The Moth
A New York-based nonprofit arts organization that presents true, first-person stories through live events, education, broadcasting, publishing, and community programs.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
The Moth is an American nonprofit arts organization devoted to the craft and cultural practice of live storytelling. Founded in New York City in 1997 by poet and novelist George Dawes Green, it began as a small gathering inspired by the warm summer evenings of Green's childhood in Georgia. Green recalled sitting on a porch with friends while moths gathered around a light and stories circulated among them; the name became a metaphor for people drawn together by the glow of a shared narrative. The organization builds its work around unscripted, first-person stories told by people with varied backgrounds and levels of public visibility. Its stages have featured writers, actors, musicians, journalists, activists, veterans, astronauts, teachers, parents, and other community members. The central performance principle is that storytellers speak from personal experience, generally without notes, within a defined time limit and in response to an open-ended theme. This combination of preparation, vulnerability, and live audience interaction distinguishes The Moth from conventional theatrical monologues and formal lectures. Its principal live formats include the curated Moth Mainstage, the participatory StorySLAM, and the larger GrandSLAM. Mainstage events are produced around a theme and may include established public figures, experienced storytellers, and people selected through the organization's submission process. StorySLAM events operate as open-mic competitions: participants enter a pool, selected storytellers tell true stories of roughly five minutes, and audience judges score the performances. Winners may advance to a city GrandSLAM after a series of local events. The programs have expanded from New York into many American cities and selected international locations, including London and Melbourne. The Moth also extends storytelling beyond ticketed performances. Its Community Program works with groups whose experiences are often underrepresented in mainstream media. Its Education Program serves students, teachers, and schools, using storytelling to develop communication, rhetoric, listening, and community-building skills. The High School Slam initiative, launched in 2012, brought the StorySLAM model to public high schools in New York City. The Global Community Program supports first-person narratives from communities across the Global South, while MothWorks adapts the organization's methods for companies and institutions through workshops and custom events. Audio and publishing have made The Moth's work accessible well beyond its venues. The weekly Moth Podcast distributes edited stories from live events. The Moth Radio Hour launched nationally in 2009 with production by Jay Allison and distribution through PRX; it received a Peabody Award in 2010. In 2023, The Moth added Grown, a podcast centered on experiences from adolescence through young adulthood and hosted by Aleeza Kazmi and Fonzo Lacayo. The organization has also developed a publishing program, including collections of stories and a practical guide to storytelling. Its books include The Moth: 50 True Stories, All These Wonders, Occasional Magic, and How to Tell a Story. In 2022 it released A Game of Storytelling, an interactive card deck. Fundraising and recognition activities include the annual Moth Ball and the Moth Award, which honors notable contributions to the art of storytelling. The Moth's overall positioning combines literary culture, participatory performance, public media, education, and social connection rather than conventional commercial entertainment.
History
The Moth was established in New York City in 1997 by George Dawes Green, a poet and novelist who wanted to recreate the intimate storytelling atmosphere of summer evenings in his native Georgia. In Green's recollection, moths gathered around a porch light while he and his friends exchanged absorbing stories. The organization took its name from that image and developed into a nonprofit devoted to personal narrative as a form of performance and connection. Its earliest activities centered on themed live events. Rather than presenting scripted theater or conventional readings, The Moth invited people to tell their own stories in front of an audience. The format placed literary and cultural figures alongside people without professional performance backgrounds, creating a deliberate mixture of public personalities and ordinary community members. Stories have addressed subjects such as love, belief, uncertainty, failure, family, identity, and change. The emphasis is on first-person experience, preparation, and direct communication rather than elaborate scenery or theatrical effects. The live program later developed into several interconnected formats. The Mainstage became the organization's curated flagship presentation, featuring themed lineups that could include recognized artists, public figures, experienced StorySLAM performers, and participants selected through submissions. StorySLAM introduced a more open and competitive structure modeled in part on poetry slams. Participants enter a pool, selected speakers tell an approximately five-minute story without notes, and audience members serve as judges. After a sequence of local events, winners can qualify for a GrandSLAM held in a larger venue. This structure made The Moth both a professional cultural presentation and a route through which first-time storytellers could reach larger audiences. During its expansion, The Moth established recurring events in numerous United States cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Louisville, Ann Arbor, Pittsburgh, Miami, Cambridge, and others. Its Mainstage and related programs have also reached international audiences, with events cited in London, Toronto, Nairobi, and Melbourne. The organization has described a broad annual event schedule numbering more than 600 performances and activities, although exact activity levels may change over time. The Moth expanded its mission through community and education work. The Community Program, operating since 