RISK!

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

March 17, 2026 53 mins
(Content note: child sexual abuse) In 2016, Ed G. got on stage at RISK! and told a story he'd never told anyone. Now, ten years later, Ophira Eisenberg sits down with him to go places that story couldn't: the FBI, the Pope, the survivors who found each other decades later, and the hard-won question of where shame really belongs. Ed's story begins in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where a boy abandoned by his violent father and drowning in po...
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In this crossover episode with The Story Collider, Karen McCaffrey and Mary Cyn share stories that illustrate the importance of compassion in healthcare. 🎤Live Story: More than Survival by Karen McCaffrey (Content note: sexual assault, rape) After surviving rape and a traumatic hospital experience afterward, Karen transformed her pain into purpose. Decades later, she directed a sexual assault forensic examiner program, advocatin...
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March 10, 2026 39 mins
Michael McFadden and Adrianne Frost share stories about evolving feelings about their bodies over time.  🎙️Radio Story: Growth by Michael McFadden Michael is a child swimming prodigy trapped in a grown man’s body who fails a humiliating puberty test, loses his athletic destiny, and ultimately redefines masculinity and self-worth beyond the pool and beyond his penis size. 🎤Live Story: Smoochin' and Fiddlin' by Adrianne Frost (...
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March 5, 2026 48 mins
Byron Bowers and Amy Salloway share experiences from their formative years. A part of The Best of Coming of Age Stories series. 🎤🎙️💻Live Story: My Father's Son by Byron Bowers At 10, Byron goes to visit his dad's crack-addicted father near the projects. Four years later, Byron is selling crack, and he breaks down, wondering how he let his life become like his father’s. 🎤Live Story: Sister Act by Amy Salloway Amy understands...
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March 3, 2026 38 mins
Ria Spencer, Mindy Myers and Josh Connors share stories about learning to feel at home in your body. 🎤Live Story: The Only Girl by Ria Spencer Six-year-old Ria is diagnosed with severe cradle cap and must enter an all-male Arkansas barbershop to have her beloved locks shaved. It might have been traumatic, but the men were supportive and encouraging.  🎙️Radio Story: Ample Package by Mindy Myers Mindy orders therapeutic vaginal...
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February 26, 2026 53 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in November of 2013, when Kitty Hailey, Christine Lee and Josh Healey share stories of surprising family situations. 🎤🎙️💻Live Story: Rollin’ With Grandma by Josh Healey Josh's Grandma-in-law gets a pinched nerve and requires medical marijuana. The hilarity ensues of him buying pot for this little old lady and helping her to smoke it. 🎤🎙️💻Radio Story: Two Bowls by ...
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February 24, 2026 44 mins
Emma Yarbrough and Joel Gonzalez share stories about learning and growing from hard times. 🎤Live Story: Searching for Blue Sky by Emma Yarbrough Emma believes an intruder has broken in her home but it’s a false alarm. It triggers memories of her PTSD following the murder of her beloved Aunt Day. Emma cherishes her aunt’s memory and is stronger for it.  🎙️Radio Story: Keeping Us Safe by Joel Gonzalez Joel is working a grocery ...
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February 19, 2026 50 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in November of 2013, when students from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design shared true stories at a RISK! live show on campus. 🎤Live Story: Over the Limit by David Jacobs As a kid, it took David a while to realize he had anger management problems. After a few unfortunate outbursts, a therapist helped him get a hold of himself. 🎤Live Story: Street S...
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February 17, 2026 52 mins
David Zellnik tells Kevin Allison about a moment of sexual liberation in a dark back room at a gay bar in the early 90s. Check out all of our Conversation Stories! 🎙️Conversation Story: Allowed to Look by David Zellnik David has a transformative night at a gay bar in the early 90s, during the ongoing AIDS crisis. It felt risky but it also helped him to feel more visible and confident in his identity, changing his perspective on ...
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February 12, 2026 39 mins
Reba Sparrow and Smith Galtney share some of our favorite unusual love stories from our 16-year history. 🎙️LIVE Story: Pleasant Mountain by Smith Galtney Smith had the perfect husband, house and home... till he returned to the crystal meth habit of his younger years. His husband was able to support Smith in getting to rehab and putting his life back together again. 🎙️LIVE Story: Baby Love by Reba Sparrow Reba has a history of...
