The Truth was an anthology fiction podcast and founding member of Radiotopia by PRX. Episodes were released about once every two weeks. Several nationally syndicated public radio programs, including This American Life, Studio 360, Snap Judgment, and The Story, featured work by The Truth.

The Truth
Presentation
GenreFiction
LanguageEnglish
Production
Production
  • Jonathan Mitchell (Executive Producer)
  • Davy Gardner (Associate Producer)
No. of episodes125 [1]
Publication
Original release2012 (2012) –
2023 (2023)
ProviderRadiotopia
Related
Websitethetruthpodcast.com

Voice actors who appeared on the show included Jesse Eisenberg, Lauren Adams, Scott Adsit, Craig muMs Grant, Tami Sagher, James Urbaniak, Tom Ligon, Jo Firestone, Tallie Medel, Jackie Hoffman, and F. Murray Abraham.

History

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In 2009, Jonathan Mitchell and Hillary Frank received funding from American Public Media to produce pilot stories together. One of those stories was "Moon Graffiti", which was later featured on The Guardian podcast and won the 2010 Gold Mark Time Award.[2] This story later became the first episode of The Truth.

In December 2011, Ed Herbstman and Mitchell hired a group of improvisors (many from the Magnet Theater, which Herbtsman co-founded) to write stories together, with the goal of producing a story in one month. The first piece was "Interruptible". The group continued working together and eventually reached the podcast's current output of two stories a month.

The Truth was named by iTunes to be the Best New Arts podcast of 2012 and the #1 new podcast of 2012 by The Daily Dot.[3]

The show's title comes from a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "Fiction reveals truth that reality obscures."[citation needed]

The Truth stopped production in 2023 after the episode Pariah.[4][5]

Episodes

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2012

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Date Episode Voices
November 2, 2012 Moon Graffiti Matt Evans, Ed Herbsman, and John Ottavino
February 14, 2012 Eat Cake Eliza Skinner, Birch Harms, and Curtis Gwinn
February 22, 2012 Movie Mash-Up
June 3, 2012 Interruptible Christian Paluck, Chet Siegel, Louis Kornfeld, Amy Warren, Ed Herbstman, Melanie Hoopes, Charlotte Rabbe, and Jamie Rivera
March 20, 2012 They're Made Out of Meat Russ Armstrong and Miriam Tolan
November 4, 2012 Everybody SCREAM!!!! Chet Siegel, Emily Tarver, and Ed Herbstman
April 25, 2012 Tape Delay Ed Herbstman and Tami Sagher, with Libby George and Christian Paluck
September 5, 2012 People Beat India Kotis, Matt Evans, Melanie Hoopes, Carmen Berkeley, Matt J. Weir, Bryn Magnus, Christian Paluck, Ed Herbstman, and Amy Warren. With Tim Dadabo, Louis Kornfeld, Chet Siegel, Leanne Linsky, Jon Bander, and Kelly Moylan
May 23, 2012 Total Transparency and Eye Contact Chet Siegel, Ed Herbstman, and Louis Kornfeld
June 6, 2012 In Good Hands (part 1) Emily Tarver, Alex Marino, Louis Kornfeld, Ed Herbstman, Christian Paluck, and Amy Warren.
June 20, 2012 Human Intelligence Ed Herbstman, John Ottavino, and Melanie Hoopes
December 7, 2012 In Good Hands (part 2) Emily Tarver, Alex Marino, Louis Kornfeld, Christian Paluck, Ed Herbstman, Amy Warren, and Ben Jones
July 25, 2012 Lucy and the Bike Girl
September 8, 2012 Third Party Ed Herbstman, Chet Siegel, Rick Andrews, Nick Kanellis, Louis Kornfeld, Amy Warren, and Bryn Magnus
August 22, 2012 Machine Men
May 9, 2012 That's Democracy Peter McNerney, Russ Armstrong, Alexis Lambright, with Fiona Bradford, Teddy Shivers, Oscar Montoya, and Ben Jones
September 19, 2012 Domestic Violins Amie McKenna, Michele Durman, Michael Whalley, and Martin Dingle Wall. Produced at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio Beyond Radio conference.
April 10, 2012 Do You Have a Minute for Equality? Chet Siegel and Tom Ligon, with Matt J. Weir, Quentin Loder, and Melanie Hoopes
October 18, 2012 The Death of Poe Christian Paluck, Ed Herbstman, Chet Siegel, and Louis Kornfeld
November 2, 2012 The Modern Prometheus Louis Kornfeld, Rachel Hamilton, Tom Ligon, Chet Siegel, Amy Warren, Ed Herbstman, Christian Paluck, and Rupert Degas
November 14, 2012 In Good Hands (rerelease)
November 28, 2012 Interruptible (rerelease) Christian Paluck, Chet Siegel, Louis Kornfeld, and Amy Warren. With Ed Herbstman, Melanie Hoopes, Charlotte Rabbe, and Jamie Rivera
December 14, 2012 Mirror Lake Ed Herbstman, Lauren Ashley Smith, and Louis Kornfeld

