RISK!
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RISK!

Author: RISK!

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If you like The Moth, This American Life or Snap Judgment, take a walk on the wilder side with RISK! Your colorful host Kevin Allison (of the legendary comedy group The State) helms this surprisingly uncensored show where people tell jaw-dropping true stories they never thought they'd dare to share in public. RISK! is hilarious, heart-wrenching and remarkably real. Think you've heard it all? Fasten your seatbelt.

1172 Episodes
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Catastrophe

Catastrophe

2026-02-2445:07

Emma Yarbrough and Joel Gonzalez share stories about learning and growing from hard times. 🎤Live Story: Searching for Blue Sky by Emma Yarbrough Emma believes an intruder has broken in her home but it’s a false alarm. It triggers memories of her PTSD following the murder of her beloved Aunt Day. Emma cherishes her aunt’s memory and is stronger for it.  🎙️Radio Story: Keeping Us Safe by Joel Gonzalez Joel is working a grocery store job during the pandemic and is in charge of enforcing the mask mandate. Joel has a sick wife at home and becomes overly obsessed with people not cooperating but then starts to calm down.  🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ in NYC on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Live from Brown/RISD

Live from Brown/RISD

2026-02-1950:50

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in November of 2013, when students from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design shared true stories at a RISK! live show on campus. 🎤Live Story: Over the Limit by David Jacobs As a kid, it took David a while to realize he had anger management problems. After a few unfortunate outbursts, a therapist helped him get a hold of himself. 🎤Live Story: Street Smarts by Hania Ansari Hania is held at gunpoint during a robbery attempt in Pakistan. She offers her TI-89 calculator. The robber asks her to teach him how to use it, revealing his educational background. He leaves without taking anything. 🎤Live Story: As Three by D.H. In college, D.H. found herself in a happy three-person relationship. But like so many college relationships, it had to end. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ on March 17, 2026 in NYC! ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Lights Off, Pants Down

Lights Off, Pants Down

2026-02-1751:53

David Zellnik tells Kevin Allison about a moment of sexual liberation in a dark back room at a gay bar in the early 90s. Check out all of our Conversation Stories! 🎙️Conversation Story: Allowed to Look by David Zellnik David has a transformative night at a gay bar in the early 90s, during the ongoing AIDS crisis. It felt risky but it also helped him to feel more visible and confident in his identity, changing his perspective on sexual relations. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! Live in NYC⁠! ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Reba Sparrow and Smith Galtney share some of our favorite unusual love stories from our 16-year history. 🎙️LIVE Story: Pleasant Mountain by Smith Galtney Smith had the perfect husband, house and home... till he returned to the crystal meth habit of his younger years. His husband was able to support Smith in getting to rehab and putting his life back together again. 🎙️LIVE Story: Baby Love by Reba Sparrow Reba has a history of body shame. She’d always felt her breasts weren't big enough. When she met a boyfriend who wanted to role play that he was her baby breastfeeding from her, she was horrified... until they tried. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠! ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Unrequited

Unrequited

2026-02-1047:22

Connor O’Donoghue, JC Cassis and Jay Michel share stories about crushes and rebounds.  🎙️Radio Story: I Was the Appetizer by Connor O'Donoghue A virgin with body shame issues, Connor falls for a straight guy he befriends in a psych hospital. He has a threesome with his crush and a girl, knowing the guy is only into the girl. Decades later, Connor sheds his sexual anxiety.  🎤Live Story: Never Again by JC Cassis JC gets a crush on Bobby, a glamorous classmate, and tells him about it. Bobby rejects her politely,  but when she says, "Let me know if you ever change your mind," with a joking tone, he says, "I'm never gonna change my mind," leaving JC wounded.  🎤Live Story: Ready for Asking by Jay Michel Jay joined the military to try to seem straight. He has a nerve wracking hookup on campus, but later has his first magical gay club experience with the guy, falling in love in a flash while kissing… then witnessing the guy hooking up with others moments later.  🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠! ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Classic RISK! episode from our early years when Brian Finkelstein, Carrie Wade and Matt Oberg told true stories at the live RISK! show for the 2013 LA Storytelling Festival. 🎤Live Story: She and I by Brian Finkelstein (Content note: miscarriage, suicidal ideation) Brian’s anxiety around marriage and fatherhood lead to a panic attack at a grocery store just before he learns his wife is pregnant… shortly before he learns of a miscarriage.  🎤Live Story: Power In It by Carrie Wade Carrie describes how her cerebral palsy affects sex, desire, and pain tolerance. She discovers through a BDSM experience that the very traits she was taught to hide are the source of her sexual confidence and power.  🎤Live Story: The New Normal by Matt Oberg With OCD tendencies, Matt strives to seem normal. A disastrous attempt at seduction involving a hidden collection of fingernail clippings leads him to realize honesty matters more than normalcy. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ on March 17, 2026 in NYC! ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Come and Go

