Family Secrets

A Skirt Caught on Fire

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

In our extraordinary season finale, Mary Afsari shows us how our unknowable pasts—the tragedies, traumas, and truths—can shape a future and change a life. Many lives, in fact.

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I Think You Should Stop Talking

Thu, 02 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

When Emily returns from a family trip, she tells people she has a “crazy story” but it’s more than that. It’s always more than that.

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Have You Seen Her?

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Casey’s biological mother doesn’t want to be found. But still, Casey seeks to find her. Needs to. And when she does, a deluge of truth pours forth.

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Have You Ever Seen a Body Like This?

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Tom’s father takes up all the oxygen in the room with a presence that's larger than life. Larger, in fact, than the many lives he keeps hidden from his wife and children. Tom must reckon with this legacy as he sets out to forge his own.

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Making Yourself Up

Thu, 11 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

For most of her life, Darcy’s identity is a mystery. Who’s her mother? Who’s her father? And who, in the end, is she?

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We Heard Everything

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

A childhood rife with political upheavel, violence and loss. An adulthood overtaken by distrust and manipulation. And then, finally, the truest friend and companion -- a Jack Russell terrier named Coco--helps Fatima break free and discover the joy that awaits her.

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Nobody Liked Their Nickname

Thu, 28 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

When tragedy befalls Laurie’s crowded family, she and her eight remaining siblings—and their deeply detached and peculiar parents—must navigate the unthinkable. And too, the unsayable—because in this haunted home, nothing is said at all.

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Hijacked

Thu, 21 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

First: a hidden sibling. Then: an unbelievably harrowing hostage situation. As Mimi moves through life, she must confront the scarring secrets stacked against her.

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Mrs. America

Thu, 14 May 2026 14:11:54 +0000

Growing up, Jackie is a self-described “girl’s girl” in family full of women - surrounded by her sister, mother, and several loving aunts. But a generational secret has been kept, and Jackie will slowly learn that she is deeply impacted by this secret and the silence surrounding it — one that shapes her life from the inside out.

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Strangers

Thu, 07 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

A seemingly perfect marriage—a whole life—shatters overnight when Belle discovers her husband’s betrayal and uncovers the silences and stories that have come to define her. As everything collapses, she must decide whether to protect the narrative she’s been handed or finally confront the truth.

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Coming Soon: Family Secrets Season 14

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Join us for a new season of Family Secrets. We're back with 10 new stories starting May 7th.

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A Thank You From Dani for Season 13

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

A message from Dani, with an update on the next season of Family Secrets.

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Homeschooled

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

After being coerced into homeschool by a mother whose love threatens to consume him, Stefan must confront how an isolated childhood shrouded in secrecy will shape his life.

Stefan Merrill Block's memoir is titled Homeschooled.

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Should We Do This?

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Marion and Tony are madly, deeply in love. But there are obstacles to their relationship, namely Tony’s sexual preference. When Tony loses his life to AIDS, Marion discovers just how many obstacles there really were.

This year is the 30th Anniversary of Marion Winik's memoir, First Comes Love.

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The Mixed Marriage Project

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

In his locked study, Dorothy’s father works on his book. For years. And years. And years. But it’s not until after his death that Dorothy uncovers the secrets in between its unfinished pages.

Dorothy Roberts is the author of The Mixed Marriage Project: A Memoir of Love, Race, and Family.

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90 Miles

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Karen vanishes with her children to escape a violent marriage, erasing a life in order to save it. But eventually, when it’s safe—if it’s safe—she must come out of hiding.

Karen Palmer's book, She's Under Here, is out now.

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All Without Telling Me

Thu, 25 Dec 2025 12:00:00 +0000

In 1998, long before Dani discovered the truth of her biological paternity, she published a story called “The Secret Wife” about the discovery of her father’s second wife, a secret marriage that had been hidden for decades. Today, she reads and reflects on this story—the uncovering of the silent grief and buried histories that shaped her.

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The Guy Who Knew a Guy

Thu, 18 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

When Francesca sets out to understand her father’s past, she is faced with a world of crime, silence, and denial. But it’s not just his past she must reckon with; it’s her present, her inheritance of a story no one wanted to tell.

Francesca Fontana is the author of The Family Snitch.

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Tangled Up in Blue

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Sam grows up without knowing his biological father. As he enters adolescence, he begins to resemble Bob Dylan. A lot. So when Sam learns his mother had a brief relationship with Dylan in the 70s, the cascade of questions begins to flow.

Sam Sussman's book, Boy from the North Country, is out now.

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Baby X

Thu, 04 Dec 2025 11:00:00 +0000

After centuries of ancestral trauma, Julian must listen closely to the stories of his family —stories of survival, memory, myth and generations of erasure—in order to discover the story of himself.

Julian Brave NoiseCat's book, We Survived the Night, is out now.

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They Weren’t Into Consequences

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

When Amanda’s parents’ eccentricities take a dark turn toward hoarding, scheming, and secret-keeping, the walls begin to literally close in on her. As the chaos and deceit grows in volume around her, she must figure out how to escape.

Amanda Uhle's book is titled Destroy This House.

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In The Backseat of My Body

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

When Kate begins to recover haunting memories, she must confront a family history shaped by silence and generational harm. What follows is her quest to piece together the truth and reclaim a stolen childhood.

Kate Price's book, This Happened to Me: A Reckoning, is out now.

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Acting on Top of Acting

Thu, 13 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Ari’el has spent his life playing characters, trying on different identities. But at a certain point he must discover who—beneath all these competing selves—he truly is.

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New Season! Coming Soon!

Thu, 06 Nov 2025 11:00:00 +0000

Thursday, November 13th. New Secrets. New Stories. New Season. Join us next week for our thirteenth launch!

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Bonus: Dani and Gretchen Rubin

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 14:29:24 +0000

Author and podcaster Gretchen Rubin joins Dani to talk about aphorisms and family secrets.

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A Word from Dani

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Updates, Workshops, and Special Guests!

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There’s a Storm Coming

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 09:00:00 +0000

A ninety-year old father and his youngest daughter come together to unpack a secret that altered—and ultimately made sense of— the shape of each of their lives.

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Which Circle Are You In?

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000

Not every member of a family is told the same story. Elissa wrestles with the necessity of claiming her voice, even as telling her own singular truth may exact a painful price.

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Who’s the Girlfriend?

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 09:00:00 +0000

A box of letters. A hidden life. A history rewritten. Susan must reckon with how to move forward—how to be a daughter, a sister, a mother—after so much staggering change.

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Truth or Consequences

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:00:00 +0000

As E.A. takes to the road on a route once taken with her mother, she must confront the stories we inherit, the ones we choose to tell, and the one’s we don’t.

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It Feels Like Blood

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 09:00:00 +0000

What does it mean to be a family of one? Steven examines his search for belonging in the wake of disappearance, loss, and profound mystery.

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The Rage Didn’t End Until the Mystery Did

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Marian’s body knows something her brain does not. It takes years before she finally has the language to define herself. To be herself.

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Defensive Wounds

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Erin grows up in and around violence and anger. But nothing could have prepared her for the tragic discovery she makes at age twenty-seven.

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The Perfect Happy Family

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Through the dual lens of a devoted sister and parent, Julie explores the emotional terrain of family illness and secrecy, puzzling over how she can care for others without losing herself entirely.

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Just Like an Arrow

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 09:00:00 +0000

As Sarah navigates the world as an artist and writer, she must confront the genetic history—its myriad patterns and traumas—at the heart of her story, her very self.