2013

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Date Episode Voices
October 1, 2013 Happy New Year Ben Jones and Tom Ligon
February 21, 2013 It's Going to Change Your Life Kelly Buttermore, Amy Warren, Melanie Hoopes, Louis Kornfeld, Ed Herbstman, and Christian Paluck
March 22, 2013 Where Have You Been? Ed Herbstman, Ben Jones, Christian Paluck, Chet Siegel, Louis Kornfeld, Amy Warren, and Asher Herbstman
April 11, 2013 Falling Chet Siegel and Peter McNerney, with Willy Appleman, Louis Kornfeld, Lauren Ashley Smith, Sebastian Conelli, Quinton Loder, Jon Bander, and Kim Ferguson
May 10, 2013 You're Not Alone Christian Paluck, Carly Monardo, Tom Stephens, Louis Kornfeld, Jon Keller, Kerry Kastin, Nick Mykins, Aina Rapoza, and Ashley Wilson,

with musical guest Elizabeth Ziman, singing a song by Daniel Johnston.

August 15, 2013 Fine Dining Louis Kornfeld, Elana Fishbein, Nick Jaramillo, Tom Ligon, Kevin Cragg, Kerry Kastin, Brian Frange, Bob Kern, and Matt Evans.

With improv groups Featherweight and Nurse Practitioner.

August 29, 2013 Sweets for the Cheat Jon Bander, Alessandro King, Bianca Casusol, Brian Frange, and Elana Fishbein.
September 15, 2013 The Mutiny Melanie Hoopes. Asher Herbstman, Bea Herbstman, Blanche Ames, Ed Herbstman, Shacottha Fields, and Noel Dinneen
September 29, 2013 Keep Running Peter McNernery, with Elana Fishbein, Louis Kornfeld, Julia Hynes, and Teddy Shivers
October 13, 2013 The Talk Christian Paluck, Dmitry Shein, Willy Appelman, and Elana Fishbein
October 24, 2013 The Devil You know
November 11, 2013 The Memoirist Elana Fishbein, Matt Antonucci, Kevin Kiernan, Lauren Olson, Alessandro King, Sebastian Connelli, Blanche Ames, Kevin Cragg, and Michael Kroll
November 25, 2013 Tough Crowd Alejandro Kolleeny, Annemarie Cullen, Devin O'Neill, Megan Gray, Noel Dinneen, Maddy Mako, Matt Shafeek, Shacottha Fields, Louis Kornfeld, and Elana Fishbein
December 10, 2013 Naomi's World Isabel Frohnhofer, Tom Ligon, Elana Fishbein, Imran Chowdhury, Laura Parker, Philipp Goedicke, Dennis Pacheco, Blanche Ames, Ron Palais, Willy Appelman,

Andrew Yurman-Glaser, and Phoebe Tyers

December 20, 2013 Biological Clock Tami Sagher, Ed Herbstman, Louis Kornfeld, and Kerry Kastin

