Speaker
Karen Crowley
Appearances over time
1 episodes
Episodes
1
Podcasts
Quotes & moments
Karen followed expected life milestones at 19 — graduating high school, getting married, and working as a grocery store cashier.
Karen was just 22 years old when she began working at the residential treatment program for adolescents in Brockton, Massachusetts.
A master's-level clinical intern froze while a teen with a knife stood on a table; Karen — with no degree — stepped in and resolved the crisis with two direct sentences.
The teen at the center of the knife crisis — Jimmy — was described as a 17-year-old with a documented propensity toward violent crime.
Diana's mother lost her architectural practice to a bomb, lost family members, and was forcibly displaced to a country where she barely spoke the language — all at age 56. Yet here she is, dancing with her head held high in suburban London.
At the tea break, strangers approach Diana's mother. Diana braces for the inevitable: three-part interrogation that follows every Syrian in post-war London. She describes the shift from blank stares to loaded questions after the war made Syria a household name.
Diana's mother is nominated for best improving student at her English college and recognized at a town hall ceremony. Diana, 31 and unsure about parenthood, discovers that parental pride isn't only for parents.
After a chaotic evening of ruined dances, Diana reaches for the flyer thinking they might think about it. Her mother grabs her hand and says: 'We're signing up now.' No debate. No hesitation. Pure determination.
Diana Thompson's mother insisted on attending the open evening of a Scottish Country Dance Society in suburban London. Neither of them could follow the steps, and every dance they joined fell apart — but mom signed up on the spot anyway.
Karen Crowley took a clerical job at a youth residential treatment program simply because it was on her husband's commute route. Within months, she had volunteered her way into counseling sessions with troubled teens — and loved every second of it.
Karen always feared someone would eventually wake up and realize she had no college degree. When she was assigned to supervise a master's-level clinical intern named Brian who drove a BMW and came from generations of educated professionals, she was certain the jig was finally up.
A 17-year-old with a history of violent crime stands on a dining table slashing at himself with a stolen steak knife. Karen's master's-degree intern steps up and begins analyzing the boy's abandonment issues. Karen realizes the intern knows what's going on — but not what to do.
When Brian's clinical framing fails to reach Jimmy, Karen steps forward and simply says what she knows to be true: 'Jimmy, what the hell are you doing?' Jimmy stops, hands over the knife, and sits down. Karen realizes she has always had the right to be there.
Host Dan Kennedy opens with a meditation on anxiety, comfort zones, and the surprising discovery that when you stand up straight, the water isn't as deep as you feared. Two first-time Moth storytellers are about to prove it.
Analysis
What they talk about
- Health & Fitness 40%
- Society & Culture 40%
- Education 20%
Connections
Shows they appear on and people they share episodes with. Drag to explore.
