Meet the Team Behind: The Moth

The Moth celebrates the power of personal storytelling, creating spaces where people from all walks of life can share true stories that foster empathy, connection, and understanding. Learn more about their work here! 

Can you explain your mission? 

The Moth is a global storytelling nonprofit that inspires people to listen and share openly, think and feel deeply, and expand their understanding of one another. The Moth has presented more than 70,000 true stories — told live and without notes — across 11 countries and 4 continents, in grand theaters, cozy community spaces, prisons, hospitals, and even a graveyard. Through workshops for students, educators, adults, advocates, and professionals, we guide thousands of new storytellers each year in finding and crafting their own stories. Most people first encounter our stories through our show, The Moth Radio Hour, which airs on over 540 public radio stations nationwide, and The Moth Podcast.

What do your live shows entail? 

Live shows are at the heart of The Moth. Every year, we host over 600 live storytelling events around the globe. Each show starts with a theme, and the storytellers explore it, often in unexpected ways. Events range from open-mic StorySLAMS to curated touring shows, and we’ve featured stories by Elizabeth Gilbert, Rachel Dratch, Padma Lakshmi, Mike Birbiglia, Tig Notaro, an astronaut, a pickpocket, a voodoo priestess, a hotdog eating champion, and thousands more. All Moth stories are told, not read—we love how the storyteller connects with the audience when there is no page between them. All participants tell real, 5-minute stories that relate to the theme of the night in their own words. 

How do individuals submit their stories? 

The doors open and you, the storyteller hopeful, put your name in The Moth ​“hat.” Half an hour later, the first name is picked. Over the next two hours, ten stories will be told and scored by teams of judges from the audience. At every open-mic event, a winner is crowned. After ten SLAMs, the winners face off in a GrandSLAM. We recommend that you consult the upcoming events page to find a theme that speaks to you, craft your on-theme story, memorize the beats and practice, and keep the judging criteria in mind. You can also submit to our pitchline on our website. We listen to every pitch and if we like what we hear, we might air it on The Moth Radio Hour, or reach out to develop the story further for one of our Moth Mainstages.

What is your workshop methodology? 

At the center of everything The Moth does is a set of principles for helping people find, shape, and tell true personal stories. That practice works in corporate boardrooms, community centers, high school classrooms, prisons, and beyond. With 50+ instructors worldwide, we design storytelling workshops to meet communities where they are. For students and educators, our storytelling workshop builds confidence, identity, critical thinking, and connection. For companies and organizations, our workshop builds cul­ture, align­ment, empa­thy, and communication. For all kinds of change-makers, we use storytelling as a platform to build voice, com­mu­ni­ty, and advo­ca­cy capacity.