2014

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Date Episode Voices
January 25, 2014 It's Your Funeral Andy Moskowitz, Jackie Hoffman, Ben Jones, Damon Ketron, Phoebe Tyres, Shacottha Fields, Blanche Ames, Amy Warren, and Rebecca Robles
March 10, 2014 The Extractor Ed Herbstman, Kevin Cragg, Annemarie Cullen, Dennis Pacheco, and Rebecca Robles. With Melanie Hoopes, Bea Herbstman, Alex Marino, and Kerry Kastin.
March 30, 2014 Jeff Gets Towed Andrew Yurman-Glaser, Sebastian Conelli, and Phoebe Tyers
April 15, 2014 Interns Maggie Morris as Melanie, and Emily Shapiro as Annalyse. With Willy Appelman, Dennis Pacheco, Elana Fishbein, and Louis Kornfeld
May 14, 2014 Voyager Found Chet Siegel and Peter McNerney
May 28, 2014 The Penis Museum Phoebe Tyers and Damon Ketron. With Elana Fishbein, Alejandro Kolleeny, Kerry Kastin, and Ira Gamerman.
June 18, 2014 Chaotic Neutral Elana Fishbein, Jon Bander, Justin Moran, and Matt Shafeek
September 17, 2014 Cold Read Alex Marino, Christina Dabney, Blanche Ames, and T.J. Mannix
October 15, 2014 Silvia's Blood Andy Moskowitz, Rebecca Robles, Diana McCorry, Ben Jones, and Al King
November 12, 2014 Return of the Extractor Ed Herbstman and Elana Fishbein. With Louis Kornfeld and Alejandro Kolleeny
November 26, 2014 Sketchballs Rosie Whalen and Chris Dwane, with Louis Kornfeld
December 18, 2014 Naughty or Nice Seth Lind, Elana Fishbein, Louis Kornfeld, Eli Itzkowitz, Ed Herbstman, Shaina Feinberg, Tom Ligon, Kevin Cragg, Willy Appelman, Kerry Kastin, Katie Corr, Phoebe Tyers,

Pat May, Olivia Simonson, Asher Herbstman, Bee Herbstman, Melanie Hoopes, and Gregory C. Jones

2015

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Date Episode Voices
January 15, 2015 The One about the Dead Dog Phoebe Tyers and Dennis Pacheco, with Nick Mykins, T.J. Mannix, and Chris Dwane
February 11, 2015 Don't Touch a Thing Amy Warren, Armando Diaz, Jackie Hoffman, Louis Kornfeld, and Noel Dinneen
March 12, 2015 Living the Dream Adam Wade, Chrissie Gruebel, Dan Fairall, and Blanche Ames
March 26, 2015 Joe Frank Mark Hammer, Barbara Sohmers, Carolyn Swift Hammer, Arthur Miller, F. Murray Abraham, Annalee Jefferies, Eric Seers, and Paul Mantell
April 8, 2015 Can You Help Me Find My Mom? Bee Herbstman, Melanie Hoopes, Ed Herbstman, Evan Sudarsky Abadi, Gregory C. Jones and Blanche Ames
May 20, 2015 The Last Job Peter McNerney, Louis Kornfeld, Rebecca Robles, India Kotis, Dave Hill, Alex Marino, Phoebe Tyers, Rupert Degas, and T.J. Mannix
June 4, 2015 Remember the Baby Ann Carr, Louis Kornfeld, and Amy Warren
July 16, 2015 Dark Matter Kevin Corrigan, Chet Siegel, Ed Herbstman, Dennis Pacheco, Alexis Lambright, Anna Sale, and Rob Webber
September 10, 2015 Enjoy the Suffering Bianca Casusol, Kate Emswiler, Louis Kornfield, Jake Hart, Blance Ames, Jimmy O'Connell, and Kerry Kastin
September 24, 2015 Tuesday Anni Ginsterer, Belinda Jombwe, Rupert Reid, and Rahel Romahn
October 23, 2015 Starburst Matt Antonucci, Angela DeManti, Kerry Kastin, Alejandro Kolleeny, and Louis Kornfeld
December 16, 2015 Santa for President Tom Ligon, Rachel Dratch, Russell G. Jones, Connie Ray, Shaina Feinberg, Willy Appelman, Jo Firestone, Phoebe Tyers, Mo Rocca, Helen Coxe, T.J. Mannix,

Lauren Ashley Smith, Bill Rohlfing, Mario Correa, Kerry kastin, Louis Kornfeld, and Benjamin Correa