Come and Go

2026-02-0337:481

Ezra Holmlund and Sarah Adelman tell stories about things involving coming... and going.  🎤Live Story: Things Are Going South by Ezra Holmlund Ezra and his brother are at home when they begin to suspect a stranger has broken into their house upstairs. When the police arrive, the two brothers are mistaken for being the criminals. 🎤Live Story: The Long And Winding Road (To Semen Analysis) by Sarah Adelman Sarah is working at a sperm bank but loses her job after the HR department discovers her stand up comedy material is based off her work, forcing her to abandon a rigid life plan and choose an unpredictable creative path. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ on 03/17/26 at Caveat in NYC ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In memory of Jan Scott-Frazier, we revisit her 2011 story called “The Riverside” and, until now unreleased, her conversation about the story in 2021 with narrative therapist David Newman.  00:00 Introduction 01:34 The Riverside by Jan Scott-Frazier (Content note: suicide) At 22, Jan moved to Japan, but was lonely, as foreigners often feel. She began to notice a woman who visited the same river she did, who was even more depressed. Jan strategized how to comfort this stranger, but was too late, discovering from the newspapers that the woman took her own life.  15:49 Discussion: Jan Scott-Frazier & David Newman 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved • 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ in NYC on March 17, 2026 • ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ • ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ • 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ • 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠ • 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How Can I Tell You?

How Can I Tell You?

2026-01-2755:52

Stella Mayerhoff and Rebecca Heron tell stories about the unbearable weight of truth. 🎙️Radio Story: In Ways I Never Could Have Imagined by Stella Mayerhoff In the Democratic Republic of Congo, out in the field studying bonobos, Stella has to get a local man back home by lying to him, saying his baby is sick, when in fact, his baby has already died. Keywords: Congo field research, bonobos, primatology, grief in the jungle, moral dilemma, scientific fieldwork, malaria loss, human conflict abroad 💻Workshop Story: Unfolding by Rebecca Heron (Content note: sexual assault, emotional abuse, child sexual abuse.) In a Zoom session for Kevin’s online storytelling workshop, Rebecca considers how her uncle, a victim of child sexual abuse never shared his story and she feels holding that in killed him, so she shares her own story of her own survival of sexual abuse.  Keywords: trauma memory, dissociation, childhood coping, sexual assault survival, storytelling workshop, inherited pain, silence and disclosure 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ in NYC on March 17, 2026 ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Casualties

Casualties

2026-01-2253:34

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in October of 2013, when Janine Latus, Scott Whitney and Dan Telfer told stories about brushes with madness that left scars. 🎙️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 brief, troubled friendship convinces Scott to leave the church. Check out our “Revelations, Revisited” episode, where Scott talked to Kevin about his then 12-year-old story. 🎤Live Story: Boots on the Ground by Dan Telfer (Content note: suicide, suicidal ideation) After his brother’s suicide, a grieving young man channels despair into obsessive protest attendance until a police kettle triggers a panic-driven flight that forces him to confront his own paralysis and fear. 🎙️Radio Story: If I Am Missing or Dead by Janine Latus (Content note: murder, domestic violence) Janine's sister is murdered by an abusive boyfriend. In retrospect, there were too many signs witnessed by too many people who knew the victim and her killer, but no one was sharing the story. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ in NYC on March 17, 2026 ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sexploration

