Welcome to the moth podcast. I'm Suzanne Rust, curator at the moth and your host for this episode.

If you're a long time moth listener, you've probably come across the work of Ray Christian.

He's told stories on our stages and the moth radio hour.

He hosts our Asheville, North Carolina Story Slam,

and has been a beloved member of the Moth family for a long time.

I'm thrilled to let you know that Ray has a podcast.

It's called What's Ray Saying, where he takes you into a world of southern-baked personal narratives inter-roven with black American

history and stories from his remarkable life, from his time serving as a paratrooper in the

army,

to wrangling goats, to becoming a Fulbright scholar.

And full disclosure, Ray holds a special place in my heart.

When we were helping produce his show, I discovered that as Ray was finding his own voice in the world,

he was inspired by my father, sportscaster Art Russ Jr.,

and used to listen to him on the radio many years ago.

I love that my father's legacy lives on

through someone like Ray.

We'll be sharing one of our favorite episodes,

Black Medicine,

where Ray reflects on his first visit to the doctor, the history of the Tuskegee study, and the reason why so many African Americans don't trust the medical system.

And if you like this episode, What's Ray saying is available wherever you get your

podcasts and we'll have links in our episode description. We really hope you'll

check it out. Without further ado, let's listen to what Ray says.

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