TED Audio Collective.
You're listening to how to Be a Better Human.
I'm your host, Chris Duffy.
Today's episode is all about the cringeworthy, embarrassing, mortifying moments of our lives.
For me, these are memories of a time when I did something that was so deeply awkward that even years later, it prompts like a physical reaction in my body.
Out of nowhere, when I'm thinking about it, probably in the shower or in bed, I will say out loud, oh no.
Oh baby, oh no.
This happens to me enough that my wife knows exactly what it means when I have one of these outbursts.
When it happens, she often asks, what did you just think about?
And she asks that because it is a kind of a treat for both of us.
Because despite how embarrassing those moments were in the past when I was living them, now in the present, looking back, they are often really, really, really quite funny.
And that concept that we can laugh at some of the most cringe worthy, embarrassing moments of our existence, that is the driving force behind Mortified, a hilarious podcast and live show that I could not love more.
Today's guests are Dave Natelberg and Neal Katcher.
They're the co founders of Mortified and we're going to be talking to them all about their show and what they've learned about how to laugh at instead of feel ashamed by our past selves.
I want to give you a taste of what Mortified is like, so we're going to play you a clip that actually isn't of Dave or Neil.
Instead, it is one of the performers at a Mortified live show.
They are in front of a live audience reading from their childhood diary.
And this performer, Kevin, sets up this entry by explaining that at this time when he was writing this, he had never kissed a girl, but he was very, very, very obsessed with Star Trek.
February 20th, 1991.
20th.