Control and family pressure give Dame Wilbert's story the hour's sharpest edge.
This hour keeps circling back to control, moving from childhood rebellion into adult life, and Dame Wilbert gives that idea its sharpest edge.

True stories, live and close to the bone.
The Moth is a stage for true stories told live, shaped by memory, nerves, and the presence of a room. Recent episodes move from names and money to home, control, accidents, faith, and the small decisions that change a life.
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The Moth is a live storytelling show where true personal stories carry the weight of performance without losing the mess of memory. Its recent episodes show how broad that frame can be. A story about control can begin with a parent, a rebellion, or a reckless pursuit on the road. A story about money can become a story about hunger, shame, preparation, and the relief of having enough. Names are not treated as labels. They become family history, mispronunciation, embarrassment, inheritance, and a place to belong. The show often starts with something small enough to hold in one hand: a surname, a roll call, a book report, a pantry shelf, a move across state lines. Then the story widens. The comedy usually arrives sideways, as a release valve when the memory gets too tight. That balance is part of the appeal. The Moth can sit with a car accident, a childhood marked by poverty, a complicated homecoming, or a religious summer camp without turning the teller into a case study. It trusts scenes. It trusts timing. It also trusts contradiction, especially when love and anger point at the same place. Recent episodes include voices that set up each theme, ask a few follow-up questions, and give the storytellers room to remain the main event. The result feels intimate but public, polished but still exposed. Listeners hear stories from slams, main stages, and radio hours, with settings ranging from Melbourne and Chicago to St. Paul, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, Texas, Minnesota, and rural Hungary. The topics shift, but the engine stays the same. Someone walks to a microphone and tries to tell the truth as they remember it. For people drawn to lived experience, comic vulnerability, and stories that earn their emotional turns, The Moth remains one of the clearest versions of the form.
Made for: For listeners who like intimate first-person stories about family, identity, money, home, faith, fear, and the absurd turns of ordinary life. It especially suits people who want emotional range without heavy explanation.
What sets it apart: The Moth stands apart by keeping the live teller at the center: one person, one microphone, one remembered sequence of events. The editorial frame is light, so each story’s humor, tension, and tenderness can arrive in the teller’s own rhythm.
On Tuesdays and Fridays The Moth’s podcast feed presents episodes of the Peabody-Award Winning Moth Radio Hour and original episodes of The Moth Podcast. Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. Fo...
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Hosts frame broad themes, then step aside so lived detail, comic timing and vulnerable delivery can do the interpretive work.
The Moth turns personal narrative into performed art: a rotating host sets a theme, introduces each storyteller, then gives the microphone over to a first-person account delivered before a live audience.
A microphone, a family secret, and no escape hatch: exactly the emotional high wire you came for.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Control and family pressure give Dame Wilbert's story the hour's sharpest edge.
This hour keeps circling back to control, moving from childhood rebellion into adult life, and Dame Wilbert gives that idea its sharpest edge.
Money talk about security, love, respect, and knowing when enough is enough.
Money is the headline, but the hour keeps returning to what it really sits on: security, love, respect, and the hard question of when enough is enough. Suzanne Rust opens the frame cleanly, and the stories that follow stay close to daily life instead of drifting into theory.
A dating story where one misunderstanding turns awkwardness into comic tension.
David Greco's story leans into the nervous comedy of dating, where a small misunderstanding can start to feel far larger than it really is. The Moth keeps the pressure on dread and absurdity in equal measure: a private worry, a family dinner, then the slow realization that he…
A family-room surprise opens into a hard inheritance story.
A call from the Harlem Globetrotters turns into a family-room reveal, then opens into a story about inheritance and relatives the speaker has only heard about.
A varied hour where music, faith, and family chaos turn toward self-discovery and blessing.
The Moth Radio Hour uses its title as a map for the hour's range: punk, blessings, burlesque, and lotus flowers, with stories that circle self-discovery, sanctuary, forgiveness, and the many forms blessing can take.

