From the Archives: Twelve Amazing Moth Tales
May 6, 2016
One of America’s most beloved radio shows, The Moth features stories by luminaries in the arts and sciences, newsmakers and news breakers, and every day heroes (and even a few reformed villains). If you’re unfamiliar, here’s how it works: each show begins with a theme, and storytellers explore that theme in unexpected ways, crossing between documentary and theatre.
Gearing up for our upcoming event on May 18th (our theme: “The Ties that Bind”), we’ve pulled twelve of the most electric and visceral stories from The Moth’s online story library. Give these true stories a listen (and be advised, a few of these episodes definitely contain strong language):
Neil Gaiman, “Liverpool Street.” A sixteen-year-old waits in Liverpool Street Station for parents who never show.
“My parents were late. I had the kind of parents who were late. That’s what they were.”
Ellie Lee, “A Kind of Wisdom.” A daughter tells the story of her Chinese immigrant father and the empire he built from nothing.
“Where are we going to go now that we don’t have a home?”
Ed Gavagan, “Victim’s Impact.” Having survived a random, brutal and almost deadly gang attack in NYC, Ed decides he’ll head back home to Wyoming to recuperate.
“And I think I’m dead… again.”
Siddhartha Mukherjee, “The Letting Go.” An oncologist struggles with the way death is handled in his country. (Note: Siddhartha is coming to town!).
“My curiosity was literally morbid.”
Wanda Bullard, “Small Town Prisoner.” A woman’s father trusts a prisoner, with surprising results.
“Every time the fire department telephone rang, our telephone rang.”
Dan Savage, “Not That Kind of Gay.” A father comes to terms with his new role as a dog owner.
“You do this thing […] when everyone in your life hates gay people […] you go, ‘I’m going to be a different kind of gay person.’”
Michaela Murphy, “Eye Spy.” An Irish Catholic family lovingly spies on the Kennedy compound from afar.
“My aunts would set up camp on the shore with their binoculars.”
Jia H. Jung, “Ashes to Ashes, Dad to Dust.” Jia H. Jung tries to figure out what to do with her father’s ashes.
“It’s as if there’s this rule, right, that all our parents had lives that were tougher than ours are.”
Malcolm Gladwell, “Her Way.” A well-intentioned wedding toast goes horribly awry for a young man and his friends.
“All of our best material is still ahead of us. So we keep singing to this random group of defense contractors.”
Mike DeStefano, “Franny’s Last Ride.” Mike struggles with how to give support to his wife, who is dying in hospice.
“She was thrown out of hospice for not dying. And only she could pull it off.”
Amir Baghdadchi, “Flying Home.” Amir has a “chat” with a government agent, in windowless room, at the airport.
“He says to me, ‘So, I see you have a beard. Are you Muslim?’”
Dina Pearlman, “Casting Couch.” An actress trying to break into Hollywood finds herself with a tricky decision to make.
“This wonderful, wonderful man is coming over here in an hour and a half.”