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I’m The Man You’re Looking For

Thu, 29 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

Brando’s father is an American Indian incarcerated political activist. Or is he? His mother tells a lot of stories. It’s almost impossible to know what’s true and what isn’t.

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Family Secrets: Season 12 Trailer

Thu, 22 May 2025 09:00:00 +0000

We're back with a new season of extraordinary stories. Join us next Thursday, My 29th for the premiere of Family Secrets Season 12.

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A 2025 Update From Dani

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 21:29:25 +0000

Catching up with our Family Secrets family.

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I Got a Lion

Thu, 09 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

Griffin grew up in a family whose illustrious life defined them. But beneath their fame were the secrets that shaped his world.

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I Thought I Was Telling the Truth

Thu, 02 Jan 2025 08:00:00 +0000

At the age of sixteen, Jill began a relationship that lasted most of her life with her much-older professor. Twenty-five years ago, she wrote a memoir. But with time comes new memories, new clarity. She’s realized something: it's time to tell the story again, and differently.

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We’ve Met Once Before

Thu, 26 Dec 2024 08:00:00 +0000

In her quest for answers about her biological mother in South Korea, Tracy finds more—and in some ways, less—than what she’s bargained for.

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The Sky Didn't Fall

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 08:00:00 +0000

When Sacha looks back to her childhood, she sees the branches of a gnarled and tangled family tree. But through art, reflection, storytelling – and just the right therapy – she finally begins to pry the pieces apart.

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An Active Annihilation

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Growing up in Ahmedabad, one of India’s fastest-growing cities in the early 2000s, Zara’s world ignited –both literally and figuratively.

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Let’s Go Into the Woods

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 08:00:00 +0000

When Garth was growing up, he managed to hide his struggles from his parents. But when Garth becomes a parent himself, he must decide when—and if, at all—to come out of hiding.

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The Sunshine

Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Nabil’s dad is not exactly in the picture when he grows up. But he is in other pictures, many in fact. He’s a famous jazz musician and throughout most of Nabil’s life, he’s only a stone’s throw—and yet, a world—away.

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I Was Told Not to Tell Anyone

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

After years of keeping her abortion a secret, Honor discovers the power of telling.

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The Two Names

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

What’s in a name? And what’s not? With a splintered identity and a voracious hunger for truth, David travels far and wide for answers.

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Love, Mommy Dearest

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Two fires. Two Anitas. Countless questions. In order to understand her mother—and herself—Nina must reckon with a difficult and diffuse past.

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Family Secrets: Season 11 Trailer

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Season 11 of Family Secrets premieres next Thursday, November 7th.

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New Season and Workshop!

Thu, 24 Oct 2024 13:05:03 +0000

Dani updates the Family Secrets family about our Season 11 launch and an upcoming workshop at Kripalu Center.

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Dani Recommends: You Probably Think This Story’s About You

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Hi Family Secrets family, this week we're bringing you a podcast we think you'll enjoy: You Probably Think This Story's About You. Dani also gives an update on the release date for the next season of Family Secrets.

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A Thank You From Dani

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Dani shares an update with the Family Secrets family at the end of our tenth season.

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I Was 758

Thu, 08 Aug 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Susannah was 758; that was her identifying number as a research subject in an academic study—and a psychological experiment— that spanned thirty years of her life. In adulthood, Susannah can finally uncover the myriad secrets woven into her life under the microscope.

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Hey Dad, Who Was That at the Door?

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 07:00:00 +0000

It’s not until well into Darren’s adulthood that he discovers the truth of his father’s secret past. And what does he do with his father’s secrets? He keeps them. But only for a while.

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A Phantom Glamour

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

David’s mother is a fantasist with a secret. But hers is the kind of strange secret that’s out in the open…sort of. As David grows up, he finds the intersection between drama and comedy in this tangled history.

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No, The Kids Were Not All Right

Thu, 18 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

The cult is a secret to most people she knows. Her very identity is a secret to most people she knows. But at a certain point, Lauren needs to be herself. She needs to tell her story and corroborate it. She needs to set herself free.

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Candy Bones

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Reed grew up with a camera in his hand. At first, the videos he made with his brothers were just for fun. But when their mom goes missing, the boys embark on a cinematic journey to solve the complex mystery of their mom’s disappearance.

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A Lightning Bolt of Desire

Thu, 04 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000

When Molly’s secret longings and buried desires become the basis of her marriage, she must decide how—and how much—to disclose. To her husband, her children, and herself.

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This Didn’t Have to Be a Secret

Thu, 27 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Deep in Dina’s family lore is a story of a fire; someone burned a house down. But who? And why? After a lifetime of wondering, Dina finally hunts down the truth.

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Dear Sister

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000

When Michelle gets a knock on her door one day in 2017, her life—and the lives of her loved ones—will be forever changed. What she learns that day will send her and her beloved sister down a harrowing and unforeseen path.

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Code Blue Cafeteria

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Barrett and his wife Jane are both oncologists – they share a social world, a professional world, and a rich life together. But one thing is not shared—a secret that’s as heartbreaking as it is cataclysmic.

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I Dug it Up

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Growing up, Whit was extremely close with her mother. But when she becomes pregnant in her twenties, her mother extracts herself entirely; she spends the rest of her life pretending as if Whit simply does not exist. Why? To answer this burning question, Whit must dig and dig and dig.

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Family Secrets: Season 10 Trailer

Thu, 30 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the 10th season of Family Secrets. Join us starting June 6th for new stories about identity, connection, and how we all long for the truth.

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A Message from Dani

Thu, 14 Mar 2024 07:00:00 +0000

Season 10 will launch in June; in the meantime, here’s an update on all things Family Secrets, some of which hit quite close to home.

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A Virtuosic Patient

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Alice’s upbringing is one of simultaneous excess and absence, and in the deep canyon between the two, she loses herself entirely. In order to finally find herself and heal, she must confront the complicated truths and lies told by her artist parents.

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An Answer to the Offness

Thu, 04 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0000

Maggie made a life for herself as a successful poet, wife, and proud mother of two. But after years of marriage, she sensed something to be terribly off. When her intuition led to a painful discovery, she could finally claim her truth and grow.

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You Belong to the Mystery

Thu, 28 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Her paternity. Her health. Her very self. For many years, these are all mysteries to Kimberly. As she reckons with this myriad of unknowns, she learns more than she ever expected to know.

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The Self I Could Have Been

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000

In his journey toward self-discovery, Shane must reconstruct his past by cobbling together memories of his kidnapping, upbringing, and the enormous swell of questions which once defined his identity.

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This Was All Supposed to be Secret

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Susan takes great lengths and risks to get answers about her biological family. But sometimes, in the world of family secrets, these kinds of answers beget more questions.

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As Bad As a Lie

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Brittany’s early life is defined by the road; she and her mom are vagabonds of sorts, never settling for too long in one place. But at least they have each other. That is, until they don’t.

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Sail On

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 08:00:00 +0000

When Sarah is a young child, her parents vanish at sea. They are never found. How does she mourn what she cannot remember?

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Because of William

Thu, 23 Nov 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Daniel grows up idolizing William, his friend and future brother-in-law. William is adventurous, effervescent and inspiring. But William has other attributes, too—secrets locked inside himself and when they come out, Daniel’s world unravels.

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A Holiday Message from Dani

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving to our Family Secrets family.

