Football The New Bloodsport?, The Moth GrandSLAM, State News Roundup

Air Date:
Heard On Central Time

Is football the new bloodsport? On the eve of Superbowl weekend Rob Ferrett and Cynthia Schuster investigate. They also sneak behind the scenes at The Moth GrandSLAM, a storytelling competition being held in Milwaukee tonight, and check on the day’s news. That’s today at 4:00 pm on Central Time.

Featured in this Show

  • Storytellers Share Stories Of Love, Heartache, Redemption

    Deb Tetzlaff saw the love affair of her life crumble when her partner met another woman.

    Crushed, she found some measure of solace in storytelling, turning her personal angst into a gripping tale as she took part in one of the Moth’s StorySLAMs. The Moth is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling. Since opening up shop in New York City in 1997, the Moth spurred a revival in oral storytelling. Wisconsin storytellers found a home when the Moth began hosting monthly StorySLAMs in Milwaukee in 2012.

    To date, the Moth has presented more than 3,000 stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds. With its captivating, intimate tales of personal travails and triumphs — often told with disarming honesty and large doses of humor, the Moth has earned a national and even international audience. Most of these stories are told at StorySLAMs, live events where storytellers toss their names into a hat for the chance to share an intimate story from their life. If chosen, they have 5 minutes to delight the audience. StorySLAM winners might eventually progress to a GrandSLAM event.

    Which is how Tetzlaff’s story became a finalist in the first-ever Milwaukee GrandSLAM, held on Jan. 31. One of 10 finalists, which include a doctor, two artists, an ex-cab driver, a ghost hunter and a wedding videographer, Tetzlaff describes herself as a longtime Moth fan. She said she leaped at the chance to share her story and found a warm and appreciative audience responding to her story of love and heartache.

    Tetzlaff, a “fearless cold caller for a Wisconsin software firm,” has a bit of advice for newbies who’d like to toss their hat into the ring.

    “I’m always telling people, ‘you always have a story,’” she said. “The campfire is what life is about. It’s where we find out that we’re not alone; that we all share the same things.”

    For those interested in sharing a story on the Moth stage, StorySLAMs in Milwaukee are held the first Thursday of each month at the Miramar Theatre. Upcoming StorySLAMS and their themes are: Feb. 6, “Love Hurts”; March 4, “Heroes”; April 3, “Happy”; May 1, “Escape”; and June 5, “Kharma.”

    The Moth presents Milwaukee’s first GrandSLAM championship on Friday at 7 p.m. at Turner Hall. As expected, the event has already sold out.

  • Is Football The New Bloodsport?

    On the eve of the 2014 Superbowl we ask: Is football the new bloodsport? Are fans lured to the game by the prospect of mayhem? And, is the NFL essentailly marketing violence and profiting from it?

  • Sneak Peek: The Moth GrandSLAM

    Tonight The Moth GrandSLAM championship will crown Milwaukee’s top storyteller. We take a sneak peek with The Moth senior producer and two finalists.

  • State News Round-Up For January 31, 2014

    WPR’s assistant news director joins us to talk about what’s making news in Wisconsin this week, and what’s around the corner.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Cynthia Schuster Host
  • Marika Suval Producer
  • Deb Tetzlaff Guest
  • Jen Rubin Guest
  • Jenifer Hixson Guest
  • William C. Rhoden Guest
  • Noah Ovshinsky Guest

Related Stories