The Moth Radio Hour: Live from New York – The Audacity! Global Stories of Daring

Date: February 10, 2026
Host: Sarah Austin Janess (Moth Radio Hour), Emcee: Nolo Mokoena
Theme: The Audacity – Global Stories of Daring

Episode Overview

This special Moth Radio Hour, recorded live at Symphony Space in New York City, brings together storytellers from around the world to share powerful, true stories of audacity, courage, and daring. With “The Audacity” as the evening’s theme, stories traverse continents, cultures, and the personal terrain of risk-taking—each illuminating the everyday acts of bravery that shape and connect us. Hosted by South African writer and activist Nolo Mokoena, and featuring tales from Nigeria, South Africa, Liberia, and Bolivia, the episode offers a tapestry of vulnerability, resilience, and the profound impact of support and kindness.

Key Discussion Points & Stories

1. The Night Opens: Introduction to Daring

[02:55] Nolo Mokoena:

• Nolo sets the night’s tone, reflecting on how, in today's world, even simple, humane actions can require daring: listening to someone with another opinion, loving one’s neighbor, protecting hard-won freedoms.
• Quote:

  “Think about the world we live in today, where doing the most ordinary human things we fought to do can be seen as daring... Allowing people to be is daring.” (03:13)

Each storyteller is introduced with their go-to method for psyching themselves up for a challenge, underscoring the global and deeply personal nature of courage.

2. Story 1: Semie A. Michael – A Son’s Responsibility (Nigeria)

[04:24–14:46]

Summary

Semie shares the harrowing journey of advocating for his mother’s medical care in a Nigerian village steeped in tradition and spiritual explanations for illness. Confronted by community resistance and his mother’s wishes, Semie ultimately faces a life-or-death decision about amputating his mother’s leg due to cancer.

Key Moments & Quotes

• Cultural pressures:

  “In Nigeria, a boy child is like a king... But it also made me have a feeling of responsibility.” (04:29)

• The conflict:
  Semie battles his mother’s belief that her condition (manifested in leg sores and maggots) is “a spiritual attack,” not for the hospital. (05:24)
• Guilt and public shame:

  “I could see it written on their faces, how they were condemning us... I felt I had failed my mother.” (08:50)

• The impossible choice:

  “Either to amputate a leg or just watch her die in the next two weeks... I had the responsibility to decide whether my mother will live or die.” (09:43)

• Daring despite fear:

  “I held fear in one hand, and in the other I held my mother’s life. I dared.” (13:34)

• Closure:

  “My mother had 10 more years to live.” (13:46)
  She passed away in 2024, but not before Semie redeemed his sense of responsibility and love.

3. Story 2: Nolo Mokoena – A Daring First Date (South Africa)

[18:44–27:58]

Summary

Nolo uses humor to recount pressure from family to find a wife—juxtaposing the weight of expectations with his own daring: being vulnerable and embracing his stutter as an act of courage.

Key Moments & Quotes

• On family and cultural expectations:

  “Being over 30, stable and economically viable and single is one of the biggest sins you can commit back home.” (19:21)

• The search for love:
  Nolo stages a perfect date—hoping to impress both the woman and his family.
• Navigating vulnerability:
  When asked what he does for a living:

  “Ma’am, I do my best. I wake up every day and I do my best.” (21:43)

• His greatest daring:

  “In some ways, I’m actually not even allowed to be doing this here tonight... For me, being daring is actually speaking every single day.” (24:54)

• Reflection on connection:

  “Different places, same stories, we’re all kind of connected in some way.” (28:01)

4. Story 3: Korto Momolu – Becoming an Artist (Liberia/Canada/USA)

[28:03–38:14]

Summary

Korto traces her journey from a Liberian childhood family to refugee camps, losing and regaining hope, and eventually achieving her dream of becoming a renowned fashion designer. Her path is marked by political upheaval, war, separation, and a pivotal act of kindness.

Key Moments & Quotes

• Suppressed dreams:

  “Being African and being an artist just didn’t go together... Education was always key in my family.” (28:16)

• Forced migration and trauma:
  Her father’s government job forces the family to flee during a coup; they are separated and eventually reunited as refugees in Canada.
• Unexpected lifeline:
  A woman at church offers to pay for Korto’s fashion design schooling when her family cannot.
• Resilience via art:

  “My sketchbook was my savior... I would just sketch and draw all day and just try to escape all the negativity.” (33:59)

• Ripple effect of kindness:

  “It was that one random act of kindness that truly was the difference... between ‘would have been’ and the woman who stands before you today living her dream out loud.” (37:32)

5. Story 4: Gracia Violeta Ross – Refusing to Disappear (Bolivia)

[41:08–52:55]

Summary

Gracia narrates how growing up in the shadow of a dazzling older sister led to both rivalry and deep connection. After suffering rape and contracting HIV in rural Bolivia—a diagnosis then seen as a death sentence—she and her sister choose to fight together for survival, family acceptance, and national policy change. Gracia becomes a leader, advocate, and inspiration.

Key Moments & Quotes

• On being overshadowed:

  “I was, yes, I am the little sister of Dorcas. This seemed to be the only way in which they could remember my name.” (41:20)

• Violence and trauma:

  “They grabbed me by the hair. They beat me, they hit me, they put a knife in my neck... and they both raped me. They robbed me and they left.” (43:16)

• HIV diagnosis and stigma:

  “Life was daring me. Death seemed also to dare me at that moment... I considered the possibility of accelerating this death.” (45:41)

• Family acceptance:

  “We don’t need to know how you got HIV. We just want you to know... We love you and we are going to be with you two years, six months, 10 years, whatever life you have, we will be with you.” (48:38)

• Turning pain into advocacy:
  Gracia joins with others to demand and win access to HIV treatment in Bolivia, at great personal loss.
• Finding her own light:

  “Now I know that daring is also refusing to disappear. It’s finding your own light and stepping out of the shadow, which is what I did.” (52:37)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• Nolo Mokoena, on modern courage:

  “Protecting the very freedoms we fought for is the most daring.” (03:01)

• Semie A. Michael, on daring choices:

  “When responsibility whispers, you must dare. Loudly.” (13:34)

• Korto Momolu, on the power of small acts:

  “One random act of kindness that really, truly was the difference between ‘would have been’ and the woman that stands before you today, who is living her dream out loud.” (37:32)

• Gracia Violeta Ross, on survival and belonging:

  “He told me, ‘We don’t need to know how you got HIV. We just want you to know... we will be with you.” (48:38)
  “Daring is also refusing to disappear.” (52:37)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:55] Opening remarks and theme by Nolo Mokoena
• [04:24–14:46] Semie A. Michael’s story (Nigeria, son and mother, medical crisis)
• [18:44–27:58] Nolo Mokoena’s story (South Africa, dating, family, stuttering)
• [28:03–38:14] Korto Momolu’s story (Liberia to designer, art, war, kindness)
• [41:08–52:55] Gracia Violeta Ross’s story (Bolivia, sisterhood, trauma, HIV activism)

Final Thoughts

“The Audacity!” weaves together vastly different lives in a shared tapestry of overcoming—showing that daring is not always loud, but sometimes as simple, and as profound, as speaking, choosing, or simply enduring. Across continents, the stories share a recognition of what it takes to stand up in the face of convention, stigma, tradition, or fear. The evening’s universal message: Everyone’s courage, no matter the context, can ripple out, inspiring the extraordinary in others.