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How Long the Dying Went On

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 08:00:00 +0000

It started with a wreck – a car accident steeped in the history of Cassandra’s family. When she learns about the accident and the secrets it bore, she can at last begin to understand who she is, and who she will become.

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Hall of Mirrors

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Nobody thinks they’re joining a cult. Certainly not the children who are born into it. When, over time, Mikel learns the truths about his childhood, a whole world of information can finally crystalize.

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Family Secrets: Season 9 Trailer

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Join us on November 9th for new stories of resilience, memory, and the way in which long-held family secrets so often need out.

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Bonus: A Conversation with Dr. Ruth Faden

Thu, 19 Oct 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Today’s Great Minds bonus episode features scholar of bioethics and founder of The John Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Dr. Ruth Faden. She and Dani take a deep dive into the thematic waters of a powerful family secrets story from our second season.

Take a listen to 'The Loving Choice' here.

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Prepare for Our Next Great Mind!

Thu, 12 Oct 2023 21:48:24 +0000

Tune in next week for our next Great Minds bonus conversation with renowned scientist, academic, and founder of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, Ruth Faden. We’ll be speaking about an unforgettable family secrets story from our second season. Take a listen to that episode in advance here!

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Bonus: A Conversation with Kris Carr

Thu, 05 Oct 2023 07:00:00 +0000

For this week’s Great Minds bonus episode, Dani sits down with bestselling author Kris Carr to explore the moving themes and meanings woven into a Family Secrets story from Season 6.

Listen to Trent Preszler’s episode, ’Taxidermied Duck’ here.

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Get Ready for Another Great Minds Conversation!

Thu, 28 Sep 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Next week’s bonus conversation is with bestselling author and wellness leader, Kris Carr. We’ll be unpacking a moving and memorable Family Secrets episode from Season 6. Take a listen to that episode in advance!

Listen to Trent Preszler’s episode, 'Taxidermied Duck' here.

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Bonus: A Conversation with Dr. Mark Epstein

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 07:00:00 +0000

As part of this special bonus series, Dani and great mind Dr. Mark Epstein explore the powerful themes that underscore a memorable Family Secrets story from our third season.

Listen to David Kacyznski's episode, 'What's Wrong With Teddy?' here.

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Get Ahead of Our Next Conversation with Great Minds!

Thu, 14 Sep 2023 07:00:00 +0000

Next week’s bonus conversation is with one of our favorite writers and thinkers, about an unusual and unforgettable Family Secrets episode. Listeners are encouraged to revisit the past episode in advance!

Listen to David Kacyznski's episode, 'What's Wrong With Teddy?' here.

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Bonus: A New Conversation with Dr. Galit Atlas

Thu, 07 Sep 2023 07:00:00 +0000

In the first episode of this special bonus series, Dani and great mind Dr. Galit Atlas unpack the themes presented in a memorable Family Secrets story from our third season.

Listen to Adam Frankel's episode, 'Bubbe and Zayde and Grandma and Pa' here.

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Exciting News!

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 16:10:41 +0000

Dani announces a new bonus series of conversations with great minds coming soon!

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Bonus: A New Conversation with Jennifer Senior

Thu, 17 Aug 2023 15:01:17 +0000

In this bonus episode, Dani sits down with Pulitzer Prize Winning Writer Jennifer Senior about her latest cover story in The Atlantic - ‘Those We Sent Away’ - which explores her own family secret.

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A Message from Dani

Thu, 13 Jul 2023 21:51:34 +0000

As we prepare for Season Nine, Dani pauses to say hello to our Family Secrets family.

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You Can Run

Thu, 06 Jul 2023 06:17:20 +0000

In the second part of this inspiring two-part episode, writer and musician Jessica Willis Fisher finishes her powerful story of survival.

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Total Depravity

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 10:00:00 +0000

In the first part of this harrowing two-part episode, writer and musician Jessica Willis Fisher courageously speaks the unspeakable truths of the abuse she faced at the hands of her father. But this is just the beginning.

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Daddy Will Never Read Vogue

Thu, 22 Jun 2023 10:00:00 +0000

From the outside, Priscilla’s family life looks dazzling. Her parents are both revered in the literary community and she and her sister grow up in an artistic home. But things change when their parents decide to do something they said they never would: they divorce. After this, their father’s hidden life begins to rise to the surface.

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The 11:11 Wish

Thu, 15 Jun 2023 14:55:35 +0000

Kyleigh and her older sister Kait couldn’t be closer. They lean on one another all throughout childhood. But at a certain point, Kait’s mental health begins to fray and with it, so does Kyleigh’s grip on her relationship with her beloved sister. When Kait disappears, Kyleigh is left to grapple with incredible loss and the painful reality of questions that can never be answered.

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World Class Liars

Thu, 08 Jun 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Letty’s life is laced with “shanda”—the Yiddish word for shame or disgrace. And the shanda is not hers alone; it stretches back and through many generations of suppression, secrecy, and the enormous heft of overcoming stigma and breaking the cycle for once and for all.

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Letter of Extenuating Circumstances

Thu, 01 Jun 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Emi is a brilliant child caught in the storms of the adults around her. As such, her own troubles begin to brew and her secrets compound. From foster care to homelessness to an Ivy League education and robust career, Emi’s trajectory is an extraordinary lesson in what is possible when resilience wins the day.

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How Are You Weird in the World?

Thu, 25 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Allison knows something is fundamentally different about her. She looks different and she feels different from the other girls in school. But when her parents refuse to acknowledge just how different she is, it becomes harder and harder for her to reckon with who she is, and who she wants to become.

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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Thu, 18 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Forever punctuated by shame, secrecy, and danger, Isaac's search to know himself has always been a precarious journey. But as he walks the rocky road toward self-acceptance, he must reconcile his need to be both strong and vulnerable.

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The Family Business

Thu, 11 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000

From a very young age, Sophia is taught to deflect when people ask questions. Her parents teach her this lesson, and they tell her to keep a low profile as an American living abroad. When she finds a letter she’s not supposed to read, she learns what her parents do for a living – and that changes everything.

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Telenovela

Thu, 04 May 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Growing up among conflicting cultures and customs, Carmen feels a profound sense of otherness. When her mother reveals their family secret, Carmen’s conflicts deepen and the puzzle pieces of her identity scatter before eventually— they finally snap into place.

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Family Secrets: Season 8 Trailer

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Join us starting May 4th for 10 new stories of tenacity, resilience, and the profoundly necessary excavation of long-held family secrets.

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Bonus: Dani's Family Secret

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 10:00:00 +0000

In this special bonus episode, the tables are turned as veteran journalist and podcast host Kimi Culp interviews Dani about her own family history and the secret at its core.

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Bonus: The Secrets Hotline

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 10:00:00 +0000

Stories from our friends at The Secrets Hotline Podcast, hosted by Nick van der Kolk.

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In Conversation with Dr. Gabor Maté

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 10:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode, Dani speaks with renowned physician and author Dr. Gabor Maté about his new book,The Myth of Normal, and the ways in which we can begin to heal from our wounds and traumas.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 8

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 11:00:00 +0000

In this bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.

Mark your calendars for the launch of season 8 on May 4th.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 7

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 14:00:00 +0000

In this bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.

Mark your calendars for the launch of season 8 on May 4th.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanksgiving Message from Dani

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Dani shares a message this Thanksgiving with the Family Secrets community.

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Trastiendas

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 10:00:00 +0000

When Judy receives a thick envelope from her father—presumably including answers to long kept secrets about his identity and past—he instructs her to burn it before opening. Despite her plaguing curiosity, she follows her father’s wishes. But later in her life, she seeks answers. What was in that envelope? And who was her father, really?

