RISK!

Kevin hears Danielle Meinert’s “The Day I Met ARFID” story from The Story Collider for the first time and gives you his hot takes. You can also watch this episode on YouTube! This is part of our RISK! Reacts series, where we listen to a story told on another show and give our first reactions. Here’s the Spotify Playlist mentioned in the episode. And here is an article about the playlist from hopki...

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in September of 2013, when RISK! had its first live show in the city that keeps it weird: Austin, Texas. 🎤Live Story: The Redhead by Paul Normandin Every year that his wife asked, "What do you want for your birthday?" Paul would answer, "A redhead." One year, his wife finally arranged for a hotel rendezvous with a redhead... who led him...

Jen Nails and Sandi Marx share stories about being who you are even, when it’s a pain in the ass.  🎤Radio Story: Permission to Be Myself by Jen Nails Jen struggles to fit in at her college acting program, which attempts to remove her from the class roster. Finally, her fellow students write to the administration appealing on her behalf and the school changes its mind.  keywords: acting school, re...

Morgan revisits her story from 2012 called “Always A Woman” with Kevin Allison and considers how much has changed for trans folks in the 13 years since.  🎙️Radio Story: Always A Woman by Morgan A biker and ironworker has a lifelong secret. After a nearly life-ending accident, Morgan finally decides to transition from man to woman. The people in her life are amazed, but they adjust. keywords: LGBTQ...

Inky Montaine tells Taj Easton about how, before he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, he truly felt like he might have come from another planet.  Check out all of our Conversation Stories! 🎙️Conversation Story: Pretending to Be Human by Inky Montaine Inky spent a lifetime switching masks but felt a certainty of unbelonging. Later in life, an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis didn't lea...

On this Veteran’s Day, guest-host Ray Christian from What’s Ray Saying? hears Brian Simpson’s “Fresh Air” story from So Say We All for the first time and gives you his hot takes. You can also watch this episode on YouTube! This is part of our RISK! Reacts series, where we listen to a story told on another show and give our first reactions. 🎙️ Story: Fresh Air by Brian Simpson (Content note: suicid...

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in August of 2013, when DC Pierson, Selena Coppock, Brad Lawrence and Nina Davis shared stories of love and loss. 🎙️Radio Story: Let Me Sleep On It by Brad Lawrence In his youth, Brad finds and loses love with a fellow bookstore employee. Later, after marrying someone else, he sees his feelings for his fellow employee were just a crush, a...

Kevin hears Diane Weipert’s “The Living Room” story from Love and Radio for the first time and gives you his instant reactions. You can also watch this episode on YouTube! This is part of our RISK! Reacts series, where we listen to a story told on another show and give our first reactions. 🎙️ Story: The Living Room by Diane Weipert Through an unobstructed window, Diane observes the lives of a youn...

Three of our favorite scary stories from Halloween specials of our past.  🎤Radio Story: The Thing by Thomas McKean When Thomas was a kid, he and a friend saw a shadowy oblong shape following them on a beach. Years later, he feels chained to his bed in the middle of the night when the same figure, then two more hover over him.  keywords: Paranormal encounter, Shadow figure,Beach sighting,Sleep par...

Our 17th annual Halloween special with scary true stories about ghosts, corpses and mortal danger.  🎤Radio Story: Do You Know My Name? by Robert Oakes Robert leads ghost tours, but unlike his father, he’s unsure he’s a believer. After his father dies, Robert’s tour of a haunted house is visited by paranormal investigators, who have him ask a question to the spirits there which reveal a family con...

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in August of 2013, when Mather Zickel, Jen Curran, Joel Kim Booster and Julie Threlkeld told stories of times they crossed over the edge. 🎤Live Story: Waiting for the Man by Joel Kim Booster Joel would love to find a kinky Dom to write "Bitch" around his asshole. One night, he plays with a Dom who is a huge disappointment. keywords: Asia...

Hannah Sussman and Swapna Deshpande tell stories about coming to terms with mortality.  🎤Anecdote: Another Conversation with my Dead Mother by Hannah Sussman Hannah reflects on her relationship with her deceased mother—waking from a dream, looking in the mirror and eventually coming to peace with her own aging.  keywords: mother daughter relationships, aging, grief 🎤Live Story: Each Other's Ange...

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in August of 2013, when Brad McMurran, Alicia Camden, and Sean Devereux told stories at the Norfolk Comedy Festival. 🎤Live Story: The Color Purple by Brad McMurran Brad’s first sexual experience goes wrong when an allergic reaction to spermicidal condoms sends him to the ER, where his mother discovers his purple-stained underwear. Keywor...

