John Moe Declares It's A 3 Kid Minimum in Minnesota

Update: 2025-10-07

Description

In this episode of Parenting Is a Joke, John Moe talks to Ophira Eisenberg about raising three kids while juggling multiple jobs in public radio, writing, and podcasting. He recalls his parents’ Norwegian roots, including summers spent above the Arctic Circle and the bone-dry humor of his father, whose jokes sometimes landed days later. Comedy became the family’s shared language, even as emotional expression was stifled at home, and Moe admits he often repeats phrases from his parents—like telling his kids to “snap out of it”—despite his professional focus on mental health. He describes how having a third child “broke” him in a liberating way, leading to their move from Seattle to Minnesota, where three-kid families felt more culturally normal. The conversation weaves through memories of Carol Burnett and Monty Python, misheard church greetings like “Metellina Moe,” and the difference between depression and simple misery, before circling back to Moe’s mission of making space for open conversations about mental health—work informed by losing his brother to suicide. The episode closes with Moe comparing shifting stigma around therapy to societal changes in littering and drunk driving: slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

📍October Shows are in Bozeman, MT, WI, MN, MO

and in November new Standup Special Taping at The Comedy Cellar in NY!

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Come to the Taping at the Comedy Cellar on Sun Nov 9th!

5pm: https://www.comedycellar.com/reservations-newyork/?showid=1762725600

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