Sexploration

2026-01-2050:14

Shem, Nonye Brown-West and JC Cassis share stories of sexual discoveries. 🎤Live Story: Shem's Guide to Sexuality by Shem As a joke, young Shem's frenemy gives him a sexy book, but it's a feminist book and he learns less about eroticism and more about the emotional needs of middle aged American women.  🎤Live Anecdote: The Joy of Toes by JC Cassis JC marvels at the outsized role that men’s big toes seem to play in that legendary guide to love making from the ‘70s, The Joy of Sex. 🎤Live Story: When I Came To by Nonye Brown-West After a long history of medical trauma, Nonye is diagnosed with colon cancer. It is scary but eventually she is grateful she got her early diagnosis, and it all ends with her having an orgasm while getting a colonoscopy.   🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ in NYC March 17th! ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Live From Chicago!

Live From Chicago!

2026-01-1501:11:58

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in October of 2013, when Stephanie Douglass, Shannon Cason, Lily Be and Jim Padar were at our very first show in that toddlin’ town. 🎤Live Story: You Don’t Know Jack? by Stephanie Douglass A high school erupts in laughter over a mysterious name on the morning announcements, sending a well-meaning teacher on a frantic mission to protect a bullied student who, disastrously, does not exist. 🎤Live Story: I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got by Shannon CasonAfter obsessing over penis size and attempting a risky DIY “enhancement,” a man temporarily loses sexual function, panics through days of humiliation, and learns the terrifying medical reason behind his self-inflicted scare. 🎤Live Story: The Great Detective by Lily Be Lily learns the reason her mom threw her dad out was that her mom once took on the role of private detective and hid in a car while her husband and his mistress had sex in it. 🎤Live Story: Dressing the Wound by Jim Padar (Content note: fatal injury) A homicide detective in the ‘70s, Jim saved a dying boy by keeping his hand on the neck wound. The boy’s parents thanked him for giving them a chance to say goodbye. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved • 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ in NYC on March 17, 2026 • ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ • ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ • 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ • 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠• 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Create My Life

Create My Life

2026-01-1301:01:56

Ms. Aishia tells Cyndi Freeman about the time she navigated a complex, emotionally abusive relationship, and ultimately found the strength to prioritize her own happiness and independence. You can also watch this episode on YouTube. Check out all of our Conversation Stories! Conversation Story: Create My Life by Ms. Aishia EDITOR’S SYNOPSIS: After leaving an abusive relationship, Ms. Aishia enters an intense, largely virtual romance that slowly destabilizes her sense of self, leading her to sever ties, confront emotional dependency, and ultimately rebuild her life through radical change and solo travel. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved • 🎤 See RISK! live⁠! • ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ • ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ • 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ • 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠• 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
There’s nothing but laughs in our Funny Stuff compilations of classic RISK! stories on the lighter side. This week, Kumail Nanjiani and Alecia Altstaetter share about penile injuries and barf boats.  🎤Live Story: Pure Fuckmachine by Kumail Nanjiani Kumail learns how to masturbate and is so excited that he zips his pants too quickly afterward and cuts his penis on the zipper. 🎤Live Story: That New Ship Smell by Alecia Altstaetter Alecia and her husband decide to take the kids on the high speed car ferry across Lake Michigan. A huge storm breaks out. The family ends up in the hospital covered in blood, urine, vomit and lake water by the end of the fiasco. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved • 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ in NYC on Tuesday, March 17, 2026 • ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ • ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ • 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ • 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠• 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Holiday Blues #3

Holiday Blues #3

2026-01-0638:03

Michael J Bennett and Jessica Piscitelli Robinson tell holiday stories that are new, true and kinda blue.   🎙️Radio Story: Santa's Revenge by Michael J Bennett Michael is a shopping mall Santa when his worst teacher from High School comes in with his kid. The rule of a store Santa is make no big promises the parents have to fulfill. Michael promises this kid the moon and a pony. 🎙️Radio Story: A Mom-Made Christmas by Jessica Piscitelli Robinson Jessica is a teen when her mom has a stroke right before Christmas. Her mom was the end all be all of making Christmas magical throughout Jessica’s life. But this holiday, the miracle was simply being able to bring mom home on Christmas Day. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved • 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ at Caveat in NYC on March 17, 2026 • ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ • ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ • 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ • 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠• 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kevin announces RISK!’s goal this year -- helping listeners connect. More social events, more online fun, and Kevin’s latest online storytelling workshops. One starts on Jan 14, one on Feb 15. Email kevin@risk-show.com to jump on in! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How Embarrassing