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Prisoner of History

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000

As Tad reckons with the choices he’s made in his relationships—most prominently, in his marriage—he must confront the choices made by his father, too. And his grandmother. In uncovering staggering truths, he finds his own struggles with intimacy are part of a long string of inherited secrecy.

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A Special Episode from our friends at All the Wiser Podcast

Mon, 24 Oct 2022 19:03:37 +0000

Meyli Chapin shares her story and discusses PTSD with host Kimi Culp.

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Palais de Triomphe

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Fraidy is raised in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community where she is forced to follow many conventions including an arranged marriage in her teens. After enduring emotional and physical abuse, Fraidy is determined to figure out a way to save herself, her children, and many, many others.

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Going There

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000

We all know—or think we know—the wonderful journalist, news anchor, and bestselling author, Katie Couric. But behind and beyond her camera-ready exterior is the interior world of a very real individual— a daughter, sister, wife, and mother navigating the complexities of a public life.

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The Depression Book

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 10:00:00 +0000

After Mark’s divorce, he cannot eat or sleep or function. Hesitant to pathologize these feelings, he finally acknowledges the clinical magnitude of his condition. But even after accepting that he’s suffering from depression, he keeps it under wraps; he runs a residential treatment center for homeless teens where he feels he must keep up appearances.

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Exclusive: An Audio Preview of Dani's Forthcoming Novel!

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 13:25:48 +0000

The opening chapter of SIGNAL FIRES is shared here, in Dani's voice, for the very first time.

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Somebody’s Daughter

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Ashley’s father is imprisoned when she’s eight months old. She has no real context for him until she visits him for the first time, when she’s seven. They forge as best a relationship they can, writing letters, and talking on the phone. It’s not until she’s fourteen when she discovers why he’s in jail. What she learns is shattering and confirms to her that the world is not always a safe place.

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The Best Family Ever

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0000

From a harrowing, unstable childhood, Venus perseveres and creates an ideal life for herself—with an exuberant husband and a gaggle of amazing kids. But harrowing returns for her when she learns the dark truths—and lies—about her husband.

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The Destroyed Palace

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Growing up, Rich doesn’t know much about his family, save for the singular fact that his mother came to the US from Haiti when she was thirteen. But in 2010, when the worst recorded earthquake in the Western hemisphere’s history hits Haiti, Rich is met with a series of life-altering discoveries about his family’s past.

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The World of Dogs

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Chloe is an only child, but she’s not entirely alone. She has dogs. Meaningful, magical, ever-supportive dogs. With reserved parents and a habit of hiding her feelings, Chloe retreats deeply into her canine world, and the search to find herself, and free herself, takes years.

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The Baby on the Boat

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Putsata was an infant when she and her family fled from war-torn Cambodia on an escape boat. When the captain saw that baby Putsata was ill, he suggested that her mother—Ma—throw her overboard. Ma couldn’t do this; she believed her baby would get better, and sure enough she did. Putsata grows up feeling indebted to Ma for saving her life. The weight of this debt gets heavier and heavier over time, causing Put to bury large and important parts of her true self.

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Family Secrets: Season 7 Trailer

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 10:00:00 +0000

Welcome to the new season of Family Secrets, premiering September 1st.

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In Conversation with Professor Michael Slepian

Thu, 07 Jul 2022 15:49:54 +0000

In this bonus episode, Dani speaks with professor and author Michael Slepian about the psychology of secret keeping and his new book The Secret Life of Secrets: How Our Inner Worlds Shape Well-Being, Relationships, and Who We Are.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: In Conversation with Galit Atlas

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 16:43:15 +0000

In this bonus episode, Dani speaks with psychoanalyst and author Dr. Galit Atlas about her new book Emotional Inheritance and the role of secrecy in families—all families.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Our Conversation with 2022 Pulitzer Prize Winning Writer Jennifer Senior

Thu, 12 May 2022 10:00:00 +0000

In this replay bonus episode, Dani speaks with writer Jennifer Senior about her cover story ‘What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind’ for the September 2021 issue of The Atlantic.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Stories You Want to Hear

Thu, 28 Apr 2022 13:59:32 +0000

Tell us what stories you'd like to hear at 1-888-SECRET-0.

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Bonus: Dani and Nora

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 14:17:42 +0000

Dani sits down with her friend and fellow podcaster Nora McInerney for a deep dive into her own family secrets.

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Family Secrets Mixtape: A Treat from Hark Audio

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Dani recalls some of her favorite Family Secrets moments in this special bonus episode put together by Hark. Watch for more bonus content as we continue work on the next season.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can We Just Go Get Her?

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 11:00:00 +0000

When Zoe Shaw becomes pregnant at fifteen years old, her life is thrown into orbit. Not only must she conceal her pregnancy from her family and community, but too, her future will be forever informed by the secret at the core of her adolescence.

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Mermaid Manor

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Liz Scheier’s mother is eccentric at best, and violent at worst. In the grips of mental illness, she keeps secrets and tells lies. It isn’t until Liz turns eighteen, when her mother finally divulges hidden truths about her past. Decades later, Liz is still trying to piece together the myriad levels of deception.

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Circle Yes or No

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 11:00:00 +0000

In 1988, Margaret Kimball is four years old and her mother attempts suicide; this is just one of several family secrets. As Margaret searches for answers nearly thirty years later, she mines through old diary entries, hospital records, home videos, and other archives to piece together a narrative map of her childhood in an attempt to understand the unspoken familial fractures.

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Yellow Legal Notepad

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Beneath Justine’s mother’s polished façade lay a fearsome rage that drives Justine to flee from home. After her mother dies, Justine uncovers an envelope revealing the mystery of her mother’s character, and a telling history that stretches back to the early years of World War II and beyond.

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Escape Velocity

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Just as Adam approaches an exciting apex in his career, he receives life-shattering news which stems from a deep and painful family secret.

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Tarof

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Michelle grapples with the memory of her sexual assault and home invasion that occurred during her college years. Twenty years later, after a career of working with victims like herself, Michelle endeavors to find out what happened to her case and why she never heard from the police again.

Warning: this episode contains discussion of sexual assault. Listener discretion is advised.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The 5:00 AM Call

Thu, 30 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Actress Maddie Corman is driving at 5:00 am to a TV soundstage to film a television show when she gets a panicked call from her children; police are at their home, seizing their father’s computer. Maddie’s husband Jace Alexander has a dark secret, now coming to light.

Warning: this episode contains discussion of child sexual abuse. Listener discretion is advised.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taxidermied Duck

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 07:20:00 +0000

After years of estrangement and hiding his true self, Trent loses his father. His inheritance is a puzzling combination of his father’s beat-up wooden toolbox and a taxidermy duck. In his grief, Trent decides to use his father’s tools to build a wooden canoe and in doing so, he confronts and uncovers his father’s secret history, and reconciles his own.

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Nom du Père

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Sherry Turkle grows up surrounded by mysteries—her own identity included. Her mother is full of unknowns, especially when it comes to her relationship with Sherry’s elusive and absent scientist father…whose science experiments were nothing short of unsettling.

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Wind Beneath My Wings

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Qian Julie Wang is just seven years old when her family arrives in America in 1994, and her whole world changes. Impoverished, isolated, and considered “illegal”, the Wangs must keep their immigration status — among other family truths — concealed.

