Skip to content

The secret to great storytelling: Make the big moments incredibly small. Or find your tiny moments and tell just them.

Last night I was fortunate enough to win The Moth’s GrandSLAM in Somerville, MA. I told the story of my decision to confess to a crime I did not commit after a $7,000 deposit went missing from the McDonald’s that I was managing in Bourne, MA, and a police officer made the decision that I…

Read More

Roman creativity when it came to punishing those who murdered their fathers astounds me.

If found guilty of parricide (killing your father) in ancient Rome, you’d be sewn into a leather sack with a viper, a dog, a monkey, and a rooster then flung into a body of water to drown.  This form of punishment was known as poena cullei (from the Latin ‘punishment of the sack’). Poena cullei was…

Read More

If you’re using The Bible to support your opposition to same sex marriage and transgender restroom choice, you’re simply obsessed with penises and vaginas.

It’s not often that you can cheer on corporations for all the good they do, but on Monday, under increasing pressure from major corporations like Unilever, Disney, Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and the NFL, Gov. Nathan Deal announced he will veto a bill that critics say would have curtailed the rights of Georgia’s LGBT community. House…

Read More

This is what childhood is supposed to look like

My wife was in a doctor’s appointment.  Charlie asked the friend who was taking care of him  if he could climb up the enormous dirt pile at the adjacent construction site. She said yes. Wisely.

Read More

My Jewish daughter understands Easter – and religion – perfectly.

Easter morning. My Jewish children scamper around the house, searching for Easter eggs. Clara, my seven year-old says: “I think Easter is about thinking sweet thoughts. Soft things. That’s why we get candy. To make us think of sweet things.” Clara has also told me that she plans to marry someone who isn’t Jewish so…

Read More

Boy vs. Girl: Episode 20A and 20B – Twenty Questions

In this week’s episode of Boy vs. Girl, Rachel and I play 20 questions in a special two part episode celebrating our 20th episode. We ask each other about spirit animals and Super Bowls and coed naked podcasting.  You can listen here or – better yet – subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store or…

Read More

My children are stars in an Instagram ad. Apparently the entire world has seen it.

A large number of our friends – at least those with Instagram accounts – began sending us messages yesterday after having seen Clara and Charlie in a TurboTax ad.  Rest assured that this was no surprise to us. Months ago an advertising agency contacted us after seeing a photo of the kids on my blog.…

Read More

The Moth brought me and my elementary school principal back together

Earlier this month, I told a story at a Moth GrandSLAM in Brooklyn about a time in my life when I had to face down the principal as a third grader. After stealing a classmate’s stamp catalog, I was forced to admit to the theft or risk allowing my entire class to be punished for…

Read More

The best worst magic show ever

Last week I told a story for The Moth at the beautiful Brooklyn Academy of Music about the armed robbery that I survived back in 1993. The story opened with an anecdote about a magic show that had taken place just a few days prior to telling the story. I managed to record a little…

Read More