Mishelle tells Taj her story of a lifetime lived with an abusive mother in an environment of relentless lies, instability and unspeakable violence.  Check out all of our Conversation Stories! 🎙️Conversation Story: The Lies that Bind by Mishelle Roberts (Content Note: child abuse, child murder) Mishelle tells Taj about growing up in the shadow of hospitals, horrific medical drama, and a web of lies...

Candiace Dillard Bassett (Bravo’s Real Housewives of Potomac) and Michael Arceneaux (New York Times best-selling author and culture critic) have thoughts…and on Undomesticated, they’re sharing all of them. Think of it like the group chat you wish you were in - brutally honest, funny, smart, and gloriously unfiltered.  From viral TikTok drama to the celebrity news everyone’s talking about (and the...

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in 2013, when the RISK! live show came to Norfolk, Virginia.   🎤Live Story: The Squatter by Billy Raim Billy is afraid to poop in public until he decides to let go of of that fear, as it was ruining a trip with friends to China, with disastrous consequences. keywords: Poop, Fear, China, Culture Shock 🎤Live Story: Sister’s Keeper by Tiff...

On the 16th anniversary of the podcast, Jill Karliner and Kevin Allison share stories from their own sixteeny days.  🎙️Radio Story: Save a Prayer for Jill by Jill Karliner When she was sixteen, Jill went to a Duran Duran concert in an attempt to fit in with her friend group and got so inside her own head about not enjoying it, she panicked.  keywords: concert, classical, duran duran, rick springfi...

Andrea Dunlop tells Kevin about the time her sister was investigated for Munchausen syndrome by proxy child abuse and how this set her off on a long path towards advocacy, outreach and the pursuit of justice, through her podcast Nobody Should Believe Me. This episode is guest-hosted by Taj Easton. You can also watch it on YouTube! Check out all of our Conversation Stories! 🎙️Conversation Story: Be...

Scott Whitney revisits his story from 2013 about losing his faith called “Revelations” with Kevin. He has many new insights twelve years later. You can also watch this episode on YouTube! 🎤Radio Story: Revelations by Scott Whitney (Content note: cults, suicide ideation) A Jehovah’s Witness struggling with his faith, Scott knocks on the door of a traumatized recluse to attempt to convert him. The...

Our 33rd compilation of some of our favorite recent stories shared on the RISK! podcast, guest-host by Cyndi Freeman. 🎤Live Story: Hope Under the Sky (excerpt) by LP Nguyen In 1975, the North won Vietnam’s civil war, and LP's dad, high ranking in the Southern Army, was imprisoned. The children lost everything, hunted for food, swam to school, and after 7 years, got their father back. 🎤Radio Stor...

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in July of 2013, when Kevin Boggs, Stephanie Garibaldi, R. Levin and Amy Saidman told stories at the first RISK! live show in Washington, DC in association with SpeakeasyDC. 🎤Live Story: Standing Up by Kevin Boggs Working as a waiter at an upscale Washington DC restaurant, Kevin gets into an emotional fight with an angry customer who cal...

Scott McMahon tells Dawn Fraser from the RISK! podcast his story “Midnight in Manila,” about the time he was pulled into a nightmare of corruption, false rape charges, and five years in a Philippine jail.  Check out all of our Conversation Stories! 🎙️Conversation Story: Midnight in Manila by Scott McMahon Scott McMahon tells Dawn Fraser from the RISK! podcast his story “Midnight in Manila,” about...

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in July of 2013, when Cameron Esposito, Kris Grey and Kevin Allison shared radically different stories of LGBT life in the early 2010’s.  🎤Live Story: All the Rage by Kevin Allison A man living in Kevin's neighborhood started screaming, "Faggot!" at Kevin whenever he was in eyeshot. Then one day the man switched from screaming to punchin...

Kevin Allison, Rachel Frost and Luke Oyler share stories about being wasteful.  Live Story: The Pickles Pickle by Kevin Allison Kevin flushes a jar of pickles down his brother's toilet while making his first student film in college and causes a plumbing issue, which becomes a story the Allison family retells for years to come.   keywords: Pickle jar, brother, student film 🎤Live Story: The Inside...

Tori Weston revisits her story about surviving childhood sexual abuse from 2014 called “The Power” with Kevin Allison. Tori has many new insights eleven years later. You can also watch this episode on YouTube! 🎤Radio Story: The Power by Tori Weston (Content note: child sexual abuse, suicidal ideation) At 12, going on 13, Tori was raped by her stepfather. When she came out about it, the situation...