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Family Secrets: Season 6 Trailer

Thu, 02 Dec 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Inside every secret is a truth. And you know what they say: the truth will set us free. Season 6 of Family Secrets launches Thursday, December 9th.

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Bonus: A Thanksgiving Message from Dani

Thu, 25 Nov 2021 11:00:00 +0000

Dani gives her thanks to the Family Secrets community this holiday. Be sure to tune in to season 6 on December 9th.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 6

Thu, 14 Oct 2021 13:00:00 +0000

In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 5

Thu, 30 Sep 2021 13:00:00 +0000

In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 4

Thu, 09 Sep 2021 22:26:00 +0000

In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: In Conversation with Jennifer Senior

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 13:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode, Dani speaks with writer Jennifer Senior about her cover story ‘What Bobby McIlvaine Left Behind’ for the September 2021 issue of The Atlantic.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 3

Thu, 19 Aug 2021 13:00:00 +0000

In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Dani’s Listening, Episode 2

Thu, 05 Aug 2021 13:00:00 +0000

In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Dani's Listening, Episode 1

Thu, 22 Jul 2021 13:00:00 +0000

In this new bonus series, “Dani’s Listening”, Dani connects with listeners by responding to those who’ve called in to share their family secrets.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: What You Don't Know Won't Hurt You?

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 14:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode, Dani sits down for a conversation with Kelly Corrigan for her podcast, Kelly Corrigan Wonders.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Update: Dani's Listening

Mon, 14 Jun 2021 19:45:00 +0000

An exciting update from Dani on upcoming Family Secrets bonus content.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Local Intelligentsia

Thu, 03 Jun 2021 15:50:20 +0000

Graphic memoirist Alison Bechdel had a complicated relationship with her father, who hid his sexuality from just about everyone in their small Pennsylvania town. When she came out in college, it finally seemed like they’d get the opportunity to bond over the truth of their identities—until a tragic event cut that connection short.

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The Blue Chair

Thu, 27 May 2021 14:09:17 +0000

Nadia Owusu always worshipped her father, and his death when she was just 13 turned her world upside down. Fifteen years later, a bitter argument with her stepmother creates a brand new fault line in her life, leaving Nadia wondering if she ever really knew her father at all.

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Secret Garden

Thu, 20 May 2021 13:55:47 +0000

As a kid, Liza Rodman spent her summers in Provincetown, trying her best to stay out of her volatile mother’s way. Her favorite escape: running errands with family friend Tony, who soon became her de facto babysitter. One summer, Tony stopped coming around—something Liza didn’t question, until decades later, when she learned that there was something sinister hiding beneath Tony’s gentle demeanor.

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Fainting Goat Syndrome

Thu, 13 May 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Nicole Georges never knew her father. From the time she was little, she was told he died when she was just an infant—of colon cancer, her mom said. But after getting a strange palm reading in her early 20s, Nicole realizes there may be more to the story. Not knowing how to approach her mother about it, Nicole—like so many other Americans dealing with personal crises—calls up a familiar, and controversial, source of advice on family matters: Dr. Laura Schlessinger.

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My Lolita

Thu, 06 May 2021 13:00:00 +0000

At just 17 years old, Alisson Wood began a dangerous entanglement with a creative writing teacher at her school, who gifted her a copy of Nabokov’s Lolita. To hear “Mr. North” tell it, Lolita is the ultimate love story—a narrative the young Alisson bought into, until she grew older and learned to see the tale for what it really is: a grim account of predation and abuse.

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Facing Forward

Thu, 29 Apr 2021 13:30:00 +0000

Growing up in post-war America, Alexander Wolff had a vague sense that his father, Nico, and his grandfather, Kurt, had two very different wartime experiences. But it wasn’t until he was an adult that he began to understand just how divergent his half-Jewish grandfather’s, and his quarter-Jewish father’s, paths had been.

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Back Home

Thu, 22 Apr 2021 19:29:12 +0000

Emma Ramos grew up in a deeply religious, and deeply patriarchal, town in Mexico, where carving out an independent life for herself—outside her parents’ expectations—was a constant negotiation. Which is why she hid the most traumatic thing that ever happened to her from her loved ones for more than a decade—until she found herself living under her parents’ roof again, in the midst of the pandemic.

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The Goofy Ring

Thu, 15 Apr 2021 13:30:00 +0000

As a law student, Alex Marzano-Lesnevich was vehemently opposed to the death penalty, even in the most heinous of crimes. Yet their deeply-held beliefs were put to the test after watching the confession tape of a man convicted of the brutal killing and sexual assault of a six-year-old boy—the details of which felt all too familiar to Alex, an abuse survivor.

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Goddess of Compassion

Thu, 08 Apr 2021 13:00:00 +0000

Ly Tran’s father refused to accept any kind of weakness in his children—not even something as commonplace, and easily remedied, as poor vision. So when then-eight-year-old Ly brought a note home from school informing her parents she needed glasses, he flew into a rage—setting Ly up for years of struggle and secret-keeping as her eyesight continued to worsen, which impacted every facet of her life.

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The Vampire Bat

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 23:35:00 +0000

What’s it like to live your life so deep undercover, handling secrets that are so sensitive, not even the people who know you best—not your friends, not your siblings, not your parents—can know what you’re up to? Ex-CIA agent Amaryllis Fox spent the better part of her 20s trying to keep WMDs out of the hands of global terror groups—until she became a mother and realized she couldn’t ask her baby daughter to live inside a secret world.

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Family Secrets: Season 5 Trailer

Thu, 25 Mar 2021 15:32:39 +0000

Join us for more incredible stories about what happens when long-held family secrets come to light. The new season of Family Secrets launches Thursday, April 1.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: In Conversation with Dr. Rachel Yehuda, Part II

Fri, 26 Feb 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Dani continues her discussion with Dr. Yehuda about intergenerational trauma, and her fascinating new research into psychedelics as a potential treatment for patients suffering from PTSD.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: In Conversation with Dr. Rachel Yehuda

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 16:28:00 +0000

In this special episode, Dani speaks with noted trauma expert Dr. Rachel Yehuda about the controversial history of PTSD as a diagnosis, the disorder’s surprising physiological effects, and why the children of PTSD sufferers often show the same biological markers, despite never having experienced trauma themselves.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: In Conversation with Robert Kolker

Fri, 05 Feb 2021 02:06:00 +0000

In this special bonus episode, recorded as part of the Two Writers Talking virtual series, Dani and journalist Robert Kolker—author of the instant New York Times bestseller Hidden Valley Road—discuss the delicate work of writing about family secrets, whether they're your own or someone else's.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 22

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 17:10:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Update: Thanks From Dani

Thu, 10 Dec 2020 19:28:00 +0000

Thank you for listening to season four of Family Secrets.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Big Feelings

Thu, 03 Dec 2020 16:52:10 +0000

David Ingber is a spiritual leader and father of three young kids, beloved by his large New York City Congregation. His wisdom and ability to comfort is sought after by thousands. In this episode, he learns that opening up and allowing himself to show his own vulnerability is part of his teaching and a great spiritual lesson.

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Pulp Fictions

Thu, 26 Nov 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Julia McKenzie Munemo’s late father made his living by churning out trashy novels—that was about as much as she was willing to admit. But she had no desire to crack open any of the dusty paperbacks she inherited, until a nationwide reckoning made it clear she had no choice but to confront the racist legacy her dad left behind.