Ira Glass frames weekly theme-driven segments spanning family secrets to Portland's protest conflict.

Jonathan Goldstein tracks down people from someone's past to engineer real reconciliation.




Control starts early.
Jodi Powell frames The Moth episode around the question 'What's in a name?' and says the show includes two stories about names, concepts, and how naming shapes meaning.
Money makes Suzanne Rust go quiet inside.
This Moth podcast episode explores the concept of home through two live personal stories.
This episode of The Moth Radio Hour features four personal stories about transformative moments, starting with acclaimed author Marlon James recounting his teenage experience as a junior exorcist at a Christian summer camp.
This episode of The Moth Podcast features two stories about taking shortcuts, starting with Lawrence Wood's personal tale of a poorly written book report on Jane Eyre in high school.
This episode of The Moth Radio Hour features personal stories about the dilemma of whether to look away from difficult situations or confront them directly, introduced by a host's experience with a motorcycle accident.
This episode of The Moth Radio Hour features five personal stories where storytellers share lessons they've learned, starting with Dan Souza's experience teaching English in rural Hungary after college.
This episode of The Moth features two personal stories about shocking audacity in relationships, starting with Becca L.'s tale of a fiancé whose affection faded after proposing.
The Moth podcast presents true stories told live, with this episode featuring cinematic-themed tales to celebrate the Oscars.
A live storytelling event where individuals share true, personal stories without notes, creating a shared experience with the audience.
A storytelling podcast featuring live, true personal stories, with this episode highlighting women's experiences including a story about a sudden speech difficulty in New York.
This episode of The Moth Radio Hour explores how storytelling helps keep loved ones alive through memories, featuring anecdotes about people who have passed away.
Poet Javier Zamora recounts his harrowing 3,000-mile journey from El Salvador to the United States at age nine, exploring themes of survival, loneliness, and resilience.
A live storytelling event where a man shares a personal story about his childhood science fair experience and navigating cultural subtleties as the child of immigrants.
This episode of The Moth podcast explores the concept of the American Dream through stories about American iconography as part of a series marking America's 250th anniversary.
Love sneaks in sideways here.
A phone message changes the room.
A live storytelling event with a theme of daring, featuring a community band and an MC from South Africa.
A Valentine's Day episode featuring true stories about love and heartache, told live by storytellers.
Everything gets a turn here.
Two stories related to football but not about the game itself, starting with a tale of fostering a pregnant dog and her ten puppies.
A sponsored episode promoting Smile Generation's dental services and Grow Therapy's mental health services, emphasizing the connection between oral health and overall well-being.
A live storytelling event where a man recounts his experience working at a Japanese restaurant in Iowa while hiding his sexuality from his Mormon parents.
The Moth Radio Hour presents true stories told live, with this episode featuring tales about elders, including a story from a former child soldier about his grandmother.
This episode of The Moth features true stories told live, including a police officer's tale of getting lost in the woods.
A live storytelling episode where host Larry Rosen and storyteller Manish Jain discuss the emotional highs and lows of October baseball, using personal anecdotes to explore fandom and shared experience.
A live storytelling episode themed around fathers, featuring personal narratives about mentorship and family.
A recovering alcoholic shares his journey to sobriety after reconnecting with a past love, told live at a Moth story slam.
This episode of The Moth Radio Hour features stories about gumption, beginning with Pamela Mitchell's tale of growing up as a black student in Catholic schools during the civil rights era.
A storyteller shares his experience seeking out banned books in Saudi Arabia during Banned Books Week.
A psychologist shares his story of getting a cancer diagnosis just before starting a dream job helping cancer patients.
A live storytelling event where individuals share personal true stories, this episode focusing on family secrets from diverse cultural backgrounds.
A preview of the Heavyweight podcast, where host Jonathan Goldstein helps people revisit and resolve past regrets or unresolved moments.
A sponsored episode promoting Smile Generation's dental services and Mint Mobile, emphasizing the link between oral health and overall health.