The Moth Podcast

One of these days, I will go over podcasts in a more general sense - with those who don’t really even understand the term “podcast” in mind.
For now, I want to highlight a podcast that I just recently got into. It is called The Moth Podcast, and it is the on-demand audio vehicle for the bigger not-for-profit storytelling organization, The Moth.

From their web site:
The Moth, a not-for-profit storytelling organization, was founded in New York in 1997 by poet and novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate in New York the feeling of sultry summer evenings on his native St. Simon's Island, Georgia, where he and a small circle of friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales on his friend Wanda's porch. After moving to New York, George missed the sense of connection he had felt sharing stories with his friends back home, and he decided to invite a few friends over to his New York apartment to tell and hear stories. Thus the first "Moth" evening took place in his living room. Word of these captivating story nights quickly spread, and The Moth moved to bigger venues in New York. Today, The Moth conducts eight ongoing programs and has brought more than 3,000 live stories to over 100,000 audience members.


Lately, due to the combination of what is going on with my work and the need for new things to listen to during my commute, I have been listening to audiobooks and podcasts dealing with screenwriting and storytelling. The Moth is a great example of one of these podcasts. When boiled down, it is a fascinating way to learn peoples’ stories as well as reflect upon how one would structure and present stories of his or her own life.

The most recent (8/2/2010) installment by Andrew Solomon was incredibly moving. I would summarize, but could not do justice to the story or the storytelling. Another thing I like about The Moth is that the stories are usually around 15 minutes long, so you do not need to commit a big chunk of time to listen and enjoy.

As mentioned at the top, I will go over podcasts in general sometime soon - for now, The Moth might be a great way to get introduced to how they work. One good thing about this is that podcasts are readily available for Mac and non-Mac users alike!

I hope you enjoy The Moth. If you have other suggestions, please leave them in the comments section.