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Old Boys’ Club

Thu, 19 Nov 2020 14:07:10 +0000

During her second year at an elite New England boarding school, Lacy Crawford was brutally assaulted by two senior boys. When the extent of the damage they’d done became clear, the school placed the blame squarely on her. Years later, Lacy would learn just how hard the institution worked to silence her.

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Girl Planet

Thu, 12 Nov 2020 22:08:16 +0000

For the first 40 years of her life, Jennifer Finney Boylan figured the price of living her truth would be much too steep; by opening up about who she really was, she assumed she’d lose everything, including the love of her life. But over time, it became clear that hiding who she really was had taken its own toll—on herself, on her family, and on her marriage.

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Burning It Down

Thu, 05 Nov 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Nick Flynn was 7 years old when his house burned down. The official story, the one everyone laughed about, was that raccoons had knocked over the family’s Hibachi grill and set the house on fire. Decades later, Nick learned that’s not what happened at all—and started to understand the depth of his mother’s desperation.

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Kasha

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Outwardly, Susan Burton had it all—a degree from Yale, a thriving career, a loving husband and kids. Inside, Susan waged a war on herself, using food as a way to exert control over the discomfort she felt in her own skin.

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The Second Secret

Thu, 22 Oct 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Lindsay Roemer assumed she’d metabolized, and mostly moved on from, the secret that had been kept from her most of her life—until an unexpected Facebook message from a man she’d never met changed everything she thought she knew about her father.

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You Used to Smile

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 13:00:00 +0000

The smart, opinionated, funny women who raised Saeed Jones—his mother and his grandmother—had a profound influence on his identity. But it was the things they couldn’t talk about that echoed the loudest with Saeed as he began to navigate adulthood, trying to figure out where he fit in as a gay Black man from the South.

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Getting By

Thu, 08 Oct 2020 16:00:00 +0000

Singer Kanene Pipkin always loved her mother, but they weren’t exactly close. Until one day her mother called with some news Kanene couldn’t wrap her head around—news that would change their relationship, and Kanene’s understanding of what it means to be a family, forever.

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The Wire

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 14:15:00 +0000

Ruthie Lindsey attracted a massive following with her picture-perfect lifestyle shots on Instagram. But what those images didn’t show was everything that came before, including an accident that nearly killed her, a painkiller addiction that might have finished the job—and the unconditional love of a family determined to pull her out of the darkness.

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Update: A Sneak Peek of Family Secrets Season 4

Thu, 24 Sep 2020 19:07:00 +0000

Ruthie Lindsey knows first-hand just how much pain might be hiding behind someone’s picture-perfect social media presence. Hear the rest of her story on the Season 4 premiere of Family Secrets, next Thursday, October 1.

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Family Secrets: Season 4 Trailer

Thu, 17 Sep 2020 16:58:50 +0000

Get ready for more incredible stories about the secrets—both big and small—that shape us from the inside out. The new season of Family Secrets launches October 1.

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Update: Hi From Dani

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 21:23:00 +0000

Dani checks in with a quick update on season 4. (Mark your calendars for October 1!)

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 21

Thu, 13 Aug 2020 14:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 20

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 13:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: In Conversation with Alicia Keys, Pt. 2

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Dani and Alicia continue their conversation about becoming the person you were always meant to be, and Alicia shares her strategy for moving forward when you find yourself at a crossroads—learn to feel out, and trust, the resounding yeses. (Alicia’s memoir, More Myself: A Journey, is out now.)

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Bonus: In Conversation with Alicia Keys

Thu, 16 Jul 2020 13:00:00 +0000

On this very special episode of Family Secrets, Dani speaks with singer-songwriter Alicia Keys about living unapologetically, making art without compromise, and the women who kept her grounded when she became a household name at just 20 years old—her mother and her grandmother. (Alicia’s memoir, More Myself: A Journey, is out now.)

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Bonus: Forever35’s Doree Shafrir and Kate Spencer on What Self-Care Means in This Moment

Sat, 27 Jun 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Dani calls up Doree and Kate, hosts of the hit podcast Forever35, for an in-depth conversation about self-care, shifting priorities, and why it’s so important to keep a record of what you’re doing, thinking, and feeling during this time.

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 19

Thu, 25 Jun 2020 19:56:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 18

Fri, 19 Jun 2020 14:30:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Family Secrets Live: In Conversation with Liz Phair, Part II

Sat, 30 May 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Dani and Liz respond to questions from the audience about shame, the power of the unthought known, and the growing community of people who find out later in life they were donor-conceived.

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Family Secrets Live: In Conversation with Liz Phair

Fri, 29 May 2020 18:00:00 +0000

On this special live episode of Family Secrets, recorded in Los Angeles in January, Dani sits down with indie rock icon Liz Phair to talk about the stories we choose to tell ourselves—and how the act of writing can lead to a deeper, more nuanced understanding of both our pasts and the people we’ve become.

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Family Secrets Live: In Conversation with Gretchen Rubin, Part II

Fri, 22 May 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Dani and Gretchen respond to audience questions — including one from a former anonymous sperm donor, who wonders where his loyalties should lie after he’s asked not to tell one of his biological children the truth about her origins.

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Family Secrets Live: In Conversation with Gretchen Rubin

Thu, 21 May 2020 13:00:00 +0000

On this special live episode of Family Secrets, recorded in Philadelphia in January, author and podcast host Gretchen Rubin interviews Dani about uncovering the family secret that became the subject of her bestselling memoir Inheritance: that her beloved father was not related to her by blood. Gretchen and Dani discuss the aftermath of that discovery — including what it was like to forge a connection with her biological dad — plus the ethics of anonymous sperm donation, and what the rise of DNA testing means for those guarantees of anonymity.

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Bonus: In Conversation with Libby Copeland, Pt. 2

Fri, 15 May 2020 20:00:00 +0000

On part two of Dani’s conversation with Libby Copeland, Dani and Libby discuss the fallout on the other side of a major DNA revelation, and why DNA testing could make secrecy around a person’s origins a thing of the past.

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Bonus: Libby Copeland, Author of The Lost Family, on Identity in the Age of DNA Testing

Thu, 14 May 2020 20:00:00 +0000

On this special bonus episode of Family Secrets, Dani speaks with Libby Copeland, author and journalist, about the psychological and emotional complexities that face families who have kept secrets, and families who have had secrets kept from them. This is an intimate conversation about the deepest parts of identity exposed by unexpected DNA results.

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Family Secrets Live: In Conversation with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, Part II

Fri, 08 May 2020 15:00:00 +0000

Dani and Bessel respond to questions from the audience about trauma, and how art—and writing in particular—can help people heal.

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Family Secrets Live: In Conversation with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk

Thu, 07 May 2020 16:40:52 +0000

In January, Dani hit the road for a series of live conversations with some of her favorite writers, artists, and thinkers. Her first stop: Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she sat down with renowned trauma expert Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, for a discussion about how we move forward after traumatic events—a topic nobody could have predicted would apply to each and every one of us just a few months later.

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Bug Dust

Thu, 09 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +0000

For years, Steven Romo just didn’t talk about the bleak landscape of his childhood—not with friends, and certainly not with his colleagues at the TV station where he works as an anchor. Until a headline that reminded him of his upbringing inspired him to open up about what he’s been through, giving everyone a glimpse at the pain he kept hidden beneath his polished, professional exterior.

