Roughing It by Mortified

The best part of the podcasting boom has been the freedom to swear, end of list.  And no one is an auteur of the swearing form like a teenager in their diary.  Enter Mortified, a live event series and podcast that started in 2002 and continues to run today.  This show - made from local live events that are recorded and distributed - is part of the broader storytelling show universe.  One that existed before everyone was a storyteller.  These sort of shows are part of a clear lineage in oral histories, but also operated as one foundation of the podcast boom.  Shows like Mortified, Story Collider, The Moth, and TED Talks have all worked to teach people to listen to, rather than watch, stories.  And some stories really leap into your ear.Specifically, Mortified’s creator Dave Nadelberg remembered that Masha Tivyan’s stories always elicited a big reaction from listeners.  And you can immediately hear why.  Tivian’s story is deeply accessible to those of us on the other side of our teenage years.  Her nonstop, often nonsensical swearing, punctuates the story in a way that we now use the marimba.  The joy of the crowd is audible and an asset in these sort of shows, giving listeners an opportunity to escape the solitude of headphones.  This one isn’t for small kids, or at least it's only for the cool ones.