Moth stories have the power to bring you into a world that is often not your own and leave you wishing that you could live in that world

Just a little bit longer since 1997 the moth has shared more than 50,000 stories with audiences around the world through shows,

workshops and on the moth podcast and the moth radio hour once the curtains have closed the rooms emptied and the voice is

Quieted it's the stories still ringing in our ears that whisper over and over we are all of us more alike than we are different

Help us write the next 25 years of the moth story by making your year-end gift today

Text moth22 no spaces to 41444 to make your gift and help provide the space, tools and resources needed for more people to embrace the art and craft of

Personal storytelling in their own lives. Thank you.

From PRX this is the moth radio hour. I'm Meg Bulls. The moth was born out of an idea that everyone has a story.

In the early days of the moth are founder like to complain that people talked in sound bites.

People didn't actually listen to each other anymore because they were too busy thinking about what they were going to say next.

So he decided to organize an evening where people could take the floor and share a story from their lives with a captive audience.

Over the years and with the help of many many people volunteers and staff alike. The evenings have grown and taken on many different shapes.

We have an open mic story slam series where you can put your name in a hat for a chance to tell a story.

Curated main stage events where storytellers are invited to work with a moth director to craft a longer story.

We also have programs and communities and in high schools and our live events are now produced all around the world.

One of the ways we find storytellers is through our pitch line. I'll tell you more about that later in the hour

But basically people call in and leave a two minute pitch of a story they'd like us to consider.

That's what our next storyteller Ali Abdullah Tef did. We heard his pitch and invited him to share his story on our main stage in New York.

Here's Ali Abdullah Tef.

Alright so it's February 1st 2015 and I'm on the green line on the tea in Boston heading home.

After a Sunday brunch and I was doing what anyone else on the tea would do which is just daydream and try not to make eye contact.

I was just off in my own little world and then suddenly I noticed a screw that pops loose and falls on the seat in front of me.

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