Jennifer Hickson

This is the Moth Radio Hour.

I'm your host, Jennifer Hickson.

In this hour, stories about control.

Wanting it, wrestling it from the powers that be, or happily surrendering it to those more capable.

Whether it's a mighty battle for absolute command or a slight power adjustment so you maybe could just, you know, get a little sway.

The battle for control begins in childhood with your parental overlords and sometimes extends into adulthood.

which is the case with our first storyteller, Dame Wilbur.

You may recognize Dame's voice, either from her first moth main stage story, where she attempts to take control by lifting a curse.

Highly recommend that one.

Or maybe you'll recognize her as one of the guest hosts on our radio hour and podcast.

If you know Dame, you know that she rarely follows the rules.

Dame is a rebel.

In this first story, we get to meet the woman who inspired the rebellion, Dame's mother.

A woman so fierce, Dame weaves a tangled web to avoid her wrath.

Live in her home city of Detroit, where we partnered with Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, here's Dame Wilburn.

That was Dame Wilburn.

I called Dame to talk about her mother and her mother's legacy, and here's some of that conversation.

Dame Wilburn talking about her mother, Mrs. Alberta Wilburn.

Dame has a set of dragon wings that would make her mother proud.

I've seen them flapping with my own eyes.