1999, has supported storytelling among groups whose experiences may receive limited exposure in mainstream media. Workshops help participants shape personal material, develop narrative structure, and speak to audiences with greater confidence. The Education Program applies similar methods in schools and higher education, linking storytelling to language, rhetoric, listening, and relationships between students and teachers. In 2012, the High School Slam program brought the competitive storytelling format into New York City public schools and created an All-City event connecting participants across boroughs. The Global Community Program broadened the organization's outreach by supporting first-person narratives from communities in the Global South. MothWorks adapted the method for companies and institutions through private workshops and custom events. Broadcasting became a major part of The Moth's public identity. The organization has distributed a weekly podcast featuring edited stories from its events. In August 2009, it launched The Moth Radio Hour, produced by Jay Allison and distributed through the Public Radio Exchange. The program won a Peabody Award in 2010 and brought the live format to public-radio listeners. In February 2023, The Moth added Grown, a podcast about experiences from adolescence through young adulthood, hosted by Aleeza Kazmi and Fonzo Lacayo. Publishing extended the archive into books and physical products. The Moth: 50 True Stories appeared in 2013, followed by All These Wonders in 2017 and Occasional Magic in 2019. How to Tell a Story, an instructional volume published in 2022, presented the organization's approach as a practical guide. That year The Moth also released A Game of Storytelling, an interactive card deck. Its fundraising and awards activities include the Moth Ball and the Moth Award, which has recognized storytellers and cultural figures including Hasan Minhaj, David Byrne, Regina King, Kemp Powers, Padma Lakshmi, Roxane Gay, Roz Chast, Zadie Smith, Carrie Brownstein, Salman Rushdie, Anna Deavere Smith, Martin Scorsese, and others. The organization has generally been associated with true personal storytelling, although a controversy arose over a Malcolm Gladwell story broadcast through The Moth's public-radio programming. Media critic Jack Shafer objected that the story about Gladwell's work at The Washington Post was fictionalized. Gladwell replied that it was intended as a tall tale and that The Moth's programming has occasionally included such material. The episode illustrates the editorial boundary The Moth navigates between factual memoir, performance, exaggeration, and literary storytelling.
- 2023
Grown podcast launches
[1]The Moth expands its audio portfolio with a podcast focused on the passage from adolescence into young adulthood.
- 2022
How to Tell a Story and A Game of Storytelling are released
[1]The Moth publishes an instructional storytelling book and launches an interactive card deck.
- 2019
Occasional Magic is published
[1]The Moth publishes a third collection centered on stories of defying the seemingly impossible.
- 2017
All These Wonders is published
[1]The organization releases a collection focused on stories about confronting the unknown.
- 2013
The Moth publishes its first book
[1]The Moth: 50 True Stories is published and later reaches number 22 on The New York Times Paperback Nonfiction Best-Seller List.
- 2012
High School Slam launches
[1]The Moth introduces StorySLAM-style programming in New York City public high schools.
- 2010
The Moth Radio Hour receives a Peabody Award
[1]The radio program is honored with a Peabody Award.
- 2009
The Moth Radio Hour launches
[1]The Moth enters national public radio with a program produced by Jay Allison and distributed by PRX.
- 1999
Community Program begins
[1]The organization begins structured community outreach aimed at amplifying stories from people and groups often underrepresented in mainstream media.
- 1997
The Moth is founded in New York City
[1]George Dawes Green establishes The Moth to recreate an intimate, communal atmosphere for live personal storytelling.
Products and positioning
A nonprofit storytelling platform that turns personal experience into live cultural programming, public-media content, educational practice, and community engagement.
Live performance
The Moth Mainstage
The Moth Mainstage is the organization's curated flagship live event. Each presentation is organized around a broad theme and combines storytellers with different levels of public experience, from recognized cultural figures to people selected through submissions or earlier Moth events. The format emphasizes personal, unscripted performance and direct audience connection. Mainstages have been presented in major United States cities and selected international markets.
Live storytelling competition
The Moth StorySLAM
StorySLAM is an open-mic storytelling competition built around a shared theme. Participants enter a pool, selected speakers tell true personal stories without notes, and audience members score the performances. The format gives first-time storytellers a structured way to perform and provides a pathway to larger Moth events. StorySLAM programs operate in numerous United States cities.
Live storytelling competition
The Moth GrandSLAM
The GrandSLAM is a larger-scale competition featuring winners from a city's preceding StorySLAM events. It uses the same general storytelling and judging principles as the local contests but is staged for a larger audience and venue. The format creates a recurring local championship structure within The Moth's broader performance network.
Podcast
The Moth Podcast
The Moth Podcast distributes edited audio stories drawn from the organization's live events. It provides free access to performances that might otherwise be limited to ticketed venues and has helped make The Moth's storytelling style recognizable to listeners around the world.
Public radio program · 2009
The Moth Radio Hour
The Moth Radio Hour is a nationally distributed public-radio program produced by Jay Allison and launched in 2009. It adapts stories from The Moth's live events for broadcast audiences. The program won a Peabody Award in 2010 and became one of the organization's most important distribution channels.
