Moral of the Story
Interesting people telling their favorite short stories. https://mospod.org
Episodes
Long before his 27-year prison term and the creation of the award-winning Ear Hustle podcast, Earlonne Woods was a teenage gang member trying to survive the 1980s LA crack epidemic.
One day, Earlonne's brother brought home two new guns. After shooting the weapons, Earlonne, unbeknownst to his brother, decided to clean one of the weapons. There was only one problem: he had no idea what he was doing. He did his best an...
Long before the sprawling culinary empire, the Emmy nominated TV shows, the award-winning cookbooks and the White House invitations, Rick Bayless was just a regular kid growing up in Oklahoma City and working at his parents' BBQ restaurant. He played by the rules and wasn't the rebellious type.
Until, one day, on his way home from work, he bought a pet monkey.
It was an unprecedented act of rebellion th...
Going meta: Professional storyteller Terence Mickey on the shocking tale that connected all the dots
While at the Moth, Terence Mickey split his time between teaching storytelling to Fortune 500 executives through the corporate program and helping at risk-youth and recovering addicts through the outreach program.
At first glance, the two programs were worlds apart. But one day, they would collide in spectacular fashion through a Vietnam vet's shockingly graphic recollection of a jungle encounter with the Viet kong. <...
Growing up in 1970s South Brooklyn (now Carol Gardens), Scott was surrounded by the mob. Wiseguys named Fat Freddie and Big Red drank their espressos and smoked their cigars at the social clubs on the corner. It was idyllic in its own way and he was safe as long as he didn't stray too far.
His uncle Frankie, a tough guy's tough guy, was like a father to Scott. Later in life, Frankie had a quadruple bypass surger...
Danielle Juhre was in her first semester at Berklee College of Music. Her parents were in town for freshman orientation week.
After the orientation, a jam session was held at Cafe 939. New students had the option to sign up and perform with a band of legendary teachers of legacy.
Danielle's parents asked her if she would go up. Terrified of performing with world-renowned musicians in front of her peers, she...
Grammy-nominated recording artist Peter Himmelman was just a young boy when his father decided to take him on a canoeing trip. It was an early autumn day on Cedar Lake in Minneapolis.
Hearing a party across the water, they approached to explore. It turned out to be a rowdy affair on Indian beach, named after the feared Lakota Sioux who would frequent the spot.
Suddenly, a muscular shirtless Lakota man dove into t...
Excuse me, I hate to interrupt: Bestselling author Adam Rubin on the bold move that changed his life
Long before writing children's classics like Dragons Love Tacos and Those Darn Squirrels, Adam Rubin was living the bachelor life in New York City. Life was full of possibilities.
One night, Adam and a friend were enjoying a bottle of sake at the bar of a small Japanese restaurant in Williamsburg when a group of women walked in and grabbed a table. Every time Adam looked over, one of the women caught his gaze.
Samir Wagle had just filed for divorce, resigned from his job as CEO of Protein Bar, and quit drinking. It was long overdue but that didn't make it any easier.
On a particularly dark day, Samir got home and decided to take his five year old son on a walk. He was lost, disoriented, and hopeless.
And then his son picked up a stick. What followed was a series of revelations that would begin Samir's journe...
Long before his time as the Editor in Chief of Car and Driver, Eddie Alterman helmed a small startup magazine called MPH, the Maxim of car magazines. Imagine that.
In late 2004, when the highly anticipated Porsche 911 and Corvette C6 were on the verge of release, Eddie and his team scored a couple of specimens and decided that the best photo op would be in the middle of the night in front of Central Park, followed, natural...
When Clinical Professor of Managerial Psychology Linda Ginzel put together a set of handouts for her capstone leadership class at the University of Chicago Booth School of business, students started to ask for extra copies for bosses, spouses and neighbors.
She said no. These were just class handouts for her students, after all.
One day, a student asked for a copy for his school age children. And before she could...
Mark Achler had just finished writing his first book when the CEO of the publisher suggested he find a sponsor. A novel idea, but if it could offset costs and raise visibility, why not?
Although unorthodox, it worked. But little did Mark know that the publisher's CEO had an unbelievable past and it was all about to catch up to them both.
Delia Cohen was an organizer of TED talks when she learned that a few countries had done TED talks in prisons. Why on earth, she wondered, would anyone do that? Who would speak? Who would attend?
So she decided to do some homework and as it turned out, not only was the demand there, this would be an opportunity to drive positive change for the incarcerated and could even lead to justice reform.
James Beard award-winning food writer Kevin Pang did not have a good relationship with his father. They would speak occasionally, but exchange only the most superficial of pleasantries.
Then, one day in 2012, Kevin got an email. The subject: "Jeffrey Pang wants you to check out this YouTube video."
What followed was a journey of reconnection and rediscovery between father and son on a scale that neither...
Sian Morson is close with her mom. Although the two live hundreds of miles apart, they speak every day.
After her mom had a stroke, the family decided to have a camera system installed in her house to keep an eye on her.
One day, Sian's mom stopped answering her phone and when Sian checked the cameras, they were all offline.
Sian shares the story of the terrifying ordeal and the resulting surprise e...
Josh and Jesse were planning to get married. It should have been a breeze. Except it was the spring of 2020, she was in Germany and he was in NY, and the EU had just closed its borders.
With the constantly shifting regulatory and travel restrictions, not to mention the difficulty of securing the required documentation, most people would have put it off.
But not these two.
What ensued was an adventure spanning three...
Nick Epley's train ride to his University of Chicago office used to be a predictably uneventful affair: 45 minutes of people looking out the window or staring at their phones, oblivious to the world around them. But one morning, the behavioral scientist decided to try something different. When a woman sat down next to him, he complimented her on her hat.
That compliment began a conversation that would change the traj...
Ever wonder how an NFL champion regroups and rebuilds after hitting rock bottom post-retirement? Meet Marques Ogden, former NFL player turned inspirational keynote speaker, bestselling author, business coach, consultant, and podcast host, as he narrates his journey of rising from the ashes. In the first segment, Marques highlights the importance of communication for success, drawing from his own stories of missed opportunities. He ...
Sonny Garg was having lunch with a friend. He had just been named to the executive committee at Exelon, a Fortune 125 company. His long-term goal accomplished, with a wonderful family and a great life, he should have been happy. Instead, over greek food, he suddenly blurted out to his friend, "my life sucks." His friend then said six words that would make Sonny re-think his approach to life and remember what really matter...
Emmy award-winning writer and producer Brett Baer was only 24 when he got the opportunity to audition for the Universal Studios stunt show. Inexperienced and terrified, Brett invoked his time at Deerfield High School, where his attempt to change the narrative of his bullying instilled in him a sense of control. Little did he know that a CNN crew would arrive at the worst possible time and capture one of the most memorable flops of ...
Dustin Hogue had just arrived at his first day of Army basic training when, after being forced by their drill sergeant to drink copious amounts of water to stay hydrated in the South Carolina summer heat, he had to pee -- badly. But with bathroom breaks out of the question and no end in sight, Dustin had to make an uncomfortable choice.
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