2016

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Date Episode Voices
January 15, 2016 Call of Dating & The Big Prawn "Call of Dating" is performed by Clair Galea and Dennis John Cahill. "The Big Prawn" is performed by Katia Pase.
February 12, 2016 Visible & Drive Straight Ahead "Visible" is performed by Russell G. Jones, Rachel Hamilton, Ann Carr, and Kerry Kastin.
March 9, 2016 Man V. Nature David Pasquesi, Ed Herbstman, and Mark Gessner.
April 14, 2016 Songonauts (Episode One) Jonathan Mann, Elena Skopetos, Bianca Casusol, Tom Ligon, Louis Kornfeld, Jimmy O'Connell, Amy Warren, and Dan Fairall
May 12, 2016 The Man in the Barn Sarah Reynolds, Joe Mullins, Maeve McGrath, Diarmuid McIntyre, and Louis Kornfeld
June 9, 2016 Songonauts (Episode Two) Jonathan Mann, Elena Skopetos, Bianca Casusol, Tom Ligon, Louis Kornfeld, Jimmy O'Connell, Amy Warren, and Dan Fairall
July 13, 2016 The Making of That's Democracy
September 7, 2016 Sleep Some More Brian Miskell, Mark Gessner, Lusia Strus, and Hannah Chase
October 12, 2016 Cor-wrong-ct! Peter McNerney, Lane Kwederis, Alessandro King, Scott Adsit, Laura Grey, Ed Herbstman, Tami Sagher, April Matthis, Becca Schall, Willy Appelman, Louis Kornfield,

Tom Ligon, and Blanche Ames

November 10, 2016 Commentary Track Birgit Huppuch, Libby Woodbridge, and Maurice Jones
December 7, 2016 Naughty or Nice Seth Lind, Elana Fishbein, Louis Kornfeld, Eli Itzkowitz, Ed Herbstman, Shaina Feinberg, Tom Ligon, Kevin Cragg, Willy Appelman, Kerry Kastin, Katie Corr, Phoebe Tyers,

Pat May, Olivia Simonson, Asher Herbstman, Bee Herbstman, Melanie Hoopes, and Gregory Jones

December 22, 2016 The Sweet Music of Friction Khalil Kain, Craig muMs Grant, Keith Randolph Smith, Shamika Cotton, Chris McKinney, Louis Kornfeld, Jaymes Jorsling

2017

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Date Episode Voices
January 11, 2017 The Dark End of the Mall Lauren Adams and Peter Grosz
January 25, 2017 Ice Music (re-release) & Mirror Lake Gregory Whithead; Ed Herbstman and Lauren Ashley Smith with Louis Kornfeld
February 9, 2017 A Drop in the Ocean Gregory Jones, Chris McKinney, Russell G. Jones, Billy Griffin Jr., Reynaldo Piniella, and Michael Cullen, with the Magnet Theater improv team Eagelfox.
February 22, 2017 Bloodless James Urbaniak
March 8, 2017 Miracle on the L Train Joanna Hausmann, T.J. Mannix, Christina Dabney, Philip Godicke, Rachel Rauch, Shacottha Fields, Suni Reyes, Lou Gonzalez, Louis Kornfeld, Adam Twitchell, Will Quinn,

Leonard Lyzner, Joe Lepore, Dennis Pacheco, and Andrew Vuilleumier

March 23, 2017 Scavenger Hunt Rebecca Robles and Louis Kornfeld
April 13, 2017 Hey Bumblebee Alexis Pereira, Elana Fishbein, Michael Delisle, Kelsey Bailey, Anna Neu, Angela DeManti, Matt Shafeek, Becca Schall, Ed Herbstman, Hannah Chase, Dennis Pacheco, and Bill Rohlfing
April 26, 2017 Intimacy Challenge Leonard Lyzner, Florencia de la Lorca, Russell G. Jones, Gillian Glasco, Lipica Shah, and Jordan Mahome
May 10, 2017 Do the Voice Erica Schroeder, Brian Dykstra, Marc Thompson, Justin Morgan, Rosie Whalen, Susan J. Jacks, Chris Kipiniak, Lorena Russi, Eric Molinsky, Kerry Kastin, Asher Herbstman, and Rob Webber
June 29, 2017 Influencers (Part I of II) Michael Delisle, Ann Carr, T.J. Mannix, Michael Cullen, Chris McKinney, Will Quinn, Becca Schall, Louis Kornfeld, Chris Kipiniak, and Kerry Kastin
September 13, 2017 Possible Side Effects Adam Wade, Hannah Chase, Mariette Strauss, Elana Fishbein, Dennis Pacheco, Anne Antonucci, Jeremy Bent, Noel Dinneen, and Seth Lind
September 27, 2017 Brain Chemistry Scott Adsit, Amy Warren, Ed Herbstman, Anna Neu, Billy Griffin Jr., Alexis Lambright, Louis Kornfeld, Elana Fishbein, Joanna Hausmann, and Kerry Kastin
October 11, 2017 Magic Hugs Austin Pendleton, April Matthis, Jenny Lee Mitchell, Becca Schall, Kevin Cobbs, Louis Kornfeld, Chris Kipiniak, Kerry Kastin, Kate Chapman, T.J. Mannix, and Phoebe Tyers
October 25, 2017 The Decider Tallie Medel, Tim Platt, and Kelsey Bailey
November 11, 2017 Game Night Bill Rohlfing, Adelaide Kipiniak, Max Kipiniak, Brandi Varnel, Margaret Burrus, Kelsey Bailey, Jack Frederick, Jimmy O'Connell, Leonard Lyzner, Willy Appelman, Ariel Gitlin,

