Can a story be true even when most of its details are false? In 2005, Malcolm told a story at the Moth about his early days as a journalist. When he was accused of falsifying the facts, he admitted he’d made a lot of them up—but he insists the story wasn’t a lie.

Host: Brian Phillips

Producers: Mike Wargon, Conor Nevins, and Vikram Patel

Sound Design: Kaya McMullen

Mixing and Mastering: Scott Somerville

You can check out Malcolm’s Moth story in full on ‘This American Life’ here: “Tough News Room.” And if you want to take a really deep dive into this episode, you can read Jack Shafer’s Slate story here: “The Fibbing Point.” But don’t click on these links until after you’ve listened to this episode—unless you love spoilers. Which would be weird, frankly. Just press play! Good grief.

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