The Moth Podcast Features Storytelling - Review
Weekly Show Features True-Life Stories Told Without Notes
Oct 25, 2009
On a porch in St. Simon's Island, Georgia, moths would slip through a hole in the screen and flitter around the light, trapped. Below, a group of friends circled around and told each other stories - drawn to the tales as the moth was drawn to the light.
One member of that group, writer George Dawes Green took the memory of those nights with him to New York. Missing that connection to story, he started "moth" story evenings in his home. Spreading by word of mouth alone, the group grew to become a non-profit in 1997 and includes eight programs. Each night, the storytellers share a tale within a certain theme.
The weekly "The Moth Podcast" draws from this rich treasure trove of tales to offer short, enthralling stories from headliners such as Garrison Keillor, Moby and Neil Gaiman. "Everyday" people have included pickpockets, a Voodo priestess and an astronaut. As of 2008, the podcast had more than 45,000 subscribers and 600,000 monthly downloads.
Sampling of The Moth Stories
A sampling of three consecutive podcasts offers a good sense of the range of stories on "The Moth."
- "The Junkie and the Monk" by Mike Destefano is a wrenching story of Destefano losing his wife to AIDS and his father's death as well. He finds comfort in an unlikely place for him - in the hands of a Buddhist monk who draws off his pain like poison from a wound.
- "Dale" by Jessi Klein offers Klein's humorous, but ill fated, attempt to seduce a Disney character at her sister's wedding in Walt Disney World. She settles on Dale of Chip and Dale cartoons and winds up being rejected by a chipmunk. Klein is hilarious to listen to, but tends to have a bit of a mouth (as many of the storytellers on The Moth do). Think F-bomb used in its literal sense.
- "Don't Tell, Martha!" by Dan Choi, who is a military Arabic translator, talks about his stand against the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. That decision led him to stop pretending he had a girlfriend named Martha, admit that "Martha" was actually a man and hold to the first oath he made when he entered the military - to tell the truth. Regardless of a person's stance on gays in the military, the passion and earnestness in Choi's voice is unmistakable, and one has to admire his commitment to telling the truth.
At its best, The Moth is emotional, funny, blatantly honest and revealing about the lives people life. For National Public Radio Listeners, think of "StoryCorps" or "This I Believe" with a raw edge. No wonder The Moth chose to put up this quote from The New York Times on their site.
"The success of The Moth is one example of storytelling that is gaining momentum nationwide. In The Moth's case, these narrative sessions are fast becoming an institution."
The Moth Draws from Eight Storytelling Programs
The Moth has grown greatly from its humble beginnings. It now boasts eight programs, including some in which anyone can participate:
- Stories at The Moth, the New York series that started it all. It features 10 minute stories all build around the same theme.
- The Moth StorySLAMs, an extension of "Stories at The Moth" and now in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit, it opens the stage to anybody with a story related to the night's theme.
- The Moth Radio Hour, The Moth's newest venture in fall of 2009. The radio show is being appropriately produced by Jay Allison, who was the man behind the most recent version of "This I Believe."
- MothUP, which invites amateur storytellers to videotape their own Moth session in their living room and upload it to the organizations Web site.
- The Moth Outreach Program helps disadvantaged teens and adults in New York City to tell their stories.
- The Moth On The Road, a 10-city tour in 2006-2007 brought The Moth to cities that would not otherwise have had the opportunity. Other out-of-town events are planned from time to time and posted on the Web site.
- The MothShop helps to support the non-profit with corporate training on storytelling and special events.
- The Annual Moth Ball, the annual November event to raise money for The Moth and review the year in storytelling.
Parents need to use some caution, as some of the stories contain material inappropriate for children, but iTunes does a good job of labeling the explicit stories. With the diversity of people telling the stories, every podcast listener should be able to find something that appeals to them.
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