Richie Moriarty, Lila Newman, Elana Fishbein, Suni Reyes, Dennis Pacheco, Andy Moskowitz

November 23, 2017 Troll Abby Royle, Kyle Gordon, Ashlie Atkinson, Jennete Cronk, Jaymes Jorsling, Kerry Kastin, Chris Kipiniak, Becca Schall, Lila Newman, Louis Kornfeld, and Matt Shafeek
December 13, 2017 Mall Santa Tom Ligon, Chris Dwane, Anna Neu, Bianca Casusol, Jimmy O'Connell, Kevin Cobbs, Louis Kornfeld, Kerry Kastin, Becca Schall

2018

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Date Episode Voices
January 31, 2018 The Co-op Hannah Chase, Dennis Pacheco, Amy Warren, Susan Owen, Betty Hudson, Joel Bernstein, Michael Cullen, and Sam Tsoutsouvas
February 14, 2018 Nuclear Winter Woody Fu, Danielle Delgado, and Billy Griffin, Jr.
February 28, 2018 Rideshare Dana Kaplan-Angle, Amir Darvish, and Boris Khaykin
March 21, 2018 The Hilly Earth Society Michael Cullen
April 5, 2018 The Runaways Jenny Mudge and Chris Henry-Coffey
April 19, 2018 Justice Battalion Jake Hart, Marc Thompson, Erica Schroeder, Billy Bob Thompson, and Graham Rowat
May 10, 2018 The Matter of Tyco Lila Newman, Erica Hernandez, Fred Newman, Joel Bernstein, Jack Frederick, Jeff Wucher, Kyle Gordon, Davy Gardner, and Margaret Burrus
June 7, 2018 The Jesse Eisenberg Effect Jesse Eisenberg, Keith Rubin, Jaymes Jorsling, Jeremy Bent, Lenny Thomas, Jeff Wucher, and Jonathan Mitchell
June 20, 2018 Fish Girl Bee Herbstman, Alison Cimmet, Scott Richardson, and Ed Herbstman
July 12, 2018 Wonderworld, U.S.A. Taylor Dalton Curtis, Federico Rodriguez, Sam Tsoutsouvas, Lila Newman, Chris Kipiniak, Peter McNerney, Molly Kiernan, Davy Gardner, John Ross, Kyle Gordon, Anthony Sneed,

Dennis Pacheko, Phoebe Tyers, Becca Schall, Matt Whitfield, Amy Warren, Marisa Brau, Mike Cabellon, Rick Andrews, and Louis Kornfeld

Awards

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Year Award Episode
2010 Mark Time Gold Award "Moon Graffiti"[2]
PRX Zeitfunk Award 2010 for Most Listened-to Piece "Moon Graffiti"[6]
2013 Mark Time Gold Award "The Modern Prometheus"[2]
Ogle Silver Award[citation needed] "In Good Hands"
"That's Democracy"

References

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  1. ^ "The Truth on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c "Mark Time Award Winners". www.marktimeawards.org. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  3. ^ "The 10 best new podcasts of 2012". The Daily Dot. December 31, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  4. ^ "Pariah No. 3".
  5. ^ "Pariah". June 14, 2023.
  6. ^ "PRX » Zeitfunk 2010". PRX - Public Radio Exchange. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
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