How Embarrassing

2026-01-0101:01:29

A Classic RISK! episode from our early years that first ran in September of 2013, when Kevin Allison, Jen Bosworth, Donna Steele and Dare Campbell all shared stories of humiliation. 🎤Radio Story: Mother’s Little Helper by Donna Steele (Content note: poop) Donna’s mother has a strange habit of pooping in public. On this occasion, it’s into a McDonald’s coke cup in a mall dressing room. Donna is in awe of her mom’s nonchalance.  🎤Live Story: The Hustler by Kevin Allison In his early 20s, Kevin goes to a hustler bar to try to raise money for that month's rent. But despite following a friend's "7 Laws of Successful Whoring," his first attempt is a comedy of errors. 🎤Radio Story: We Could Do a Million Other Things by Dare Campbell A BDSM date with a stranger abruptly derails when Dare’s partner forgets erectile-dysfunction medication, and flees. Dare learns to assure partners that sexual performance is unnecessary. There’s many ways to have erotic fun. 🎤Live Story: Job Satisfaction in Paraguay? by Jen Bosworth-Ramirez Jen’s mother suggests she take a journey to Paraguay. There, Jen is robbed and then nearly sold into sex slavery, but she fakes insanity by peeing all over herself and gets away. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved • 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ on March 17 in NYC • ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ • ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ • 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ • 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠• 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Hosts with the Mosts

Hosts with the Mosts

2025-12-3049:231

JC Cassis, David Crabb and Cyndi Freeman share stories at RISK! live shows when they were hosting 🎤Live Story: Not That Casual by JC Cassis As a young woman, JC is excited to go to a wild NYE party. A hot guy dances with her as if he's a middle school boy. She says he can be more casual. He takes out his dick and grinds on her. She tells him “Not THAT casual.” 🎤Live Story: Kitchen Nightmares! by David Crabb After moving to LA, David invites new friends to try one of the few restaurants in his neighborhood open late, only to discover they’ve wandered into a real-life Kitchen Nightmares episode, the most chaotic restaurant ever.  🎤Livestream Story: Tipping Points by Cyndi Freeman Cyndi's new boyfriend seems to be a dream boat. Jealous over her getting a big tip at her new bar job, his misogyny shows. Cyndi decides to dump him, whereas in the past, she had stayed too long with toxic people.  🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved • 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ on March 17, 2026 in NYC • ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ • ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ • 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ • 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us• 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Every holiday season, RISK! fans ask about this small handful of yuletide perennial favorites. Well here they all are, wrapped up in one neat package with a bow. Unwrap and enjoy these stories from Elna Baker, Kevin Allison, Sarah Long Hendershot, and Kate Bohl. 🎤Live Story: For the Love of Nubbins by Elna Baker Selling expensive, real-looking baby dolls for the holiday season at FAO Schwartz, Elna “adopts” an unpopular one she calls Nubbins, a Black babydoll. When the doll is bought, Elna grieves. 🎤Radio Story: The Allison Family Christmas Tree by Kevin Allison Inspired by a Charlie Brown Christmas, Kevin’s dad begins a Christmas Tree procuring tradition in the early 70s that gets more complex and includes more people each year, featuring long distance travel, the Catholic Mass, and dirty diapers.  🎤Radio Story: The Present by Sarah Long Hendershot During a brutally cold winter, Sarah was a single mother with an 11-year old son, but she was out of work and on the verge of going homeless. Then a present arrived. A box filled with money. It was a fellow musician who suspected she might need it.  🎤Radio Story: Snowglobe by Kate (neé Kevin) Bohl Kate (at the time, Kevin) is locking up her bar as a blizzard begins. A beautiful young woman begs to come in for a moment to gather her bearings before figuring out how to get home. They slow dance to Billie Holiday 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved • 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ in NYC on March 17, 2026 • ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ • ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ • 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ • 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠ • 🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Holiday Stories #18

Holiday Stories #18

2025-12-2336:59

Ty Gentile, James Rana, and David Hu share yuletide tales about Christmas carols, unorthodox Santas, and of course, excretory health in our annual winter holidays special for 2025. 🎙️Radio Story: A Very Moving Christmas by David Hu David’s dad has Alzheimer’s. David always struggled to understand how to give and receive love from his immigrant father. But when he buys his dad dearly needed laxatives for Xmas, it’s a touching moment of bonding.  🎙️Radio Story: The Widow’s Song by Ty Gentile Struggling with homesickness, Ty gets a gig working as a Christmas elf in costume. He is surprised to find himself crying when an old widow breaks the tension in the crowd by breaking into song singing a Christmas carol.  🎙️Radio Story: Alternative Santa by James Rana James gets a gig as a Santa and, in spite of being dark-skinned with a Muslim surname, he takes it and likes it. Then he’s asked to do a party for Kellyanne Conway (of the Trump administration) and is conflicted. 🌈 Support RISK! & Get Involved 🎟 See RISK! live⁠ in NYC on March 17, 2026 ✍️ Pitch your story⁠ ❤️ Support us on Patreon⁠ or ⁠make a one-time PayPal donation⁠ 📚 Shop merch or the RISK! book⁠ 🎓 Take storytelling classes with us⁠🎥 Hire Kevin as a coach or get personalized videos To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Comments (252)

Reza Abdollahi

which one is the first episode of this podcast?

Oct 23rd
Reply

Tricky Gazelle

ugh never crossed his mind to eat healthy until surgery, but it's not his fault ok..

Jan 22nd
Reply

Ben Alter

I skipped through because this was incredibly boring, but this didn't seem to have any point and there was no story. I do not enjoy these "conversations" about nothing.

Jan 9th
Reply

Tricky Gazelle

TEN MINUTES OF NOTHING

Nov 29th
Reply

Tricky Gazelle

13 minutes!! we come for the stories!

Nov 19th
Reply

Tricky Gazelle

i hate these conversation stories, who wants to hear a random voice just going Yeah Hmm Yeah Mhm

Nov 13th
Reply

Tricky Gazelle

would be nice if Kevin was edited out

Oct 30th
Reply

Tricky Gazelle

uhhuh mmmmmm mmmhmmm hahaha uhhuh mmm mmhmmmmm -Kevin 😤

Sep 25th
Reply

Rachel Eh Hamilton

Is this stand-up comedy?

Sep 19th
Reply

Mona Peterson

RISK! is a phenomenal podcast that consistently delivers riveting and authentic storytelling. The way the host and guests share their personal, often raw experiences with such honesty and humor is truly inspiring. https://www.spreaker.com/episode/tips-and-tricks-for-designing-eye-catching-stickers--60803190

Aug 2nd
Reply

Dott Blackwelder

Thank you to Ellie Jackson for having the courage to share your story.

Jul 27th
Reply

Tricky Gazelle

"SHARDAY" ☹️😓

May 2nd
Reply

Naomi Marie

this was beautiful! best show yet!😭🥰

Jan 31st
Reply

Jennifer M

I grew up near Oakman, AL !!

Jun 9th
Reply

Intrograted

haven't listened yet, but reading through the comments, you'd think the fact that a LOT of them complain about the intro and a lot more simply have helpful time markers to skip it might be a bit of a hint to the host, but apparently not I guess. something to do with comedians, love, and sound of their own voices, maybe?

Jun 8th
Reply

Chaddy-Ann Newton

the story about Mrs. Blanco is one of my favorite Risk! stories of all.

May 12th
Reply

Daniel Maisonneuve

From hilarious personal anecdotes to heart wrenching dealings with trauma to cathartic experiences, these personal human stories are the most raw and honest anywhere. The Risk team showcases these stories with great respect and appreciation, the entire podcast is a class act.

Sep 22nd
Reply

Dayna Anokye

I love Melanie Hamlett so much! I had to start following her on social media and she never disappoints. can hear her stories and perspective all day

Sep 17th
Reply

Tricky Gazelle

skip 10 min

Sep 16th
Reply

bart joness

white people are F***** stupid quote from the show. Good stuff.

Aug 24th
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