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February 10, 2026 48 mins
Connor O’Donoghue, JC Cassis and Jay Michel share stories about crushes and rebounds.  🎙️Radio Story: I Was the Appetizer by Connor O'Donoghue A virgin with body shame issues, Connor falls for a straight guy he befriends in a psych hospital. He has a threesome with his crush and a girl, knowing the guy is only into the girl. Decades later, Connor sheds his sexual anxiety.  🎤Live Story: Never Again by JC Cassis JC gets a crush...
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February 5, 2026 49 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years when Brian Finkelstein, Carrie Wade and Matt Oberg told true stories at the live RISK! show for the 2013 LA Storytelling Festival. 🎤Live Story: She and I by Brian Finkelstein (Content note: miscarriage, suicidal ideation) Brian’s anxiety around marriage and fatherhood lead to a panic attack at a grocery store just before he learns his wife is pregnant… shortly before he learns of a mi...
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February 3, 2026 38 mins
Ezra Holmlund and Sarah Adelman tell stories about things involving coming... and going.  🎤Live Story: Things Are Going South by Ezra Holmlund Ezra and his brother are at home when they begin to suspect a stranger has broken into their house upstairs. When the police arrive, the two brothers are mistaken for being the criminals. 🎤Live Story: The Long And Winding Road (To Semen Analysis) by Sarah Adelman Sarah is working at a ...
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January 30, 2026 49 mins
In memory of Jan Scott-Frazier, we revisit her 2011 story called “The Riverside” and, until now unreleased, her conversation about the story in 2021 with narrative therapist David Newman.  00:00 Introduction 01:34 The Riverside by Jan Scott-Frazier (Content note: suicide) At 22, Jan moved to Japan, but was lonely, as foreigners often feel. She began to notice a woman who visited the same river she did, who was even more depre...
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January 27, 2026 56 mins
Stella Mayerhoff and Rebecca Heron tell stories about the unbearable weight of truth. 🎙️Radio Story: In Ways I Never Could Have Imagined by Stella Mayerhoff In the Democratic Republic of Congo, out in the field studying bonobos, Stella has to get a local man back home by lying to him, saying his baby is sick, when in fact, his baby has already died. Keywords: Congo field research, bonobos, primatology, grief in the jungle, mora...
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January 22, 2026 57 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in October of 2013, when Janine Latus, Scott Whitney and Dan Telfer told stories about brushes with madness that left scars. 🎙️Radio Story: Revelations by Scott Whitney (Content note: cults, suicide ideation) A Jehovah’s Witness struggling with his faith, Scott knocks on the door of a traumatized recluse to attempt to convert him. The brief, troubled friendship convince...
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January 20, 2026 51 mins
Shem, Nonye Brown-West and JC Cassis share stories of sexual discoveries. 🎤Live Story: Shem's Guide to Sexuality by Shem As a joke, young Shem's frenemy gives him a sexy book, but it's a feminist book and he learns less about eroticism and more about the emotional needs of middle aged American women.  🎤Live Anecdote: The Joy of Toes by JC Cassis JC marvels at the outsized role that men’s big toes seem to play in that legendar...
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January 15, 2026 72 mins
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in October of 2013, when Stephanie Douglass, Shannon Cason, Lily Be and Jim Padar were at our very first show in that toddlin’ town. 🎤Live Story: You Don’t Know Jack? by Stephanie Douglass A high school erupts in laughter over a mysterious name on the morning announcements, sending a well-meaning teacher on a frantic mission to protect a bullied student who, disastrousl...
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January 13, 2026 62 mins
Ms. Aishia tells Cyndi Freeman about the time she navigated a complex, emotionally abusive relationship, and ultimately found the strength to prioritize her own happiness and independence. You can also watch this episode on YouTube. Check out all of our Conversation Stories! Conversation Story: Create My Life by Ms. Aishia EDITOR’S SYNOPSIS: After leaving an abusive relationship, Ms. Aishia enters an intense, largely virtual rom...
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January 8, 2026 35 mins
There’s nothing but laughs in our Funny Stuff compilations of classic RISK! stories on the lighter side. This week, Kumail Nanjiani and Alecia Altstaetter share about penile injuries and barf boats.  🎤Live Story: Pure Fuckmachine by Kumail Nanjiani Kumail learns how to masturbate and is so excited that he zips his pants too quickly afterward and cuts his penis on the zipper. 🎤Live Story: That New Ship Smell by Alecia Altstaett...
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