a few blocks away from campus. Villanovans of all ages gathered in the Connelly Center to hear Corrigan’s thoughts about creativity, well-being and life.
The talk was set up in a discussion-based style between Corrigan and Professor Marybeth Simmons, Senior Director of the Writing Center.
“[What I admire most is] her versatility,” Simmons said. “She’s in print, she’s on PBS, she is on the airwaves. [I admire] her dedication to curiosity. That’s something that is very appealing to me about her work. And the art of asking, not just a question, but the right question.”
Her PBS Show, Tell Me More, features conversations with well-known guests discussing thought-provoking questions. She has invited guests such as Steve Kerr and Samantha Powers.
The show’s title, Tell Me More, developed from a method concocted by Corrigan and her husband as they raised their daughters.
“I was parenting middle school girls, and I was noticing how often [my husband and I] thought after they said a few sentences about whatever had put them in whatever foul mood they had come home in, that we had this strong sense of what had happened, and that we were compelled to advise them on a set of actions that they could take,” Corrigan said. “We started to say to each other that we have to remember, just keep saying, ‘Tell me more.’ It was this reminder, this call to action, that my husband and I would just start saying to each other. Don’t guide them, just say, ‘Tell me more.’”
Her first memoir, The Middle Place, guides the reader through her father’s battle with cancer, as she simultaneously fights her own at 36 years old. She originally wrote this piece for her father, giving him something small to read.
“Knowing I could create and hand something to my dad was incredibly motivating for me,” Corrigan said.
However, her words were so impactful that, today, it is a published memoir, relatable to all readers.
Midway through the discussion, Simmons referenced an article published in The New York Times entitled, “Careerism is Ruining College,” published in September of 2024 by a 2023 University of Pennsylvania graduate. It pinpoints the insistent pressures implemented among the youth, especially college students. Thus, careerism is ruining the college experience.
“You feel like people are looking at you; you’re all looking at each other,” Corrigan said. “Everybody’s saying, ‘Who’s gonna get the good gig?’ And that’s because you’re in this [college] context. So, maybe, my piece of advice would be to get out of this context more often in a given week. [College and careerism] isn’t the only thing that is happening in the world. I think that you could rest your mind and your heart…by removing yourself from this context more frequently.”
“I’m in that process now, looking for jobs and doing interviews and having to make myself look shiny and perfect,” Mary Corrigan, senior environmental science major and niece of Corrigan, said. “I guess it’s nice to know that it doesn’t need to always be that way. I’m putting myself in this category of wanting to do [jobs and interviews], but what’s the harm in showing you don’t have all the experience you want in your life yet, and you have a lot of growing to do.”
Corrigan further connected this advice to social media.
“The accounts you follow are the things you think about,” Corrigan said. “You’re deciding what you’re going to think about when you decide who to follow. You pick your thoughts when you pick the accounts you’re going to follow. And that’s your context, and you do have a lot of agency over this context.”
Her advice transcended college-aged students, reaching the multigenerational audience.
“I was pleased looking out into the audience and seeing a cross-generational presence,” Simmons said . “We had [people from ages] 18 to 75. There was a nice range. What she has to say really speaks to everybody, especially when she talks about wellbeing and taking care of herself.”
Corrigan’s visit inspired Villanovans of all identities, ages and backgrounds.
Her versatility and authentic nature contribute to her success.
“[I am most proud of my aunt for] the way she’s able to articulate things and tell stories in a way that’s not ‘Me, me, me, me, me, here’s my experience, my experience,’” Mary Corrigan said. “But, in a reflective, overarching way. I think that’s a really interesting skill to have to use such hand-selected words and terms for describing things and experiences that everyone has had in their life.”
