For the Love of Story-Telling: A Dish Best Served Cold

Everybody knows how much I love stories and telling them. My whole life is about stories. So when I discovered The Moth Radio Program on WGBH I was thrilled. I was driving back from somewhere one afternoon with the radio on – I almost always have WGBH on – and someone was telling a story. I didn't know what program it was but I can't stop listening when someone tells a story. I missed most of that one but then the next one started and I was captivated.

The story-teller was a young man named Tristan Jimerson. He was an art student in Minneapolis and he told a sad tale of one thing going wrong after another climaxing when he discovered that his identity had been stolen by a woman working at a pizza shop when he ordered a pizza. Devastated by his savings being wiped out he embarked on an amateur sleuthing operation that got funnier and funnier the more he talked. I was driving along, laughing out loud as his story unfolded. It was a great story and he had a great story-telling style. Ever since I have been hooked on The Moth.

Their web site has an archive of the stories. The stories can be sad or funny or incredible or ridiculous. The only caveat is that they have to be true and they have to be told live. Slowly I am working through all of them. There are also a lot of them on YouTube. So, if you have the time, check out The Moth and listen to the stories. I suggest you start here with TristanJimerson's excellent tale of credit card fraud and sleuthing.

Thanks for reading.