September 22, 2025 2:00 pm

For the past twenty-five years, Catherine Burns has worked with people from all walks of life—from Nobel laureates to janitors, astronauts and inmates—to develop true, personal stories that have moved and delighted live audiences and radio listeners around the world. In this engaging talk, she shares what she’s learned after listening to thousands of stories: how vulnerability can create connection, humor can help us process difficult events, and even the most ordinary moments can carry extraordinary meaning. Along the way, Catherine will reveal behind-the-scenes insights from her decades as Artistic Director of The Moth and explore why storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools we have to understand ourselves and each other.

Catherine Burns is a Peabody Award–winning director, storytelling coach, and public speaker. From 2003 to 2023, she was the artistic director of The Moth, the juggernaut of true stories told live, helping grow the company into a beloved international brand with live shows on six continents. As one of the lead directors on The Moth’s Mainstage, she has helped thousands of people craft their stories including Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, Nobel Laureates, the Tower of London’s Ravenmaster, a New York City sanitation worker, and luminaries such as David Byrne, Elizabeth Gilbert, Malcolm Gladwell, Padma Lakshmi, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Salman Rushdie. She was a host and producer of The Moth Radio Hour, heard on nearly 600 public radio stations and the BBC; co-author of the New York Times best seller How to Tell a Story; and editor of the Moth’s other four critically-acclaimed books.