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Bonus: Stephanie Wittels Wachs, host of “Last Day” on storytelling in the time of Coronavirus

Sat, 04 Apr 2020 14:00:00 +0000

In this special bonus episode, Dani speaks with Stephanie Wittels Wachs, actress, activist, and co-host of the hit podcast Last Day, which shines a light on the real human stories behind epidemics we usually only think about in terms of their staggering — yet seemingly abstract — statistics. Recording from their respective homes, Dani (sitting in her PJs in her son’s old room) and Stephanie (holed up in the closet that serves as her makeshift studio) discuss trauma, the collective grief we’re all feeling in this era of social distancing, and making meaning out of tragedy — which is exactly what Stephanie did after losing her beloved younger brother, the comedian Harris Wittels, to a heroin overdose.

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The Red Potion

Thu, 02 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Janny Scott grew up on an 800-acre British-style estate outside Philadelphia with a loving, gregarious father who was always the life of the party. But underneath her father’s light exterior was a darkness he struggled to keep at bay—a lifelong effort that would eventually cause him to self-destruct.

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Fever Coat

Thu, 26 Mar 2020 13:00:00 +0000

When Axton Betz-Hamilton was in middle school, her family’s mail started going missing. Her parents told her that they’d been the victims of an identity thief, and that the perpetrator was likely someone close to them. Slowly, they began to shut out the world, enveloping Axton in a bubble of paranoia and secrecy—an atmosphere that didn’t allow her to see what was right in front of her until decades later.

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Bubbe and Zayde and Grandma and Pa

Thu, 19 Mar 2020 13:00:00 +0000

Growing up, Adam Frankel idolized his father and his father’s father, eventually following in their footsteps to become a successful speechwriter for politicians like John Kerry and Barack Obama. But at the age of 25, Adam discovered a truth that caused him to question everything—including his place in the lineage he’d molded his life around.

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Cold People

Thu, 12 Mar 2020 13:00:00 +0000

For most of her young life, Lisa Brennan-Jobs bounced back and forth between two very different homes—that of her mother, who raised Lisa alone for the first few years of her life and struggled to make ends meet; and that of her father, Steve Jobs, who lived exactly the way you’d expect the founder of a multimillion dollar tech company to but struggled to relate to the daughter he initially denied was his.

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Too Busy to Die

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Addiction breeds denial, in both the addict and his loved ones. And when that addiction comes wrapped in a busy, successful, ambitious package like Eilene Zimmerman’s ex-husband, a respected Silicon Valley attorney, it’s especially easy to ignore the warning signs. Until it’s too late.

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Jeanette

Thu, 27 Feb 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Emily Bernard never felt close to her judgmental, domineering father, who, for most of her life, denied he’d ever been unfaithful to her mother. It wasn’t until her dad’s sudden death that Emily began the process of getting to know the woman who caused her family so much pain: her father’s longtime mistress.

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What’s Wrong With Teddy?

Thu, 20 Feb 2020 14:00:00 +0000

What do you do when you suspect that your own brother is to blame for the seemingly random acts of violence sending shockwaves through the country? Do you keep it to yourself in order to protect him? Or do you turn him in, potentially saving the lives of hundreds of strangers, but putting him at risk of a death sentence? David Kacyznski talks about his impossible choice, and the unlikely friendship he forged in the wake of his brother’s destruction.

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The Mysterious Boot Club

Thu, 13 Feb 2020 14:00:00 +0000

As a child, Ariana Neumann stumbled upon a strange photo of her father, tucked away in a secret box he kept in his workshop. It was undeniably him, and yet the name in the caption didn’t belong to the man she grew up with. Decades later, Ariana inherits this box and the documents it contains, using them to slowly chip away at the mystery of who her father really was and the lies he had to tell in order to survive.

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The Lobster Shift

Thu, 06 Feb 2020 16:49:00 +0000

Even as a young child, Michael Hainey could sense that there was more to the story of his father’s death. But it wasn’t until he stumbled upon a small detail in an obituary—that his father died “after visiting friends”—that he began to understand the lengths those friends went to protect his father’s reputation, and to protect his family from the truth.

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Family Secrets: Season 3 Trailer

Thu, 30 Jan 2020 17:00:00 +0000

Get ready for more inspiring, provocative, and moving conversations about identity, forgiveness, and the meaning of family, featuring incredible guests like David Kaczynski, the Unabomber’s younger brother, and Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Steve Jobs’s first-born. The new season of Family Secrets with Dani Shapiro launches next Thursday, February 6.

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 17

Thu, 23 Jan 2020 15:53:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0. This January, Dani’s taking Family Secrets on the road. To get your tickets, visit danishapiro.com.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 16

Thu, 16 Jan 2020 23:30:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0. This month, Dani’s taking Family Secrets on the road. To get your tickets, visit danishapiro.com.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: An Update from Dani

Fri, 10 Jan 2020 00:30:00 +0000

Big news, Family Secrets fans: there’s a new season headed your way in just a few weeks (the first episode drops February 6—mark your calendars!) ‘Til then, it seems as though there’s no end to the number of secrets Dani continues to encounter while she’s traveling around the country for her book. Dani shares what she’s learned from her conversations with her podcast guests, her readers, and Family Secrets listeners over the past year—and why she thinks the end of the era of the secret is upon us.

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 15

Thu, 02 Jan 2020 13:34:00 +0000

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 14

Thu, 26 Dec 2019 19:05:00 +0000

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Update: Family Secrets on Tour: See Dani in a City Near You!

Mon, 23 Dec 2019 21:29:00 +0000

Starting January 27, Dani is taking Family Secrets on the road. She’ll be sitting down with some of the writers, podcasters, thinkers, and musicians she admires most for unforgettable conversations you won’t want to miss. For more information about cities, special guests, and to purchase your tickets, visit danishapiro.com.

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 13

Thu, 19 Dec 2019 21:49:00 +0000

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 12

Fri, 13 Dec 2019 02:44:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 11

Thu, 05 Dec 2019 21:15:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Thanksgiving Thoughts from Dani

Thu, 28 Nov 2019 05:00:00 +0000

Dani shares her thoughts, a personal story and well wishes this Thanksgiving.

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 10

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 18:40:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 9

Thu, 14 Nov 2019 20:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 8

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 22:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Update: Share Your Family Secret

Tue, 05 Nov 2019 22:28:00 +0000

Thank you for making season two of Family Secrets such an amazing success. If you have a secret you’d like to share, please call 1-888-SECRET-0.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Flying and Crashing

Thu, 24 Oct 2019 16:00:00 +0000

Kiese grew up in Oxford, Mississippi —the only child of a single mother, a black boy who struggled with weight. His childhood and adolescence were marked by two daily assaults: that of American racism, and America’s obsession with weight.

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The Confidante

Thu, 17 Oct 2019 18:35:59 +0000

Imagine a privileged New England family living by the sea, with a glamorous, wild mother who has a long affair with her husband’s best friend, and makes her daughter — Adrienne — her ally.

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The Fifth Passenger

Thu, 10 Oct 2019 16:00:00 +0000

Growing up in suburban New York, Joanna was always aware of two pastel portraits of children she assumed were just part of her parents’ art collection. But sometimes she would hear her mother on the phone, crying, and referencing “the accident.”

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Russian Dolls

Thu, 03 Oct 2019 16:00:00 +0000

At some point in our childhood we all met the moment where we had to summon the courage and strength to stand up to the difficulties of the world. But imagine being 8 years old and finding yourself in the car with your mother in the middle of the night as she hands you a map and speeds away into the unknown.

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A World Erased

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 16:00:00 +0000

Growing up Noah knew his grandparents had survived the Holocaust, but his questions had always been sidelined.

