RISK!
If you like The Moth, This American Life or Snap Judgment, take a walk on the wilder side with RISK! Your colorful host Kevin Allison (of the legendary comedy group The State) helms this surprisingly uncensored show where people tell jaw-dropping true stories they never thought they'd dare to share in public. RISK! is hilarious, heart-wrenching and remarkably real. Think you've heard it all? Fasten your seatbelt.
Episodes
December 9, 2025 • 51 mins
Jillian Markowitz and David Joseph share stories about the strains and secrets that come all too easily within families.
🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved
• 🎟 See RISK! live in NYC March 17 and June 9, 2025
• ✍️ Pitch your story
• ❤️ Support us on Patreon or make a one-time PayPal donation
• 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book
• 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us• 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos
To...
Mark as Played
December 4, 2025 • 43 mins
Christine Gentry revisits her story from 2016 called “Making the Chain” with Kevin Allison. She has many new insights, nine years later.
🎤Live Story: Making the Chain by Christine Gentry
Christine’s friend needs a kidney donor or she will die. Christine is not a match for her friend, but she is able to join a chain of people donating, created by Be The Match. The experience transforms her life.
keywords: Be The Match, dialysis...
Mark as Played
December 2, 2025 • 50 mins
Mira Rivera and Rachelle Anne Warren tell stories about opening up & leaning into insecurities.
🎤Workshop Story: Sexual Healing by Mira Rivera
After her partner breaks up with her, Mira's confidence plummets. She goes on a series of dates in public with a hot guy who seems uninterested.One day, they have a date in private with weed and Mira discovers a whole new level of sexual and emotional chemistry.
keywords: bad dates, sex...
Mark as Played
November 27, 2025 • 35 mins
Satori Shakoor and Paul Cibis share stories of thanksgiving. A part of our series called Gratitude Stories.
🎤Live Story: Thank You by Satori Shakoor
Satori’s loss of her mother and son is devastating. Later, she dates a man who gets a kick out of Satori being “too much,” and she is grateful to remember to live life over-the-top, and fully alive.
keywords: none
🎤Live Story: My Lifeline by Paul Cibis
Paul's kidneys began to fa...
Mark as Played
November 25, 2025 • 32 mins
Kevin hears Danielle Meinert’s “The Day I Met ARFID” story from The Story Collider for the first time and gives you his hot takes. You can also watch this episode on YouTube!
This is part of our RISK! Reacts series, where we listen to a story told on another show and give our first reactions.
Here’s the Spotify Playlist mentioned in the episode.
And here is an article about the playlist from hopkinsmedicine.org.
🎙️ Story: The ...
Mark as Played
November 20, 2025 • 74 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in September of 2013, when RISK! had its first live show in the city that keeps it weird: Austin, Texas.
🎤Live Story: The Redhead by Paul Normandin
Every year that his wife asked, "What do you want for your birthday?" Paul would answer, "A redhead." One year, his wife finally arranged for a hotel rendezvous with a redhead... who led him into a surprise party.
Keywords:...
Mark as Played
November 18, 2025 • 42 mins
Jen Nails and Sandi Marx share stories about being who you are even, when it’s a pain in the ass.
🎤Radio Story: Permission to Be Myself by Jen Nails
Jen struggles to fit in at her college acting program, which attempts to remove her from the class roster. Finally, her fellow students write to the administration appealing on her behalf and the school changes its mind.
keywords: acting school, rejection, left out,
🎤 Live S...
Mark as Played
November 13, 2025 • 49 mins
Morgan revisits her story from 2012 called “Always A Woman” with Kevin Allison and considers how much has changed for trans folks in the 13 years since.
🎙️Radio Story: Always A Woman by Morgan
A biker and ironworker has a lifelong secret. After a nearly life-ending accident, Morgan finally decides to transition from man to woman. The people in her life are amazed, but they adjust.
keywords: LGBTQIA+ storyteller, Trans storyte...
Mark as Played
November 12, 2025 • 66 mins
Inky Montaine tells Taj Easton about how, before he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, he truly felt like he might have come from another planet.
Check out all of our Conversation Stories!
🎙️Conversation Story: Pretending to Be Human by Inky Montaine
Inky spent a lifetime switching masks but felt a certainty of unbelonging. Later in life, an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis didn't lead to yet another identity, but ...
Mark as Played
November 11, 2025 • 27 mins
On this Veteran’s Day, guest-host Ray Christian from What’s Ray Saying? hears Brian Simpson’s “Fresh Air” story from So Say We All for the first time and gives you his hot takes. You can also watch this episode on YouTube!
This is part of our RISK! Reacts series, where we listen to a story told on another show and give our first reactions.
