The Moth Radio Hour Fall 2011 Season is HERE!
Produced by The Moth, Jay Allison and Atlantic Public Media. Presented by PRX
More than 250 public radio stations have aired The Moth Radio Hour to the delight of listeners, and now, more episodes are coming.
The Fall 2011 Season is now ready for air; download the shows now.
Some highlights of this fall's stories: An author cares for his aging mother, a hunting trip alters everything, a boy is forced to do unspeakable things in the name of war, and a speechwriter gets a gig writing for Al Gore.
Note: The Moth Radio Hour contains adult themes and adult language. The shows are bleeped, but stations should preview each program before air and view the detailed content advisory for each episode.
Ishmael Beah storytelling in Moth 503
Seasons & Episodes
Fall 2011 Season
The Fall 2011 Season is LIVE.
Moth Radio Hour 501For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
A hair stylist recalls accompanying his father on hunting expeditions in Alabama, a young journalist carefully sets the stage to make her first time memorable, and best-selling novelist Walter Mosley cares for his ailing mother. Hosted by noted comic and storyteller Mike Birbiglia and producer Jay Allison.
Moth Radio Hour 502For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
A hiker is pinned underneath a refrigerator-sized boulder deep in the wilderness, a speechwriter describes his most challenging assignment ("Make Al Gore funny"), and a young art student battles her demons in the pursuit of love. Hosted by the founder of The Moth, George Dawes Green.
Moth Radio Hour 503For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
A high school quarterback leaves Montana as a promising son and returns years later to reveal a shocking secret; a boy from Sierra Leone describes his transformation from innocent child to cold-hearted soldier; a teenage girl discovers how to control her errant parrot; and a construction worker discovers the up-side of his girlfriend’s one-year prison sentence. Hosted by The Moth's Senior Producer, Jenifer Hixson.
Moth Radio Hour 504For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
A young woman is told to keep her heritage a secret...by her mother; a reckless partier gets shipwrecked and has to sober up enough to save the day; and an author contends with her unsupportive mother on her deathbed. Hosted by The Moth’s Producing Director, Sarah Austin Jenness.
Moth Radio Hour 505For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
Christian McBride, a jazz bassist, is put to the test by his idol, Freddie Hubbard; a down and out comic considers ending it all until the universe sends him an unlikely sign; and New York writer Adam Gopnik details his daughter’s cosmopolitan imaginary friend. Hosted by The Moth’s Artistic Director, Catherine Burns.
Spring 2011 Season
Spring 2011 Season available for broadcast until Sept. 30, 2011.
Moth Radio Hour 401For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
A journalist goes to Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban and witnesses the musical underground just starting to reemerge; a comedian talks seriously about how the rituals of Judaism helped her through some of her darkest hours; and The Reverend Al Sharpton has to put the doctrine of 'Forgive Thine Enemy' to the test. Hosted by Mike Daisey and Jay Allison.
Steve Burns
For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
The star of television's long-running children's show, Blue's Clues, details his complicated relationship with fame; a 13-year-old girl from Somalia immigrates to the US and thrives, but struggles to keep her troubled sister in the country; on the eve of her high school reunion, a woman learns that her husband, "thinks he might be gay." Hosted by Tom Shillue.
Moth Radio Hour 403For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Phil Caputo shares how a bullet wound helped him heal his soul; a little girl learns what love is about after surviving a terrible car accident; a young man and and his father succumb to guilt at the animal shelter; and a burnt-out corporate executive tries to shake her A-type personality at art school. Hosted by Jenifer Hixson, Senior Producer at The Moth.
Moth Radio Hour 404For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
Double-amputee Aimee Mullins chronicles her adventures with prosthetic legs as an athlete, actress and artist; the mother of a bullied teen tells the story of his suicide; ex-NYC Mayor Ed Koch stands up to his anti-semitic platoon leader while in training for WWII; and three teenagers from Grace King High School in New Orleans share their stories on the theme, Prejudice and Power. Hosted by Sarah Austin Jenness, Producing Director at The Moth.
Moth Radio Hour 405For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
The Moth's founder, George Dawes Green, details the fireworks when his mother learns that her family plantation is slated to be turned into a theme park; the genesis story of a true bohemian, including two children, one spectacularly eccentric mother and Savannah, Georgia; and a guard at Sing Sing is intrigued by a prisoner's unusual and mysterious tattoo. Hosted by Catherine Burns, Artistic Director of The Moth.
Fall 2010 Season
PLEASE NOTE: The air window for the Fall 2010 Season is Oct. 1, 2010-April 30, 2011. Contact Israel Smith if your station would like to air the Fall 2010 Season.
Mike Birbiglia, Host of Hour 301
and Storyteller in Hour 303
For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
A young woman meets her brother for the first time at their father's funeral, a professional blackjack player faces down his gambling demons, and Colin Quinn (Weekend Update, SNL) is hired to do comedy for Robert DeNiro's birthday party...and bombs. Hosted by comic and author Mike Birbiglia (Sleepwalk with Me).
Moth Radio Hour 302For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
An evangelist searches for souls — and customers — in the aisles of a Target store, an adolescent money-making scheme is hatched in 1970s Spanish Harlem, filmmaker Albert Maysles (Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens) pays tribute to his father, and an unforgettable therapy session with a social worker named Milton. Hosted by The Moth's Senior Producer, Jenifer Hixson.
Moth Radio Hour 303For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
Comedian Mike Birbiglia goes through a breakup on a remote island, two women meet by chance on a dark street and share secrets, a father admits he was not quite ready for a second child, and a live calf shows up for Thanksgiving dinner. Hosted by Catherine Burns, Artistic Director of The Moth.