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The Phone Call

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 16:30:00 +0000

Frank's father was a “proud Willie Loman” character who sold stuff — cars, printing presses, whatever needed selling. He was a glad-handing guy, “the mayor of everything.” And he was living a double life.

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Mama and Her Numbers

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 16:00:00 +0000

Bridgett grew up in Detroit in the '60s in a vibrant house with a mother who was genius with numbers. But for most of her life, Bridgett kept her mother's genius a secret.

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The Last Haircut

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 17:39:53 +0000

When Bill, who grew up in a traditional, southern family, first met his wife he recognized the outsider in her – that she too felt isolated and different. Together the two of them banded together in solidarity and love and took on the world. But when Bill was 45, they came to terms with the realization that Bill wasn’t living truthfully.

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The Journal

Thu, 29 Aug 2019 16:00:00 +0000

We forget that our parents have their own lives, desires and, in some cases, secret lives that they’ve covered up in order to protect the family. But what happens when your elderly parent develops dementia, forgets to cover his tracks, and in doing so unleashes a Pandora’s box of secrets about his sexual escapades and misdeeds?

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Update: Season 2 Has Launched!

Thu, 22 Aug 2019 17:00:00 +0000

Dani Shapiro discusses the launch of Family Secrets and shares a sneak peek of next week’s episode. Beginning next week Family Secrets resumes its weekly publishing schedule on Thursdays.

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The Loving Choice

Mon, 19 Aug 2019 04:00:00 +0000

What if you kept a secret because it was so painful it would crush your young children? What if you were terminal and chose not to tell them?

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Bonus: In Conversation with Lori Gottlieb

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 15:59:00 +0000

In this bonus episode, Dani Shapiro talks with best-selling author, speaker and therapist Lori Gottlieb about the emotional toll of secrets.

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Family Secrets: Season 2 Trailer

Thu, 08 Aug 2019 16:00:00 +0000

Check out the trailer for season two of Family Secrets, from best-selling author, Dani Shapiro. Season two premieres on Monday, August 19th.

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 7

Thu, 25 Jul 2019 17:15:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 6

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 16:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 5

Thu, 11 Jul 2019 16:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: In Conversation with Nora McInerny, Pt 2

Thu, 04 Jul 2019 16:00:00 +0000

In the second part of this special episode, Dani sits down with Nora McInerny from the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking.

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Bonus: In Conversation with Nora McInerny

Thu, 27 Jun 2019 16:00:00 +0000

In this special episode Dani sits down with Nora McInerny from the podcast Terrible, Thanks for Asking.

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 4

Thu, 20 Jun 2019 16:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 3

Thu, 13 Jun 2019 16:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 2

Thu, 30 May 2019 04:00:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community.

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Bonus: Listener Stories, Episode 1

Thu, 23 May 2019 17:12:00 +0000

In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bonus: Sam Dingman of Family Ghosts on the Aftermath of a Secret

Thu, 16 May 2019 17:00:00 +0000

Dani Shapiro and Sam Dingman from the podcast, Family Ghosts, discuss the family secret Sam revealed on his podcast. Season 2 of Family Ghosts launched on May 15. Familyghostspodcast.com

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Bonus: Brian Koppelman of “Billions” On Truth and Writing

Thu, 09 May 2019 17:00:00 +0000

Dani Shapiro and Brian Koppelman of “Billions” talk about the extraordinary speech on secrets and shame that the character, Chuck, delivers on “Billions.” Find out how vulnerability and truth fuel creativity.

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Update: Do You Have A Family Secret?

Thu, 02 May 2019 22:21:00 +0000

Many of you have filled our inbox with powerful stories. To that end, we’ve set up a phone number for listeners of Family Secrets. And we invite you to tell your secret, your story, that we can share with this community. If you’d like to share your family secret story, call the Family Secrets hotline at 1-888-732-7380

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Update: On The Road

Thu, 25 Apr 2019 17:29:00 +0000

Dani Shapiro shares her experience of being out on the road on her book tour, hearing from readers and listeners about their family secrets.

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Bonus: Inheritance

Thu, 18 Apr 2019 16:00:00 +0000

On this bonus episode, Dani shares an excerpt from her New York Times best-selling novel ‘Inheritance.’

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Bonus: Jennifer Mendelsohn on Genealogy and Secrets

Thu, 11 Apr 2019 16:00:00 +0000

This bonus episode features an edited conversation between Dani Shapiro and journalist and genealogy expert, Jennifer Mendelsohn, at Politics & Prose Bookstore in Washington, D.C.

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Don't Duck

Thu, 04 Apr 2019 16:00:00 +0000

Sylvia Boorstein grew up in a loving, close-knit family. But in the background lingered a grief-filled secret. As an adult she allowed herself to explore the secret, and one day, on a hunch, visited the cemetery where her mother was buried.

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The Secret Son

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 23:07:14 +0000

While walking her dogs one evening Laura Engel received a life-changing email that transported her back to a home for unwed mothers in New Orleans.

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Band of Men

Thu, 21 Mar 2019 16:00:00 +0000

Tim Ehrlich's secret nearly killed him. But he and a group of other men with the same secret found the courage to come forward and reveal it, and in doing so heal a lifetime of pain. (Warning this episode contains explicit information about sexual abuse).

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Zygote Baby

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 16:00:00 +0000

Jane Mintz's parents were forthright about her being adopted, but not about her birth mother's identity. As an adult, Jane found her biological mother and discovered many more secrets, the cost of keeping them, and why we all deserve to know where we come from.

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Little White Lie

Thu, 07 Mar 2019 17:00:00 +0000

What if, as a child born into a white Jewish family, anytime someone remarked about your skin color, a story was told about a distant Sicilian grandfather? Even if it was obvious that wasn't the whole story? Lacey Schwartz talks about what it's like to live in an alternate universe of knowing-not knowing your own secret.

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A Joyful Heart

Thu, 28 Feb 2019 16:30:00 +0000

Debbie Millman's story is one of extraordinary resilience in the face of trauma and the redemptive power of love and strength found in the unlikeliest of places. (Warning: this episode contains explicit information about sexual abuse.)

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Open Secret

Thu, 21 Feb 2019 17:00:00 +0000

As a child, Steve Lickteig was told that he was adopted. But that didn't turn out to be entirely true, or even half of the story.

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One Drop

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 17:45:00 +0000

Imagine living in one of the whitest enclaves in America, so white that just four people of color were recorded by the census bureau. Now imagine that your father "slipped over the color line" to be there. Bliss Broyard discusses her family secret and how it formed her life, past and present.

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The Very Image

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 17:43:00 +0000

Growing up Jim Graham never felt at home in his father's house. But it wasn't until he was well into adulthood that a family secret revealed why. For two decades Jim's tenacity led him through the maze of the Catholic Church archives to learn the truth of his origins.

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Inheritance

Thu, 14 Feb 2019 17:15:00 +0000

Author Dani Shapiro reveals what it was like to, by chance, discover a shocking secret about herself, and what this secret taught her about identity, family, and new beginnings.

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A Shock to the System

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 16:42:00 +0000

Dani Shapiro reveals what it feels like to uncover a family secret and how that secret leads to self-exploration.

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Family Secrets: Season 1 Trailer

Mon, 17 Dec 2018 16:40:00 +0000

Dani Shapiro dared to tell her family secret. In return, others told her theirs. Explore how family secrets shape us, distort us and … liberate us.

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