The Moth is a nonprofit group based in New York City, dedicated to the craft of storytelling.^[1] Founded in 1997, the organization presents a wide range of theme-based storytelling events across the United States and abroad, often featuring prominent literary and cultural personalities^[1] alongside everyday people like veterans, astronauts, school teachers, and parents. The Moth offers a weekly podcast and in 2009 launched a national public radio show, The Moth Radio Hour, which won a 2010 Peabody Award.^[2][3] The Moth has published four books, including The Moth: 50 True Stories (2013), which reached #22 on The New York Times Paperback Nonfiction Best-Seller List;^[4] All These Wonders: True Stories about Facing the Unknown (2017); Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying the Impossible (2019); and How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth (2022). In September 2022, The Moth published an interactive card deck , A Game of Storytelling, which debuted at #1 on Amazon's top-selling card game list.

The Moth was founded in 1997 by poet and novelist George Dawes Green, who wanted to recreate the feeling of sultry summer evenings in his native Georgia, when moths were attracted to the light on the porch where he and his friends would gather to spin spellbinding tales.^[1][5] Green and his original group of storytellers called themselves "The Moths", and Green took the name with him to New York City.^[1] The non-profit organization now runs over 600 different storytelling events a year in more than 27 US cities (including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Detroit) and two cities outside the US (London and Melbourne) offering the unique perspectives of both average, everyday people, and literary or cultural personalities.^[6]

The Moth's live shows fall into several tiers of production, but each is dedicated to the art of unscripted, first-person storytelling.^[1][7] Every show has stories based on open-ended themes (Such as "Love Hurts," Holding on and Letting go," "Hot Mess," or "Conviction").

In addition to live performances, The Moth conducts a variety of community, education, and corporate workshops that teach the art and craft of storytelling in various regions and communities.^[11][12][13]

In August 2009, the organization launched a national public radio show, The Moth Radio Hour, produced by Jay Allison and distributed by Public Radio Exchange.^[2][7] In 2010 The Moth Radio Hour won a Peabody Award.^[2][3][7] Now airing on 572 public radio stations,The Moth Radio Hour,^[2] garners more than 1,000,000 listeners each week.^{[citation needed]}

The Moth offers a weekly podcast, which provides free audio of curated stories from live Moth events. The podcast is downloaded over 100 million times each year.^[7]

In February of 2023, The Moth expanded its offering to include Grown, a podcast focusing on stories that cover storytellers' experiences from the teenage years to young adulthood.^[14] Grown is hosted by Aleeza Kazmi and Fonzo Lacayo.

On September 3, 2013 Hyperion Books published The Moth: 50 True Stories, a collection of stories from the group's performance history. In December 2013 it reached #22 on The New York Times Paperback Nonfiction Best-Seller List.^[4] A second book, All These Wonders: True Stories about Facing the Unknown, was released by Crown in March 2017.^[15] Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times called it "wonderful".^[16] A third book, Occasional Magic: True Stories about Defying the Impossible, was released by Crown in March 2019, and was praised by Kirkus Reviews for its "captivating, artfully wrought tales."^[17] In 2022, The Moth released its fourth book, How to Tell a Story: The Essential Guide to Memorable Storytelling from The Moth, which debuted at #6 on The New York Times Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous Best-Sellers list, No. 6 on IndieBound's Hardcover Nonfiction Best Sellers list and # 12 on Publishers Weekly Best Sellers List.^{[citation needed]} In September 2022, The Moth published an interactive card deck called A Game of Storytelling, which debuted at #1 on Amazon's top selling card game list.^{[citation needed]}

The organization's annual fundraising event is called the Moth Ball. William McGowan of The Wall Street Journal called the ball the "hottest and hippest literary ticket" in 1999,^[18] and more recently Jen Carlson of Gothamist called it "NYC's Best Gala".^[19] At this event they present the Moth Award, celebrating the art of the raconteur. Past awards have gone to Hasan Minhaj, David Byrne, Regina King, Kemp Powers, Padma Lakshmi, Roxane Gay, Roz Chast, Zadie Smith, Carrie Brownstein, Garrison Keillor,^[20] Salman Rushdie,^[21] Anna Deavere Smith,^[22] Calvin Trillin,^[23] Spalding Gray (posthumously),^[24] Martin Scorsese,^[25] Albert Maysles^[26] and more.

Media critic Jack Shafer criticized best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell for telling a fictionalized story about his work at The Washington Post that was picked up by the Moth public radio show. Gladwell responded by pointing out that the Moth includes both true stories and the occasional tall tale. He said his piece clearly fell into the latter category.^[27]

As of 2018, over 50,000 stories have been told at The Moth.^[28] Storytellers include: