The Moth Podcast
Episode: American Dreams: Home
Date: April 3, 2026
Overview
In this episode, The Moth explores the concept of "home" within the multifaceted idea of the American dream. Host Kate Tellers introduces two deeply personal stories: one from Heather Crawford, who uprooted her family for her child’s safety and identity, and another from Eric Yu, who, through a journey to China, reconnects with family and memory after loss. This episode offers honest, moving reflections on what it means to build, leave, and rediscover home in America.
Main Discussion Points & Story Summaries
1. Defining America Through Home
[01:08-02:03, 07:48-10:16, 16:07]
- Host Kate Tellers frames the episode around American dreams, highlighting that each individual’s definition of “home” is unique, shaped by personal struggle, cultural background, and pursuit of happiness.
- The stories offer a window into how people in America forge home—some by necessity, some by discovery.
Notable Quote:
"342 million people call America home. That's 342 million stories, 342 million perspectives, 342 million definitions of the American dream.”
— Kate Tellers [01:08]
2. Story One: Heather Crawford – Loving and Leaving Texas
[02:03-07:48]
Story Outline:
- Heather, a proud Texan, moves to Minnesota in 2022 to support her transgender child Cass, in light of hostile Texas legislation.
- She describes adjusting to Minnesota, buying a house sight unseen, and the complex emotions of loving and resenting Texas after leaving.
- Heather’s narrative is rich with humor and grit—she details the pain and resolve it takes to provide safety and affirmation for her child, the grief of uprooting, and the strange comforts found in snowy Minnesota.
- She candidly discusses the challenge of acting optimistic for her child while privately mourning the loss of home.
Key Moments:
- Discovery of home’s fragility: The family’s historic house is physically unstable—"collapsing" beams mirroring Heather's internal state.
- Parenting through crisis: Managing her child’s severe anxiety and having to medicate them for panic attacks during the uncertain transition.
- Irreconcilable love and anger for home: Vivid sensory memories of Texas summers, a strong emotional push-pull.
Memorable Quotes:
“My name is Heather Crawford and I am a Texan. And I realize introducing it that way makes it sound kind of like I'm introducing myself at an AA meeting, but that's really not an inappropriate metaphor for how Texans feel about the state of Texas. We are firmly convinced of our state superiority in every way, and we will fight you for it.”
— Heather Crawford [02:03]
“I look okay on the outside, like I'm standing up and that's all fine. But I am constantly, every single day, I wake up furious that I am here. And I cannot be furious because my job is to keep that 17 year old of mine alive…”
— Heather Crawford [04:18]
“I have to act like this is a good thing that we're here. And don't get me wrong, it is a good thing that we are here… I am grateful every single day that we were able to get out of Texas because there are a lot of trans children who can't.”
— Heather Crawford [05:05]
“I resent the fuck out of Texas. I hate Texas. I love Texas, and I want to go home.”
— Heather Crawford [07:18]
Update & Extended Reflection:
[07:48-09:29]
- Postscript: Cass is “doing so much better” having graduated, living independently, and thriving.
- Heather’s feelings about Texas are unresolved: “Texas betrayed me in such a fundamental way that I don't believe I will ever live there again. But I will never stop mourning for my first home, no matter how much I love my new one.”
3. Story Two: Eric Yu – Family Across Oceans
[10:30-16:07]
Story Outline:
- Eric, raised in Pennsylvania, discovers in his teens that he has cousins in China.
- Due to his father’s long absences (working in China to support the family), Eric’s relationship with his father is distant and piecemeal.
- Efforts to rebuild this relationship end tragically: just as they begin to bond, Eric’s father dies in a car accident.
- Years later, Eric returns to China, meeting the cousins and extended family he’d only glimpsed in old photos—discovering not just relatives, but pieces of himself and his father.
Key Moments:
- The shock of parental loss: Eric learns of his father’s death at school, disrupting his efforts to finally connect.
- First meeting with cousins: A warm, lively, and emotionally restorative experience; family traits and stories revive his father's presence.
- Completing the puzzle: Through family stories, photos, and mannerisms, Eric reconciles his identity and place in the family—the theme of fragmented and rediscovered home.
Memorable Quotes:
“It felt like someone handed me just two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and they were like, oh, did you want the rest? It's across the Atlantic Ocean…”
— Eric Yu [10:41]
“Right as I was putting this picture of him together, someone lit the pieces on fire.”
— Eric Yu (describing father’s death) [12:36]
“Here were the people that I had only ever known of suddenly in front of me, handing me a beer. With lives that stretched so far past the edges of that picture I had seen all those years ago.”
— Eric Yu [14:12]
“I realized there were never separate puzzles to assemble. It's always been one big picture, one that existed before me, one that's growing and one that I'm grateful to fit into.”
— Eric Yu [15:54]
Structural Highlights & Timestamps
- Intro & framing (Kate Tellers): [01:08-02:03]
- Story #1: Heather Crawford: [02:03-07:48]
- Update & reflection from Heather: [07:48-09:29]
- Story #2: Eric Yu: [10:30-16:07]
- Final remarks (Kate Tellers and credits): [16:07-17:27]
Tone & Language
The episode balances humor, honesty, raw emotion, and resilience—in line with The Moth’s tradition of live storytelling. The storytellers’ own voices and word choices reflect both pain and gratitude, love and loss, anchored in everyday lived experience.
Conclusion
"American Dreams: Home" offers a poignant exploration of the many ways home can be lost, sought, constructed, and mourned in America. Through Heather and Eric’s stories, listeners hear the ache of displacement, the tenacity of love, and the joy of unexpected connection. The episode underscores how home is never just a place—it’s an emotional landscape shaped by identity, belonging, and dreams.
For a live experience or more stories: see themoth.org.