The Joke

Support The Truth by subscribing to our ad-free feed. It’s $5, or $50 a year. You’ll get every story without interruption, but more than that, you’ll be supporting the survival of our show. Go to: thetruthpodcast.supportingcast.fm On this episode, special guest Neil Verma tries to show Jonathan what there is to love about old-time radio drama by playing him the classic 1948 drama The Thing on the Fourble Board by Wyllis Cooper.  Here’s a link to Neil Verma’s essay about The Thing on the Fourble Board. He also has two books you might like: Theater of the Mind, a study of how American radio drama from the 1930s–50s developed its own narrative grammar through voice, space, sound, and psychology to create an intimate, interior “theater” uniquely suited to the medium. Narrative Podcasting in an Age of Obsession, an examination of how contemporary narrative podcasts, from true crime to fiction to documentary hybrids, use style, structure, intimacy, and serialized attention-engineering to shape our current culture of listening and fixation. Follow us on... INSTAGRAM  BLUESKY  THREADS  REDDIT  To learn more about our show, go to our website: thetruthpodcast.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A date night takes a surprising turn when the movie previews become a little too familiar. Written by Davy Gardner, directed and sound designed by Jonathan Mitchell. Performed by Julia Schroeder and John Sartori, with Bill Rohlfing as the Movie Narrator. And as the movie actors: Nikki Thomas, India Kotis, Mary McDonnell, Louis Kornfeld, Amy Warren, Chris Cafero, Lauren Gamiel, and Max Brand Support The Truth by ⁠⁠⁠subscribing to our ad-free feed⁠⁠⁠. It’s $5, or $50 a year. You’ll get every story without interruption, but more than that, you’ll be supporting the survival of our show. Go to: ⁠⁠⁠thetruthpodcast.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠⁠ Follow us on... ⁠⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BLUESKY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠THREADS⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠REDDIT⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about our show, go to our website: ⁠⁠⁠thetruthpodcast.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When an archivist in the future finds a single surviving joke, she risks her job to uncover its meaning, discovering forbidden laughter along the way. Written by Mary McDonnell, with direction, sound design, and original music by Jonathan Mitchell. Performed by Betsy Helmer, Josh Tobin, John Trowbridge, Alexandra Dickson, Brandon Zelman, Amanda Giobbi, Mary McDonnell, Davy Gardner, Hunter Nelson, Louis Kornfeld, and Cherie McMaster. Support The Truth by ⁠⁠subscribing to our ad-free feed⁠⁠. It’s $5, or $50 a year. You’ll get every story without interruption, but more than that, you’ll be supporting the survival of our show. Go to: ⁠⁠thetruthpodcast.supportingcast.fm⁠⁠ Follow us on... ⁠⁠INSTAGRAM⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BLUESKY⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠THREADS⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠REDDIT⁠⁠ To learn more about our show, go to our website: ⁠⁠thetruthpodcast.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A mother who listens, a father who can’t, and a boy who’s simply trying to say: Here I Am. This is a musical drama about connection, silence, and the act of listening. Written by Louis Kornfeld, with direction, sound design, and original music by Jonathan Mitchell. Performed by Ann Carr as Rosie, Peter Grosz as Tom, Danielle Delgado as Phyllis, and Seth Gilman as Jason. If you believe in what we do, in stories that reward listening, you can support The Truth by ⁠subscribing to our ad-free feed⁠. It’s $5, or $50 a year. You’ll get every story without interruption, but more than that, you’ll be supporting the survival of our show. Go to: ⁠thetruthpodcast.supportingcast.fm⁠ Follow us on... ⁠INSTAGRAM ⁠⁠BLUESKY⁠⁠ THREADS ⁠⁠REDDIT⁠ To learn more about our show, go to our website: ⁠thetruthpodcast.com⁠ And as a listener of The Truth you can claim a 30% discount to Jiveworld right now — By the way, Jiveworld features our stories on their product for learners of English! Visit ⁠jw.app/thetruth⁠ to learn Spanish as it's really spoken. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A pinball obsessive is enlisted by the police to help lure a mob boss out of hiding, giving him a chance to prove that pinball isn't just a game.  Written by Hunter Nelson, with direction, sound design, and original music by Jonathan Mitchell. Performed by David Bluvband, Ben Rameaka, Samantha Nugent, Jordan Mahome, Drew Reilly, Sebastian Conelli, Josh Tobin, Bill Rohlfing, and David Deblinger. We're very excited to be making stories for you again! You can help make sure we're able to continue, by subscribing to our ad-free feed. It’s $5, or $50 a year. You’ll get every story without interruption, but more than that, you’ll be supporting the survival of our show. Go to: thetruthpodcast.supportingcast.fm Follow us on...INSTAGRAMBLUESKYTHREADSREDDIT To learn more about our show, go to our website: thetruthpodcast.com And as a listener of The Truth you can claim a 30% discount to Jiveworld right now — By the way, Jiveworld features our stories on their product for learners of English! Visit jw.app/thetruth to learn Spanish as it's really spoken. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we're presenting two of our favorite stories: Silvia's Blood was originally released in 2014, and is based on a short story by Philip K. Dick titled, "Upon the Dull Earth." Moon Graffiti was the first episode of our show, which began in 2012. It was inspired by a speech written for Richard Nixon by William Safire titled, "In Event of Moon Disaster." We’re in the middle of a fundraising campaign to bring the show back in October. We have all new merch for sale, and for a limited time, we're taking pre-orders for a vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti. To see what we have to offer, go to: https://certifiedcrucial.com/truthshop We’re now taking pre-orders through June 30. The album cost is $40, and all of the profits will go to making a new season of The Truth.  And if you don't have $40, we're also selling buttons, stickers, and a brand new t-shirt design based on our logo. So if you love our stories and want to hear more, help us make a brand new season by pre-ordering your very own vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti right now. We're also taking donations, every little bit helps. Thank you so much! Follow The Truth on...INSTAGRAMBLUESKYTHREADSREDDIT And make sure you’re subscribed to The Truth in Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen so you don’t miss us when we return! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

