The Moth Has Announced Their 2020 Season Lineup

Global storytelling nonprofit The Moth today announced its jam-packed live show lineup for 2020. Over the next 12 months, the team behind the award-winning Moth Radio Hour-airing on more than 500 public radio stations nationwide-and The Moth Podcast-downloaded over 73 million times a year- will present close to 600 shows from stages around the world, featuring approximately 5,500 true, personal stories told live, without notes. Also in 2020: The Moth will debut a Pop-Up Porch storytelling pitch experience this summer --the porch, a nod to the organization's roots, will travel from North Dakota to Texas with several stops along the way.

The Moth's 2020 schedule highlights include:

469 StorySLAMs, taking place in 30 cities in the U.S. and abroad, including an inaugural SLAM in Las Vegas; Spanish language SLAMs in Los Angeles, CA, Miami, FL and Houston, TX; and a special SLAM in Harlem, NY that follows up on The Moth's story pitch experience presented at Harlem Week this past August;

50 GrandSLAMs, particularly the inaugural GrandSLAM in Birmingham, AL;

45 Mainstages, including returns to cities such as Charleston, WV and Montgomery, AL (supported by EFA grants); and Jackson, MS (supported by an NEA grants); and premieres in cities such as Troy, NY; Maplewood, NJ; Atlanta, GA; Logan, UT; and Memphis, TN;

40 Community Workshops, with community partner organizations such as Innocence Network, New Women New Yorkers, The Muslim Jewish Solidarity Community, Upstream Arts, and more;

6 stops for the inaugural Moth Pop-Up Porch storytelling pitch experience -a specially-built tiny house/audio recording space that will travel to Fargo, ND; Sioux Falls, SD; Lincoln, NE; Wichita, KS; Oklahoma City, OK, and Dallas, TX to connect with, collect and amplify a range of voices from the nation's heartland;

5 Story Showcases, including a special show featuring the retelling and recording of several favorite SLAM stories for potential airing on The Moth Radio Hour; two Community Showcases with past Community program participants; two Education Showcases featuring alumni; as well as two High School GrandSLAMs with stories from students currently participating in the organization's NYC program;

2 Global Community Mainstages, both presented in partnership with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and a powerful storytelling workshop in February focusing on vaccines;

1 Moth Ball, the organization's annual fundraising gala, which will take place on June 2, 2020

"Now, more than ever, it's important to find ways to foster empathy, and build understanding. We hope that our efforts to use storytelling to amplify more voices and spotlight a range of perspectives will do just that. Because, as we know, it's the courage and willingness to communicate - to share our individual stories-- that makes us human," Sarah Haberman, Executive Director, The Moth.

About The Moth

The Moth is an acclaimed nonprofit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Since launching in 1997, The Moth has presented over 40,000 stories, told live and without notes to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. The Moth conducts seven ongoing programs: The Moth Mainstage, which tours internationally, has featured stories by Malcolm Gladwell; Darryl "DMC" McDaniels; John Turturro; Molly Ringwald; Boots Riley; Krista Tippett; Rosanne Cash; Danyel Smith; and Tig Notaro; as well as an astronaut, a pickpocket, a hotdog eating champion and hundreds more; The Moth StorySLAM program, which conducts open mic storytelling competitions in 30 cities: 27 in the US, plus Sydney and Melbourne, AU and London, UK; The Moth Community Program, which offers storytelling workshops and performance opportunities to adults who are too often overlooked by the mainstream media; The Moth Education Program, which brings the thrill of personal storytelling to high schools and colleges in New York, and to educators around the world; The Moth Global Community Program, which develops and elevates true, personal stories from extraordinary individuals in the Global South; The Moth Podcast, which is downloaded over than 73 million times a year; MothWorks, which uses the essential elements of Moth storytelling at work and other unexpected places; and the Peabody Award-winning The Moth Radio Hour which airs weekly on more than 500 public radio stations nationwide. To date, The Moth has published three critically-acclaimed books: The New York Times Best Seller, The Moth: 50 True Stories (Hachette Books, September 2013), All These Wonders: True Stories About Facing the Unknown (Crown Archetype, March 2017)- described as "wonderful" by NYT's Michiko Kakutani-and Occasional Magic: True Stories of Defying the Impossible (Crown Archetype, March 2019) which debuted at #12 on The New York Times Best Seller List. www.themoth.org.

Photo Credit: Ben Godkin