Moth Radio Hour 304For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
A socialite-turned social activist inherits her mother's hunting trophy collection, a hospital orderly with an attitude problem is put to the test, and Tony Hendra takes us on the set of the groundbreaking hilarious 1984 mockumentary "This Is Spinal Tap." Hosted by Moth founder George Dawes Green.
Moth Radio Hour 305For stations: program & promos | Listen now:
Jonathan Ames ("Bored to Death") details an epic fencing match, a wallflower teaches herself the slide and ends up in the spotlight, an addict risks a devastating loss while visiting a crack house, a flight attendant contends with a passenger on his final flight, and a good Samaritan regrets a seemingly good deed. Hosted by Sarah Austin Jenness, Producing Director of The Moth.
The 100 and 200 seasons are no longer available.
About The Moth
Catherine Burns is The Moth's
Artistic Director and hosts
several Radio Hours
Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating.
Originally formed by the writer George Dawes Green as an intimate gathering of friends on a porch in Georgia (where moths would flutter in through a hole in the screen), and then recreated in a New York City living room, The Moth quickly grew to produce immensely popular events at theaters and clubs around New York City and later around the country.
Today, The Moth is a nonprofit organization with ongoing programs, all of which contribute their best stories to The Moth Radio Hour: The Moth Mainstage where celebrities appear alongside unique voices from all walks of life; The Moth's StorySLAM competitions, which are open to all and rapidly expanding to cities across the country; and The Moth's community outreach program, MothShop, which brings workshops to people whose stories would otherwise go unheard.
Jenifer Hixson, Senior Producer at
The Moth and Sarah Austin Jenness,
Producing Director at The Moth
Two additional projects launched in 2010: The Moth StoryLine invites people to pitch story ideas online or through a toll-free hotline; and the MothUP program helps groups around the country form their own Moth storytelling groups in their homes and submit the recorded stories from these evenings to The Moth. To learn more about The Moth, visit TheMoth.org.
Airing The Moth Radio Hour
Ernesto Quinonez gives us a 13-year-old's
perspective on surviving in Harlem, Hour 302
Broadcast Rights
The programs will be available on PRX.org (on this page) and ContentDepot. Carriage fees apply for programs downloaded from ContentDepot and PRX.org (as described below).
Broadcast rights for the Spring 2011 Season opened on April 29, 2011, and stations may air each program an unlimited number of times prior to September 30, 2011.
Broadcast rights for the Fall 2011 Season open on September 30, 2011, and stations may air each program an unlimited number of times prior to May 31, 2012. Promos will be provided by PRX.
Excerpting is permitted for promotional purposes only, with approval, on a case-by-case basis. To request permission, or for any additional broadcasts or uses of The Moth Radio Hour, individual stories, or any Moth material, stations should contact Israel Smith at 612-377-3256 or by email.
Clock
Each of the programs is 59 minutes long (unless otherwise noted), is newscast compatible, and includes two 1-minute floating ID breaks.
Scheduling
The Moth Radio Hour is something special. Consider scheduling it that way: five evenings, in a weeknight strip, Saturday or Sunday after Prairie Home for five weeks, or over five Fridays in place of Fresh Air. Audio promos are available to support your scheduling decision. And, keep The Moth in mind for fresh fundraising ideas!
Fundraising with The Moth Radio Hour
When Vermont Public Radio created a Saturday fundraising marathon from the Moth pilots and raised almost $25,000, we knew there was broader fundraising potential in the Radio Hour.
The Moth Radio Hour Fundraising Series was created to help all stations leverage the revenue potential of The Moth, and includes five one-hour pledge programs with lots of room for local pitching. Edited by VPR's ace pledge producer Franny Bastian from material in the Spring 2011 Season, these fundraising hours can not only offset station carriage fees, but also create significant margin.
Suggested fundraising scripts are available with the series on PRX.org. Stations can air each hour individually, stack two hours on a weekend, strip all five hours across the week, or stack all five hours on a weekend to make a Moth marathon.
The Moth Radio Hour Fundraising special is available now on PRX.org.
Carriage Confirmation
Please confirm carriage of The Moth Radio Hour by contacting Israel Smith at 612-377-3256 or via email.
Carriage Fees
These carriage fees, combined with current support from the MacArthur Foundation and CPB, will ensure a stable production budget for the creative, high-impact radio stories from The Moth.
Getting the Moth from PRX:
Stations with paid PRX accounts will be able to download The Moth Radio Hour using their PRX points. Please contact John Barth at john (at) prx.org for PRX station membership information. Stations taking The Moth Radio Hour from PRX are required to complete carriage information at the time of download.
Getting the Moth from ContentDepot:
For any station obtaining The Moth Radio Hour from the ContentDepot, the following annual fees apply (billed twice per year for stations taking the Fall 2011 AND Spring 2012 programs). If you do not sign up for the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 Seasons as a package, and only want Spring 2012, we will bill you 50% of the fees listed below. Please direct questions to Israel Smith at 612-377-3256 or by email.
Fall 2011/Spring 2012 Moth Radio Hour Pricing
(for ten episodes downloaded from ContentDepot):
Station FY 2010 NFFS and cost
Above $5 mil -- $2,500
$2.5 - 5 mil -- $1,800
$1 - 2.5 mil -- $1,200
$600,000 - 1 mil -- $750
$300,000-600,000 -- $500
Under $300,000 -- $250
Moth Radio Hour Fall 2011 Carriage
PLEASE NOTE: This list is updated frequently, but stations can change their schedules without notice. For immediate information about when your local station is carrying The Moth Radio Hour, please contact the station.
Because there are five episodes and stations may play them on different dates/times, we've only listed the first occurrence. To find out when the rest of the series will be playing, contact your station.
And, some stations have more than one signal covering multiple regions as indicated in the right-hand column. Your local will have details on that, too.