OUR DEADLINE FOR VINYL PRE-ORDERS HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO JUNE 30. In this episode we'll hear from Neil Verma, an Associate Professor at Northwestern University, where he teaches classes in sound and audio drama. In addition to being a fan of The Truth, he's an expert on the history of audio fiction, and on this episode he talks about what he thinks makes The Truth special and worth bringing back.  We’re in the middle of a fundraising campaign to bring the show back in October. We have all new merch for sale, and for a limited time, we're taking pre-orders for a vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti. To see what we have to offer, go to: https://certifiedcrucial.com/truthshop We’re now taking pre-orders through June 30. The album cost is $40, and all of the profits will go to making a new season of The Truth.  And if you don't have $40, we're also selling buttons, stickers, and a brand new t-shirt design based on our logo. So if you love our stories and want to hear more, help us make a brand new season by pre-ordering your very own vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti right now. We're also taking donations, every little bit helps. Thank you so much! Follow The Truth on...INSTAGRAMBLUESKYTHREADSREDDIT And make sure you’re subscribed to The Truth in Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen so you don’t miss us when we return! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

*** OUR DEADLINE FOR VINYL PRE-ORDERS HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO JUNE 30 ***In this episode we'll hear from Neil Verma, an Associate Professor at Northwestern University, where he teaches classes in sound and audio drama. In addition to being a fan of The Truth, he's an expert on the history of audio fiction, and on this episode he talks about what he thinks makes The Truth special and worth bringing back. We’re in the middle of a fundraising campaign to bring the show back in October. We have all new merch for sale, and for a limited time, we're taking pre-orders for a vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti. To see what we have to offer, go to:https://certifiedcrucial.com/truthshopWe’re now taking pre-orders through June 30. The album cost is $40, and all of the profits will go to making a new season of The Truth. And if you don't have $40, we're also selling buttons, stickers, and a brand new t-shirt design based on our logo. So if you love our stories and want to hear more, help us make a brand new season by pre-ordering your very own vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti right now. We're also taking donations, every little bit helps. Thank you so much!Follow The Truth on...INSTAGRAMBLUESKYTHREADSREDDITAnd make sure you’re subscribed to The Truth in Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen so you don’t miss us when we return!

We’re in the middle of a fundraising campaign to bring the show back in October. We’ve been working hard on some new scripts we're hoping to make, and in this episode we'll hear from Hunter Nelson about the story he’s working on.  We have all new merch for sale, and for a limited time, we're taking pre-orders for a vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti. To see what we have to offer, go to: https://certifiedcrucial.com/truthshop We’re taking pre-orders through June 22. The album cost is $40, and all of the profits will go to making a new season of The Truth.  And if you don't have $40, we're also selling buttons, stickers, and a brand new t-shirt design based on our logo. So if you love our stories and want to hear more, help us make a brand new season by pre-ordering your very own vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti right now. We're also taking donations, every little bit helps. Thank you so much! Follow The Truth on...INSTAGRAMBLUESKYTHREADSREDDIT And make sure you’re subscribed to The Truth in Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen so you don’t miss us when we return! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re in the middle of a fundraising campaign to bring the show back in October. We’ve been working hard on some new scripts we're hoping to make, and in this episode we'll hear from Mary McDonnell about the story she’s working on.  We have all new merch for sale, and for a limited time, we're taking pre-orders for a vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti. To see what we have to offer, go to: https://certifiedcrucial.com/truthshop We’re taking pre-orders through June 22. The album cost is $40, and all of the profits will go to making a new season of The Truth.  And if you don't have $40, we're also selling buttons, stickers, and a brand new t-shirt design based on our logo. So if you love our stories and want to hear more, help us make a brand new season by pre-ordering your very own vinyl pressing of Silvia's Blood and Moon Graffiti right now. We're also taking donations, every little bit helps. Thank you so much! Follow The Truth on...INSTAGRAMBLUESKYTHREADSREDDIT And make sure you’re subscribed to The Truth in Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen so you don’t miss us when we return! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices