Overview of The Wisdom of Elders: The Moth Radio Hour
This episode of The Moth Radio Hour (host Angelica Lindsay-Ali) collects four true personal stories that center elders—their strength, wisdom, surprising roles, and cultural importance. The hour moves between Sierra Leone, Boston, the UK, and the Navajo Nation to show how elders teach, protect, inspire resilience, and help communities survive and remember.
Stories on this episode
Ishmael Beah — “My grandmother” (Sierra Leone)
- Ishmael Beah (author of A Long Way Gone) recounts his grandmother’s fierce independence before, during, and after Sierra Leone’s civil war.
- She owned and worked her own farm, left his grandfather to live by her own rules, paddled long waterways to survive, and embodied practical strength and dignity.
- Beah was recruited as a child soldier; after years searching, he found his grandmother alive. She explained how she survived by moving to remote places and relying on traditional knowledge.
- The reunion is tender and grounding: she still remembered him as the boy she raised and refused to leave her homeland for New York.
Rose Sayer — “Miss Egan” (Boston)
- Rose describes a fourth-grade teacher who wasn’t a nun: Miss Egan noticed Rose’s disengagement and quietly insisted on connection and capability.
- Miss Egan used small, practical interventions (bringing Rose forward, getting her to grade tests, starting a tutoring club, offering art as expression), discovered Rose’s family hardship, and gave her a homemade lunch when needed.
- The story highlights the transformative power of attentive adults in children’s lives.
Charlotte Mooney — “Leslie on the A3” (UK)
- Charlotte encounters an elderly man, Leslie, walking down the middle of a busy highway with confused, repetitive stories.
- She stops, offers him water and an apple, keeps him calm through repeated, steady conversation, and drives him to the police station when they won’t locate his home.
- The interaction shows how empathy, calm presence, and small practical help can protect a vulnerable elder and prevent a tragedy.
Manuelito (Manny) Wheeler — “Navajo Star Wars” (Navajo Nation)
- Manny (director of the Navajo Nation Museum) and his wife wanted to make Navajo relevant to younger generations. They pursued an ambitious idea: translate and dub Star Wars into Navajo.
- After years of outreach to Lucasfilm and community fundraising and organizing, the project premiered to over 2,000 people at a rodeo arena. The crowd’s ecstatic response symbolized cultural revival.
- The project preserved language usage, engaged elders and youth, and led to additional Navajo-dubbed films (Finding Nemo, A Fistful of Dollars). Star Wars in Navajo is now available on Disney+.
Key themes & takeaways
- Elders are repositories of practical knowledge, dignity, and cultural continuity—often in unexpected forms (a machete-wielding farmer, a schoolteacher, a wandering neighbor, a language keeper).
- Small gestures matter: listening, providing food, steady attention, and practical help can change trajectories and preserve lives.
- Cultural survival requires creativity and community buy-in (e.g., using popular media to revitalize language).
- Reunions and intergenerational exchange heal trauma and anchor identity after displacement or violence.
Notable quotes & moments
- Grandma (Ishmael Beah): “First of all, I am not old.” (A defiant claim of agency and vitality.)
- Ishmael’s grandfather: “A man is only as good as his ability to make his woman loved all the time.”
- Miss Egan’s actions: turning disciplinary moments into openings for care—handing Rose a homemade lunch bag after learning of her family’s hardship.
- Manny at the premiere: “This is our culture. It’s living on. Now there was a new hope.”
Practical links & resources mentioned
- A Long Way Gone — Ishmael Beah (memoir referenced)
- Navajo-dubbed Star Wars — available to stream on Disney+
- Pitch your story to The Moth: themoth.org or call 877-799-MOTH
- Visit themoth.org for photos, downloads, and episode extras
Production notes & sponsors
- Host: Angelica Lindsay-Ali. Produced by The Moth and Atlantic Public Media.
- Sponsors read in the episode include Blue Apron, Alma, TurboTax, Thumbtack, and DSW.
- The episode includes additional creative music and acknowledges National Endowment for the Arts funding.
If you want a single-sentence takeaway: elders teach us how to survive, love, and keep culture alive—if we listen and act.