http://themoth.org/
Any description of The Moth podcast can be deceptively simple. What happens in each episode is that a person gets up on stage and tells a true story extemporaneously, right from the hip, no notes, no net. These stories run the entire gamut of human emotion and capabilities. Elements of fear, happiness, ennui, elation; moments of gullibility, over confidence, naiveté even outright stupidity are laid bare by the speakers
The stories we hear are as they were presented…live at a Story Slam in either Los Angeles or New York. A Story Slam is like an open mike night for storytellers. I don’t want to delve too deeply into the details since a lot of the background and support structure of how these events are conducted can be found at themoth.org. This excellent website gives the history of how the organization began, presents a calendar of upcoming events, and offers collections of older stories on CD, just to name a few of its features.
The podcasts themselves run about ten minutes each and the stories are anything if not extremely diverse, which reflects the human condition. If you can, I recommend you subscribe to The Moth because every episode is like getting a little short story for free. And if afterwards you feel inspired to support the organization, there are various levels of membership available.
The storytellers themselves can be well known (ex. Garrison Keillor), but they are usually just plain folks. For me, I prefer the amateur deliveries because they seem less polished and more natural. Some of the episodes feature stories from people who are entertainers in their own right, and while these podcasts are usually very funny, they can sometimes come across a little too much like a
standup routine.
To date, my favorite stories are: Michael Rips and his plagiarism problem, Matthew McGough’s tale of being a batboy for the Yankees, A. J Jacobs outsourced life and Joe Lockhart’s recounting of his first days as President Clinton’s press secretary.
I am planning on attending one of the slams and telling my story “Golf and Hemorrhoids” which can be read at michaelohea.com. I will report back about my experience and, whether it goes good or bad, I will continue to look forward to new episodes of this podcast.
The stories we hear are as they were presented…live at a Story Slam in either Los Angeles or New York. A Story Slam is like an open mike night for storytellers. I don’t want to delve too deeply into the details since a lot of the background and support structure of how these events are conducted can be found at themoth.org. This excellent website gives the history of how the organization began, presents a calendar of upcoming events, and offers collections of older stories on CD, just to name a few of its features.
The podcasts themselves run about ten minutes each and the stories are anything if not extremely diverse, which reflects the human condition. If you can, I recommend you subscribe to The Moth because every episode is like getting a little short story for free. And if afterwards you feel inspired to support the organization, there are various levels of membership available.
The storytellers themselves can be well known (ex. Garrison Keillor), but they are usually just plain folks. For me, I prefer the amateur deliveries because they seem less polished and more natural. Some of the episodes feature stories from people who are entertainers in their own right, and while these podcasts are usually very funny, they can sometimes come across a little too much like a
standup routine.To date, my favorite stories are: Michael Rips and his plagiarism problem, Matthew McGough’s tale of being a batboy for the Yankees, A. J Jacobs outsourced life and Joe Lockhart’s recounting of his first days as President Clinton’s press secretary.
I am planning on attending one of the slams and telling my story “Golf and Hemorrhoids” which can be read at michaelohea.com. I will report back about my experience and, whether it goes good or bad, I will continue to look forward to new episodes of this podcast.