🎙️ Story: Fresh Air by Brian Simpson
(Content note: suicidal ideation) In 2003, Brian...
Mark as Played
November 6, 2025 • 76 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in August of 2013, when DC Pierson, Selena Coppock, Brad Lawrence and Nina Davis shared stories of love and loss.
🎙️Radio Story: Let Me Sleep On It by Brad Lawrence
In his youth, Brad finds and loses love with a fellow bookstore employee. Later, after marrying someone else, he sees his feelings for his fellow employee were just a crush, and that real love allows for mak...
Mark as Played
November 4, 2025 • 44 mins
Kevin hears Diane Weipert’s “The Living Room” story from Love and Radio for the first time and gives you his instant reactions. You can also watch this episode on YouTube!
This is part of our RISK! Reacts series, where we listen to a story told on another show and give our first reactions.
🎙️ Story: The Living Room by Diane Weipert
Through an unobstructed window, Diane observes the lives of a young couple in the apartment acros...
Mark as Played
October 30, 2025 • 56 mins
Three of our favorite scary stories from Halloween specials of our past.
🎤Radio Story: The Thing by Thomas McKean
When Thomas was a kid, he and a friend saw a shadowy oblong shape following them on a beach. Years later, he feels chained to his bed in the middle of the night when the same figure, then two more hover over him.
keywords: Paranormal encounter, Shadow figure,Beach sighting,Sleep paralysis,Night terrors,Childhood m...
Mark as Played
October 28, 2025 • 84 mins
Our 17th annual Halloween special with scary true stories about ghosts, corpses and mortal danger.
🎤Radio Story: Do You Know My Name? by Robert Oakes
Robert leads ghost tours, but unlike his father, he’s unsure he’s a believer. After his father dies, Robert’s tour of a haunted house is visited by paranormal investigators, who have him ask a question to the spirits there which reveal a family connection.
keywords: haunted hous...
Mark as Played
October 23, 2025 • 63 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in August of 2013, when Mather Zickel, Jen Curran, Joel Kim Booster and Julie Threlkeld told stories of times they crossed over the edge.
🎤Live Story: Waiting for the Man by Joel Kim Booster
Joel would love to find a kinky Dom to write "Bitch" around his asshole. One night, he plays with a Dom who is a huge disappointment.
keywords: Asian storyteller, gay, homosexual, ...
Mark as Played
October 21, 2025 • 39 mins
Hannah Sussman and Swapna Deshpande tell stories about coming to terms with mortality.
🎤Anecdote: Another Conversation with my Dead Mother by Hannah Sussman
Hannah reflects on her relationship with her deceased mother—waking from a dream, looking in the mirror and eventually coming to peace with her own aging.
keywords: mother daughter relationships, aging, grief
🎤Live Story: Each Other's Angels by Swapna Deshpande
Dr. Swa...
Mark as Played
October 16, 2025 • 59 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in August of 2013, when Brad McMurran, Alicia Camden, and Sean Devereux told stories at the Norfolk Comedy Festival.
🎤Live Story: The Color Purple by Brad McMurran
Brad’s first sexual experience goes wrong when an allergic reaction to spermicidal condoms sends him to the ER, where his mother discovers his purple-stained underwear.
Keywords: teen angst, losing virginity...
Mark as Played
October 14, 2025 • 103 mins
Mishelle tells Taj her story of a lifetime lived with an abusive mother in an environment of relentless lies, instability and unspeakable violence.
Check out all of our Conversation Stories!
🎙️Conversation Story: The Lies that Bind by Mishelle Roberts
(Content Note: child abuse, child murder)
Mishelle tells Taj about growing up in the shadow of hospitals, horrific medical drama, and a web of lies that defined her entire life....
Mark as Played
October 13, 2025 • 4 mins
Candiace Dillard Bassett (Bravo’s Real Housewives of Potomac) and Michael Arceneaux (New York Times best-selling author and culture critic) have thoughts…and on Undomesticated, they’re sharing all of them. Think of it like the group chat you wish you were in - brutally honest, funny, smart, and gloriously unfiltered.
From viral TikTok drama to the celebrity news everyone’s talking about (and the ones they should be), Candiace and...
Mark as Played
October 9, 2025 • 48 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in 2013, when the RISK! live show came to Norfolk, Virginia.
🎤Live Story: The Squatter by Billy Raim
Billy is afraid to poop in public until he decides to let go of of that fear, as it was ruining a trip with friends to China, with disastrous consequences.
keywords: Poop, Fear, China, Culture Shock
🎤Live Story: Sister’s Keeper by Tiffany Chilcott
Tiffany impersona...
Mark as Played
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.