He is a little person. He is an exotic dancer. He has a foot fetish. His name is Corn Pop.

October 23, 2012 9:10 PM

Some of the excellent audio stories/interviews from the first season of Strangers, the latest project from Lea Thau, creator of The Moth Podcast (mp3s): The Teacher who Couldn't Read (part 1 and part 2); Big Jim and Smokey Joe (NSFW - A Hollywood waitress, a former bomber pilot, and a retired railroad engineer from the Midwest take the trip of a lifetime); And Justice for All (A booker for court TV shares highs and lows from the merry-go-round of daytime justice)

Submit your own stories for possible broadcast through the Story Central website. (The Moth previously)

posted by I, Credulous (7 comments total)

And support her new season as well (since one can't do that in an FPP).
posted by mykescipark at 10:46 PM on October 23, 2012

This looks wonderful. I dig on the Moth and I'm sure I'll dig on this.
posted by item at 7:30 AM on October 24, 2012

I had heard some plugs for this a while back, but forgot all about it. Thanks for the reminder!
posted by El Sabor Asiatico at 9:02 AM on October 24, 2012

I intend to listen, and have downloaded all the mp3's. Until then, I'll be wondering why those stories were not part of The Moth.
posted by surplus at 4:30 PM on October 24, 2012

surplus, there are more MP3s under the first link--all the shows are archived.

Also, once you listen you'll realize why these are not part of the Moth. There's a video in the link mykescipark posted where she explains her process as sitting with storytellers interviewing them for hours and then cutting the audio into a cohesive story the length of the program.

Though I thought the teacher one was great, I would start with either of the other ones. Shorter, funnier... all are a little heartbreaking and full of insight.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 5:26 AM on October 25, 2012

Until then, I'll be wondering why those stories were not part of The Moth.

Part of it is a matter of context. The Moth is a live event performed in front of an audience in a slam-style setting. Strangers is a more in-depth and thematically focused exploration of the stories featured. Where The Moth is simply a one-way monologue, Strangers is intended as a dialogue - not just between Lea and her subjects, but also between Lea and the audience...hence her much longer, more conversational intros and outros. Strangers may be similar to The Moth in terms of its basic commitment to personal storytelling, but it's quite a different animal in practice. Also, Lea's approach to selecting stories for Strangers is very different than that for The Moth.

(Related to which, there was recently a Moth/Strangers crossover episode which may give you that chocolate/peanut butter mix you crave.)
posted by mykescipark at 11:58 AM on October 25, 2012

Hi guys, Lea here, the producer of the "Strangers" podcast. I just want to say thanks for discovering and saying nice things about the show. It makes me very happy that you're enjoying it.
posted by Lea Thau at 2:15 PM on October 29, 2012