Overview of The Moth Radio Hour — "Truth and Consequences"
This episode of The Moth Radio Hour (host Jennifer Hickson) collects three true personal stories that explore how hidden facts, confessions, and sudden revelations reshape lives and relationships. Each storyteller confronts a truth — discovered, withheld, or finally spoken — and shows different outcomes: reconnection, legal and emotional trade‑offs, and long‑carried guilt. The pieces were recorded in different Moth venues (including a pop‑up porch in Dallas, Grand Rapids, and the Somerville Theatre in Boston) and center on family, identity, justice, and the costs and relief of telling the truth.
Stories and short summaries
Brad Ewell — DNA surprises, adoption, and reunion (told in Dallas; later developed on a mainstage)
- In 2019 Brad, a 48‑year‑old police officer and family man, receives a text that suggests he might be the child mentioned in an AncestryDNA match.
- He confronts his parents and learns he was adopted; his birth mother had died 19 years earlier and his biological father had been imprisoned at Louisiana’s Angola State Penitentiary for 50 years for murder.
- Brad researches the case, meets his biological father (“Pop”) in prison, and forms an unexpected bond through visits, emails, and video during COVID restrictions.
- State legislative changes eventually make Pop eligible for parole. After an emotional unanimous parole board vote, Brad greets him outside the prison — a major life moment.
- Post‑release: Brad retired from policing in 2024 to pursue art and photography and serves on the nonprofit Right to Know, which supports people who learn surprising origins through consumer DNA tests.
Key emotional beats: identity shock → investigation → prison visit → relationship-building → parole and reunion.
Gabby Fernandez‑Sanchez — Immigration, separation, and a wedding reunion (told in Grand Rapids)
- At 15, Gabby fled Venezuela with her family after violent incidents; her mother received a work visa for the U.S. that covered Gabby and her brother as minors, but not her father, a Spaniard.
- During an immigration re‑entry, Gabby unknowingly confirms to airport authorities that her father had been working for money in the U.S.; he’s detained and returned to Spain and then barred from re‑entry for 10 years.
- The family faces impossible choices: leave and lose legal status or stay and be separated. Gabby and her father grow apart; her parents divorce.
- Years later, Gabby becomes a U.S. citizen, pursues theater, marries, and fights to bring her father to the U.S. for her wedding. With legal help and persistence, he gets a 10‑year tourist visa and finally walks her down the aisle after 17 years apart.
- Themes: the human cost of immigration law, resilience, and reuniting through insistence and love.
Key emotional beats: forced separation → painful legal limits → long-distance rebuilding → determined legal advocacy → family reunion at wedding.
Harold Cox — Childhood truth and lifelong guilt (told in Somerville, Boston)
- Harold recounts being a dramatic child who repeatedly feigned fainting to avoid school, church, tests, and sports.
- At 12 he secretly tries to drive his father’s new car, crashes it into the garage, and concocts a story — plus a faint — to avoid punishment.
- His parents never discuss the incident; instead they respond with silence and medical testing for his "condition." Harold keeps faking fainting for years.
- Decades later, the silence has become guilt. At 72 he finally confesses onstage: he wrecked the car and faked the illness.
- Theme: the corrosive power of silence and the freeing, if belated, relief of confession.
Key emotional beats: childhood mischief → coverup and family silence → long‑term guilt → public confession.
Main themes and takeaways
- Truth can be liberating but also complicated — revealing a truth can heal (Brad, Gabby) or expose painful consequences (Gabby, Harold).
- Silence as a family strategy can produce long‑lasting guilt and fractured communication.
- Reconciliation often requires institutional change, legal persistence, or both (parole reform for Brad’s father; visa/legal maneuvering for Gabby’s father).
- People can hold multiple family roles at once: adoptive parents remain parents; reunion doesn’t erase the life lived apart.
- Small acts (emails, weekly video calls, legal advocacy, showing up) accumulate into meaningful change.
Notable quotes
- “If you tell the truth, the truth will set you free.” — Harold’s father; the line drives Harold’s story and its ironic outcome.
- “I love you too, pop.” — Brad’s first reciprocity of love with his biological father, a turning point in their relationship.
- “We were made out of love.” — Gabby, reflecting on the family reunion after years apart.
Context, production, and follow‑ups
- Host: Jennifer Hickson. Produced by Atlantic Public Media and The Moth; music by The Drift (plus other contributors).
- Photos and downloads: themoth.org hosts photos of the storytellers and their families and offers the full audio.
- Brad Ewell: now an artist/photographer, board member at Right to Know (advocates for people who had DNA surprises).
- Gabby Fernandez‑Sanchez: founder/director of Front Yard Theater Collective; teaches improv; Miami Moth Story Slam host.
- Harold Cox: university professor in Boston; hasn’t pretended to faint since childhood.
Actions & resources
- Listen to or download the full episode and stories at themoth.org.
- Pitch a story to The Moth: record a two‑minute pitch on their site or call 877‑799‑MOTH (877‑799‑6684).
- Learn more about DNA surprises and reform via Right to Know (linked on themoth.org in Brad’s story page).
This episode centers on how revealing and confronting truth reshapes identity, relationships, and life paths — sometimes immediately freeing, sometimes slow to heal, but always consequential.