Podcast · 2023
Grown
Grown is a podcast introduced by The Moth in 2023. It focuses on stories about the period from the teenage years through young adulthood and is hosted by Aleeza Kazmi and Fonzo Lacayo.
Book · 2013
The Moth: 50 True Stories
Published in 2013, this collection brought together stories associated with The Moth's performance history. It introduced the organization's narrative approach to book readers and reached number 22 on The New York Times Paperback Nonfiction Best-Seller List.
Book · 2017
All These Wonders
Released in 2017, All These Wonders is a collection of first-person stories about confronting the unknown. It continued The Moth's practice of presenting varied voices in a literary anthology format.
Book · 2019
Occasional Magic
Occasional Magic, published in 2019, gathers stories about experiences that challenge ordinary expectations and about people who appear to defy the impossible. It is the organization's third major story collection.
Instructional book · 2022
How to Tell a Story
Published in 2022, How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth translates the organization's performance practices into guidance for shaping, rehearsing, and delivering memorable personal narratives. It reached number 6 on The New York Times Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Best-Sellers list.
Interactive card deck · 2022
A Game of Storytelling
A Game of Storytelling is an interactive card deck released in September 2022. It applies The Moth's prompt-based approach to personal narrative in a participatory format and debuted at number 1 on Amazon's top-selling card-game list.
Controversies
Dispute over the broadcast of a fictionalized Malcolm Gladwell story
Media critic Jack Shafer questioned the inclusion of a Malcolm Gladwell story about his work at The Washington Post, characterizing it as fictionalized. Gladwell responded that the piece was intended as a tall tale and that The Moth has sometimes included stories that are not strictly factual. The episode raised questions about the boundary between true personal narrative, literary performance, and deliberate invention.
Marketing campaigns
- 2012High School Slam
New York City, United States
An education initiative brought the StorySLAM format to public high schools and created opportunities for students to tell personal stories in a judged live setting.
Outcome. The program expanded to schools in three New York City boroughs and included an All-City Slam.
- 1999Community Program
United States
A community storytelling initiative designed to help people from underrepresented communities develop and share first-person narratives.
Outcome. The program became a continuing part of The Moth's outreach and storytelling mission.
- Global Community Program
Global South
An outreach program intended to curate and amplify first-person narratives from communities across the Global South.
Outcome. The initiative broadened The Moth's community storytelling work beyond its principal United States network.
- MothWorks
United States · International
MothWorks adapts The Moth's storytelling practices for businesses and institutions through private workshops and custom events.
Outcome. The program created an organizational and corporate application for the brand's storytelling methods.
- Moth Ball and Moth Award
New York City, United States
The annual Moth Ball serves as a fundraising event and includes presentation of the Moth Award to notable practitioners or supporters of storytelling.
Outcome. The event has become a recurring fundraising and recognition platform for the organization.
Brand decisions
2023
Launch of Grown podcastProduct launchBackground
The Moth continued to develop podcast programming around distinct life stages and subjects.
Action taken
The organization introduced Grown, focused on stories from the teenage years through young adulthood.
Aftermath
Grown broadened the podcast portfolio with a format aimed at adolescent and young-adult experiences.
2022
Expansion into interactive storytelling productsProduct launchBackground
The Moth had extended its storytelling model through live events, audio, education, and books.
Action taken
It released How to Tell a Story and the interactive card deck A Game of Storytelling.
Aftermath
The book and card deck extended the organization's methods into instructional and participatory consumer formats.
2012
Expansion into high-school storytellingStrategyBackground
The Moth's education work identified storytelling as a way to develop communication skills and strengthen relationships within schools.
Action taken
The organization introduced the High School Slam program in New York City public schools.
Aftermath
The program expanded across three boroughs and added an All-City Slam.
2009
Launch of The Moth Radio HourProduct launchBackground
The Moth had developed a substantial live-event model and sought to reach audiences beyond its physical venues.
Action taken
The organization launched a national public-radio program produced by Jay Allison and distributed through PRX.
Aftermath
The program won a Peabody Award in 2010 and became a major channel for distributing Moth stories.
Recent events
- 2023
The Moth launches Grown[1]
Product launch
The organization expanded its podcast portfolio with Grown, focused on stories about the transition from the teenage years to young adulthood.
- 2013
The Moth publishes its first story collection[1]
Product launch
The Moth: 50 True Stories collected narratives from the organization's performance history and reached number 22 on The New York Times Paperback Nonfiction Best-Seller List.
- 2012
The Moth introduces its High School Slam program[1]
Product launch
The organization expanded its educational work by bringing StorySLAM-style events to New York City public high schools.
- 2010
The Moth Radio Hour wins a Peabody Award[1]
Other
The radio program received a Peabody Award for its contribution to broadcasting and storytelling.
- 2009
The Moth launches a national public-radio program[1]
Product launch
The Moth Radio Hour began national distribution through public radio, extending the organization's live-storytelling format to a broad broadcast audience.
Sources2 sources
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